The Cajon Pass: A Little History...

With the cost of the repairs exceeding revenue received from the tolls, Brown lobbied the San Bernardino Board of Supervisors for a rate-hike.  This was denied, despite a law which prohibited the Supervisors from regulating the toll in such a way that precluded dividend of at least three percent per month being earned from the road.  The reason for the Supervisors’ decision has been lost to the mists of history.

Brown received some illusory relief in the form of reduced tax assessments beginning in 1867.  By 1869, the tax had gone down by $400.   This relief was an illusion, because the tax was based upon the road’s value.  The declining tax reflected the road’s declining value due to all damage caused by the flooding.