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A ten-minute look at history ..... or an exploring adventure
of an hour or more in Fremont Pass ...... soak yourself with
imagination about the transportation problems of the Old
West and the amazing spirit of the men who solved them ....
chances are, Los Angeles would never have become the great
trade center of Southern California if General Beale's men
had not conquered this mountain pass.
IT HAPPENED OVER A CENTURY AGO
The road was too steep for the stage coaches traveling between
Los Angeles and Northern California.
Passengers and drivers pushed and tugged at the wooden wheels.
Bandits might show up at any moment!
General E. F. Beale, a prominent landowner of the area,
made the trip many times.
Often, the freight wagons carrying supplies to his ranches
were unable to make the grade unless the cargo was unloaded.
Sometimes, the cargo rolled down the mountainside and was a total loss.
Frustrated by the problems the road presented,
General Beale gathered fifty of his men together to perform
one of the greatest engineering tasks of his day .....
They cut a 92-foot slot out of the middle of the mountain ....•
with hand tools! The stages and wagons rolled through with ease.
The gateway from the North into Los Angeles was opened.
Today's busy highway, U. S. #6, passes within a few hundred feet
of this masterpiece of yesteryear's efforts
to conquer the obstacles that nature placed in the path of progress.
The giant chasm
seems to beckon to you,
"Come, stand between my walls.
Look up.
Imagine the hours of hard labor,
with only hand tools, that fashioned me.
Brush my sides
you may still see the chisel marks
made by the determined men
who toiled here."
Gypsy Jaunt/"Beale's Cut," 57 SE - Page 1
