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The Old Bootjack-Ahwahnee Highway

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As originally defined in 1934 California State Route 49 ended in Mariposa.  Traffic continuing to Oakhurst had to utilize the then existing Chowchilla Mountain Road and Bootjack-Ahwahnee Highway.  The Bootjack-Ahwahnee corridor had been commissioned in 1890 by Mariposa County to connect to the Yosemite Stage Road and Fresno Flats (now Oakhurst).  An extension of California State Route 49 was legislatively defined in 1959, had an adopted alignment by late year 1961 and was functionally opened to traffic by1966.  The final bypass of the Bootjack-Ahwahnee Highway came in 1972 when the East Fork Chowchilla River Bridge bypassed what is now Kemble Road  





Part 1; the history of the Old Bootjack-Ahwahnee Highway before California State Route 49 was extended

The portions of the Fresno River watershed in the Sierra Nevada range east of Mariposa largely were missed by the early California Gold Rush.  The area began development following conclusion of the Mariposa War in 1851.  Numerous mining communities began to develop which included Coarsegold in 1852 and Fresno Flats (now Oakhurst) in 1858.  In 1856 much of what was eastern and southern Mariposa County was spun off into Fresno County.  

Highway between Mariposa and Fresno Flats was did not exist until the establishment of the Washburn Brothers Yosemite Stage Road.  Mariposa was connected to Galen Clark's property on the South Fork Merced River where the so-called Mariposa-Yosemite Road (now Chowchilla Mountain Road) terminated.  The Clark property is where the Wawona Bridge would be built in 1868 which would be later sold to the Washburn Brothers in 1875.  

The Mariposa-Yosemite Road can be seen connecting Mariposa and Clark's Ranch on the 1868 Whitney map of the Sierra Nevada Adjacent to Yosemite Valley.  From Clark's Ranch the Yosemite Trail can be seen continuing into Yosemite Valley.  


Following the purchase Clark's by the Washburn Brothers they covered the Wawona Bridge.  The first structure in the Wawona Hotel complex built by the Washburn Brothers complex dates back to 1876.  At the time the Wawona Hotel was built to take advantage of tourism to the nearby Mariposa Grove via the Mariposa Grove Road.  The name "Wawona" comes from a similar Mono Tribal word describing a Redwood Sequoia Tree.  The Washburn Brothers completed the Wawona Road from their new Hotel to Yosemite Valley by 1879.  In 1881 a tunnel was dug through the Wawona Tree in the Mariposa Grove to attract stages to drive through.

Despite only being less than thirty miles south of Yosemite Valley the Wawona Hotel was several days away by foot through the wilderness.  The Wawona Hotel was becoming popular and interest in a stage road north to Yosemite Valley was becoming a viable concept.  Thus, the Yosemite Stage & Turnpike Company was founded in 1882 to facilitate stage route travel from the Wawona Hotel to Yosemite Valley.  

The Yosemite Stage Road can be seen connecting the Fresno Big Trees (Mariposa Grove) to Madera on the 1882 Bancroft's Map of California.  The original Yosemite Stage Road passed through Fresno Flats and Coarsegold as it descended through the Sierra Nevada foothills following much of the eastern bank of the Fresno River towards Madera.  The general alignment of the original routing of the Yosemite Stage Road follows modern Madera County Roads 400, 415, 425C, 425B, 426, 425A, Old Yosemite Road and Sierra National Forest Road 6S15.  



Following the establishment of the Yosemite Stage Road traffic could travel to/from Mariposa and Oakhurst, albeit in a very indirect manner.  This was changed in 1890 when Mariposa County ordered construction of the then so-called Raymond Road (Bootjack-Ahwahnee Highway) to the Fresno County line.  The purpose of this 40-foot-wide highway was to provide a more direct connection with the Yosemite Stage Road in northern Fresno County.  


The then new Bootjack-Ahwahnee Highway can be seen on the 1891 Thompson Atlas of Fresno County.  The new highway is shown entering Fresno County in Township 6 South, Range 20 East and intersecting the Yosemite Stage Road.  A branching roadway is shown continuing east into Fresno Flats in Township 7 South, Range 21 East.  


In 1893 Madera County would split from northern Fresno County.  Fresno Flats would be renamed in 1912 to Oakhurst.  In 1933 the State Highway System would greatly expand throughout all of California.  Despite the expansions the Oakhurst-Mariposa Highway was omitted from annexation into the State Highway System.  

During August 1934 the Sign State Route program was announced in the California Highways & Public Works publication.  California State Route 49 would be assigned to a southern terminus in Mariposa following Legislative Route Number 65.  



The Oakhurst-Mariposa Highway can be seen in detail on the 1935 Division of Highways maps of Mariposa County and Madera County.  The highway corridor is shown diverging from the Mariposa-Yosemite Road near Usona towards the Mariposa County line following what is now Kemble Road, Harris Road and Worman Road.  


The Bootjack-Ahwahnee Highway corridor is shown on the Madera County map following what is Road 601 to Nipinnawasee.  From Nipinnawasee the corridor shown following a series of roads now subsumed by California State Route 49 to California State Route 41 in Oakhurst via Ahwahnee.  


1959 Legislative Chapter 1062 extended Legislative Route Number 65 from Mariposa to California State Route 41/Legislative Route Number 125 in Oakhurst.  The extended corridor appears on the 1960 Division of Highways map with an unadopted alignment.  



The Mariposa-Oakhurst alignment adoption for the extension of California State Route 49 was announced in the January/February 1962 California Highways & Public Works.  The 26.9-mile corridor was formally adopted by the California Highway Commission during their late 1961 meetings.


The adopted extension of California State Route 49 appears on the 1962 Division of Highways map.  


Thet then existing Bootjack-Ahwahnee Highway is referenced as being up for annexation as part of California State Route 49 in the July/August 1963 California Highways & Public Works.  At the beginning of 1964 the Legislative Route Numbers would be dropped, and the Mariposa-Oakhurst extension would legislatively become California State Route 49.


California State Route 49 was made functional between Mariposa and Oakhurst in 1966 and appears on the 1967 Division of Highways map.  The initial extension bypassed Worman Road and Road 601 but still utilized the East Fork Chowchilla River Bridge along Kemble Road. 


A new bridge over the East Fork Chowchilla River would open as the new alignment of California State Route 49 in 1972.  The new structure bypassed Kemble Road and crossed over much of the East Fork Chowchilla River Canyon.  The older alignments once present on the Bootjack-Ahwahnee Highway can be seen in contrast to modern California State Route 49 on the two maps below. 





Part 2; a drive on the Old Bootjack-Ahwahnee Highway

The Old Bootjack-Ahwahnee Highway can be reached along eastbound California State Route 49 at Kemble Road in Mariposa County.


Kemble Road descends underneath the 1972 bridge carrying California State Route 49 and crosses the East Fork Chowchilla River via a single lane span.  









Kemble Road climbs form the East Fork Chowchilla River.  The Old Bootjack-Ahwahnee Road transitions via a right-hand turn onto Harris Road.  








Harris Road ends at modern California State Route 49.  The Old Bootjack-Ahwahnee Highway continued straight onto Worman Road.  






Worman Road narrows to a single lane and becomes a dirt surface approaching an unnamed right-hand turn road that leads to Madera County Road 601.  The unnamed road between Worman Road and the Mariposa County line often appears on mapping software as Bootjack-Ahwahnee Road.  









Worman Road continues east to the Madera County line as a dirt road where it becomes Road 628.  Signage indicates Yosemite National Park is not accessible via the corridor which is only partially true.  Miami Mountain Road on the Madera County side was part of the Yosemite Stage Road and once connected to the park near Fish Camp.  Traffic can still follow Road 628 and Road 620 to California State Route 41 north of Oakhurst.  


The Old Bootjack-Ahwahnee Highway enters Madera County south of Worman Road onto Road 601.  Road 601 terminates at modern California State Route 41 in Nipinnawasee.






















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