John Hockaday says he’s no writer. He says he’s just a rancher who became fascinated by Cajon Pass, which passes through his property in Southern California.
“I’m just an old construction worker who likes history,” he told the San Bernardino County Sun.
He must like history a lot. He and his wife began compiling old photos, maps and stories about Cajon Pass, which later became Route 66 and then Interstate 15, about a decade ago. That eventually resulted in an eye-popping 466-page book by Buckthorn Publishing, titled “Trails and Tales of the Cajon Pass: From Indian Footpath to Modern History.”
One of the book’s factoids, as described by the Sun:
Think toll roads are something new? Consider the fact that the Legislature awarded John Brown Sr., Henry M. Willis and George L. Tucker the franchise to operate a toll road through the pass on April 17, 1861, just five days after the first shots of the Civil War.
The toll road, built with a $20,000 state subsidy, operated for about two decades. It cost 25 cents for a man and a horse, a dollar for a horse-drawn wagon, a nickel apiece for loose horse or cattle and 3 cents each for sheep.
Teamsters often drove teams pulling two wagons and a total of 5 tons up the steep parts of the pass.
With heavy loads, they’d often unhitch the back wagon, then pull the front one to the top and then go back for the second.
Hockaday also wrote a book about Camp Cajon.
“Trails and Tales of the Cajon Pass: From Indian Footpath to Modern History” can be ordered for $39.95 from the publisher’s Web site here.
I bought the “Indian Footpath to Modern Highway” book you mentionde above. It is an excellent reference book. I don’t think Hockaday left out anythig about the Cajon Pass
Hi Deanna,
I assume you are the same Deanna that frequents the Awakenings Club in Mo Val. If it is, get back to me.