Remembering

Remembering Tuolumne

By Joseph Celentano, Historical Research Committee

Internet E-mail: JCelentano@TuolumneMuseum.org

THE EXCURSION

TO THE PINES

Two Thousand People Enjoy the Day of Days.

Nothing was Too Good for the Gay

Throngs of Guests --Pleasure’s Wand

Waved Everywhere.

The greatest excursion, both in point of numbers and entertainment, ever witnessed in Tuolumne or several other counties around, came off on

May 26^th, 1900

when something like 2,000 people, as guests of the West Side Flume and Lumber Company and the Sierra Railway Company, were lavishly entertained. The hosts paid no attention to the dollars, even though it took thousands of them to settle the hospitality bill – their only object was to please and they sent their friends down a pathway of pleasure strewn deeply with all the good things in the markets of God and man.

Everything was conducted on a vast scale of liberality, nor was any person so obscure but what he or she was showered with solicitous attention.

A special train made up of a day coach, two Pullman sleepers and dining car arrived in Carters at 3 o’clock Saturday morning carrying a party composed of high officials of both companies, together with their relatives and friends. Stockton and way towns came in on the regular Friday passenger train.

However, it was the Tuolumne contingent that was expected to make multitudes out of crowds and it more than lived up to the contract. Sonora and Jamestown were the collecting points and from these arrived eight flat cars loaded to the guards with joyous men and women – by a wise order “kids” were barred. As the trains pulled into Carters, a deafening salute of welcome was fired from the hills surrounding the West Side Co’s new store building, one thousand sticks of giant powder being exploded in rapid succession. Then the real entertainment began.

The following officers of the two big companies were present: West Side Flume and Lumber Company President Henry J. Crocker, William H. Crocker, Thomas S. Bullock and C.T. Bliss; Sierra Railway Company President Prince Andre Poniatowski, Vice president Henry J. Crocker, General Manager Thomas S. Bullock, Assistant General Manager S.D. Freshman, General Superintendent W.C. Potts and General Passenger and Freight Agent S.H. Smith. The list of guests included many of the most prominent people in the State.

The crowds were shown over the big sawmill, which was sawing in full blast, and a few minutes before 10 o’clock in the morning all hands were ready to board the cars of the narrow gauge, which were fitted with rustic seats. Preparatory to the start, souvenir lithographs and copies of The New Era were distributed. Two Heisler engines were ready, each drawing nine cars, the eighteen having as passengers between 1300 and 1400 people. The trip over the narrow-gauge, one of the greatest scenic roads in the county, was heartily enjoyed, each change in Nature’s panorama being greeted with exclamations of delight. At Camp 8 (Nashton), the leading engine suffered a slight mishap, and this made it compulsory for the travelers to walk the quarter of a mile still to be covered before reaching the spot where the tables were set for luncheon. But the people were ready for any emergency and good-naturedly tramped the distance. The hungry on arrival found three tables, each longer than they had ever before dreamed could exist, and all groaning beneath a weight of good things sufficient to feed an army, much less than a thousand and a half of excursionists. But Henry J. Crocker, in evidence all the time in the effort to see that everything passed off nicely, had given orders that there should be a double sufficiency, and there was.

A fine orchestra played during the dining hours, and after the feast, the next thing was a trip to the woods over roads swept clean for the occasion.

The visitors were shown a lumber camp in actual operation – saw three giant sugar pines go crashing to the ground, saw the donkey engines snaking them about, and the more powerful bull donkeys draw a series of huge logs to the loading points.

The return in the evening was made with but one engine, the repairs to the disabled one being completed. The single Heisler thus was in just the middle of the train, and pushing nine cars while drawing a like number, each with an average of 80 people aboard, sailed back to Carters without a skip. It was a great ride, though some nerves squirmed a little when in turning the sharp curves the long train made such a loop that those on the front car could almost shake hands with their fellow travelers on the rear one.

Dinner was served immediately on the return trip to Carters in the new store building of the West Side Company, the entire ground floor space being utilized as a dining room. At this dinner, of which almost two thousand partook, there was a surfeit of everything, even of the rarest delicacies, and the service of a large corps of trained waiters was simply perfect, in keeping with every other arrangement of the colossal social function.

At night, there was a grand ball on the second floor, which lasted until morning. The hall was handsomely decorated with flags, bunting and Japanese lantern, while potted plants were in every window. Music was furnished by Prof. Steele’s orchestra of ten pieces.

And so ended the excursion and entertainment – superlatively grand and an event that will be remembered longer than any passing show.

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[Reprinted as it originally appeared in The New Era, June 1, 1900. In the Tuolumne City Memorial Museum, West Side Lumber Company exhibit, there is a 15” x 44” framed photograph of the two picnic trains stopped for a photo session at River Bridge depicting this memorable event.