02-07-2022, 05:30 PM
The Road to Yosemite
You mention the name Yosemite and everyone has an idea of what you are talking about. People think of the soaring granite cliffs, the spectacular waterfalls or the giant sequoias. Ask them how the park was started and the answers become vague.
The reason Yosemite Park became a park is a mystery. Why was this particular piece of land set aside for future generations to enjoy? Today, that question seems absurd as millions of visitors tour the park every year. But at the time in the 1850s land was something to be exploited. You cleared the land of the valuable trees. You dug into the land searching for precious minerals. You fenced it off to graze your livestock. You planted in it to grow your food. What you didn’t do was set it aside so people could look at it. That was an unthinkable idea. And yet people thought it. But why? What drove people in the 1850s to set aside this area of land for posterity?
The early history of the park can be broken down into four acts. Each act can be seen as a fight between the people trying to preserve the park and those who had other ideas. The idea of preserving the land didn’t come easy. For all the people who wanted to preserve the land there were still plenty of people who wanted to use Yosemite for their personal gain.
The first act started with the entry into the valley by Major James Savage and the Mariposa Battalion. They were on a mission to destroy the Ahwahneechee Indians who had been raiding trading posts. This act ended with the signing of the Yosemite Grant which gave the Yosemite Valley into the hands of the state of California. At this point, the future of the valley was guided in two directions. On the one hand hoteliers like James Mason Hutchings wanted to privatize the land and use the valley as a profit making center. On the other side of the argument were people like Israel Ward and Senator John Conness who led the push to establish the Yosemite Grant.
The Second Act happened immediately after the formation of the Grant. Frederick Law Olmsted, the man who designed Central Park, came up with a plan for managing the park and preserving it for future generations. But the plan was going to cost money, money that could have been better spent on the geology survey that other Grant Commissioners wanted to carry out. The report was never passed on to the California State Government for approval. On a smaller level you had Galen Clark acting as the first Yosemite Guardian in charge of protecting the new state park. On the other side you had a host of hotel and bar proprietors developing as much land as they could for tourists.
The third act lasted from the signing of the Grant until the establishment of Yosemite National Park. But even after Yosemite National Park was established, the Yosemite Grant was still run by the State of California. This division of labor surrounding the area set up many conflicts. Hutchings fought with the state to keep his land in the valley while John Muir and magazine publisher fought with the state for destroying too much land in the valley. The people on Muir’s side of the argument referred to the valley as the Hay Field because of all the meadows that had been turned into pastures and farms for grain.
Act four ends with the recession of the Yosemite Valley back to the United States Government. Finally, the Yosemite Valley was part of the Yosemite National Park. But the fight to determine the future use of the park raged on. The biggest battle was over Hetch Hetchy. San Francisco needed a dam to supply water to their rapidly growing population. The Hetch Hetchy Valley was their preferred location. The Sierra Club and the Secretary of the Interior argued that National Parks were inviolate for all time. Unfortunately Congress passed the Right of Way Act to allow San Francisco the rights to the water, followed by the Raker Act which authorized the construction of the dam. The Tuolumne River was blocked. The Hetch Hetchy valley filled. San Francisco got it’s water.
With each new Act, a new phase in transportation was used in the park. Major Savage used horses and the old Indian trails to enter the park. In the time between the signing of the Yosemite Grant and the formation of Yosemite National Park around the Grant, the race was on to establish stage roads to get tourists into the park faster and easier. Towards the end of this era, trains pushed ever closer to the park to cut down travel time. By the time of the Recession, a train stop was on the border of the park in El Portal. In the final act, the automobile arrived in Yosemite. There were some problems with automobiles introduction to Yosemite Valley, it was initially banned. But the popularity of the automobile for travel couldn’t be denied and the ban was lifted after six years. The advent of the automobile saw the biggest surge in tourism yet.
The battles about the future of Yosemite Park continue to this day. But these early fights established precedents for what the park could become.
You mention the name Yosemite and everyone has an idea of what you are talking about. People think of the soaring granite cliffs, the spectacular waterfalls or the giant sequoias. Ask them how the park was started and the answers become vague.
The reason Yosemite Park became a park is a mystery. Why was this particular piece of land set aside for future generations to enjoy? Today, that question seems absurd as millions of visitors tour the park every year. But at the time in the 1850s land was something to be exploited. You cleared the land of the valuable trees. You dug into the land searching for precious minerals. You fenced it off to graze your livestock. You planted in it to grow your food. What you didn’t do was set it aside so people could look at it. That was an unthinkable idea. And yet people thought it. But why? What drove people in the 1850s to set aside this area of land for posterity?
The early history of the park can be broken down into four acts. Each act can be seen as a fight between the people trying to preserve the park and those who had other ideas. The idea of preserving the land didn’t come easy. For all the people who wanted to preserve the land there were still plenty of people who wanted to use Yosemite for their personal gain.
The first act started with the entry into the valley by Major James Savage and the Mariposa Battalion. They were on a mission to destroy the Ahwahneechee Indians who had been raiding trading posts. This act ended with the signing of the Yosemite Grant which gave the Yosemite Valley into the hands of the state of California. At this point, the future of the valley was guided in two directions. On the one hand hoteliers like James Mason Hutchings wanted to privatize the land and use the valley as a profit making center. On the other side of the argument were people like Israel Ward and Senator John Conness who led the push to establish the Yosemite Grant.
The Second Act happened immediately after the formation of the Grant. Frederick Law Olmsted, the man who designed Central Park, came up with a plan for managing the park and preserving it for future generations. But the plan was going to cost money, money that could have been better spent on the geology survey that other Grant Commissioners wanted to carry out. The report was never passed on to the California State Government for approval. On a smaller level you had Galen Clark acting as the first Yosemite Guardian in charge of protecting the new state park. On the other side you had a host of hotel and bar proprietors developing as much land as they could for tourists.
The third act lasted from the signing of the Grant until the establishment of Yosemite National Park. But even after Yosemite National Park was established, the Yosemite Grant was still run by the State of California. This division of labor surrounding the area set up many conflicts. Hutchings fought with the state to keep his land in the valley while John Muir and magazine publisher fought with the state for destroying too much land in the valley. The people on Muir’s side of the argument referred to the valley as the Hay Field because of all the meadows that had been turned into pastures and farms for grain.
Act four ends with the recession of the Yosemite Valley back to the United States Government. Finally, the Yosemite Valley was part of the Yosemite National Park. But the fight to determine the future use of the park raged on. The biggest battle was over Hetch Hetchy. San Francisco needed a dam to supply water to their rapidly growing population. The Hetch Hetchy Valley was their preferred location. The Sierra Club and the Secretary of the Interior argued that National Parks were inviolate for all time. Unfortunately Congress passed the Right of Way Act to allow San Francisco the rights to the water, followed by the Raker Act which authorized the construction of the dam. The Tuolumne River was blocked. The Hetch Hetchy valley filled. San Francisco got it’s water.
With each new Act, a new phase in transportation was used in the park. Major Savage used horses and the old Indian trails to enter the park. In the time between the signing of the Yosemite Grant and the formation of Yosemite National Park around the Grant, the race was on to establish stage roads to get tourists into the park faster and easier. Towards the end of this era, trains pushed ever closer to the park to cut down travel time. By the time of the Recession, a train stop was on the border of the park in El Portal. In the final act, the automobile arrived in Yosemite. There were some problems with automobiles introduction to Yosemite Valley, it was initially banned. But the popularity of the automobile for travel couldn’t be denied and the ban was lifted after six years. The advent of the automobile saw the biggest surge in tourism yet.
The battles about the future of Yosemite Park continue to this day. But these early fights established precedents for what the park could become.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm