by Alex Gugel , all rights reserved
MiscellaneousPioneer Yosemite History Center |
Brochure of Pioneer Yosemite History Center. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
The Pioneer Yosemite History Center
BACK TO THE FUTURE
Issues such as preservation versus use, overcrowding,
automobile traffic, and private land ownership in the
park confounded the pioneers. Solutions to some
issues elude us today. What is the future of Yosemite
National Park? What role will you play in its preservation?
How will you change Yosemite? How will Yosemite
change you?
The Pioneer Yosemite History Center
The Pioneer
Yosemite History
Center
Yosemite National Park
50¢
Yosemite National Park
The scenery of Yosemite is world-renowned. Each
year, millions of people are drawn to its thundering
waterfalls, towering giant sequoias, unique geologic
features, and magnificent high country. Many visitors
are less aware of the stories of individuals that have
both changed and been changed by Yosemite. At the
Pioneer Yosemite History Center, the National Park
Service commemorates the efforts of people, the
events they experienced, and the issues they faced
during the establishment of this great park.
GREY BARN & COVERED BRIDGE
The Pioneer Yosemite History Center consists
of historic structures from different eras of
Yosemite history. Originally constructed in different
locations throughout Yosemite, they were moved
to Wawona in the 1950s and 1960s. As you walk
among them, it is important to remember that the
area does not represent a village. Instead, each building represents a different chapter in the Yosemite
story. Allow Yosemite history to come to life as you
travel back in time to an era of horse-drawn wagons,
covered bridges, and log cabins.
This project made possible through a gift from the
Jeangerard Foundation. Printed on recycled paper. © 2006.
This brochure is dedicated to the memory of Rod Collier,
whose love for Yosemite history and concern for environmental
preservation influenced thousands of young people.
Cover Photo Courtesy of Bob Roney; Sketches by Dov Bock.
A place of pioneers who profoundly
influenced the birth and growth
of the national park idea.
In the late 1800s, Wawona was the largest stage
stop in Yosemite. After hours of bouncing and
bumping along uneven dirt roads, inbound stages
stopped for the night at the Wawona Hotel before
making the eight-hour trip to Yosemite Valley. If a
stage needed a repair before the sixteen-hour roundtrip journey, the grey barn was the place to visit. The
Washburns, proprietors of the Wawona Hotel, used
this barn for repairing stages.
All Yosemite-bound traffic through this area
crossed the covered bridge, which was built in 1857
by Galen Clark. Clark opened the first waystation for
visitors in Wawona and later became the first guardian
of the Yosemite Grant. He sold his land along the
river to the Washburns, and they covered the bridge
in the style of their native Vermont. Its restoration was
the first step in the creation of the Pioneer Yosemite
History Center.
As you cross the bridge, listen for the low rumble
of an oncoming stage and allow your imagination to
return to the days of Yosemite’s pioneers.
The Pioneer Yosemite History Center
ARTIST CABIN
Yosemite National Park
HOMESTEAD CABIN
Explorers, writers, and early tourist parties of the
1850s returned from Yosemite with stories of
spectacular beauty. Artists were drawn to Yosemite,
where they found inspiration in the magnificent
scenery. Paintings, drawings, sketches, and photographs publicized and popularized Yosemite.
Consequently, many people chose to travel the
arduous route to Yosemite and experience the beauty
firsthand. Thus, artists played a key role in increased
awareness, tourism, and protection of Yosemite
National Park. Painter Christian Jorgensen constructed
this building on the banks of the Merced River near
Sentinel Bridge in Yosemite Valley.
ANDERSON CABIN
Tourist parties provided business for local
residents. George Anderson, a miner and blacksmith,
worked as a guide in the late 1800s, and escorted
visitors on expeditions in Yosemite. In 1875, he was
the first person to climb Half Dome. He spent his
winters in this building at Big Meadow (now called
Foresta), and his summers in Yosemite Valley.
Much of the high country around Yosemite
Valley had been claimed by individuals in the
late 1800s. The Hodgdon family, ranchers from the
San Joaquin Valley, built this cabin on their homesteaded land in Aspen Valley and grazed cattle there
each summer. In the late 1880s, John Muir and other
preservationists grew concerned that the damage
caused by cattle and sheep in the high country would
impact the watershed and Yosemite’s waterfalls.
Muir led the movement to preserve the high country,
and helped establish the expanded boundaries of
Yosemite National Park in 1890.
Although Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove
had been set aside by the federal government for
protection by the State of California in 1864, prior
claims to the land caused legal battles between
residents and the government. Land claims would be
fought for many years — the cabin represents such
disputes.
CAVALRY OFFICE
DEGNAN’S BAKERY
Although Yosemite was set aside as a national
park in 1890, the National Park Service had not
yet been created. Following the precedent set in
Yellowstone, our country’s first national park, the
U.S. Army managed both Sequoia and Yosemite.
Each summer over 200 soldiers, usually cavalry, rode
from the Presidio of San Francisco to protect both
parks. They patrolled trails, stocked fish, and enforced
rules, such as no hunting or grazing. In 1899, 1903,
and 1904, African-American buffalo soldiers served
in the Sierra Nevada. All of these troopers were
among the first park rangers. Their headquarters was
Camp A. E. Wood, now the Wawona Campground.
In 1906, the State of California returned Yosemite
Valley and the Mariposa Grove to the federal
government to be managed as part of Yosemite
National Park, and the headquarters moved to
Yosemite Valley.
John Degnan settled in Yosemite Valley in 1884,
and began working as a laborer and caretaker
for state administrators there. His wife, Bridget,
added to the family income by selling
bread she baked daily in Dutch ovens.
As travel to Yosemite increased, the
demand for her bread grew. A larger
oven, capable of producing 50 loaves
per day, was used until 1900, when
the Degnans ordered a large brick
oven for a more permanent
bakery. This bakery was
originally connected to the
Degnan’s home near the chapel
in Yosemite Valley, and is an important
reminder of Yosemite’s early visitor services.
WELLS FARGO OFFICE
Yosemite Valley was a hub for most visitor
services. Visitors arriving by horse-drawn or auto
stage used this office to make railroad and lodging
reservations, place long-distance phone calls, or send
telegrams. By 1914, automobiles were common in
Yosemite, and in that year, horse-drawn stage service
was discontinued. However, annual visitation to
Yosemite in 1915 doubled to 31,000. Consequently,
stage operation was renewed. In 1916, the era of
stage travel ended and another began. The National
Park Service, a federal agency created to preserve and
manage our country’s national parks, was established.
POWDERHOUSE AND JAIL
BLACKSMITH SHOP
By 1900, many people had made the trip to
Yosemite on horseback or by horse-drawn
stage. Roads were rough on horses and riders.
It took eight hours to travel approximately 25 miles
from Wawona to Yosemite Valley. A four-up stage
(a stage being drawn by four horses) changed horses
four times during the trip. Consequently, 16 horses
were used to make the journey. Blacksmiths shops
were located throughout the park, and “smithys”
offered valuable assistance with shoeing and stage
repair.
RANGER PATROL CABIN
In 1914, the U.S. Cavalry left Yosemite. The
management of this huge park fell to a small group
of 15 men who had served as cavalry scouts. Their
duties were made more difficult by the fact that
automobiles had been allowed to enter the park in
1914. Buildings such as this were used as automobile
check stations. Here drivers paid a fee to enter the
park and were informed of regulations. Along sections
of the Big Oak Flat and Wawona roads, automobile
were only permitted to go east, downgrade, on odd
hours and west, upgrade, on even hours.
As auto-touring increased, the newly-formed
National Park Service recognized that roads
needed improvement. Road-building in this region
was not easy. Granite rock was blasted away to form
roadbeds. Powderhouses were used to store blasting
powder. In 1933, access to Yosemite Valley from
Wawona was improved with the completion of the
Wawona Tunnel. The tunnel’s power lines, its carbon
monoxide sensors, and its high-speed fans made it
an engineering feat. Workers used 275 tons of blasting powder and spent nearly two years drilling the
tunnel at a rate of roughly 20 feet per day.