The Road Over: Center Point - Old Banos - Pacheco Pass

by Ralph Milliken

This book is a history of Center Point, Old Los Banos, Pacheco Pass and the road through. Pacheco Pass is a far cry from the original footpath used by the Yokut Indians of the &eat Central Valley. Indians had used this path for hundred of years as a trade route, trading with coastal tribes for the shellfish they used for jewelry. The first European that traversed the pass was (Gabriel Moraga trave1ing on horseback to explore the Tulare Valley in 1805. This opened a road from the coast to the Great Central Valley of California. Cattlemen and settlers followed though it was not until the Gold Rush that the influx of travelers and goods over the footpath necessitated the need for a real road. Andrew Firebaugh saw this need and in 1856 constructed a toll road through the pass. This forerunner of today’s highway, traversed by more than 50,000 cars a day, became the gateway to development of the Great Central Valley. Henry Miller made use of this road to develop his cattle empire. Towns sprung lip, counties were formed. Things haven't changed that much, today the Pacheco Pass is still bringing people to the Great Central Valley.

Paperback

Published January 1, 2002