USA > California > Los Angeles County > Pasadena > History of Pasadena, comprising an account of the native Indian, the early Spanish, the Mexican, the American, the colony, and the incorporated city, occupancies of the Rancho San Pasqual, and its adjacent mountains, canyons, waterfalls and other objects of interest: being a complete and comprehensive histo-cyclopedia of all matters pertaining to this region > Part 55
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Mr. Macpherson's actual first survey for any sort of mountain railroad was his own individual project, on a street car plan, with a grade of seven and a half to eight per cent., to be operated by traction motor cars, so con- structed that all wheels should be drive-wheels .* He commenced his sur- vey at Altadena and ran up into Rubio canyon on substantially the same line where the Mount Lowe Electric railroad is now in successful operation. But at that time [January, 1890] the name " Mount Lowe " had never been heard of, though now familiar around the world ; and electricity for oper- ating railroads was not then a well established success. At a point a little below where Rubio Pavilion now stands he crossed to the east side of the canyon and pursued a winding way eastward along the ins and outs of the face of the mountain to Eaton canyon, then up its west wall to a point far above Eaton Falls, into the northwest part of Grand Basin, and so on around, making a total distance of twelve miles to Wilson's Peak or "Har- vard Telescope point," -- for no one had succeeded yet in breaking away from " Wilson's Peak " as the objective point for any sort of roadway to the mountain top. (This was partly due to the fact that there was here a bountiful spring nearer to the summit than anywhere else in the entire range.) He ran his lines, set his stakes, projected his curves, noted cuts and fills for earthwork and rockwork, made his estimates of cost, prepared his profile map, with plans and specifications, and so went into the capital market with something definite and tangible to show for his project. And this is the shape the matter was in when Prof. Lowe was first induced to give it any practical attention - 1890-91.
* Surveyor D. J. Macpherson with six assistants started last Monday to make survey, set stakes, re- cord field notes, and prepare profile of route, statement of cuts, fills, bridges, culverts, tunnels if any be necessary, and all the facts and data for a detailed estimate of cost to build a narrow gauge railroad from the Altadena station on Lake Avenue to Wilson's Peak. It is believed that a route can be found with a grade of 8 per cent., or a rise of 424 feet per mile ; and a car can be built to carry its boiler, engine, coal and water supply, and load of passengers all resting on the drive wheels, so that it can easily climb an 8 per cent grade by ordinary traction. Mr. Macpherson is in the field for business, and his project looks the most like "getting there " of anything that has yet been attempted .- Pasadena Standard, February 8, 1890.
444
HISTORY OF PASADENA.
PROF. LOWE TAKES HOLD.
Prof. Lowe was born and raised amid the mountains of New Hampshire; he was a natural lover of mountains ; and the more he investigated and thought about this mountain railroad project the more it grew upon him, until it became at last the crowning purpose of his life- for in connection with it as a mere business enterprise he also conceived a higher and grander purpose in the interests of science to which it.could be made eminently sub- servient, so that one feature could aid the other, and thus make a double suc- cess in a double service to mankind, above and beyond any other mountain rail- road on the face of the earth. He soon discovered, however, that the terminal grounds on Mount Wilson were parceled and staked and held by various claimants who had only the narrowest cent-per-cent ideas of the project, and who imagined vain things as to the absolute necessity that any road which might be built must come to their grounds anyway. This would greatly em- barrass and hinder the loftier objects he had in view, unless he should buy out all their claims at boom-bubble prices. Meanwhile he pushed investi- gations as to elevation, water supply, and possible accessibility of other mountain eminences nearer to Pasadena, and more conspicuously in view from its multitude of lovely homes. In regard to this period I quote here from a pamphlet by Prof. G. Wharton James, entitled "The Pasadena Mountain Railway," published in 1893, page 12 :
"In the latter part of 1890 he placed a corps of engineers in the field to make thorough surveys. The engineers were instructed to examine all desirable peaks. And with a persistency which to the skilled engineers seemed nothing less than stubborn obstinacy, Professor Lowe kept them engaged month after month, urging them to exercise their utmost endeavors to devise a method of scaling the (to them) unscalable mountain, whilst he himself bent his own trained energies and powers of observation to the work. And as the result of his personal labor and unwearied determination, he was at last able to point out a simple, effective and perfectly safe method of overcoming the chief difficulty in the way of reaching Mount Lowe, which, when seen, was immediately approved and endorsed by the highest engineering authorities. The new survey was undertaken and pushed to its completion with almost incredible speed ; and to the astonisliment of all concerned, it not only was found that the ascent to Mount Lowe could be made with ease, but that-with the exception of the one steep climb which the Echo Mountain Cable overcomes in six minutes-in no place would the grade exceed the slight rise of seven and a half per cent. This new route also revealed further possibilities not before contemplated. It allows the company to erect its stations and hotels at different altitudes to suit the many and varying health-conditions required. The Rubio canyon pavilion is the same height as the Catskill mountains hotels; Echo Mountain House is about the height of Mount Vesuvius ; Mount Lowe is the same altitude as Colorado Springs and Mount Washington ; whilst Observatory [San Gabriel] Peak compares in altitude with the Iron Springs hotel at Manitou, Colorado ."
From this time forward the work progressed steadily in grading and
SAN GABRIEL PEAK
MT. MARKHAM
SIMON STOLL
HON. T. P. LUKENS
[Photo in March, 1893.]
B. F. BALL MISS EDNA M. LOWE
PROF. LOWE
JAMES SMITH J. W. Huaus
A. P. WEST
MRS. C. HENRY STIMSON
J. B. BURNETT
·
MASONIC TEMPLE-WEST-BY-NORTH VIEW. [See page 507.]
RED-OAK TREE. [Quercus Agrifolia.]
On Lower Orange Grove Avenue. This is one of the two trees which decided Calvin Fletcher in locating this Avenue so as to save them from being " cleared off." [See page 361-Orange Grove Avenue.]
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DIVISION SIX - BUSINESS. .
building the railroad, building the hotels, constructing bridle roads, design- ing and establishing novel features to attract visitors, and finally the great searchlight* at the zoological garden, the well-equipped observatory, the printing outfit where the Daily Mount Lowe Echo is printed in the highest style of typographic and photo-engraving art; and other details, a full account of all which would require a volume by itself. When Prof. Lowe had finally decided on the "Great Incline " project, and to build his road to the summit now called Mount Lowe [then known to old settlers as "Oak Mountain"] instead of to Wilson's Peak, a force of men was promptly put upon the grading work, both for the Rubio trolly section and the Echo Mountain cable section, this latter being definitely commenced April 12, 1892, with D. J. Macpherson as engineer in charge of all surveys and con- struction work. Thus Macpherson's long dream of a mountain-climbing railroad went on to realization : not exactly after his own original plan, but as a direct outcome by genetic succession and "modification of species" from it- a clear case of struggle for existence and survival of the fittest- an impressive rescript and geneagraph in the law of evolution. [See cut on page 409.]
THE NAMING OF MOUNT LOWE.
On September 24, 1892, Prof. Lowe led a company of friends on the first ascent ever made on horseback to the summit of Oak Mountain-6, 100 feet above sea-level, or 300 feet higher than Wilson's peak - and first raised the American flag there. The persons accompanying him were: Chas. A. Gardner, editor Pasadena Daily Star; T. W. Brotherton, president Citizens Bank, Los Angeles ; C. W. Brown, vice-president Pasadena National Bank ; Dr. G. Roscoe Thomas of the Pasadena Improvement Co .; Mr. Randall of Los Angeles ; T. W. Parkes, architect ; Master Willard Brotherton ; and Thad- deus Lowe, Jr. The guests understood that this great mountain, the highest of the Sierra Madres that can be seen from Pasadena, had never been named ; and by spontaneous, unanimous and enthusiastic impulse they proceeded to christen it "Mount Lowe," the name by which in two years its fame encircled the globe, and will go down to remotest history.i
*" On Echo Mountain is the World's Fair searchlight -a monster 3,000,000 candle power electric light, almost half as large again as any other searchlight in existence. The beam of light is so powerful that a newspaper can be read at a distance of thirty-five miles [?] in its light, and almost nightly its far- reaching rays illuminate the streets of Pasadena and Los Angeles and light up broad stretches of the valley."- Pasadena Star, December 29, 1894.
+ The Auglaize, Ohio, Republican of December 1, 1892, contained a long letter from Los Angeles, written by some one who was a member of this historic christening party, and from it I preserve the following : "It was discovered that until this time this giant peak, the monarch of the Sierra Madres, was unnamed. One of the party suggested, that whereas Prof. T. S. C. Lowe, the great scientist, had first ridden to the top, had made the first trail to its lofty summit, was the first man to have planted the stars and stripes on its highest point, and was the first man to conceive the project of reaching its dizzy height with a railroad and with courage and means to put such a project into execution, as was now being done, no more fit and appropriate name could be given this mountain than the name of " Mount Lowe." The motion to so name it was put and carried without a dissenting voice; and so there above the clouds it was named, and will continue to be named when every one of the party present at the christening shall have been laid away in mother earth, and generations yet unborn will trace its rugged outlines on their physical geography and call it Mount Lowe. Andrew McNally, the great Chicago map publisher, who owns a beautiful residence and grounds near its base, says the name given is so appropriate that " Mount Lowe " it shall be called on their next maps."
446
HISTORY OF PASADENA.
In building the Rubio trolly section, there were some points so precipitous that workmen had to be let down and supported by ropes from above for several days, before they could excavate a standing place on the cliff or cut a path along its rocky face ; and it required eight months of steady work, by all the men that could be put on it to advantage, to prepare the Great Incline grade ready for the ties. The first time the Great Incline cable was moved by electricity, being also the first event of its kind in the world, was on June 21, 1893. The first regu- lar passenger cars from Altadena to Rubio Pavil- ion were run on June 29- opening day ; and the first THE GREAT INCLINE. passenger trips made on the Great Incline occurred July 4, 1893 .* From this time forward the line was regularly open to Echo Mountain ; and passage from there to summit of Mount Lowe was made by saddle animals.
November 10, 1893, the Echo Mountain postoffice was authorized, with daily mail service .¡ Also a public telephone station, an express office and a Notary Public were added to the conveniences. And on Monday, March 12th, the Daily Mount Lowe Echo commenced its regular daily issue ; a weekly edition was issued on Saturdays, the first one being dated March 17,
* The Pasadena Daily Star said : " When the first passenger car ascended the great cable incline of the Mount Lowe railway on Saturday the band rendered the music of " Nearer My God to Thee ;" and Mrs. Jeanne C. Carr, being asked for a sentiment appropriate to the occasion, broke out into poetry as follows :
" Praise God from whom all blessings flow, And also praise Professor Lowe."
The Mount Lowe Echo credits Comrade John H. Stuntz with buying the first ticket ever sold to go up the Great Incline. He had been a soldier musician in the 10th Pennsylvania Reserves and in the 191 Pennsylvania Veterans ; and on this occasion he played some war-time tunes on the identical old fife which he was using in the army at the same time that Prof. Lowe was serving as chief aeronaut to the U. S. Army.
+ Postmaster George F. Kernaghan of Pasadena yesterday acted as official representative of the United States government in establishing a postoffice on Echo mountain, with Prof. T. S. C. Lowe as postmaster .- Los Angeles Herald, Feb. 10, 1894.
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DIVISION SIX - BUSINESS.
1894. In September the great searchlight was put in place, and commenced its spookish peering into everybody's windows by night, for twenty or thirty miles around ; and during the same month the temporary observatory was completed and opened to visitors, in charge of Prof. Lewis Swift, the famous comet discoverer from Rochester, N. Y. On November 24th occurred the formal opening of the newly completed Echo Mountain Hotel, with a grand banquet held there by the bankers of Southern California -a fraternity in which Prof. Lowe himself stands well to the front.
THE CORPORATE NAME.
The "Pasadena and Mount Wilson Railway Company " was incor- porated June 3, 1891, with the following officers :
President, T. S. C. Lowe, Prest. Los Angeles Safe Deposit and Trust Co. Vice-President, Hon. P. M. Green, Prest. First National Bank, Pasadena. Secretary, A. P. West, Cashier Columbia Savings Bank, Los Angeles.
Treasurer, T. W. Brotherton, Prest. Citizens Bank, Los Angeles.
ADVISORY BOARD.
Hon. H. H. Markham, Governor of California.
Hon. Joseph Medill, editor Chicago Tribune.
Hon. A. G. Throop, founder of Throop Polytechnic Institute, Pasadena. Andrew McNally, of the great Chicago map publishing house.
T. D. Stimson, President Columbia Savings Bank, Los Angeles.
G. G. Green, proprietor of Hotel Green, Pasadena.
J. W. Hugus, President National Bank of Rawlins, Wyoming.
C. W. Brown, Vice-President Pasadena National Bank.
A. C. Armstrong, capitalist, Altadena.
T. P. Lukens, President Pasadena National Bank.
Capital stock, 6,000 shares of $100 each, or $600,000.
As events developed, the corporate name soon became a misnomer-for, as before explained, Mount Wilson dropped entirely out of the reckoning ; and in Prof. James's pamphlet of 1893 it is, with full consent of the Com- pany, called the " Pasadena Mountain Railway." But later it was re-incor- porated as the " Mount Lowe Railway Co."- a more brief, convenient and correctly descriptive title, and by this fitter name it goes down to history.
PASADENA'S MOUNTAIN RAILROAD CELEBRATION.
The first time the city council of Pasadena ever officially proclaimed and set apart a public holiday of their very own, was August 23, 1893- and this was in honor of Prof. Lowe, and the opening to the public of his great Electric Mountain Railroad resort. The city had held "railroad opening " celebrations twice before, but none to compare in magnitude, enthusiasm and splendor with this one. It was like 4th-of-July and National Thanksgiving day and Tournament of Roses all happily fused into one superlative demonstration. The streets were thronged to a jam with a great public parade, in which the city with one unanimous impulse outdid all its former efforts at festive jubilation. The arrangements were made by the Board of Trade, and carried out jointly with the city authorities.
448
HISTORY OF PASADENA.
Prof. Lowe was accompanied by Gov. Markham, Mayor O. F. Weed, and A. R. Metcalfe, Esq., in a carriage ; and in the grand escort procession the place of honor at the head was accorded to the old soldiers (G. A. R.) committee, consisting of Post Commander W. J. Barcus, R. H. Williams, A. L. Petrie, Benjamin Jarvis, A. M. Elson, and Hon. C. M. Simpson. The city marshal, John T. Buchanan, was grand marshal of the parade, with numerous aids. The speechmaking and indoor program was held in the Tabernacle, which had been elegantly and appropriately decorated by Dr. F. F. Rowland, C. H. Hovey of the Raymond nurseries, and others who lent a hand ; and the great building was thronged to the last inch of squeez- ing in that was possible. Hon. P. M. Green was president of the day ; Rev. J. B. Stewart, D. D., chaplain ; editor Charles A. Gardner, poet ; and Prof. O. W. Kyle, music director. And special committees had charge of various parts of the day's doings. (In the evening a grand banquet was given at Hotel Green.) From the many speeches at the Tabernacle I quote from the Daily Star's report a few passages for historic preservation. Hon. P. M. Green said :
"The railroad, the opening of which we meet to celebrate today," added Mr. Green, " is so unique in its general character and design, so bold in its conception, and in itself such a triumph of engineering construction and skill, as to challenge our unbounded admiration. This celebration com- memorates the most important event in the history of Pasadena. The Mount Lowe railway has the distinction of being one of three mountain railroads proper in the United States and the rare distinction of being the first and only one operated by electricity. It had been the good fortune of the speaker to know something of Prof. Lowe's enterprise from the start and to remember with what scorn and incredulity his proposition to build a road into the mountains was first received. They overlooked the fact that the projector of this enterprise was no ordinary railroad builder, but a scholar, engineer and scientist all combined, fully acquainted with the silent, power- ful and occult forces of nature.
"After dwelling upon the toil and anxiety attendant upon carrying for- ward this great project, Mr. Green referred to the financial difficulties of the undertaking, in surmounting which Prof. Lowe had thrown his own private fortune into the scale and overcome every obstacle, bravely winning the right to be regarded as one of the ablest financiers in the land."
Gov. H. H. Markham said :
"Our honored guest has completed a railroad almost entirely with his own means ; certain it is, he has had to place himself responsible for every dollar it has cost. None of us can fully appreciate what Prof. Lowe has done and is still doing for Pasadena and Los Angeles county, nor can we appre- ciate the time, energy, patience, intelligence, and financial outlay incident to the successful completion of such a stupendous undertaking for a single in- dividual. The idea of building a mountain road in Pasadena was not an original idea with Prof. Lowe. No, there were several of us here who had taken the subject up, had talked and talked about it, studied over it and worked it out all of one winter ; and in the spring we talked it over again, and virtually at last gave it up. Prof. Lowe began to work and talk, and
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DIVISION SIX - BUSINESS.
talk and WORK ; and without a hitch or a halt he has succeeded in grandly overcoming all obstacles, and today his work and his enterprise is crowned with success."
Of Hon. A. G. Throop's address the Star says :
" The introduction of the venerable 'Father Throop' was the signal for a great outburst of applause, which continued for several seconds. He made a characteristic off-hand speech that evoked great laughter and much applause, the leading theme of which was that it is the duty of every man to do what he can for his fellow-men. He referred to Mrs. Lowe in highly complimentary terms as the power behind the throne of her gifted husband,* and made some humorous allusions to the blessings of the married state that aroused general merriment. To those who had become frightened over the financial stringency he proffered the advice that they take their money out of their old stockings and invest it in the bonds of the Mount Lowe railway. The building of a great observatory on the mountain summit will follow, if Prof. Lowe receives this sort of encouragement, and Pasadeda will lack nothing to make it a perfect place of residence."
From Prof. Lowe's response I quote a few passages :
" It is a great satisfaction to myself and fellow-workers to feel that our work has met with your approval. If anything will stimulate one to farther exertions, your presence here today to celebrate what we have accomplished will surely have the desired effect. X * When I first heard of Los Angeles, Pasadena, and the great San Gabriel valley, I got the impression that it was a vast plain with but few if any mountains near it ; but when in the summer of '87 I first landed in Los Angeles I was struck with the extent and beauty of the mountains, and my first ride was to Pasadena and the foot-hills of the Sierra Madres. I was then fully impressed that it required only the means of reaching the various interesting summits to enable one to enjoy all the atmospheric changes and temperatures that are usually sought after by thousands of miles of travel, extending even to Europe and the elevation of the Alps. It was with a full, open belief that the means of scaling these mountains would soon be provided, that decided myself and family to make our final home in this locality.
"The railway to the mountains was even then being talked of, and a small telescope, under the auspices of Harvard University, had proved the superiority of the atmosphere on these summits for astronomical purposes. I, at this time, had no idea of taking upon myself the whole labor and ex- pense of building the road to the summit of these or any other mountains ; but always felt that when others would start such an enterprise, I would be one to aid by making a liberal investment in the same. Consequently the bulk of my fortune was invested in other enterprises 'before I fully decided to build the road, the opening of which you are today so generously and enthusiastically celebrating. Had I earlier decided to build this road entirely with my own means, if necessary, I should have deferred investments in other directions. Again I thank you for your aid and encouragement, and trust my future work will meet with the same hearty approval as my past efforts have by your demonstration today."
From an editorial in the Daily Star of same date I quote a few sentences that should go into this permanent historic record :
* See article on "Leontine Falls," page 382, for another mention of Mrs. Lowe's relation to the great enterprise.
29
450
HISTORY OF PASADENA.
"Half a dozen years ago Prof. Lowe came to this city to seek rest and recuperation which its climate and inspiring surroundings promised. Feel- ing rejuvenated after some months residence, he began to explore the neighboring mountains, for he was born and spent his boyhood days on the flanks of the White mountains of New Hamphire and acquired an absorbing and legitimate passion for mountain scenery. * * At last he formed the determination to give his friends and neighbors an opportunity to share with him the magnificent new scenes visible from the summits of the Sierra Madre
mountains. * He placed surveyors in the field to locate a feasible route to the summit of a range higher than Mt. Wilson. They reported it insurmountable for railway purposes. Prof. Lowe had been accustomed to overcome what to others seemed insuperable obstacles. Nothing daunted by adverse reports, he studied the topography. of the mountain range himself, and ascertained that if he could scale the steep promontory now so well known as Echo Mountain, a practicable grade could be projected thence to the highest summit. By a bold stroke of genius he made the very impedi- ment placed in his path by nature contribute to a brilliant success. He devised the electric cable incline, the only one in the world, by means of which five miles of grading was saved to the company and an hour's time to the traveler. Special machinery had to be planned for the enterprise ; and numerous drawings were made, and altered, and revised, until at last the company secured just what was wanted."
Two days after this Pasadena celebration, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce testified its appreciation of the Mount Lowe Railway, as a mag- nificent project of lasting benefit to Los Angeles and all Southern Cali- fornia, by giving a grand banquet in Prof. Lowe's honor at Redondo.
1
1
PROF. T. S. C. LOWE -1894.
HONORS AND WEALTH ALL FAIRLY WON.
· In an article on Prof. Lowe's career the San Diego News con- densed into good form, the four great inventions upon which his well-earned fame securely rests, and I quote it here as a proper part of this historic narrative :
I. He originated and organ- ized the balloon corps of the U. S. army, which did such efficient service during the war of the rebellion. By his method tele- graphic communication between the balloon and the earth was established, so that the move- ments of the enemy were imme- diately known at headquarters, even during the progress of battle.
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