CHAPTER VII - EXCERPT

The Monroe family was experiencing what must have seemed a belle époque—a beautiful age—especially when they looked back upon their difficult past. George Monroe, now in his thirties, had distinguished himself as an expert teamster and achieved wide acclaim. His parents had established a secure income through their ranch in the pastoral Sierra foothills. George, too, was secure in his job and had joined the fortunate few who could call Yosemite Valley their home.

It is not surprising that George seems to have kept his youthful exuberance. Much of his time off the job was spent exercising his horse, a sorrel mare that he called Lady Lightfoot . Though his work hours were usually spent piloting stages at a measured pace amid clouds of dust, on his days off he and Lady Lightfoot could cut loose, roam the trails and roads, and feel the fresh, scented air in one of the most beautiful places on earth. At times, Monroe might be seen urging his mare into a full-out gallop, dashing along the meadows of Yosemite Valley.

Ed Washburn  and his brother, John, had returned to California in 1878 to join Henry in running the hotel business along with John Bruce. Interestingly, by 1881 Bruce’s uncle, Albert O. Bruce, was working for Moses Rodgers at the Washington Mine in Hornitos. Rodgers also had become a co-owner of the Eureka Mine that Washburn and John Bruce had leased back in 1865. [i]

Sixteen years had passed since Washburn left the mining business to pursue Yosemite tourism, and sixteen years since Rodgers was elected, under Louis Monroe’s chairmanship, to represent the Mariposa area at the 1865 “Colored Convention.” Much of the promise and optimism of that convention had come to pass— Moses Rodgers was now a highly successful mine engineer and owner, and Louis and Mary Monroe now owned and operated a large ranch. George Monroe had become the most famous employee of Washburn and Bruce, whose Yosemite Stage & Turnpike Company  now boasted an inventory of 173 horses, with 27 vehicles in their “rolling stock” that included nineteen stages. [ii]

In August 1881, a writer for the Mariposa Gazette described a personal tour of the Mariposa Grove  that was led by John Bruce:  

“ … The idea of a large stage-coach loaded with passengers, drawn by six horses, passing through one of the monster trees at its base or trunk, sounds like a fairy tale, but it’s a fact, nevertheless.

   … We were accompanied to the big trees by Mr. and Mrs. Bruce and their children, who, with our own force, made up a complement of thirteen, who took passage in a four-horse stage with Mr. Fred Brightman  as reinsman.

   … On our return Mr. Bruce directed the stage to the Fish Camp , a place of some note on the Madera road ….” [iii]  

Just seven months after the excursion, in March 1882, Johnny Bruce died unexpectedly at age 45, reportedly from a seizure. [iv]  

Though mourning the loss of his nephew and longtime partner, Henry and his two brothers soldiered ahead, continuing to invest and grow their business. At the same time, Mary and Louis Monroe were expanding and improving the family farm near Mariposa. In the 1880 census, Louis now gave his occupation as farmer and seems to have closed his tonsorial saloon around this time, and George, having moved to Yosemite Valley, is no longer listed as one of the household. Louis Monroe added acreage to Mary’s original land claim with new pre-emptions in 1880 and 1884, as did George in 1881, 1883, and early 1886, bringing their combined holdings to an impressive 480 acres. [v] Mary’s brother, George Millen , rejoined the family after twenty years of blacksmithing in Trinity County, setting up shop on the Monroe property by 1884. [vi]

"A very well written, carefully documented story."
  – Dr. John Oliver Wilson, School of Social Welfare,
University of California at Berkeley