I only know what
Dorthy Albitre told me and this was about 1947. She did not want her son Dan and I down by the bridge because it was dangerous, but we sneaked off anyway (we were 8 years old). The bridge had the sides knocked down many times from cars crashing through it and plunging over the edge and down into the sandy banks of the
Posey creek. It was rebuilt time and time again but remained named White's
Bridge. The sharp curve where it was located, was named DEAD MAN'S curve because of the idiots that came barreling thru on the Woody-Glenville road (the old 1776 Padre
Garces road) and hanging up on the rails of the bridge.
The area (on the old
Garces Road) where the bridge was built was on the old Buterfield state route from
Delano to Glenville to Alta Seirra.
No I don't know when
Harrison White was there, on the survey team. Interesting that he is listed as a wagoneer in your census records. You say he was 1880 in
Tule River,
Tulare Co,
Kern Co......this is now part of Porterville and the survey teams operated a headquarters from there for a while for the recruitment of laborers and wagoneers and getting their supplies.
The bridge was built where it was, due to there was quick sand above that point and below it, It would have been better to have built it about 1000 yards to the west but as I said there were pot holes of quicksand. The bridge was built over the area where the
Butterfield stage coaches passed over
Posey creek. The Buterfield stages stopped at what is now the
Albitre Ranch (you can see the bridge from the ranch house). Often the coaches would be damaged while crossing the creek and it was necessary to pull into the old
Stage stop for repairs and sometimes to stay over night in the log cabin there. (now the
Albitre ranch)
When I was a foster child of Dorthy's ,the old log cabin that was used by the
Butterfield Stage line for repairs from crossing the river etc was still on her property, her ranch hand
Foster Knopf and his wife lived in it. By 1953 it was torn down for firewood.
You might check with the Historical society of Porterville and Bakersfield to see what they have on the WHITE
Bridge.
No I am no relation to
Harrison White, just know about his being part of the survey team and when it came time to name it, they played "mumbly peg" for it. (mumbly peg was a game of tossing a knife up into the air and if it stuck into a piece of wood it was a point, if not then the player was deleted from the game. Harrison White did not win. The man who won, had earlier sliped into a quick sand pot hole and
Harrison was quick to save him by pulling him out. So he told the surveyor team to name the bridge for
Harrison White. Dorthy told us this story to impress upon us that it was not only dangerous to be down at White's bridge because of crazy drivers, but because of the quicksand around it. But as I said we sneaked off and went down there anyway. The big frogs, crawfish, trout, fresh water musllels etc were TOOOO TEMPTING.
thank you for the other interesting information, always fun to learn
Kern Co History. Dorthy died 1996, Dan died 1998 and Dan's brother
Remick Ernest "
Lugar" died 2004. I am 66 now.
Jo