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| View of San Lorenzo Canyon - Author's Personal Collection |
Many tourists recounted their nerve rattling experience traveling up to Big Trees Grove through San Lorenzo Canyon. All agreed it was an extremely beautiful route, but its narrow roadway and sheer drop offs also caused anxiety. In a letter to her hometown newspaper in 1885, Ms. Adele Cheasbro of Kansas described her party's return from Big Trees Grove down San Lorenzo Canyon and reflected upon an incident which occurred to an earlier group of tourists along that same route.
"Leaving here after breakfast, we drove on through the forest, and soon we passed along the precipice where two years ago such a sad accident occurred, caused by the carelessness of a hack driver, who was taking home a load of picnickers in the evening. The point where the hack rolled over was 150 feet above the river bed. It being a solid ledge of rock and almost perpendicular, there was nothing to break the force of the fall, and consequently the horses and several of the people were killed -- but few living to tell the sad story. It was simply wonderful to me when I looked down over the precipice how anybody could survive such a fall.
The accident to which
Ms. Cheasbro
referred was likely the one which took
place in the summer of 1882. The following is an account of that earlier tragedy:
"A coach drawn by four
horses and containing twelve persons beside the driver fell over a precipice
200 feet high, three ladies and one gentlemen being almost instantly killed,
while some of the others are probably fatally injured …"
"A large number of San
Francisco people are camping near to Felton which is near the Big Tree grove
and seven miles and a half from the town of Santa Cruz. All went well at camp
until Friday night. There was proposed a moonlight ride to Santa Cruz, where a
dance was to take place, but this was objected to by many of the party, as the
mountain road was known to be very steep and dangerous; however, a party of
twelve started on the frolic which terminated so fatally. A hay wagon and four
horses were secured at Felton, in which six ladies and six gentlemen left the
camp early in the evening. On the way a slight accident happened to the wagon,
but it was patched up. After the dance and a general good time at Santa Cruz
another team was secured and the party started on the return trip. About two
miles from the camp on the county road, over which they traveled, there was a
particularly dangerous point. The road has been cut along the side of the
mountain and at the point it is narrow and made of planking. It runs also on
the verge of a precipice, several hundred feet high, overlooking the boisterous
stream known as San [Lorenzo] creek. This roadway is so narrow that there is
room for one vehicle only, provision being made at stated intervals for teams
to pass one another."
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| View of railroad tracks in San Lorenzo Canyon - Author's Personal Collection |
"It was about 1
o’clock when the party reached this place. It was very dark, the moon having
set, being then in its first quarter. In some unaccountable manner the driver
lost control of the forward span of horses. The others became unmanageable,
and, backing wildly, the entire outfit, horses, stage and thirteen persons in it,
went down over a precipice, a distance of about ninety feet, into the ravine
below. The stage was demolished, and two of the horses were instantly killed,
or died soon after, and four of the party were also killed and several
seriously injured. Those of the party
who were uninjured crawled out from the wrecked stage as soon as possible and
set about extr[i]cating their companions. The cries of the horses and groans of
the wounded persons were terrible to hear. Two of the party set out immediately
to obtain medical aid, but, not knowing the locality, wandered about in the
woods. About a half hour after the accident two wood-choppers, encamped near
by, hearing the cries of the wounded, came to their assistance. One of them, familiar with the country, set
out for Felton for aid. Rousing the occupants of several houses he secured
their willing help, and, obtaining physicians, a relief party reached the scene
of the accident about four o’clock this morning."
"When an examination
was made, it was discovered that four of the [San Francisco] party were killed, as already
stated, namely: Geo. Scott, son of
ex-Supervisor Scott of this city; Eva Hussey, Ida Cowdery, daughter of City and
County Attorney Cowdery, and Celia Clark."
"The wagon was driven
by a man named Charles Royee, who is employed in a Santa Cruz stable. He
escaped uninjured. One report says he was under influence of liquor at the time
of the accident, and another that he was blamed for carelessness, but not
enough is known of the circumstances to warrant a positive statement. One
account states that the moon had been bright during the whole drive, but at the
point at which the accident happened it became suddenly directly on the path,
frightened the horses, which reared and plunged over the precipice. The fall
was a straight one for a distance of between two and three hundred feet."
Sources: “A Delightful Trip,” by Adele Cheasbro, Miami Republican,
[Paola, Kansas], September 11, 1885; “Over a Precipice – Tragic Termination of a Pleasure Trip,” San Marcos Free Press [San Marcos, Texas],
July 20, 1882.
