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Stockton – Los Angeles Road, also known as the Millerton Road, Stockton–Mariposa Road, Stockton–Fort Miller Road or the Stockton–Visalia Road, was established about 1853 following the discovery of gold on the Kern River in Old Tulare County. This route between Stockton and Los Angeles followed by the Stockton-Los Angeles Road (except that between Stockton and Davis's Ferry on the Tuolumne River) is described in (ITINERARY XXI. From Fort Yuma to Benicia, California ), in ''The Prairie Traveler: A Hand-book for Overland Expeditions'' by Randolph Barnes Marcy.〔( Randoph Barnes Marcy, The Prairie Traveler: A Hand-book for Overland Expeditions, Published by Authority of the War Department, (1859) )〕 The Itinerary was derived from the report of Lieutenant R. S. Williamson on his topographical survey party in 1853, that was in search of a railroad route through the interior of California.〔( United States War Department, Joseph Henry, Spencer Fullerton Baird, United States Army, Corps of Engineers, Reports of explorations and surveys: to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, Volume 5, A.O.P. Nicholson, Printer, 1856 )〕 ==Southern Route to the Goldfields== Transportation and commerce to the northern part of California from Southern California prior to 1849 was carried north along the coast via El Camino Real or later diverted to the north, from the San Fernando Mission inland via El Camino Viejo "the old road", a route over the mountains north of Los Angeles, along the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, turning west across the coast ranges to reach Oakland and San Francisco. During and after 1849, transportation and commerce to the gold mines of the Mother Lode from the south became a northern extension of the Southern Emigrant Trail up the east side of the San Joaquin Valley from the El Camino Viejo. The 49er route from Los Angeles followed El Camino Viejo to San Fernando Mission then northward over the steep Fremont Pass, across the Santa Clarita Valley and up through the San Francisquito Canyon to San Francisquito Pass and north to ''La Laguna de Chico Lopez''. From the lake the route was north through the foothills via Willow Springs Canyon, then northwest to Mud Spring where the road divided. From Mud Springs, El Camino Viejo turned west northwest to Cow Springs and west to Portezuela de Castac or Castac Pass (now Tejon Pass). Beyond Castac Pass, El Camino Viejo turned west up what became Cuddy Canyon and Cuddy Valley where it turned down the Arroyo San Emigdio to Rancho San Emidio one of the few settlements in the then trackless and unsettled southern San Joaquin Valley. Another route, not well known or used, diverted north from "the old road" at Castac Pass to follow ''La Cañada de las Uvas'' or Grapevine Canyon down into San Joaquin Valley. The most direct wagon route was directly north from Mud Spring, across the Antelope Valley to Cottonwood Creek, following it up the east slope of the Tehachapi Mountains to cross them at the old Tejon Pass, then descending the west slope to the canyon of Tejon Creek, which the road followed down through Rancho El Tejon into the San Joaquin Valley. This road over the old Tejon Pass was later described it as "one of the worst roads he ever saw," by Lieutenant R. S. Williamson who made the survey of the pass for a railroad route through the Tehachapi Mountains. He found a better route further west at ''La Cañada de las Uvas'', the Grapevine Canyon route, where he sent his own wagons . His recommendation would popularize the Grapevine route for later teamsters and emigrants. The old Tejon Pass route was abandoned in favor of the route through Grapevine Canyon and Fort Tejon Pass was shortened taking the name Tejon Pass.〔( Harrison Irving Scott, The Ridge Route: the Long Road to Preservation; California HISTORIAN, www.californiahistorian.com website, accessed November 14, 2011 ), "The name Tejon formerly belonged to another pass 15 miles further east. Lieutenant Robert Stockton Williamson of the Pacific Railroad surveyed the area in 1853. His party crossed the Tehachapis by "one of the worst roads he ever saw." Hearing of a better road further west, he scouted it and found it would be far more practicable for wagons if the bulk of the traffic henceforth went that way. The name Tejon was transferred west to today's "Tejon Pass."〕 Once in the San Joaquin Valley the route proceeded north following the eastern foothills of the Sierras, crossing the various creeks and rivers near these eastern foothills of the Sierra's to avoid the marshes in the valley, until they reached the goldfields of the Mother Lode. Also in 1853, a Los Angeles businessman, Henry Clay Wiley installed a windlass atop the Fremont Pass to speed and ease the ascent and descent of the steep Santa Clara Divide, and built a tavern, hotel and stable nearby. In 1854, Wiley sold out to Sanford and Cyrus Lyon and it began to be called Lyon Station. At the same time Phineas Banning obtained the business of supplying Fort Tejon.〔( "Tales of Elsmere Canyon" by Jerry Reynolds, accessed June 23, 2011 )〕 The Castac Pass now became known as the Fort Tejon Pass. In the next few years, settlements and miners camps gradually spread along this route along the Sierra foothills looking for new gold mines. Cattle and horses from Southern California, were driven north along the route and immigrants and teamsters continued to follow it. Ferries began to be established at the various crossing places. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Stockton – Los Angeles Road」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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