The Cajon Pass: A Little History...

For the most part, the lower toll-house and its staff escaped the attention of hostile Indians.  The only notable incident, was the theft of eight good horses.

It was a different story for the upper toll-house, however.  

The Cajon Pass: A Little History...

But, even after second the toll-house was built, at least one clever cattleman found a way to circumvent the toll.  He simply took his wagons through the toll gate, and drove his cattle through a canyon, avoiding the $150 charge for the three thousand head of cattle that he was driving.

Given the ruggedness of the terrain, driving three thousand head of cattle around the toll-gate must have been quite a feat!   Image by Scott Schwartz.  All rights reserved. 

The Cajon Pass: A Little History...

Perhaps not too shockingly, a number of cattlemen were actually bypassing the toll-house by taking a route that ran through the western valley.  There, these men would take Sanford’s road (the reader will recall that Sanford’s Road was used by those who paid “subscription” fees, hence, there was no toll-house) which merged with Brown’s road beyond the toll-house.  The ignored toll-house was located in the “upper narrows.”  The solution, of course, was to build a toll-house in the “lower narrows.”

The Cajon Pass: A Little History...

W.F. Holcomb and a party of three others pursued the Indians, but abandoned the effort after reaching Tehachapi.

Only a year would pass before another incident took place.  It was May of 1863, when some horse thieves helped themselves to two of Brown’s mules and three horses (one of which belonged to a freight-hauler who was transporting wares to Holcomb Valley.)  Again, the perpetrators made it up the desert, and they were able to lose the Sheriff who was in pursuit.

Once the road was built, Brown’s main responsibilities were these:

·        Collect the tolls.  This was a toll-road, after all.

·        Repair the road, when necessary.

·        Watch for hostile Indians.

The Cajon Pass: A Little History- Brown's woes...

The toll-keeper’s name was David Noble Smith.  On the day in question, he and his hired helper, Larkin Reeder, were working on the grounds when Indians began shooting at them from the nearby hills.  Both men were able to run for cover, but not before Smith was seriously wounded.

The Cajon Pass: A Little History...

One issue was the toll house itself, which, sitting in the upper narrows, constituted a very tempting target for thieves and marauders. 

Brown, for his part, had seen evidence of Indian presence in the Cajon Pass.  Fearing for his family’s safety, he’d moved with them out of the area by the spring of 1862.  This was probably good timing on Brown’s part, because Indians attacked the toll keeper and the toll keeper’s assistant in May of that year.  

The attached video gives some idea of how easy it was for marauders to hide in this rugged country.

A resolute Brown re-built the road, but it cost him nearly all of his assets to do so.  Sadly, Brown’s woes didn’t end after the restoration of his toll road. 

A seemingly natural clearing in the Cleghorn Mountains, which tower over the east-side of the Cajon Pass.
Photo by Scott Schwartz.
All rights reserved.