make arrangements for a "grand celebration." An advertisement for the celebration was placed in the Mariposa Gazette on 19 June, but a small line at the end stated that the celebration was "postponed until further notice." Work on the intervening section was still not complete. This short stretch was placed into service soon afterwards, and on 24 June 1875, the first passenger stage ran the entire route to the Yosemite Valley. The grand opening celebration for the new road was held on 22 July, with the a performance by the Merced Band, artillery salutes, and effusive poetry to mark the occasion. The festivities were topped off by cocktails at the Cosmopolitan Saloon and a ball which lasted all night. Galen Clark, who had done so much to encourage construction of the road, was a special guest,28 though he must have been terribly disappointed at the failure of his own road plans. The newspaper referred to heavy drinking at the event. The temperature was over 100 degrees, but the Gazette noted that the participants were well-supplied with "preventatives and restoratives," and that no arrests for drunkenness had been made in Mariposa, as everyone had gone to the Valley.29 The paper praised the merits of the new road:
- The new road the completion of which was the cause of the celebration, receives the praise of all, as beside a piece of fine engineering and splendid construction, with very easy grades and passing through a continuous shade amidst the wildest and most beautiful scenery.30
Construction of the route was a major achievement, and for the early travelers the trip must have been quite an adventure. The route was difficult, with a width of only twelve to 15' and grades as steep as 12 percent.31 It featured the steepest descent to the Valley of all the roads, the quick drop from New Inspiration Point. This final steep section crossed a rockfall called the "Washburn Slide" after the chief investor in the road.32
The Yosemite Commissioners authorized a branch road to the Mariposa Big Tree Grove in 1878. This section was completed and opened by the following year; construction of the 2-mile route as far as the Big Tree grant boundary cost $1,250. It left the main road 4 miles south of present Wawona (near the present South Entrance). A second branch road from Chinquapin Flat to Glacier Point was completed in 1882 at a cost of $8,000.33
Galen Clark's bridge over the South Fork needed repairs by this time, and it was covered over with boards sawn at his former sawmill, which had also been acquired by the Washburn group.34 Washburn, a Vermont native, supposedly had the bridge covered as a reminder of his New England home,35 however, like most similar bridges, it may have been covered to protect the main wooden trusses from the heavy snow loads typical of the Wawona area. The Washburns greatly expanded the nearby lodgings at Big Tree Station in 1879; this section became the main part of the Wawona Hotel.
In March 1877, Henry Washburn bought out his partners' interests and in November incorporated the "Yosemite Stage & Turnpike Company" to carry passengers and freight from Merced to "Big Tree Station," the Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point, Nevada Fall and the Mariposa Grove, as well as to points outside the park including Fresno Flats (Oakhurst), the Fresno Grove of Giant Sequoias, and Madera. The company also supplied conveyances and livery services for visitors to the Yosemite Grant and the big trees. Until the end of the year, the South Fork and Yosemite Turnpike Road was administered separately by Washburn, John B. Bruce and J. J. Cook, Washburn's new partners in the South Fork properties; however, in December 1877 the two concerns were consolidated. The stage road to Fresno Flats was completed in 1879, and the Madera road was opened in 1881 at a cost of $60,000.36 Madera was important
