Sonora Mono Toll Road

Oldest of the Trans-Sierra Emigrant Trails to California is spectacular Sonora Pass crossed by Highway 108, second highest (9,626 feet) of all the highway crossings of the range. The Bartleson-Bidwell Party, with mules, horses and oxen, made the first crossing on October 18, 1841. This route was not attempted by wagons until 1852. "Grizzly" Adams took the trail over Sonora Pass in April, 1854, and reported "on all sides lay old axle trees and wheels....melancholy evidence of the last season's disasters." The present route first projected in 1862 was finally completed as a toll road, due to the extreme cost, by Mono, Tuolumne and Stanislaus Counties in 1865. It was said to take three weeks for a six-horse team to make the round trip between Sonora and Bridgeport.

Plaque dedicated September 10, 1983
Bodie Chapter No. 64
Matuca Chapter No. 1849
E Clampus Vitus