Cultural History of the South Yuba River Canyon

1848 The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill by James Marshall brought gold seekers to California, desperately searching all of the Sierra foothill tributaries and rivers, soon after Jonas Spect discovered gold near Rose's Bar in June of 1848. Rose's Bar was a short distance downstream from present-day Bridgeport (the center piece of the South Yuba River State Park).

The gold seekers poured into the South Yuba River Canyon, concentrating heavily in the area of today's 22 mile South Yuba River Project, which is managed by the California Department of Parks & Recreation. Keeping in mind that this was not only a European migration but an Asian one as well, by 1852 there were 3,000 Chinese in Nevada County and 25,000 more throughout the gold fields of the Sierra Nevada. In fact, the Chinese made up 25% of the state's population by 1870. ( The 1852 census showed less than 950 native Americans).

1848 John Rose is given credit as the first European settler to build a permanent structure in Nevada County. He built a trading post for Native Americans and gold seekers that was halfway between present day Lake Wildwood and Bridgeport.

1849 The rapid entrance of the emigrants caused them to set up tent sites overnight along the sand bars of the South Yuba River. They where given colorful names such as Frenchman Bar, Banjo Bar, Illinois Bar, Jones Bar, Champion Bar (near Hoyt's Crossing)............

1849 The need for immediate crossing of the Sierra rivers emerged. First were the ferries; Point Defiance Ferry (near present day Bridgeport) , Jones Bar Ferry (near present day Hwy. 49 Bridge), Moore's Ferry (present day Purdon Bridge); Edward's Crossing near Illinois Bar and Nyes Ferry near Freeman's Crossing on the Middle Fork.

These crossings were little more than the owners overturning their wagons and putting them together for makeshift barges. Each had its own unique history. Very quickly the crossings gave way to the construction of the first bridges.

The successors of the first bridge crossings lie within the South Yuba River State Park today and proudly stand as landmarks, all of which are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The old Hwy. 49 Bridge built in 1921, is a unique cement arch style. The Purdon Crossing Bridge (still a maintained Nevada County roadway), built in 1895, the only half through metal truss system left west of the Rocky Mountains. The Edward's Crossing Bridge (also still a maintained Nevada County roadway), built in 1904, constructed with triangular members and steel pins in a three-hinged metal arch. This historic bridge was the main access to North Bloomfield (Malakoff Diggings SHP.) from Nevada City using the old South Yuba Turnpike Road.

The first bridges on the South Yuba River were Bridgeport (Birdeye) in the early 1850's; Robinsons Lower Crossing (present day Purdon Crossing Bridge); Robinsons Upper Crossing (present day Edward's Bridge); Coopers Bridge (Illinois Bar); Hoyt's Crossing built by Moses Hoyt completed by 1854; Coopers Bridge, James Cooper was brutally murdered on Nov. 26,1866 (the murder remains unsolved)...

1850 The Court of Sessions , an arm of newly formed County Governments, came into existence. The Court of Sessions had
charge of regulating how much would be charged to cross on ferries and then soon after the bridges. By 1856 this duty was transferred to the Nevada County Board of Supervisors.

The first bridges on the South Yuba River were Bridgeport (Birdeye) in the early 1850's, Robinson's Lower Crossing (present day Purdon Crossing Bridge) Robinson's Upper Crossing (present day Edward's Bridge), Cooper's Bridge (Illinois Bar), Hoyt's Crossing built by Moses Hoyt completed by 1854, Cooper's Bridge; James Cooper was brutally murdered here on Nov. 26, 1866 (the murder remains unsolved)...................

By 1884.... the last of the pre-1900 bridges was constructed on the South Yuba River, the Jones Bar Bridge, (one quarter mile down stream from the present day Hwy. 49 Bridge which was built in 1993). This event marked the completion of the Grass Valley-North San Juan Turnpike, which was celebrated by a party at Greenview, 1 mile north of the Jones Bar Bridge, and featured the twelve piece North San Juan Band.

1849-1855 At first, the gold pan extracted large nuggets for the few who were lucky. But by the mid-1850's gold mining techniques were rapidly advancing. The pan gave way to the rocker, then the sluice box, then Long Tom ( mentioned in Diary of a 49er). Men became extremely industrious, to the point that the "Miner's Tunnel", built in 1879, is now eligible for nomination National Register of Historic Places. It is 800 feet long through solid rock between Hwy. 49 and Hoyt's Crossing. The purpose was to divert the flow of the South Yuba during summer months, so that the miners could work the dry river bed undisturbed. The tunnel right of way was sold by William Clymo in 1877 to John Jacka & Company for $21.00 who formed the South Yuba River Mining Tunnel Company. The Tunnel was sold in 1881 to George Emory at a nice profit. The sale amount was $12,061.

River bed mining and ground sluicing became the norm, with men banding together to form mining companies to consolidate their resources. Evidence of these early mining activities are found throughout the South Yuba River Project.

1848-1858 Placer gold mining amounted to about 90% of gold recovered in all of California. But during the 1860's through 1880's, mining techniques advanced toward a devastating level with the emphasis on wide spread hydraulic mining .

1858 Excelsior Ditch was completed (eligible for listing, National Registry of Historic Places). It took four years with hundreds of Chinese workers building the headwater diversion four miles above present day Hwy. 49 Crossing and then 27 miles southwest to the hydraulic mining areas of Timbuktu at the cost of $250,000. This project has become a major visitor attraction. Today it allows wheelchair-users and others to cross towering historic water flumes to view panoramic vistas of the South Yuba River and at the same time allowing disabled visitors one of the few wilderness experiences in the Sierras.

1880's Chinese gold miners began to form their own companies, working older claims abandoned by Europeans. Many remnants of Chinese claims are found from this period upstream from Bridgeport and elsewhere in the project. The method employed by the Chinese at this time to mine small portions of the South Yuba was to construct a coffer dam, called "wing-damming." Where the entire river channel is worked, a dam is built entirely across the river, as with the Miner's Tunnel (1879). The dry river bed is then worked by the miners; the gravel being thrown into sluices and washed, while the larger boulders are lifted out of the way with derricks and piled up on the bedrock.

1848 This activity began early on. The gold miners needed a system of support close to their diggings instead of paying exorbitant prices for goods shipped from San Francisco (prices listed here from Diary of a Forty-Niner by Chauncey L. Canfield).

Sack of Flour $14.00
Ten lbs. pork 6.00
One lb. tea 2.50
Ten lbs. beans 3.00
Two cans yeast powders 1.00
Five lbs. sugar 2.50
Codfish 2.00
Twenty lbs. potatoes 6.00
Pair of boots 16.00
Duck overalls 2.50
Shirt 2.00
Shovel 2.50
Pick 2.50
total $62.50

1853 On May 12, 1853, the California State Legislature authorize the formation of "Turnpike Companies" which were allowed to build roads and bridges and maintain them as profit-making business ventures. This allowed County governments to regulate toll fees and helped solve the problem of county government's limited budgets.

1850 David I. Wood arrived on the scene, built a home at Point Defiance and purchased the "old bridge at Bridgeport" and the bridge at Point Defiance and went into the toll bridge business.

1856 The Virginia Turnpike Company was formed and the articles of incorporation are signed at David Wood's home at Point Defiance. The Turnpike ran 10 miles from the Anthony House (today under water at Lake Wildwood) following the "Little South Yuba Creek" (present day Kentucky Creek) to Bridgeport and Point Defiance, then on to French Corral.

1858 Comstock Strike at Virginia City
This event is called the second "gold/silver rush". The discovery of the rich veins of Silver at Sun City (Virginia City) sent thousands of gold miners running there hoping to make it rich, after they had failed to find gold in the foothills of Sierra Nevada. By 1858 the surface gold was gone and the activity was being left to the larger, more organized, and better financed operations.

1859 David I. Wood and John Freeman, both road & bridge builders, seeing the great potential for profits surveyed a new and better route in October of 1859, utilizing the old Henness Pass trail. Their efforts paid off by establishing a faster route that was shorter than the Placerville route by 15 miles, over the Sierra to the Comstock at Virginia City. The route could also be used during the winter months, since it was at a lower elevation than the competing Placerville route. Due to their actions, a large increase in stage and supply traffic increased dramatically between 1858 to 1864.

In fact, as much as 40% of all gold rush and Comstock commerce traffic likely used the Bridgeport Covered Bridge and various other routes utilizing the Henness Pass during these years. An article published by the San Juan Hydraulic Press 1862 underlines the intense activity:

"Stages were forced to travel at night due to the huge amount of supply traffic during the day using the Virginia Turnpike. At times the day traffic reached the point that teams were lined up, one behind the other, waiting for traffic in the opposite direction to pass."

1862 David I. Wood built his "new bridge" at Bridgeport during the summer of 1862. It began paying between $4000 & $5000 per month in toll fees, a fantastic amount for the time.
Most of the traffic crossing the bridge at that time had been downloaded from Marysville to wagon teams , which sometimes consisted of up to 18 to 20 horses, teams of mules or oxen. The winter storm of 1861-62 washed away almost all of the bridges of the Sierra Nevada foothills, including David Wood's old bridges at Bridgeport and Point Defiance. In fact there was over 115 inches of rain and 45 inches alone during November, December and January 1861-62. That winter has gone on record as one of the most devastating winter flooding in California's history.

Approved toll fees by Nevada County for December 1, 1862 which were reviewed on a yearly basis, shows why the Bridgeport Covered Bridge was so profitable:

8 horses, mules or ox team-up or down $6.00
6 horses, mules or ox team-up or down 5.50
4 horses, mules or ox team-up or down 4.00
2 horses, mules or ox team-up or down 2.50
1 horse, mule or an ox-up or down 1.75
2-horse buggy, each way 1.50
1-horse buggy, each way 1.00
Horseman .50
Footman .25
Loose stock .10
Hogs and sheep .05

This bridge built in 1862, at 228 feet from abutment to abutment is one of only 10 historic covered bridges left in California and is the longest single span arch-truss Covered bridge in the United States. It is 251 feet along the ridge line, including "wingwalls"(a protective porch at each end) that are no longer present, but is scheduled for historic reconstruction in the near future.

The construction has lasted throughout the years and has weathered the most severe winter storms, including the devastating New Year's flood of 1997. The bridge, however, sustained $700,000 in damages.

The Bridgeport Covered Bridge's long life is a tribute to the engineering skills and vision of David I. Wood . His concern to build such a unique single span bridge high enough to withstand the intermittent but predictably devastating Sierra winter runoff has proven sound and has given the citizens of California a very valuable gift to record the early transportation history of our State.

The bridge construction is unique, consisting of a Howe Truss (first patented in 1840) with an auxiliary Burr Arch which sits on massive granite blocks. The bridge today is both a State and National Historic Landmark.

David I. Wood is said to have been inspired by the strength of railroad bridges of the east coast that began to incorporate iron into the wood truss construction, which became necessary with increased weights.

The Howe truss that Wood used incorporated vertical iron rods that ran though the wood trusses and in conjunction with the Burr Arch which made possible the single span Covered Bridge that has successfully withstood the test of time, where others have vanished with the years of flood waters.

1869 With the completion of the cross country railroad, signified by the golden spike driven at Promontory, Utah Territory .........1869, Abraham Lincoln's dream was complete to bring the Union together. But this act drew to a close the brief rapid rise of the Bridge/Toll Road builders and their profits.

A vast majority of commerce shifted to the railroad. Traffic was greatly diminished on the Henness Pass and its major tributaries, principal of which was David Wood's Bridgeport Covered Bridge. Overnight the Virginia Turnpike and its famous bridge became insignificant and was relegated to local business traffic.

In 1866........ David Wood and the Virginian Turnpike Company declared bankruptcy. The turnpike and bridge was lost in a Sheriffs sale and was purchased by Mr. Cadwalcader. By 1876 David Wood's son, Samuel acquired the bridge and turnpike for $4,000 and continued to operate it until the end of the turnpike era.

In 1901, no longer being a moneymaking enterprise, the Virginia Turnpike Company & Bridgeport Covered Bridge was dissolved and taken over by the County of Nevada and made a public road with no tolls charged. The toll road era is over; within months all roads in Nevada County no longer charge tolls, with the exception of Freeman's Crossing, where tolls were collected through 1912.

1918 The new State Highway System is under construction. By 1921 the beautiful cement arch bridge at present day HWY. 49 Crossing on the South Yuba River was completed. This historic bridge given to the State Park System in 1993 is a major attraction and a gateway to visitors accessing upriver locations.

Once the emphasis on heavy commerce started to wane, the farm that William Burdett Thompson started in 1849 near Bridgeport remained and took on more importance, as did agriculture in general throughout the State of California.

1853 William Burdett Thompson became ill and died of unknown causes. He is buried in the family cemetery located in the Park adjacent to Kentucky Creek. He was the first be buried here. Before dying, Thompson asked Charles Cole to marry his wife. Cole honored the request and married Mary Ann Thompson in 1854. Cole put together a working cattle and dairy ranch which he maintained until his death in 1916. In later years he was known as the "Bridgeport Hotel Man", presumably for the hotel he ran near the Bridgeport Covered Bridge.

1916
At that time Charles Cole's daughter, Victoria Marie Cole Kneebone, her brother Charles Russel Cole and two other children inherited the ranch of Charles Cole. By 1930 Alfred Kneebone, Victoria's son, had moved to the Cole Ranch and had taken over the operations.

It is interesting to note that when Charles Russell Cole died in Grass Valley in 1921 his obituary fondly noted he was the Gardener at the "Empire and Bourn Grounds" for 16 years at the present-day Empire Mine State Historic Park.

Some called the depression era, 1930-1939 the second gold rush along the South Yuba River, due to the arrival of many poor disadvantaged people. These people barely eked out a living as "Snipers", those who searched every possible crack and panned for small amounts of gold. They sold the gold to Victoria's son, Alfred Kneebone, who operated the gas station and grocery store, near the old Charles Cole dairy barn. He paid the "snipers" $18.20 per oz. and processed the gold bearing sands in his mercury retort behind the gas station and then sold the gold for $20.70 an oz. in Grass Valley.

During the period of 1927-1936, Alfred Kneebone also operated a resort along the South Yuba River about 1/4 mile upstream from the Covered Bridge, on present park property. At that location were bath houses, cabins, cold room for ice cream etc., and a large dance hall. Visitors came to swim and used the warm beaches much as the thousands of visitors do today. The Kneebone family collected fees from a booth in the old barn, charges were $.50 per car, a gate was lifted and away to the "main swim" hole they drove.

1946 This is the year the Kneebone family at Bridgeport saw a law suit brought about by the U.S. Government. The purpose of the law suit was to condemn and take Alfred Kneebone's property at Bridgeport for a proposed increase in the height of the Englebright Dam that would flood all of the Kneebone river front property along the South Yuba River. The planned increase was never completed, the law suit was won by the defendants, the estate of Alfred Kneebone and his wife Lucy. The Kneebones won a judgment of $22,000 paid by the US government and kept the family property.

1948 Lucy Kneebone leases the Bridgeport property to Edward Alvereze for $1200 per year.

1951 August 10, 1951, Lucy J. Kneebone sells ranch to Charles White.

1957 Charles White sells the Bridgeport ranch to Evan Harrison.
Harrison removes old Kneebone home and builds a new home in 1957.
This home is currently being remodeled into the park visitor center and office.

1958 Evan Harrison sells ranch to Melvin Maish.

1964 Melvin Maish sells ranch to Jack Cowan.

1966 Jack Cowan sells ranch to Robert Spitzer.

1966 On June 22, 1966 Robert Spitzer, Gilman Murray, and Eugene Mastin form the Bridgeport Ponderosa, Inc. 7,500 shares issued with no par value.

1972 On June 28, 1972 Nevada County condemns 2 acres (were present park office trailer is located near Covered Bridge). It included the road from Pleasant Valley Road to the Covered Bridge. The road abandoned from the monuments to Pleasant Valley Road and a barricade is placed blocking vehicle access to the Covered Bridge.

1978 DPR begins to acquire property for the South Yuba River Project, starting with property purchased near Jones Bar.

1985 After 1946 the 1000 acre ranch was owned by five other private owners until it was purchased by the non profit group, Sequoya Challenge, headed by environmentalist, John Olmsted in 1985.

1986 The California Department of Parks & Recreation acquired the property at Bridgeport from Sequoia Challenge. Sequoya Challenge continues to cooperatively manage the Independence Trail in cooperation with State Parks. 1976 and 1988 Park Bond Act money made possible the purchase of some South Yuba land and has assisted with flume restoration along the wheelchair route.

1988 The U.S. Bureau of Land Management and California State Parks develop a Cooperative Management Agreement for public land within the South Yuba River Canyon, to provide for a coordinated effort of both day to day operations and long-range planning. This Agreement was a precursor to the possible transfer of BLM holdings within the river corridor to State Parks. The Cooperative Management Agreement provided general direction to the agencies and allowed limited fiscal resources and staff time to be used effectively.

1996 During the previous ten to twelve years, BLM had been attempting to consolidate their land holdings to allow them to provide better stewardship of public land under their jurisdiction. This effort at consolidation resulted in the BLM managing these river systems, it made less sense for them to transfer their South Yuba lands to State Parks, so they made the decision in October to retain their presence along the South Yuba River.

1997 Both agencies make a commitment to develop a new Cooperative Management Agreement to reflect the future working relationship and management needs of the Lower South Yuba River. Mutual issues of top priority are the camping and sanitation problems at Hoyt Crossing. A plan to resolve these problems will be implemented during 1998.

BLM Area Manager for the Folsom Resource Area announces that things have changed. That BLM will no longer transfer the federal lands in question. He states that BLM's mission has changed and that throughout the western states BLM is now in the business of recreational river management.

A new cooperative agreement with BLM is needed to establish the direction DPR will take for management at the South Yuba River State Park with regards to BLM's maintaining ownership of their river lands.