Mono Lake and Surrounding Areas

Mono

Mono Craters - Mono Lake, CA

Mono Lake
Benton, Benton Crossing
Leevining

and surrounding areas

All Fotocards courtesy of Rich McCutchan unless otherwise indicated.
See USE NOTICE on Home Page.

04/23

Mono Lake - Winter of 2022-2023
(Photo courtesy of Stephen Cunha)

07/23

Tioga Road and Mono Lake
(Photo courtesy of Dwain Goforth)

08/23

Mono Lake from the summit of Mt. Dana
(Photo courtesy of Jeff Rauh)

Mark Twain bust at Mono Lake, CA - August 1939	Greetings from Lee Vining, CA	Mono Lake / U.S. 395 (Three Flags Highway) as seen from Conway Summit
Mono Paoha (Beautiful Spirit) - 1927 (Story courtesy of the Online Archive of California)	Cain Ranch House circa 1923
Owens River Ranch - Bishop, CA	"The Boys" Arcularius Ranch - Bishop, CA

Paiute Indian Village
(Photo courtesy Inyo County Sesquicentennial)

Paiute Village
(Photo courtesy Inyo County Sesquicentennial)

03/22

Photos and Text Courtesy of Alec Holser I just finished putting this together for our family. My father, William “Bill” T. Holser was born in 1920 and died in 1999. He went Caltech and Columbia- eventually becoming a world recognized geophysicist and mineralogist. But as you will read in this piece he wrote in 1996 (and I just typed up) his passion for exploration was born as a youth in the Sierras. Through his life he traveled to every continent and many remote places but I think the mountains and valleys around Death Valley were the most special. We grew up on backpacks from the age of 4 or 5 (he had one of the first Kelty frame packs) and listed to his many stories around the campfire. He notes in this piece that some romantic embellishments may be included but then again the photos really tell the story.
Queen Station on the SPNG (Photo and text courtesy Alec Holser)	The 1926 Dodge sedan and the prospectors pressed into service to haul the initial shipment of tailings to Benton Station. For transport from the tailings pile to Benton Station we rented a small box trailer in Los Angeles, and towed it behind our old Dodge to Benton (Photo and text courtesy Alec Holser)
Here we are with our loaded cars, ready for the engine to haul them away to Laws, to Owenyo, to Mojave, to Salt Lake City. The dust-covered crew happily celebrates a week of hand-shoveling (triply_ 50 tons of tailings into three box cars. (Photo and text courtesy Alec Holser)	Benton Station with our first 50-ton shipment hand-loaded into narrow gauge box cars. Don the track, a shirtless member of our gang discusses the prospects of success with local onlookers, while closer at hand old No. 9 is ready to ease the load down the long curing grade to Owens Valley- whence on to the smelter at Salt Lake City. (Photo and text courtesy Alec Holser)
Memoir of an unrepentant romantic Caltech undergraduate - 1938 - 1942 by William T. Holser
Building our loading dock at Benton Station, using second hand timbers purchased in an L.A. wrecking yard with the proceeds from the initial tailings shipment. The ramp is a steep 10% grade dependent, unfortunately, on the advice of the truck driver. It was no go. The loaded truck was waiting, the scraper loader was idle back at the meadow, our train of gondolas stood empty with demurrage charges looming- it was time for radical action. (Photo and text courtesy Alec Holser)	After a long night of work, the loading platform was lowered by three feet, extended an illegal two feet closer to the tracks of the siding, and the ramp brought down to a grade feasible for the dump truck. Here in the morning Johnny Allingham ,Earl Willams and Pierce Clarke nail down the lats of the flooring planks. (Photo and text courtesy Alec Holser)
Three of the tough guys that the L.A. Times reported (Nov. 4, 1940) , “… have demonstrate that rugged individualism still prevails in this country.” L/R: Bill Holser Pierce Clarke, and Earl Williams (Photo and text courtesy Alec Holser)	Three of the crew gloat atop our first full train out of Benton Station: left to right, Johnny Allinghamn, Pierce Clarke and Earl Williams. The sad state of these old cars, which had been inherited from older defunct narrow-gauge railroads, is seen in the bulging curve of their sides. (Photo and text courtesy Alec Holser)

03/21
Horse Meadows and Bohler Canyon Arborglyphs: History Recorded on the Trees
byNancy Hadlock & Richard Potashin

Nanci Hopler writes:

What a great compilation of Mono County photos! They brought back lots of memories. I recall eating dinner at the Tioga Lodge restaurant on the east side of 395 with the big windows overlooking the lake. Classy place.
The Mono Inn was the site of many great Basque parties, particularly the last one in the fall before the sheep were shipped south for the winter. There would gather herders from several sheep companies, all to mark the end of summer in las montañas. There might be 20+ herders at the bar downstairs, singing, dancing and wishing each other ‘un buen invierno’, a good winter.

September 2020 .

Dining Room and Lobby or Arcularius Ranch - Bishop, CA	Arcularius Ranch - Bishop, CA
Janet Chamberlain writes: Thank you so much for sharing your pictures [of Arcularius Ranch]... my grandparents had a cabin right on the Owen's river... it was private property and there were maybe 10-12 cabins there.. would spend many weeks up there during the summer... best memories. We always made a trip to Arcularius ranch ... it was a treat! I remember getting an ice cream out of the freezer and the big room with Indian rugs, leather furniture, and animals mounted on the wall...I didn't know the address was bishop? The river ran through the ranch and they had "fisherman" cabins there. August 2021
Trout caught in the Owens River at Arcularius Ranch - Bishop, CA	Owens River at Bill Garner's Camp - Bishop, CA
The "Red Cabin" at Bill Garner's Camp - Bishop, CA	Lobby or Arcularius Ranch - Bishop, CA
Catch on the Arcularius Ranch - Bishop, CA	Headwaters of Owens River, Thompson Ranch Resort - Bishop, CA
Log cabin at Thompson Ranch Resort - Owens River, Bishop, CA	The Owens River at Benton Crossing - 1946
Arcularius Ranch - Bishop, CA	Owens River Ranch - Bishop, CA
Thompson Ranch Resort - Owens River, Bishop, CA	Log cabin at Thompson Ranch Resort - Owens River, Bishop, CA
Cabins on Thompson Ranch Resort - Owens River, Bishop, CA - 1935	Old Stamp Mill in Mono County, CA

Arcularius Ranch - Bishop, CA	Benton Hot Springs - Benton, CA
Main Street - Benton, CA	Benton Hot Springs General Store - Benton, CA
Elsie and puppy - Benton, CA	Carson & Colorado RR Benton Depot - Benton, CA
Carson & Colorado RR hauling lumber near Benton, CA	Main Street - Benton, CA
Main Street - Benton, CA	Workers on the Carson & Colorado RR at Benton, CA
Benton Dude Ranch - Benton, CA	Hot Springs on the Benton Dude Ranch - Benton, CA
11/23 Hot Springs on the Benton Dude Ranch - Benton, CA - 1928 (Photo courtesy of the Online Archive of California)	11/23 Indian Village on the Benton Dude Ranch - Benton, CA - 1928 (Photo courtesy of the Online Archive of California)
Benton Hot Springs - Benton, CA (Photo courtesy Inyo County Sesquicentennial)	Benton Hot Springs - Benton, CA (Photo courtesy Inyo County Sesquicentennial)

04/21 Benton School House - 1931 (Photo courtesy of UC Davis Digital Library)	04/21 Benton General Store - 1953 (Photo courtesy of UC Davis Digital Library)
09/21 Arcularius Ranch advertisement (Photo courtesy of Bob Pilatos)	09/21 Carson & Colorado railroad cars in Benton, CA - circa 1900 Photograph of a man standing between two Carson and Colorado Railway cars in Benton, Ca. during a return trip from Keeler, Ca. The date approximation is based on the fact that the railroad passenger car was rebuilt in 1903 without the caboose-style cupola. This is the C&C's unique officers' car. When built in 1896 it had the cupola. Under Southern Pacific ownership in 1903 it was rebuilt to a more conventional office car style. (Photo courtesy of University of Nevada, Reno - Online Digital Collections)
09/21 Benton Station, Carson and Colorado Railroad; Benton, California. A. D. Haig. (Photo courtesy of University of Nevada, Reno - Online Digital Collections)	09/21 The wood team hauling wood for the silver mill at Benton, Nevada; Benton, California; Photograph from the George Wharton James collection of a teamster with his mule team and wagon loaded with wood. circa 1880 - 1889 (Photo courtesy of University of Nevada, Reno - Online Digital Collections)
09/21 The town of Benton, near the line of the Carson and Colorado Railroad; Station was at Benton Station; The town of Benton was about 5 or 6 miles west of the station. circa 1880 - 1889 (Photo courtesy of University of Nevada, Reno - Online Digital Collections)	11/21 One of six caterpillar engines use to haul power plant construction supplies from the SPNG depot at Benton to Silver Lake in the Sierra Nevada. (Photo courtesy of The Huntington Library Digital Collection)
09/21 Benton - circa 1923 - 1926 (Photo courtesy of Huntington Library Digital Collections)
11/21 Benton warehouse on the SPNG (Photo courtesy of Mike Vredenburg)	12/21 Mono Lake, CA (Photo courtesy of ebay)
11/23 Virginia Lakes Lodge, Mono County, CA - 1928 (Photo courtesy of the Online Archive of California)

Benton, CA
Benton, CA
Benton Hot Springs General Store - Benton, CA	Benton Trading Post - Benton, CA
Lee Vining, CA Residents	Frankie and Louie, "The Mahouts" of Lee Vining, CA
Mono Inn - Lee Vining / Mono Lake, CA	Mono Inn - Lee Vining / Mono Lake, CA

08/22

The Nevada Restaurant in Lee Vining, CA - 1948	Lee Vining Market in Lee Vining, CA - 1953
Lee Vining, CA - winter of 1937	Lee Vining, CA - winter
Lee Vining, CA - winter of 1937	Lee Vining, CA - winter of 1937
Lee Vining, CA - winter of 1937

08/21

Benton Crossing - old motor home	Indian village at the Benton Dude Ranch - 1928
Benton Hot Springs 4th of July celebration with the Remingtons
Benton Hot Springs - Earnest Aldeman This is Ernest Samuel Alderman (1888-1947) spending the Summer with his father, Samuel James Alderman (1855-1919) in Benton before graduating in Civil Engineering from Berkeley. S. J. Alderman was also a engineer from Grass Valley came to Benton to be General manager of the mining operations there. The venture which had several academically trained engineers and chemists was predicated on the cyanide process, first to rework tailings. Samuel became a Bishop postmaster and is buried there. His son, Ernest, went on to the State Highway Engineer of Oklahoma. Ernest was in the Cadet Corps while in college and served in Reserves during WWI. I think the star may indicate a cavalry horse blanket. . (Hal Eaton text)	Fowler Remington at his home in Benton Hot Springs
Benton Hot Springs - May 1910 L/R: ?, Lawrence, Thomas, Juliln, Pozzunni (?), Remington	Fowler Remington sucide house at Benton, CA Fowler Remington Suicide article: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Old timers on the Benton Dude Ranch	Paiute Indian Village on the Benton Dude Ranch Benton Paiute Indian Reservation The Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe
Paiute Indian washing at the hot springs on the Benton Dude Ranch
Blind Springs Hill in Benton Hot Springs	Inyo Good Road Club in action near Benton Hot Springs
Benton Hot Springs	Mail headed for the SPNG station at Benton, CA
Cocky Biffar in Benton - 1928	SPNG Benton Station at Benton, CA
SPNG depot at Benton, CA
SPNG hauling a load of lumber near Benton
Looking south along the SPNG at Benton	Looking north along the SPNG at Benton
Benton Dude Ranch with the Paiute Indian Village in the foreground	Early day buildings at the Benton Dude Ranch
Sheep at the Benton Dude Ranch - Benton, CA	Old Mill at Benton, CA
Rodeo Days at the Benton Dude Ranch	Rodeo Days at the Benton Dude Ranch
Rodeo Days at the Benton Dude Ranch	Rodeo Days at the Benton Dude Ranch
Rodeo Days at the Benton Dude Ranch	Rodeo grounds on the Benton Dude Ranch
Arculurius Ranch
11/23 Benton Dude Ranch airport - Benton, CA - 1928 (Photo courtesy of the Online Archive of California)	11/23 Abandoned ranch on highway 120 near Benton, CA (Photo courtesy of the UC Davis Library)

12/21

Camp Tioga - 1923-1926 (Photo courtesy Huntington Library)	Mono Lake store and Post Office - 1923-1926 (Photo courtesy Huntington Library)
The road to Benton, CA - 1924 (Photo courtesy Huntington Library)	The road to Benton, CA - 1924 (Photo courtesy Huntington Library)
The road to Benton, CA - 1924 (Photo courtesy Huntington Library)	11/23 Mono Basin Project - 1935 (Photo courtesy of the Online Archive of California)

Tioga Lodge - Mono Lake, CA	Tioga Lodge tent cottages - Mono Lake, CA
Tioga Lodge dining room - Mono Lake, CA	Mono Lake and Negit Island - Leevining, CA
Indian Field Day near Lee Vining, CA	Mono Lake - Lee Vining, CA
Mono Inn - Mono Lake, CA	Mono Inn - Mono Lake, CA
Mono Inn - Mono Lake, CA	Tioga Lodge - Mono Lake, CA
Tioga Lodge - Mono Lake, CA	Mono Lake from Tioga Lodge - Mono Lake, CA
First Snow at Tioga Lodge - Mono Lake, CA	Mono Lake from Tioga Lodge - Mono Lake, CA

Main Street - Leevining, CA	Main Street - Leevining, CA
Main Street - Leevining, CA	U.S. Pumice & Supply Co. on the shores of Mono Lake, CA
Main Street - Leevining, CA	U.S. Pumice & Supply Co. on the shores of Mono Lake, CA
Murphey's Cabins - Leevining, CA	Catholic Church - Leevining, CA
Mono Inn - Mono Lake, CA	The family at the Mono Lake Post Office
The family at Mono Lake - 1922	John Matley Ranch - Mono Lake, CA

Cain Ranch Club House - 1923	Cain Ranch Club House - 1923
Shop and Garage - Cain Ranch - 1923	Grading Crew, Cain Ranch - 1923
Shop and Garage - Cain Ranch - 1923
Moving Camp to Dead Man
Grading Crew, Cain Ranch - 1923	Grading Crew, Cain Ranch - 1923
Lee Vining, CA	Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - Men's Quarters Long Valley Camp
Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - Long Valley Camp	Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - Long Valley Camp

Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - Mono Craters	Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - Mono Craters
Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - West Portal Mono Craters Tunnel	State Highway near Boulder Lodge - June Lake, CA
Crestview Lodge - Mono County, CA	Crestview Lodge - Mono County, CA
Crestview Lodge - Mono County, CA	Crestview Lodge - Mono County, CA
Excursion boat on Mono Lake - Mono Lake, CA	Volcanic craters on Pahoa Island, Mono Lake - Mono Lake, CA
Mono Lake from Tioga Lodge - Mono Lake, CA	Mono Lake & Mono Craters from Tioga Lodge - Mono Lake, CA
Mono Craters - Mono County, CA	Mono Craters - Inyo County, CA

Mono Craters as seen from Tioga Pass Highway near Carson's Camp	Speed boat racing on Mono Lake, CA Speedboat races were part of mark Twain Days festivities at the Mono Inn. At least 65 people were in this 1933 shoreline crowd viewing the races. A chalkboard appears to be the tally board for race results. The World Championship Hydroplane Races were held on Mono Lake in the 1930s.
"Venita" motor boat on Mono Lake, CA	Mono Lake and the Sierra Nevada
U.S. 395 and Mono Lake, CA	Mono Lake, CA
Mono Lake, CA	Mono Mills - Mono Lake, CA
Mono Mills - Mono Lake, CA	Mono Mills - 2015 (photo courtesy of Ray DeLea archives)
Mono Mills - Mono Lake, CA - 1924 (Photo courtesy The Huntington Library Digital Collection)	01/22 Glen Mattley and wife at Mono Mills - 1923 (Photo courtesy The Huntington Library Digital Collection)
On a dude ranch at Benton, CA	Rodeo Days at Benton Dude Ranch (Frasher Fotocard)
Casa Diablo Mill - 1912 (Photo courtesy of Calisphere)	Mill of the Doged Mining Company in Mammoth City - Circa 1930 (Photo courtesy of Calisphere)

08/22

Old Stamp Mill - Mono County - 1947	Mono Lake and U. S. Pumice Supply Company Plant
Mono Lake and U. S. Pumice Supply Company Plant	Mono Lake - John Matley Ranch
Adam Farrington - Born in Belleville, NV First white child born in Belleville Oldest son of Ina Sweany-Farrington Brothers: Walter Farrington Howard Farrington Sisters: Eva Farrington-Gifford Mabel Farrington-Sproul Hazel Farrington-McAfee	Adam Farrington - First white child born in Bellville, NV
Bob Bradbury writes: William and Archie Farrington purchased the Millett Ranch in Big Smokey Valley in1923 from my relatives, the Millet's. The Farrington's had just sold their ranch in the Owens Valley to the LADWP. The Millett Ranch also had a general store, post office, and school (which accepted Native American students).. The house and the school building are still standing. February 2021
L/R: Adam Farrington, Walter Farrington	Mono Lake - Cain Ranch grain silos
Farrington Ranch - Mono Lake, CA

01/21

Mono Mills photos courtesy of UCLA Digital Library Collections Photos from the 1913 David F. Smith and Henry Hebard West Tour
Wooden building near Mono Lake - 1929 (Courtesy Adelbert Bartlett Papers)	Thompson's log cabin, Owens River
Two cars parked outside the general store in Mono Mills	Men milling about their cars parked outside the general store in Mono Mills
H. H. West's Buick and Dave F. Smith's EMF parked in front of the Mono Mills general store	Mono Mills store, viewed from the side
Packtrain traveling near Mono Mills - (CLOSE UP)	Lumber mill in Mono Mills standing in the distance
View of a lumber worker pushing a cart along railroad tracks	View of a lumber worker pushing a cart along railroad tracks
Mary A. West and Isabelle Smith walk along railroad tracks to the Mono Mills general store	Remains of the Mono Mills sawmill - 1950 (Photo courtesy of the UC Davis Library)
Abandoned right of way, Bodie & Benton 36" Guage Railway at Mono Mills - 1950 (Photo courtesy of the UC Davis Library)	Site of the log camp three miles south of Mono Mills on the Bodie & Benton Railway - 1950 (Photo courtesy of the UC Davis Library)
11/23 Hauling lumber to Mono Mills (Photo courtesy of the Online Archive of California)	11/23 Laminated wooden wheel - Mono Mills Ruins (Photo courtesy of the UC Davis Library)

09/21

Benton Brewery
(Photo courtesy Dorine Mathieu)

Mono Basin Project photos courtesy of Nephi Gleich (unless otherwise noted) Nephi was the foreman on the Shaft #1 excavation part of the project.
Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - DWP School Bus with children from the families at the Mono Basin Project community housing. Circa 1938
Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - Workers in Shaft #1 L/R: Nephi Gleich, unknown, unknown	Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - Shaft #1 circa 1938 The shaft was 1,000 feet deep and 11 miles long
Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - Shaft #1 site circa 1938	Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - Winter dog sled team in action circa 1938
Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - Community housing quarters	Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - housing Community quarters
Nephi Gleich residence in 1938 - the cabin was rented from the city of L.A.	Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - heading out to Shaft #1 - circa 1938
Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - Shaft #1 site circa 1938	Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - Shaft #1 site circa 1938
Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - Community housing quarters circa 1938	Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - Community housing quarters
Nephi Gleich family members	Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - Community housing quarters
Nephi Gleich family members L/R: ?, Joyce ?, Edna Higley Gleich, Nephi Gleich Front: Geraldine Lousise Gleich	Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - Sierra Nevada from Shaft #1 - circa 1934
Mono Basin Project L.A. DWP - ????????	02/23 Mono Lake - Aerial View - February 2023 (Photo courtesy of Mike Elerts)

Mono Basin Project

Mono Basin Project 11 mile long Tunnel

09/21

East Portal Mono Craters Tunnel - Mono Basin Project	Shaft Two Mono Craters Tunnel - Mono Basin Project
Men's Quarters, Long Valley Camp - Mono Basin Project	West Portal Mono Craters Tunnel - Mono Basin Project
East Portal Mono Craters Tunnel - Mono Basin Project	Shaft One Mono Craters Tunnel - Mono Basin Project
Diversion Tunnel Portal, Long Valley Dam - Mono Basin Project	Paiute Indian home in Mono County

Mono Basin Historical Information

11/23

Photos courtesy of the Online Archive of California
Tourist excursion to Paoho Island on Mono Lake - Frasher's Foto	Tourist excursion to Paoho Island on Mono Lake - Frasher's Foto
Speed boat races on Mono Lake - 1933	Speed boat races on Mono Lake - 1933
Mono Lake - 1983	Lee Vining Trout - 1930
The Three Flags Highway along Mono Lake - 1938	Pahoe Island and Mono Lake, U.S. Pumice Supply Company Plant - 1950
Mono Inn - 1926	Mono Inn - 1947
Mono Inn - 1938	Mono Inn - 1406
Mono County Hospital, Bridgeport, CA - 1947	Lee Vining - 1953
Lee Vining, Mono County, CA - 1946	Lee Vining on the shores of Mono Lake - 1938
Camping out at Saddlebag Lake near Camp tioga - 1930	Fern Green Lodge, Mono County, CA - 1941
Green Lakes Camp Trading Post, Mono County, CA - 1929	Mono Lake and Carson Peak, Mono County, CA - 1932

Mono Basin Project workers in the tunnel excavation.	Mono Basin Project workers in the tunnel excavation.
11/23 Historic old Dunderberg Mine, Mono County - 1929 (Photo courtesy of the Online Archive of California)

L.A. DWP Operations in the Mono Basin

Images gleaned off of Ebay
Lee Vining Meat Deliver - Mono Lake, CA - circa 1940	Mark Twain Days speedboat races on Mono Lake, CA - 1933 Speedboat races were part of mark Twain Days festivities at the Mono Inn. At least 65 people were in this 1933 shoreline crowd viewing the races. A chalkboard appears to be the tally board for race results. The World Championship Hydroplane Races were held on Mono Lake in the 1930s.
Fish Fry at Mono Lake, CA	The Mono Marina - Mono Lake, CA
Tramway above the Rush Creek Powerplant - Mono Lake Basin, CA To facilitate movement of warkers and material up the steep 1,250-foot climb above the Rush Creek powerhouse to Agnew Lake (at 8,506 feet), a tramway was constructed. A second section of tramway (picutred) was built from Agnew Lake up to the Gem Lake Reservoir at 9,065 feet.	Mono Lake and Mono Craters - Mono Lake, CA
Main Building of Tioga Lodge - Mono Lake, CA	01/21 Mono Lake, CA

Benton Crossing, CA - circa 1940 (Photo courtesy of Inyo County Sesquicentennial)	Benton Crossing, CA - circa 1940 (Photo courtesy of Inyo County Sesquicentennial)
Mono Lake, CA - circa 1912 (Photo courtesy of Inyo County Sesquicentennial)

Old Mill at Benton, California	Remnants of the lime kilns along the Benton & Bodie Railroad
Remnants of the Benton & Bodie Railroad	Remnants of the lime kilns along the Benton & Bodie Railroad
Remnants of the Benton & Bodie Railroad	Powerhouse Gasoline in Lee Vining, CA
Benton Hot Springs
Benton Hot Springs - circa 1909	At the Benton trading Post - circa 1908
Benton Hot Springs - circa 1909	At the Benton Trading Post - circa 1908
Mono Lake Airport - Gala Day in Honor of Mark Twain - August 4, 1929

Leevining beauty contest on the shores of Mono Lake - circa 1950
(Photo courtesy of Pam Milligan Vaughan)

11/23

Mono Lake bathing beauties - 1933
(Photo courtesy of the Online Archive of California)

01/21

Photo courtesy of the California Transportation Library Digital Collection
1912 - Mono Lake, CA, Pasear Tour

Mono Lake - 1912
(Click here for a close-up of the group of people)

A word about the Pasear Tour - Inyo Good Roads Club
This collection consists of the photographs taken of the 1912 California Pasear Tour by the McCurry Foto Company of Sacramento. The Pasear Tour was organized as part of the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition. Anticipating the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914, in 1911 the United States Congress decided the best way to celebrate would be to hold a world fair, and designated San Francisco as the host city for this exposition. There was an immediate flood of inquiries from all over the country, as to how to best see California by motor car. The Inyo County Good Roads Club proposed that a statewide tourist route be mapped, called the Pasear Tour, that would "present to the tourist the sublimity of the ocean, the desolation of the desert, the grandeur of the Sierras, and the fertility of the valleys." The route would cover three of the principal roads: El Camino Real (San Francisco to San Diego); El Camino Sierra (Los Angeles to Lake Tahoe); and El Camino Capital (Lake Tahoe to San Francisco). The Inyo proposal received support and sponsorship from the American Automobile Association, California Governor Hiram Johnson, the Studebaker Corporation and the California Highway Commission, among others. Maps were produced and the inaugural tour took place in 1912. The motorists consisted of Inyo Good Roads Club members, sponsor representatives and newspaper correspondents. The McCurry Foto Company went along with the caravan of Studebaker E-M-F automobiles and documented the journey in photographs. The tourists embarked from the Palace Hotel in San Francisco on June 10, 1912 and followed El Camino Real south (roughly current US 101/Interstate 5 routes) through Los Angeles to San Diego/Tijuana and then back to Los Angeles. The caravan then took the El Camino Sierra route (now roughly Highways 99 and 395), through the desert country and north up the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada to Lake Tahoe. The tour then pursued the El Camino Capital route (now US 50/Interstate 80), completing the 2,000 mile loop at the Palace Hotel on July 9, 1912.

01/21

Claud Walborn on Mono Lake	Mono Lake at Danbergs - 1940
At the historic Dunderberg Mine in Mono County	In 1926, the Mono Lake kids attended school in a newer building constructed at the same location. Mildred Gregory taught the first term in the new school, which was used until 1942, serving grades one through seven. In 1987, the building was relocated to Hess Park in Leevining, and it now houses the Schoolhouse Museum operated by the MBHS. L/R (first row): Velma Rogers, Elma Hess, Betty Bergan, unidentified, Hilda Sylvester, and two unidentified L/R (2nd row): August Hess, William Sylvester, Danny Rogers, Two unidentified, Mildred Gregory, Jack Bergen, Jean Bergen, Billy Nay, Margie Sylvester, Mary Nay, and Margaret Gilbert.
The El Mono Hotel was built in 1927 in Leevining by Peter Gilli (on the left). Also shown are Gilli's daughter, Rosemarie, and son, Peter Gilli Jr. Gilli bought two lots in the new town from Chris Mattly. He built the hotel in a "military style" he had learned as a Swiss army officer. The loby was a restaurant, and the building housed a dentist office and a barbershop.
Another winter lineup of cars in 1937 shows the Lakeview Camp office and Leevining Market. Bob Currie sold the market and camp to William Banta in 1933. At one time, the business also proided a laundry room, bakery, and post office.
The students at the Mono Lake School in 1897. L/R (1st row sitting on porch): ? Filosena, Albert Sylvester, ? Filosena, Pearl Cavin, ? Filosena, Alice Sylvester, ? Nay, Herbert Dechambeau, and ? Currie L/R (2nd row): W. Currie, Emma Farneman (teacher), ? McGan, ? McGan, Isabel Nay, M. McKnight, A. Nay, J. Currie, M. McKnight, and Alice Currie Bert Lundy is standing to the left. Orvis Nay is seated on a rock. This was the first Mono Lake School house, but not its first school. The Mono Lake School District was founded in November 1888. Until 1922, two schools existed in the Mono Basin. Crater School was south of Lee Vining near the Farrington ranch, located there so families would not have to pay the road toll at Hammond Station, and another was held for two years near Mill Creek in the ground floor of Jerry Miller's house. in 1889, this building was moved from Bodie to serve as a school at a site north of where the Mono Inn now stands. By 1922, the highway toll was no longer collected, and the school board had the building relocated closer to water northwest of Mono Lake.
Mono Lake school house and students.	Advertisement for Mono Lake and Paoha Island
Through the 1930s, Wallace McPherson offered boat tours from the Mono Inn, at first on this excursion boat and later on the 36-passenger boat Venita, named for his mother. The summer boat tours included stops at the gull nesting colony on Negit Island. Today the nestin islands are closed to access to avoid disturbing the birds from April 1 through August 1 but can be reached by boat the rest of the year.
11/22 Mono Lake circa 1905 - Stereogram (M.M. Hazeltine artist)

06/23

Pictured is the view from U.S. Route 395 facing south Conway Summit towards Mono Lake as seen in the April 1937 California Highways & Public Works. The road over Conway Summit was added to the State Highway System as part of the 1909 First State Highway Bond Act extension of Legislative Route Number 23. Conway Summit would be briefly assigned to the corridor of the original CaliforniaState Route 7 during August 1934 onlyto be replaced by an extended U.S. Route 395 a month later.
(Photo and text courtesy of Tom Fearer)

11/23

Leslie Brand photos courtesy of the Online Archive of California
Leslie Brand with one of his airplanes	Leslie Brand's airfield in Glendale, CA - 1920
Leslie Brand in his Tioga Wolf in Lee Vining, CA	Leslie Brand in his Tioga Wolf at Mono Lake, CA - circa 1920

Leslie Brand - 1882	Leslie Brand	Leslie Brand's wife - Mary Louise - 1917
	Leslie Brand's lodge at Mono Lake - 1920

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This page was last updated on 30 April 2024