The genial Secretary of the Interior showed him into a little office and said, “There’s your desk, Steve; now go to work.” With that Lane went out and closed the door, but presently opened it and said, “By the way, Steve, I forgot to ask what your politics are.”
With such brief preliminaries did Stephen T. Mather assume directorship of the national parks. He served through the presidential administrations of Wilson, Harding, and Coolidge, but the matter of his politics was never inquired into by any party.
Stephen Mather was born on the Fourth of July, 1867, in San Francisco. His ancestry traces back to Richard Mather, a Massachusetts clergyman of the days of the Pilgrim Fathers. Stephen T. Mather was not a scion of wealth. As a young man, he made his way through college by selling books. He graduated from the University of California in 1887 and for several years was a newspaper reporter. Thereafter, he entered the employ of the Pacific Coast Borax Company and was identified with the trade name, “Twenty-Mule Team Borax,” that became well known around the world. For ten years he engaged in the production of profits for his employers and then organized his own company. It was in borax that he built up his business success and accumulated the fortune which “he later shared so generously with the nation through his investments in scenic beauty on which the people receive the dividends.”
For more than twenty-five years Stephen Mather resided in Chicago, Illinois, but his loyalty to his native state, California, never waned. He was the leading spirit in the organization of the California Society of Illinois and, as its secretary, always secured donations of a carload of choice California fruits to be served at the Society’s annual banquets. Mather then saw to it that these affairs were well written up by the press and telegraphed throughout the country on the Associated Press wires. In this publicity the spirit and motives of the present Californians, Inc., had their birth.
As might well be expected, Mather was a member of the Sierra Club and participated in many of its summer outings. (See Farquhar, 1925, pp. 52-53.) He became acquainted with national park areas on these trips, and it is said that his ideal of a unified administration of the parks resulted from the intimacies so acquired. It was his ambition to weld the parks into a great system and to make them easily accessible to rich and poor alike.
At the time Mather undertook his big task, there were thirteen parks. Some of them were difficult of access and provided few or no facilities for the accommodation of visitors. Government red tape stood in the way of action in the business of park development, but Mather cut the red tape. When government appropriations could not meet the situation, he usually produced “appropriations of his own.” It was such generosity on his part which gave the Tioga Road to the government and saved large groves of Big Trees in the Sequoia National Park. In his own office it was necessary for him personally to employ assistants. Because of the lack of government funds, he expended twice his own salary in securing the personnel needed to set his parks machine in operation. The national benefits derived from the early Mather activity in the parks were recognized by Congress, and that body took new cognizance of national park matters. Larger appropriations were made available, and Mather’s plans were put into effect.
For fourteen years he gave of his initiative and strength, as well as his money. His ideas took material form, and the park system came into being as he had planned. His work was recognized and appreciated. In 1921 George Washington University bestowed upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Law. His alma mater, the University of California, conferred the same degree in 1924. President W. W. Campbell on that occasion characterized him as follows:
“Stephen Tyng Mather, mountaineer and statesman; loverof Nature and his fellow-men; with generous and farseeing wisdom he has made accessible for a multitude of Americans their great heritage of snow-capped mountains, of glaciers and streams and falls, of stately forests and quiet meadows.”
In 1926 he was awarded the gold medal of the National Institute of Social Sciences for his service to the nation in national parks development. The American Scenic and Historical Preservation Society awarded the Pugsley gold medal in recognition of his national and state park work, and he was made an honorary member of the American Society of Landscape Architects.[23]
In the fall of 1928, Mather’s health failed. He suffered a stroke of paralysis which forced his retirement from public service in January, 1929. For more than a year he fought to regain his strength but in January, 1930, he was suddenly stricken and died quickly. Indeed, “the world is much the poorer for his passing, as it is much the richer for his having lived.”
One of Mather’s first acts as Director of the National Park Service was to appoint a strong man to the superintendency of Yosemite National Park. On the staff of the Geological Survey was an engineer of distinction, Washington B. (“Dusty”) Lewis. Mather appointed him to the Yosemite task and he became the first park superintendent on March 3, 1916. The Yosemite problems were complicated and trying from the beginning. The park was, even then, attracting more visitors than had been provided for. Public demands kept steadily ahead of facilities that could be made available through government appropriations. For more than twelve years W. B. Lewis expended his energy and ingenuity in bringing the great park through its formative stages.
Under his superintendency practically all the innovations which today characterize the public service of a national parkwere instituted in Yosemite. Motor buses replaced horse-drawn stages; tolls were eliminated on all approach roads; the operating companies were reorganized and adequate tourist accommodations were provided at Glacier Point and Yosemite Valley; a modern school was provided for local children; the housing for park employees was improved; the best of electrical service was made available; the park road and trail system was enlarged greatly and improved upon; the construction of an all-year highway up the canyon of the Merced made the park accessible to a degree hardly dreamed of; provision of all-year park facilities met the demands of winter visitors; a new administrative center was developed; the Yosemite High Sierra Camps were opened; and an information service was devised. The ranger force was so organized as to make for public respect of national park ideals and personnel. The interpretive work, which makes for understanding of park phenomena and appreciation of park policies, was initiated in Yosemite and has taken a place of importance in the organization of the entire national park system.
In short, the present-day Yosemite came into existence under the hands of Lewis and his assistants. How well the demands of the period were met and future requirements provided for is evidenced by the continued healthy growth and present success of the Yosemite administrative scheme.
In the fall of 1927 Lewis was stricken by a heart attack. He later returned to his office, but in September, 1928, it became apparent that he should no longer subject himself to the strain of work at the high altitude of Yosemite Valley. He removed to West Virginia, and there partly regained his strength. Director Mather then sought his services as Assistant Director of the National Parks, and in that capacity he functioned until the summer of 1930. His physical strength, however, failed to keep pace with his ambitious spirit, and after another attack, he died at his home in a Washington suburb on August 28, 1930.
Soon after Lewis accepted his Washington appointment, Director Mather experienced the breakdown which brought about his resignation as Director. There was but one man to be thought of in connection with filling the difficult position. That man was Horace M. Albright, who had been Mather’s right-hand man since the National Park Service had existed. A native of Inyo County, California, and a graduate of the University of California, he became an assistant attorney in the Department of the Interior, Washington, D. C., in order to advance his learning, and there took a keen interest in plans then developing for the establishment of the National Park Service. He was detailed to work in connection with park problems and had already become familiar with them when Stephen T. Mather assumed their directorship. The Secretary of the Interior assigned him to Mather as a legal aid, which position quickly grew in responsibilities as the two men became acquainted. From the first, Albright was the Director’s chief reliance, and when the National Park Service was organized in 1916, he was made Assistant Director. In 1917, 1918, and 1919 he aided in the creation of Mount McKinley, Grand Canyon, Acadia,[24]and Zion national parks. At twenty-nine, he was made superintendent of the largest of all parks, Yellowstone, and in addition shouldered the job of Field Director of the Park Service. In that capacity he compiled budgets, presented them to congress, and handled general administrative problems in the West.
Outstanding among his special interests in park problems was his vigorous participation in programs launched to conserve and reëstablish the native fauna of national parks. He gained an intimate understanding of the needs of American wild life and actively engaged in attempts to supply its wants. He allied himself with such organizations as the National Geographic Society, the American Game Protective Association, the American Forestry Association, the American Bison Society, the American Society of Mammalogists, the Boone and Crockett Club, the Save-the-Redwoods League, and the Sierra Club. He became an expressive factor in American conservation and in his own domain, the national parks, practiced what he preached. He recognized the importance of ecological study of the great wilderness areas, with the safety of which he was charged, and pressed into service a special investigator to work on Yellowstone mammal problems. Later he seized upon the opportunity to extend this research to all parks. In keeping with his desire to assemble scientific data for the preservation of fauna and flora, he had an ambition to popularize the natural sciences as exemplified in the varied park wonderlands. He engaged actively in the development of plans for the museum, lecture, and guide service which today distinguishes the national parks as educational centers as well as pleasure grounds.
Upon the resignation of Director Mather in 1929, it was but natural that Albright should succeed him. He entered into the Yosemite administrative scheme by actual residence in the park and study of its problems. From the Yosemite personnel he drew new executives for other parks, field officers for the service at large, and administrative assistants for his Washington office. He turned to Crater Lake National Park to obtain a superintendent who would succeed Lewis. Colonel C. G. Thomson had distinguished himself as the chief executive of Crater Lake and in 1929 was called to Yosemite.
Some of the developments in Yosemite for which Thomson was largely responsible included the construction and improvements of the Wawona Road and Tunnel, improvement of the Glacier Point Road, commencement of the Big Oak Flat Road and Tioga Road realignment, the installation of improved water systems at the Mariposa Big Trees, Wawona, and Tuolumne Meadows, construction of the new Government UtilityBuilding, and many smaller projects. Such important land acquisition programs as the Wawona Basin project and the Carl Inn sugar pine addition constituted heavy administrative responsibilities imposed upon the superintendent’s office during his regime. The establishment of “emergency programs,” C.C.C., C.W.A., W.P.A., and P.W.A., greatly expanded the developmental activities in the park after 1933, and the inclusion of the Devils Postpile National Monument and Joshua Tree National Monument in the Yosemite administrative scheme increased the duties of the superintendent.
In 1937, Colonel Thomson was stricken by a heart ailment and died in the Lewis Memorial Hospital on March 23. In eulogy, Frank A. Kittredge said:
“Colonel Thomson has, through his dynamic personality and energy and the wealth of his experience, been an influence and inspiration not only to the thousands of Park visitors with whom he has had personal contact, but especially to the Park Service itself. His keen sense of the fitness and desire for the harmony of things in the national parks has made itself felt in the design of every road, every structure, and every physical development in the Park. He recognized the importance and practicability of restricting and harmonizing necessary roads and structures into a natural blending of the surroundings. He has set a standard of beauty and symmetry in construction which has been carried beyond the limits of Yosemite into the entire National Park system. The harmony of the necessary man-made developments and the unspoiled beauty of the Yosemite Valley attest to the Colonel’s injection of his refinement of thought and forceful personality, into even the everlasting granite itself of the Yosemite he loved so well.”
In June, 1937, Lawrence Campbell Merriam, a native Californian, was transferred to the superintendency of Yosemite National Park. He had received a degree in forestry from the University of California in 1921, had become a forest engineer,and had later gone into emergency conservation work in the state parks throughout the United States. Upon the death of Thomson, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes appointed Merriam Senior Conservationist in the National Park Service and designated him Acting Superintendent of Yosemite.
During his four years as the chief executive of the park he renewed the service’s efforts to restore the natural appearance of the valley, and modified the master plan to provide suitable areas for the operators’ utilities.
In August, 1941, Merriam became Regional Director of Region Two, National Park Service, with headquarters at Omaha, Nebraska. Frank A. Kittredge succeeded him in Yosemite.
During World War I, Kittredge served as an officer in the Army Corps of Engineers and saw service in France. Afterward, while with the Bureau of Public Roads, he was identified with park work; he made the location survey of the Going-to-the-Sun Highway in Glacier National Park, did the first road engineering in Hawaii National Park, and devoted his attention to national park road matters handled by the Bureau.
In 1927, Kittredge was appointed chief engineer of the National Park Service and continued in that capacity for ten years, when he was made Regional Director, Region Four, a position involving supervision over Park Service programs in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah; Glacier National Park in Montana; and the territories of Alaska and Hawaii. In August, 1940, he was made Superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park, from which position he was transferred in 1941 to the chief executive position in Yosemite National Park. In all this varied experience with the scenic masterpieces of the national park system, Frank Kittredge maintained a sincerity of purpose in safeguarding the natural and historic values of the parks.
As was true of Mather and Albright, succeeding directors of the National Park Service have taken personal interest andactive part in the management of Yosemite National Park. On July 17, 1933, Arno B. Cammerer, formerly Associate Director, succeeded Albright in the Washington post. During his incumbency, 1933-1940, the national park system increased from 128 areas to 204 units, and in addition to regular appropriations, nearly 200 million dollars was expended by the Service in connection with the programs of the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Public Works Administration, and the Emergency Relief Appropriation acts. Under Cammerer’s directorship, five C.C.C. camps were established in Yosemite National Park. With the help of C.C.C., C.W.A., and P.W.A., many management and construction projects in the park were advanced far ahead of regular schedule. The Wawona Road tunnel project was completed, and notable progress was made in constructing the Tioga and Big Oak Flat roads on modern standards. Winter use of the park increased mightily, and the Yosemite Park and Curry Company developed the Badger Pass ski center in accordance with Service plans.
Because of failing health, Cammerer resigned as Director in 1940, and Newton B. Drury, a Californian and a member of the Yosemite Advisory Board, was appointed to the position on June 19, 1940. Since 1919, Drury had been a leader in the movement to preserve distinctive areas for park purposes. As executive head of the Save-the-Redwoods League, he had become a nationally recognized authority on park and conservation affairs and was intimately acquainted with the problems of Yosemite National Park through personal study. The normal problems of the park and of the Service, generally, were greatly complicated by the circumstances resulting from World War II, and the years 1942-1945 were probably the most critical in the history of national parks. But in spite of pressure exerted by production interests and those who sought to capitalize on the park’s assets under the guise of “war necessity,” the natural values of Yosemite were held inviolate. And it isto the everlasting credit of Director Drury and his staff and associates in central offices and the field that during the years of all-out warfare serious inroads were nowhere made upon national park values.
Each year, more than a half million people benefit by the great park’s offerings, and each year witnesses new demands for expansion of public utilities provided by the operators and the Government. To meet these demands and at the same time guarantee “benefit and enjoyment” of Yosemite values for future generations of visitors is one of the most exacting tasks engaged in by public servants anywhere.
One hundred fourteen years have elapsed since the explorers in Joseph Walker’s party first made their way to some point on the north rim of Yosemite Valley and beheld a tremendous scene beneath them. It is to be hoped that the Yosemite visitor today will have his enjoyment of Yosemite National Park somehow enhanced by the recorded story of the human events during the past century, particularly by the story of the human effort that made Yosemite accessible to him, but not too accessible.
Yosemite, like other national parks, has its master plan. Upon it is set down in rather definite form the conception of the park staff of needs for physical improvements. This prescription is reviewed by technicians and executives in central offices and made to delimit the maximum development necessary to meet the requirements of staff and public. The master plan also contains an analysis of the inspirational and recreational experiences which attract the multitude of visitors to the park. As might be expected this analysis of Yosemite’s offerings points to the fact that one of the notable values of the reservation is found in its capacity to stimulate pride in and understanding of the heritage of natural beauty preserved within the park’s boundaries. Another important value is indicated inthe capacity of the park to serve as a repository of scientific treasures. In this last-named role as “museum of the out-of-doors,” Yosemite National Park reasonably may be expected to become increasingly important as the less protected areas of the Sierra Nevada are more and more encroached upon by exploiters. The exploiters are not always concerned with livestock, minerals, or timber. The aggressiveness of those who cater to recreation seekers—even of the recreation seekers themselves—constitutes a force to be reckoned with, and this group particularly lays siege to the structure of National Park Service conservatism.
It is well that the visitor to this and other national parks extend his ken. We know something of what has happened since 1833. But what will have happened to the Yosemite region by the year 2033A.D., two hundred years after white man’s first glimpse of the valley? Will the men of great enterprise have built “ladders touching the sky, changing the face of the universe and the very color of the stars?” Or will there still be a remnant of mountain sanctuary, where the handiwork of today’s and tomorrow’s visitors will be as hard to discern as Joe Walker’s footsteps are to trace?
Big tree
The following outline of the history of the Yosemite region cites the original sources of information used in preparing this book. References are to the pages of publications and manuscripts appearing in the bibliography which follows. Items cited frequently are abbreviated:
Garces entered Tulare Valley and named the interior range “Sierra de San Marcos.” Bancroft, 1884, p. 291; Farquhar, 1928, p. 56.
Name “Sierra Nevada” applied to mountains that now carry the name, by Padre Pedro Font. Font, map; Farquhar, 1928, p. 55.
Moraga Expedition explored lower course of Merced River and gave it the name “Merced.” Richman, p. 465; Farquhar, 1928, p. 58.
Jedediah Smith brought first party of trappers from the East. Crossed near Cajon Pass in November. Dale, p. 183; Merriam, 1923, p. 228.
J. R. Walker crossed present Yosemite National Park with a party of trappers. Leonard, Z., p. 174; Bancroft, 1885, p. 390; Farquhar, 1942, pp. 35-49; Watson, P. 57.
Bartleson party was first of immigrants. Crossed Sonora Pass and probably saw Calaveras Grove. Bidwell; Bancroft, 1886, p. 268.
First wagons brought across the Sierra by Stephens-Townsend-Murphy party. Bancroft, 1886, p. 445.
J. B. Alvarado conveyed “Mariposa Grant” to J. C. Frémont for $3,000. California Supreme Court.
Sierra gold discovery. Tinkham, p. 59.
Rush to “Southern Mines” (Mariposa region). Bunnell, p. 315.
Tuolumne County organized. Coy, 1923, p. 288.
Mariposa County established. Coy, 1923, p. 161.
Joseph Screech discovered Hetch Hetchy Valley. Hoffmann, p. 370.
J. D. Savage forced to abandon trading station at mouth of South Fork of Merced. Bunnell, p. 15.
Indians attack Savage’s Fresno River store and his Mariposa Creek Station, Dec. Bunnell, pp. 22, 23.
Organization of Mariposa Battalion under J. D. Savage. Bunnell, p. 29.
Battalion marched toward mountain stronghold of Indians, March 19. Elliott, p. 179
Chief Tenaya and a part of Yosemite tribe surrendered to advancing whites, March 25. Marvin; Bunnell, p. 52.
Battalion viewed Yosemite Valley from Inspiration Point, March 25. Name “Yosemite Valley” applied. Bunnell, pp. 53, 61.
Yosemite Valley and Merced Canyon to Nevada Fall explored by men with Savage, March 26. Bunnell, p. 72.
Battalion withdrew from Yosemite without having found more Indians, March 27. Bunnell, p. 91.
Second entry to Yosemite made by Capt. John Boling’s Company, May 9. Bunnell, p. 142; Boling, June 12; Kuykendall, p. 9.
First letter dispatched from valley, May 15. Boling, June 12; Kuykendall, p. 9.
Boling captured Yosemite Indians at Tenaya Lake, May 22. Indians were escorted to Fresno Reservation, but in winter Tenaya and his family were permitted to return to the mountains. Boling, June 14; Kuykendall, p. 10; Bunnell, p. 228.
Eight prospectors entered valley May 2, and two were killed by Indians. Russell, 1926, p. 332.
Lt. Tredwell Moore entered Yosemite with detachment of 2d Infantry in June. Bunnell, p. 275; Elliott, p. 172; Hutchings, 1862, p. 75.
Yosemite Indians took refuge with Mono Indians and were not found by soldiers. Elliott, p. 172.
In August Lt. Moore found promising mineral deposits east of Sierra crest. Bunnell, p. 277.
Mariposa Grove discovered by party of prospectors. Elliott, p. 172; Russell, 1926, p. 332, YNHA, 1929, p. 51.
Yosemite Indians left Monos and returned to Yosemite, but stole horses, and Monos nearly annihilated the Yosemites for their treachery. Bunnell, pp. 275, 291; Hutchings, 1862, p. 75. Eyewitness account at variance with Bunnell’s (seep. 47).
A number of parties of prospectors entered Yosemite Valley in the fall of 1853. Bunnell, p. 295.
James Capen Adams visited Yosemite to capture grizzlies, which he trained. Hittell, T. H., p. 196.
J. M. Hutchings organized first party of sightseers to enter Yosemite. First Yosemite pictures made by T. A. Ayres in June. Bunnell, p. 304; Hutchings, 1862, p. 77; Hutchings, 1886, p. 79; YNHA, 1944, pp. 21-25.
Trail from South Fork (Wawona) built to Yosemite Valley by Milton and Houston Mann. Finished in 1856. Bunnell, p. 304; Brockman, 1943, pp. 53-54.
Galen Clark engaged in surveying ditch to supply water to Mariposa Frémont Grant. Foley, p. 108.
First house, a shack, built in Yosemite Valley by surveyors, including Bunnell. (Use of Yosemite Valley as a reservoir contemplated.) Bunnell, p. 304;Country Gentleman; Whitney, 1870, p. 18.
“Coulterville Free Trail” from Bull Creek to Yosemite built by G. W. Coulter and Bunnell. Bunnell, p. 315.
T. A. Ayres made second trip to Yosemite and made more pencil drawings. Bunnell, p. 310; Farquhar, 1926, p. 111; Ayres.
“Lower Hotel,” first permanent structure, built by Walworth and Hite at base of Sentinel Rock. Bunnell, p. 309.
Rush of miners from Tuolumne, over Mono Trail, to Mono Diggings; Tom McGee, of Big Oak Flat, perhaps blazed Mono Trail.Bodie Standard, March 1, 1879; Wasson; Hodgdon.
Beardsley and Hite put up canvas-covered house at Cedar Cottage site. Galen Clark settled at what is now Wawona, and with Milton Mann explored Mariposa Grove. Bunnell, p. 310; Brace, p. 85; Foley, p. 102.
“Upper Hotel” (Cedar Cottage) built. Operated by Mr. and Mrs. John H. Neal. Bunnell, p. 310; Hutchings, 1886, p. 101.
J. L. Cogswell party visited Tuolumne Grove of Big Trees. YNHA, 1937, pp. 60-63.
W. S. Body located mineral deposits in region that later became famous as Bodie. Wasson, p. 5.
First photograph made in Yosemite by C. L. Weed. Subject was Upper Hotel. Hutchings, 1886, p. 101; YNHA, 1929, p. 75.
James C. Lamon preëmpted and took up permanent residence in Yosemite. Hutchings, 1886, p. 134; Corcoran, 1925.
“Sheepherder Mine” (Tioga Mine) located.Bodie Daily Free Press, September 10, 1881.
California State Geological Survey established, with Prof. Josiah Dwight Whitney in charge. Whitney, 1865, p. ix; Farquhar, 1925, pp. 15-23.
Nine Bactrian camels taken to Nevada mines. Stopped in Calaveras Grove en route. Farquhar, 1925, p. 26.
Mono County established. Coy, p. 182.
C. E. Watkins, pioneer photographer, visited Yosemite Valley. YNHA, 1936, pp. 17-18.
State Geological Survey made expedition to region between upper Merced and Tuolumne rivers. Whitney, 1865, p. 13.
Artist Albert Bierstadt made first trip to Yosemite. YNHA, 1944, pp. 49-51.
J. M. Hutchings took over Upper Hotel, and it became known as “Hutchings House.” Calif. Legis., p. 323; Hutchings, 1886, p. 102.
Sonora Pass wagon road improved to serve Bodie, etc. Wasson, p. 59.
Florence Hutchings was the first white child to be born in Yosemite. Hutchings, 1886, p. 144.
Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Big Trees granted to California as public trust. Grant contained 48.6 square miles. Board of eight commissioners created, Frederick Law Olmsted, chairman. Galen Clark, guardian. U. S. Congress, p. 3444; YVC, 1877, p. 5; Matthews, 1906, pp. 382-387; YNHA, 1946, p. 107.
I. W. Raymond, of Central American Steamship Transit Co., New York City, advocated to Senator Conness of California that the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove be reserved as a State Grant for public enjoyment. The members of a proposed board of commissioners were recommended by Raymond and Conness jointly. Raymond, 1864; Farquhar, 1926, p. 77.
First appropriation made for administration of Yosemite Grant.Calif. Statutes; YVC, p. 7.
John Muir made his first trip to Yosemite. Badè, 1924, I, p. 185; YNHA, 1938; Wolfe, 1945, pp. 117-122.
George F. Leidig built “Leidig’s Hotel” near Lower Hotel. Churchill, 1876, p. 138; Vivian, p. 376; Calif. Legis., pp. 164, 208, 210; Leidig; YNHA, 1930, p. 4.
Mr. and Mrs. A. G. Black removed Lower Hotel and built “Black’s Hotel” on its site. Hutchings, 1886, p. 101.
Edwin Moore acquired half interest in Clark’s station, and it became known as “Clark & Moore’s.” Ellsworth, p. 44; Greenwood, p. 313; Lester, p. 170.
Mountain View House (Peregoy’s) built on Wawona-Yosemite Valley trail. YNHA, 1929, p. 71.
Central Pacific built from Sacramento to Stockton. Ingram.
Albert Snow built trail to flat between Vernal and Nevada falls. Calif. Legis., p. 170; Minturn, p. 264; Lester, p. 197.
Central Pacific built to Modesto. Ingram.
Copperopolis branch of Central Pacific built. Ingram.
Joseph LeConte made his first trip to Yosemite. LeConte, 1903, p. 247.
La Casa Nevada was built by Albert Snow above Vernal Fall. Buckley, p. 25; YNHA, 1930, p. 4.
John Muir explored the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne. SCB, 1924; Farquhar, 1926, pp. 96-97.
Peregoy built a stopping place at Glacier Point. Peregoy Hotel Register.
John Conway built trail from La Casa Nevada to Little Yosemite; he attempted the ascent of Half Dome. Russell, 1926, p. 340.
Central Pacific built to Berenda. Ingram.
Conway started work on Four Mile Trail to Glacier Point (completed in 1872). Russell, 1926, p. 340; Kneeland, p. 82.
Mount Lyell climbed by J. B. Tileston, Aug. 29 (first ascent). Tileston, pp. 89-90.
Central Pacific built to Merced. Ingram.
Stage road built on north side of Yosemite Valley by Conway. Calif. Legis., p. 198; Russell, 1926, p. 340.
Earthquake in Yosemite. Kneeland, p. 88.
Eagle Peak Trail built to foot of Upper Yosemite Fall by Conway. Russell, 1926, p. 340.
J. C. Smith built his “Cosmopolitan” bath house and saloon in Yosemite Valley. Russell, 1931, p. 207; YNHA, 1933, p. 1; Cosmopolitan House.
Coulterville Road built to valley floor. (Known as “J. T. McLean’s Road.”) Hutchings, 1886, p. 288; U. S. Senate; YNHA, 1930, pp. 73-74; 1943, pp. 59-60.
Big Oak Flat route completed to Yosemite Valley by Yosemite Turnpike and Road Company. Hutchings, 1886, p. 335; U. S. Senate; YNHA, 1943, p. 60.
Wood road built from “Hutchings” up the south side of the valley. Calif. Legis., p. 340.
State of California purchased private claims in Yosemite Valley. Calif. Legis., p. 351; YVC, 1877-78, p. 16.
George W. Coulter and A. J. Murphy leased former Hutchings property. YVC, 1877-78, p. 10.
Harlow Street erected telegraph line from Sonora to Yosemite Valley. A line was built from Yosemite to Bodie also.Bodie Daily Free Press, January 29, 1881; Hutchings, 1886, p. 358; Morris, Paul.
Wawona Road built to floor of Yosemite Valley. U. S. Senate; YVC, 1874-75; YNHA, 1843, pp. 60-61.
George G. Anderson made first ascent of Half Dome. Hutchings, 1886, p. 457; Leonard, R. M., 1937, p. 40.
Public School provided for Yosemite. Mariposa County, May, 1875; YNP, 1909, p. 10; Hutchings, 1886, p. 355.
Washburn Brothers purchased Clark & Moore’s. Place has been called “Wawona” since. Vivian, p. 370; Stornoway, p. 72.
Sentinel Hotel built by Coulter and Murphy. Known as Yosemite Falls Hotel for many years. Calif. Legis., p. 238; Jones.
John Muir’s first article on devastation of Sierra by sheep was published. Farquhar, 1925, p. 30; Badè, 1923-24, 2: 58-59.
J. K. Barnard took over “Coulter and Murphy’s” (Sentinel Hotel). Blake, p. 119; YVC, 1877-78, p. 14; Jones.
John L. Murphy settled at Tenaya Lake (exact date doubtful). Jackson, pp. 109-171; Hutchings, 1886, p. 481.
High Sierra country surveyed by Lieut. M. M. Macomb of Wheeler Survey. USWD.
Bodie and Lundy mining excitement reached height. Tioga came into prominence.Bodie Daily Free Press, Dec. 29, 1880; Whitney, H. A.
A. Harris established first public campgrounds in Yosemite Valley. Harris Register; Calif. Legis., p. 232; Hutchings, 1886, p. 355.
Tunnel in Big Tree of Tuolumne Grove made in June. Marshall, p. 341.
Mountain House built at Glacier Point. Gordon-Cumming, p. 174.
Homer District (Lundy) organized. Was discovered by C. H. Nye.Mammoth City Herald, Sept. 24, 1879;Homer Mining Index, 1880.
Yosemite chapel built by Sunday School Union. Hutchings, 1886, p. 355; Glass, pp. 114-118.
Legislation ousted Board of Yosemite Commissioners. New board appointed J. M. Hutchings guardian. YVC, 1880, p. 3.
Charles D. Robinson, artist, maintained studio in the valley (1880-1890). YNHA, 1944. pp. 38-40.
L. H. Bunnell, of Yosemite discovery party, publishedDiscovery of the Yosemite Valley.
Silver found on Mount Hoffmann. Mount Hoffmann Mining District organized, but amounted to nothing. YNHA, 1925, p. 83.
Tunnel cut through Wawona Tree. YNHA, 1925, p. 83.
“Anderson Trail” (Happy Isles to bridge below Vernal Fall) built. Calif. Legis., pp. 311, 367; YVC, 1880-82, p. 5.
Construction of Tioga Road started. (Completed in 1883 at cost of $62,000). Calif. State Mineralogist; U. S. Senate.
Great Sierra Consolidated Silver Mining Company (Tioga Mine) incorporated. Calif. State Mineralogist.
John Conway built road to Glacier Point. Conway.
President Hayes with party of twelve visited Yosemite Valley.
Tioga Mine closed after expenditure of $300,000 and no production. Calif. State Mineralogist.
Mr. and Mrs. John Degnan established bakery and store, the oldest business among Yosemite concessions. USNPS, 1941, p. 9; Degnan, p. 1.
Hutchings removed as guardian, and W. E. Dennison appointed. YVC, 1883-84, p. 14.
Legislature appropriated $40,000 to build Stoneman House. YVC, 1885-86, p. 6.
John B. Lembert took up homestead in Tuolumne Meadows. Stornoway, p. 64; Farquhar, 1925, pp. 40-41; YNP, 1903, p. 23.
“Echo Wall Trail” (Nevada Fall to Glacier Point) built. YVC, 1885-86, p. 9.
Log Cabin built in Mariposa Grove. YVC, 1885-86, p. 10.
John L. Murphy preëmpted 160 acres at Tenaya Lake. YNP, 1903, p. 23.
Mark L. McCord made guardian. YVC, 1887-88.
A tramway to Glacier Point considered and surveyed. Calif. Legis., p. 341.
Stoneman House leased to J. J. Cook. YVC, 1887-88, p. 14; Calif. Legis., pp. 263, 336; Stornoway, p. 24.
Commissioners removed Black’s and Leidig’s hotels. Calif. Legis., p. 210; YVC, 1887-88, p. 17.
Galen Clark again made guardian. YVC, 1889-90, p. 5.
Mirror Lake dam built to increase area of lake. YVC, 1889-90, p. 5.
Yosemite National Park created, Oct. 1. John Muir’s writings were important in bringing this about. YVC, 1889-90, p. 27.
Capt. A. E. Wood, first Acting Superintendent, arrived with federal troops to administer park, May 19; headquarters at Wawona. YNP, 1891, p. 3; YNHA, 1944, p. 54.
First telephones installed in Yosemite Valley. YVC, 1891-92, p. 6.
Sierra Club organized, with John Muir as president, to aid effort to secure federal administration of entire Yosemite region. SCB, 1893.
First plant of trout (rainbow) made in Yosemite by California Fish and Game Commission. YNP, 1893, p. 8; YNHA, 1934, p. 58.
Sierra Forest Reservation established, Feb. SCB, 1896, pp. 257-259.
Capt. G. H. G. Gale made Acting Superintendent. YNP, 1894.
Capt. Alex. Rodgers appointed Acting Superintendent. YNP, 1895.
Wawona fish hatchery erected. Operated by state. YNP, 1895, p. 5.