My most recent romance, Ardith Yosemite Bride, is set partly in Yosemite Valley in 1903 and 1907. However, because it also features the development of the Yosemite Valley Railroad that ended up bringing thousands of tourists to the Yosemite National Park region the first half of the twentieth century, a big portion of my story takes place along the Merced River.
The Merced River starts high in the Yosemite National Park located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Although this map does not picture it well, as the river leaves the park, it flows down through steep mountains and foothills, creating steep banks with very few level spots to accommodate roads for a railroad bed. Although not as accessible as some rivers, it played a vital role in the Mariposa Grant owned by Colonel John C. Frémont, a prominent U.S. Army mapmaker and explorer and, at one time, candidate for the office of President of the United States.
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| View of Merced River less than a mile north of the Fremont Fort marker site |
Col. Frémont was in California at the time of the Mexican-American War. In 1847—after Alta California capitulated but before
the Treaty of Hidalgo, which ended the war, was signed in February 1848—he bought a
"floating" grant of over 44,000 acres for $3,000. One of the stipulations of the treaty was that the United States government would honor legitimate Mexican land grants. Once Frémont learned of the presence of gold in the Mariposa County foothills, he adjusted his boundaries to include many rich mining areas, which they named Bear Valley.
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| 1874 by Carleton E. Watkins |
He and his wife, Jesse Benton Frémont, built their home there. It was north of the city of Mariposa and south of the Merced River.
While Frémont was gone on other business, other miners "jumped" his claims. This led to court battles that did not conclude in Frémont's favor until 1854. While waiting for court's ruling, Frémont built a fort to control the only entrance to the gold-producing mines, primarily the Josephine and Princeton Mines. The terrain was steep and rugged, and the road were few.
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| 2011 Photograph by Barry Swackhamer for hmdb historical marker |
One prominent physical feature on the Frémont property was an outcropping of quartz rock which at eighty-two feet, was considered the largest in the Motherlode Region. Originally known as Tower Rock, it became known as May Rock because for years, Jessie Frémont sponsored an annual May Day celebration at the location. Activities included picnics, racing, music, and a May Pole dance. People came from Bagby, Bear Valley, Elkhorn, Hornitos Mariposa, Quartzburg,
and Princeton.
The land was later owned by Louis Trabucco, a prominent retailer in the area.
What is the connection between a California Gold Rush town of the 1850-60s and Bagby in the early 1900s? Both May Rock and Frémont’s Fort are not many miles south of Bagby—now abandoned and covered by the water in the Bagby Reservoir. Part of Bagby on the south bank of the Merced River held Benton Mills—named after Frémont’s father-in-law—which was a quartz stamp mill to extract gold mined from Frémont’s various mines.
Sources:
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=5783
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=298255
https://noehill.com/mariposa/poi_may_rock.asp
California State Library; https://www.facebook.com/groups/CalHistory/posts/589102804633841/
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