The sad remains of someone's home...

Photo by Scott Schwartz

All rights reserved.

January, 2018

This is Tonie Evelyn Seger's cabin, which is located near Burro-Schmidt Tunnel in the El Paso Mountains. Seger, whose first name was, in fact, "Evelyn", died in 2003 at the age of 95.  She lived on the site for over forty years, after moving from New England in the hopes that the dry desert climate would improve her husband's health.  After her husband died, Seger stayed on at the site, and would regale visitors (including your author) with tales of her life and of desert lore.

Once, this was Seger's home.  Since her death, however, vandals and souvenir hunters have all but gutted the cabins.

The Cajon Pass: A Little History...

The section of the road under contention, is the spot where the truck-scales are today. 

The Cajon Pass: A Little HIstory...

Lane’s response was simple:  Driggers had no right to collect tolls at the lower gate in the first place!  Lane reasoned that the lower segment of the road was nothing more than an improvement of an existing public road that had been open to the public for over two decades!

The Cajon Pass: A Little History...

By this time, Brown had completely rebuilt portions of the road.  The problem was that other parts of the road had been ignored and were still in disrepair.  Naturally, quite a few road-users were unhappy about this state of affairs, most notably a Captain Lane and George Blake.  Lane and Blake publicly stated that they would not pay the toll if the road was not repaired by May 1, 1875.

True to his declaration, Lane refused to pay the toll, and Driggers (whom the reader will recall was now in charge of the road) filed a lawsuit against Lane.

In his suit, Driggers charged that Lane with forcing himself past the tollgate without paying on two occasions, and with driving his team around the gate on three others.  The total amount of the suit was $96.

The Cajon Pass: A Little History...

Despite the new-found potential for earning huge profits, Brown decided to lease the road to a San Bernardino man by the name of John J. Driggers.

Taking effect on May 1, 1875, the one-year lease would cost Driggers $125 per month, and it covered all of the structures near the lower tollgate.

In addition, Driggers was supposed to repair and maintain the road as necessary.  Naturally, the lease allowed Brown and his family members to use the road without charge, so long as the family caravans included no more than two freight wagons and one stage coach.

The Cajon Pass: A Little History...

His plans were ambitious, to say the least.  In the fall of 1874, Brown stated that he was going to move the road to a spot where the grade wasn’t so steep.  One wonders why he didn’t build the road with this in mind, in the first place.  Nonetheless, work proceeded, with blasting done in order break the hard rock composing much of the pass.

By February of 1875, the work was done.  Essentially, a new road had been built at the summit, and Brown was ecstatic.  Or, so it seemed.

The Cajon Pass: A Little History...

After an early breakfast, the anonymous traveler and the deputy continued on their way, the next morning.

The article-writer practically gushes about Brown’s road, stating that Brown deserved the community’s gratitude.

To those who were in the business of transporting goods, however, the road’s poor condition was still an issue.  By 1874, the use of Brown’s road had increased dramatically.  This was due, in large part, to the need for supplies in mining towns all over the south west.

Brown could hardly ignore this, and his revenues from the toll road had grown to the point where he finally decided to make substantial upgrades to the road.