Freight was brought out from the end of the railroad in San Diego to Julian and its then thriving gold mines.  Once the railroad came as far as Lakeside, and then 9 months later, the short distance to Foster, the freight went that far by railroad.  The dream, of course, was that the railroad would go all the way up to Julian and then down across the desert to Yuma where it would connect to points east.  Once the gold mines ran low on gold, the dream was abandoned. Until then, Lakeside and later Foster were beehives of freight and passenger activity.
  As well as freight being hauled up to Julian by horses, there was also a stage route for passengers wishing to continue beyond Foster.  Everyone thought the stage made good time as it only took 9 hours between Foster and Julian! There was also a stage traveling between Lakeside and Descanso and those horses were changed at the Alpine Tavern Stage Station.  Here in Lakeside, the stage stop was at the Lindo Hotel.
  The freight line and the stage line began operating from Lakeside as soon as the railroad arrived here in 1889.  Soon, the trains continued on to Foster.  After the tracks and the bridge which carried them were washed out during all that rain Mr. Hatfield made in 1916, the railroad was never rebuilt to Foster.  Again, Lakeside was the end of the line. Before that, the town of Foster, which had been named for Joe Foster who owned the stage line and the freight line with Frank Frary, had been a very, very, busy place.  The trains came in; passengers debarked, and took the stagecoach to continue their journey beyond end-of-line.  In checking the research for this article, I came across nothing but praise for one of the stagecoach drivers.  It was Mrs. Foster, herself.  One source said that she was better than most of the men drivers.  High praise indeed, for a female operating in a man's sphere in those days.
  Before the El Cajon Valley Land Company laid out the town, Lakeside was little more than a stopping place between San Diego and Julian for freight wagons.  The greatest handicap was the lack of roads.  The roads then in existence had become roads from Indian trails which had been used to connect the land grants of the area.  Stagecoaches ran from Foster to Ramona, Witch Creek, Santa Ysabel, Mesa Grande, Wynola, Julian, and Banner.  The stagecoaches carried as many as 9 or 10 people inside.  Mail and baggage were carried at the rear under can as.  Springs to ease the ride were provided by two extra heavy straps of cowhide leather, which ran from front to back under the body of the coach, and were held fore and aft by heavy metal clamps.  The ride provided was apparently a cross between a rocking chair and a roller coaster.  It must have been tough on those who