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The Maricopa Highway
Maricopa Highway is a section of California State Highway 33.
It begins in the Ojai Valley and extends northward through Los Padres
National Forest to the community of Maricopa in Kern County.
That part of the highway that passes over the lands of the National
Forest is also named the Jacinto Reyes Scenic Byway, honoring an esteemed forest
ranger who served in the area for many years.
When Spaniards first arrived, they discovered that Native American people used
the route of the Maricopa Highway for purposes of trade.
Peoples of the southern San Joaquin Valley, known as the Yokuts, would
travel over the mountains to the coast to trade with the coastal Chumash people.
Use of the route for this purpose continued into the California Mission
period.
The Spanish introduced cattle-raising, and cattle were put to pasture in the
valleys of the high mountains during spring and summer months. Before the frosty and snowy weather of winter set in, cattle
would be driven to lower elevations. So
the route of Maricopa Highway was used for cattle drives.
Ventura County was formed as an administrative unit in 1873; and it soon became
apparent that there was no convenient, direct access between the county seat of
Ventura and the high mountain valleys. In
order for residents of those valleys to travel to the county seat, they were
forced to embark on a long, roundabout trip through Los Angeles County.
A more direct route was needed to unite the southern and northern parts
of the county.
As is usual in the face of such major undertakings, a lot of talking went on for
a good length of time about the possibility of constructing the road. Effective action got underway in 1925, when the boards of
supervisors of Ventura, Kern and Santa Barbara counties agreed to create a
Tri-County Road District. As the
work of the district got underway, they immediately encountered an obstacle.
The
Farm Bureau brought suit against the district, asserting that the district had
no authority to issue bonds to finance construction without the approval of the
voters of each county. The issue
became a big legal contest and involved political interests at the state level.
The problem was circumvented, however, when the state agreed to fund the
project in October 1926, without a bond issue. Interesting promotional stunts were carried off to draw attention to the road. A group of hikers walked the proposed route in December 1927, leaving Ventura and walking up and over the mountainous passes. In December of the same year, two motorcyclists negotiated the route and were feted with a dinner in Ventura by the boards of supervisors of Ventura and Kern counties.
The first contracts for construction of the highway were granted in the spring
of 1929. A two-day groundbreaking
celebration was staged high in the mountains at James Wagy’s ranch at the
western end of Lockwood Valley. More
than 2,000 people were present on April 19, 1929.
The Ventura County Star reported that the celebration was “the
biggest day in the history of the Cuyama region.”
The crowd was entertained with a gigantic barbecue, complete with Ventura
“bathing beauties.” Nail-driving
contests, children’s races, yo-yo contests and horseshoes were other
diversions. Construction of the highway was not easy, for dangerous landslides were common. At the outset, the exact route was not entirely certain; and for a time there was talk about directing the road far to the west by way of Murietta Pass. There was also a question as to whether the road should descend one or another of the lower canyons. Construction of all sections of the highway was completed during the summer of 1933. This called for another celebration!
An invitation was sent all across the state for people to attend a free, two-day
celebration, again at Wagy Ranch. The
notice instructed people to, “Leave your purse at home, but bring your table
tools.” Attendance on October 22,
1933, exceeded all expectations, “fully 30,000” reported the Ventura
County Star.
“Some public-spirited group from Ojai brought a huge truckload of oranges; but
only the first-comers got any, there simply were too many comers.”
Afterwards, “From the summit between Cold Springs and Wheeler’s it was a
spectacular sight last night to see the many lines of headlights moving back and
forth down the switchback.” Ventura
County had its highway!
23 by Richard Hoye
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