[2]: 48 1n 1937, the federal government forced the sale of 7,200 acres of the company’s finest sugar pine tracts, annexing them for protection inside the boundaries of Yosemite National Park.

[2]: 18 The Yosemite Lumber Company constructed a railroad incline to access their timber holdings on a high tableland opposite El Portal.

Yosemite Lumber Company carpenter Louie Farr built a six-foot-long sled for riding down the southside incline above El Portal.

The right edge had a curved metal bar on the bottom that rode on top of the ties at rail height, keeping the sled level.

Many loggers rode the sled down the steep 8,100 feet (2,500 m) slope over the years, with the record from top to bottom being two and a half minutes, exceeding 35 miles per hour (56 km/h).

[4]: 131  The Yosemite Valley Railroad began to run excursion trips to tour the mill at Merced Falls as interest in the lumber plant increased.

[5] The mill was advertised as the “most modern and up-to-date in the entire west.” Logging occurred from April to November due to heavy snowfall in the mountains.

In 1919, the company tested a Climax locomotive, but ultimately returned it due to its inability to maintain a full head of steam.

[4]: 132 In February 1917, the Yosemite Lumber Company and the United States government made a timber trade to preserve the scenery along the Wawona road.

[8] In 1921, the company cut a record 60 million board feet of lumber, added 15 new log cars, and updated some mill equipment.

Despite a fire in September that caused significant damage to the bakery and dining room at Merced Falls, the outlook remained positive.

It employed 700 workers and cut over 70 million board feet of timber, setting an all-time record for the company at that time.

[9] To fund the construction of a new incline, modernize the mill, and relocate the logging railroad, the company raised $5 million through a bond issue.

In 1918, a petition was raised to close the saloons as a war measure, citing the mill's role in support of government contracts.

The reformed company sent the first logs to the Merced Falls mill in September 1935, and during the late season, they cut around 13,000,000 feet of lumber before winter.

By the end of 1942, most of the available timber had been exhausted, and the last train load of logs arrived at the mill from the Yosemite Valley Railroad on November 15, 1942.

The visit of Eleanor Roosevelt and Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, led to a concerted effort to oust the lumber company.

[4]: 170 The mill operated until 1942, supplied by timber from Mariposa and Tuolumne counties north of the Merced River and west of Yosemite National Park.