09/07/2026
Here's our belated August, 1926 edition of Camp Cajon, 100-Years-Ago, by researcher Gary Smith and Mark Landis (we’ll try and catch up this month). These monthly articles are a "deep dive" into the history around Camp Cajon, and the famous highways that passed through the area, such as Route 66 and National Old Trails Road.
100 Years Ago – August 1926
By G. E. Smith and Mark Landis
August 1926 saw the number of minor mentions of Camp Cajon climb to 22 for the month, rivaling the frequency seen during the camp’s earlier years. To be fair, eight of those mentions came from an advertising piece promoting the Big Pines resort area, while four more were reminders of an upcoming “Watermelon Feed” to be held at Camp Cajon by the Fraternal Order of Eagles on August 20.
“Bring the Ladies” was one of the tag lines, apparently intended to assure everyone that this would be a wholesome affair where the men would behave themselves. However, the August 8 edition of the San Bernardino Sun reported that the sponsoring group, Eagles Aerie No. 506—still active as of 2026—had changed its plans and moved the event to Irvingdale.
The Colton Daily Journal of August 11 carried a short article on a meeting of the San Bernardino Ad Club held that day in Colton. William Bristol, founder of Camp Cajon was the guest speaker, discussing “The Rancher’s Viewpoint on Advertising” as well as his candidacy for the Fifth District seat on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. The newspaper described Bristol as “keen and witty” and reported that his remarks were enjoyed by those in attendance.
A San Bernardino Sun advertisement published August 30, 1926, may have been the only advertising Bristol himself did on behalf of his campaign (Photo 1). As he admitted in the article, his friends seem to have done most of the heavy lifting. From a modern perspective, Bristol’s candidacy almost comes across as a lark rather than a determined effort to win public office. He essentially acknowledged that his priority was completing construction of the Acorn Lodge, his sprawling new home in Wrightwood, rather than convincing voters that he was the best man for supervisor (Photo 2 & 3).
In the advertisement, Bristol invited his constituents to join him at his unfinished Acorn Lodge where he was serving a steak dinner and providing a tour of the infamous San Andreas Fault that slices through the Cajon Pass and Swarthout Valley, where Wrightwood is located (Photo 4, 5, 6, & 7).
No similar invitation was extended to constituents to visit Camp Cajon, although the camp was mentioned in passing as part of his past. This continued what had become a familiar pattern with Bristol: brief references to his former roles as rancher, author and poet, but little emphasis on the years he had devoted to Camp Cajon.
One interesting feature of the advertisement is its border design, which incorporates a traditional Southwestern Native American symbol. Long before its appropriation by N**i Germany, variations of this ancient symbol appeared in Native American art and traditions of the Southwest, including among the Hopi and Navajo.
Another Bristol article appeared in the Sun on August 1 under the headline “By-Pass Road Up Swarthout Now Planned.” Swarthout Canyon was the route early roads used to get from the Cajon Pass to the Wrightwood area. The article expanded on Bristol’s previous discussion of the proposed roadway and reported that plans were now moving forward toward their completion.
According to Bristol, $114,000 had already been spent on the new road. There were also plans to improve the older lower section that connects with the National Old Trails Road, predecessor to Route 66, near Blue Cut. Spoiler alert: as of 2026, that portion of the plan never happened, and that section of the road is still a rough dirt road.
Completion of the new all-weather road would make it considerably easier for motorists to reach Wrightwood and Big Pines. Bristol also pointed out that the route formed another link in the larger concept of allowing motorists traveling between Southern, Central and Northern California to bypass Los Angeles and its traffic—which, even then, was considered a good thing. The bypass road would become today’s Highway 138 (Photo 8 ).
Major news concerning improvements to National Old Trails Road appeared in the August 27 edition of the Victor Valley News-Herald. State highway crews had begun oiling the surface of the road between Victorville and Barstow, along with other sections of the route. Depending upon conditions, the work was expected to continue eastward from Barstow to Daggett.
Heavy oil was applied to the roadway from tank trucks and followed by light harrowing, which mixed the oil into the existing road surface. When properly mixed and applied, the resulting surface was expected to become firm, relatively smooth and durable—approaching the smoothness of asphalt.
The newspaper cautioned that this type of oil-treated roadway was not as strong or resistant to wear as standard asphalt or concrete pavement. Nevertheless, oiled roads did provide good service in some locations at considerably less cost. Much depended upon the quality of the underlying foundation. A poor or thin base could break apart quickly, producing cracks and potholes that became progressively worse under traffic.
For motorists accustomed to driving over loose gravel, the new surface represented a substantial improvement. The unanswered question was how well it would withstand the increasing traffic—and particularly the heavier vehicles—that were beginning to use the highway.
Photos 9 - 11 come from the grading contractor’s Final Report on Contract 476, dated July 8, 1926, covering sections D, E and F of California Legislative Route Number (LRN) 31, which later became Route 66. The first photograph shows the roadway at Station 40 before work began; the second shows the same location after grading and oiling. The location can also be identified on CS 3167, Sheet 4, dated August 9, 1926, approximately three-quarters of a mile north of Helendale.
E.Q. Sullivan of the California State Highway’s District VIII began significantly improving the surface of the desert roads in 1925, and now the same principals were being applied on a much larger and more important scale—to one of the principal transcontinental automobile routes in the United States.
As discussed in previous “100 Years Ago” articles, the process involved considerably more than simply spraying heavy oil—or, conversely, thin tar—over a smoothed dirt or sand roadway. Instead, the oil was sprayed onto the prepared road and then thoroughly mixed into the existing surface material. The result was a thicker, firmer and more durable roadway that required less maintenance and provided a much better surface for automobile travel.
It was not a true substitute for a fully paved asphalt or concrete highway. Automobile traffic was increasing rapidly, and truck traffic would eventually make modern paved highways a necessity. Sullivan’s oil-treated surfaces simply could not provide the strength or longevity of permanent pavement.
For the moment, the method represented an important intermediate step in transforming the National Old Trails Road across the Mojave Desert—from Needles westward to the summit of Cajon Pass—into a faster, more reliable automobile highway. At this point, passenger automobiles were the primary concern; heavy truck traffic had not yet become the dominant factor it later would on the desert highway.
For tourists, the improvement was dramatic. A journey from Needles to the Cajon Pass that had previously consumed nearly two days could now be accomplished as one very long day’s drive. That was a major achievement and a considerable credit to E. Q. Sullivan and the highway crews responsible for the work.
For Camp Cajon, however, there was another side to that progress.
The better the National Old Trails Road became, the less essential Camp Cajon was as an end-of-the-day stopping place for travelers coming off the desert. If motorists could make the journey from Needles to San Bernardino in a single day, many were naturally inclined to push through those final 20 or so miles of Cajon Pass and continue into the city.
Certainly not everyone did so. Camp Cajon still offered travelers a welcome place to stop, rest and enjoy the surroundings (Photo 12). But every mile of the National Old Trails Road that became smoother, faster and easier to drive reduced, by a small degree, the Camp’s importance as a necessary stopping point.
Improved roads were changing the very nature of automobile travel. Instead of planning a day around the limitations of the highway, motorists could travel farther and begin choosing their stops based upon convenience and accommodations. San Bernardino offered hotels and other services, while the roadside cabins and motor courts that would soon evolve into the modern motel were beginning to reshape where automobile travelers spent the night.
Ironically, the highway improvements that made Camp Cajon easier to reach were also helping make it easier to pass by.
Camp Cajon was gradually changing from a place travelers needed to stop into a place they had to choose to stop—and that distinction would become increasingly important as the automobile age moved forward.
