John Muir in Yosemite

Introduction

John Muir, Scotland's gift to America, was as modest as he was great. Once, in answer to a request for biographical material, he replied succinctly that he had been born in Scotland, immigrated to Wisconsin at age eleven, and after moving to California, became a mountaineer whose life was singularly uneventful! This from the man who risked death on summits, spearheaded preservation, influenced multitudes of people with his published works, and hobnobbed with presidents!

Muir was born in Dunbar, Scotland on April 21, 1838. His mother was a kindly, compassionate woman, but his father, a dour, unbending puritan, had a rigid religious fervor that sometimes made family life a Calvinistic hell. It was religious freedom, in fact, that lured Daniel Muir to America in 1849, where he homesteaded land in northern Wisconsin. Daniel was an austere taskmaster. The Muir children—three boys and four girls—were forced to do heavy farm work, often from dawn to dark. As the oldest son, John endured the hardest labor, which truly weakened his health.

Although farm life was harsh, the meadow, lake, plants, and trees adjacent to his home were heaven to Muir. — “a sudden splash into pure wildness — baptism into Nature's warm heart.” No whipping, no warnings of hell-fire, no weariness could subdue his passion for nature study and books. Moreover, he was inventive, making clocks, thermometers, bolts, and other ingenious items in his free time — pre-dawn hours in a cellar!

At twenty-two he left home, won acclaim for his inventions at a state fair, financed two and a half years as a special student at the University of Wisconsin, and then began wanderings. Both in Canada and Indiana, Muir earned quick promotions in factories where he invented labor-saving machines. In 1867 an industrial injury almost cost him the sight in one eye. Upon recovery, he decided to be true to himself, which meant following nature. That glorious path led him to California and its crown jewel—Yosemite!

My own love for (and long residency in) Yosemite induced me to read and study Muir, and my admiration for him as a man and naturalist increased with knowledge. The mass of his preserved correspondence reveals him as a deeply Christian, loving man with infinite loyalty, tenderness, and generosity to a host of relatives and friends.

John Muir was the man who matched Yosemite's mountains, who not only climbed them and got their good tidings, but shared these tidings in words still memorable, meaningful, and valid.

Galen Clark

Index

        A
Ahwahnee Hotel
Anderson, George
Army, U.S.
Ashburner, William
    quoted
Atkinson, Charles B.

B
Barnard's Hotel (formerly Hutchings House)
Bierstadt, Albert
Big Creek Bridge
Big Oak Flat Road
Big Oak Flat Road and Turnpike Company
Black, Alexander Gordon
Black's Hotel (also known as Lower Hotel)
Bowles, Samuel
Boysen, Julius T.
    photographs by
Brace, Charles Loring
Brewer, William
Bunnell, Lafayette H.
Burlingame, Anson
Burnett, Charles H.
Burnett, Julia M.

        C
California Constitutional Convention
California Magazine
    See Hutchings' California Magazine
California State Leguslature
    lack of support
    appropriations
    investigation by
Camp Ahwahnee
Camp Curry
Camp Yosemite
Chapman, Emery W.
Chowchilla Mountain Road
Civil War
Clark and Moore's
    failure of
Clark, Clara
Clark, Clarissa Caroline
Clark, Elvira Missouri
    See Lee, Mrs. George P.
Clark, Galen
    honors
    youth
    illness
    at South Fork
    hotelkeeper
    Guardian
    friendship with Muir
    retirement
    author
    death
Clark, Galen Alonzo
    quoted
    at Clark and Moore's
    death
Clark, George Faber
Clark, Harriet (Mrs. George F. Clark)
Clark, Isabella P. (Nrs. Galen Clark)
Clark, Jonas
Clark, Joseph Locke
Clark, Leander
Clark, Maria
Clark, Mary Ann (Mrs. John Regan)
    See Regan, Mary Ann Clark
Clark, Mary T. (Mrs. Jonas Clark)
Clark, Melzar
Clark, Mt.
Clark Range
Clark, Rebecca McCoy (Mrs. Galen Clark)
Clark, Solon McCoy
Clark, William
    death
Clark's Hospice
    See Galen's Hospice
Clark's Point
Clark's Station
    failure of
Coffman, William F.
Conness, John
Conway, John
Cook, Jay Bruce
Cosmopolitan Saloon and Bathhouse
Coulter and Murphy's Hotel (formerly Hutchings House)
Coulter, George W.
Coulterville and Yosemite Turnpike Company
Coulterville Road
Coulterville Trail
Croop, Zachary T.
Cunningham, Stephen M.

        D
Deering, Alexander
Degnan, John
Degnen, John, Jr.
Degnan, Laurence
Diederich, Paul
    photograph taken by, 1981
Dennison, Walters
Dexter, Roland
Dixon, Michael
    photograph by, 1981
Dublin, New Hampshire

        E
earthquakes
    in Yosemite
    in San Francisco
El Portal
Elkhorn Petroleum Companu
Emerson, Ralph Waldo
Fisher, A. N.
Fisher Company Stage Line
Fiske, Caroline
Fiske, George
    photographs by
flood, 1867
Foley, Daniel J.
    quoted
Folsom, Ira
Foote, William W,
Forsyth, William W.
Fremont, Jessie Benton
Fremont, John C.
Fresno Grove of Big Trees
    See Nelder Grove

        G
Galen's Hospice
Gardiner, James
Garfield, James A.
Goethe, Mathias
Gordon, Peter
Gordon, Thomas
Goucher, Marian Jones
Grant, U. S.
Greenwood, Grace

        H
Happy Isles Power Plant
Harvard University
Hickey, Frances
Hill, Thomas
Holden, E. S.
Holmes, Lafayette A.
Howard, William J.
Hutchings, Florence
Hutchings' California Magazine
Hutchings House (also known as Upper Hotel)
Hutchings, Hames Mason
    hotelkeeper
    litigation
    as guardian
    quoted
    writings of
    photographs from the collection of

           I
Indians
    at the South Fork
    in Yosemite Valley
Irish, John P.
Inspiration Point

        J
Johnson, Robert Underwood
Jorgensen, Chris

        K
Kenneyville
King, Clarence
King, Thomas Starr
Kirtland, Harriet

        L
La Casa Nevada
    See Snow's Hotel
Lambert, May Croop
Lamon, James C.
    death
    grave
Lawrence, James H.
Leavitt, Ernest P.
LeConte Memorial Lodge
Lee, Elvira Missouri Clark (Mrs. George P. Lee)
    at Clark's Station
    teacher
    marriage
    in Summerland
    as "Doctor"
    caring for father
Lee, George P.
    marriage
Leidig, Charles
Leidig children
Leidig, George Frederick
Leidig, Isabella
Leidig, Jack
Leidig's Hotel
Leonard, Levi
Lincoln, Abraham
Lippincott, Sarah
    See Greenwood, Grace
Lone Pine, CA
Longhurst, Peter
Low, Frederick F.
Lower Hotel
    See Black's
Lower Village
Ludlow, Fritz
Lukens, Theodore P.
    photographs by
Lyell Glacier

        M
McCauley, James
McCord, Mark L.
McCoy family
McCoy, Galen Clark
McCoy, Joseph
McCoy Joseph, Jr.
McCoy, Leo Lewis
McCoy, Rebecca Marie
    See Clark, Mrs. Galen
McCoy, Rosemary
McCready, John R.
Mann, Andrew
Mann Brothers Trail
Mann, Houston
Mann, Milton
Mariposa Battalion
Mariposa Big Trees and Yosemite Turnpike Company
Mariposa Board of Supervisors
Mariposa, CA
Mariposa Cemetery
Mariposa County
Mariposa Courthouse
Mariposa Ditch Company
Mariposa Gazette
    editorial opinion
Mariposa Grove of Big Trees
    discovery of
    fires in
    care of
Mariposa Trail
Merced, CA
Merced Grove of Big Trees
Miller, Samuel
mining
Mirror Lake
Mirror Lake House
Monadnock, Mount
Moore, Edwin
    at Clark and Moore's
    partnership dissolved
Moore, Huldah T. (Mrs. Edwin)
Muir, John
    described
    conservationist
    with Roosevelt
    quoted
Murphy, A. J.

        N
Nelder Grove (originally Fresno Grove of Big Trees

        O
Ogg, R. H.
Olmsted, Frederick Law
Olmsted, John

        P
Pallahchun
Peregoy, Charles
Peregoy, Mary
Peregoy's Hotel
Pioneer History Center, Wawona
Putnam and Valentine, photograph by
Railroads, Transcontinental
Raymond, CA
Raymond, Israel W.
Reynolds, Angevine
Regan, Harry Clark
Regan, John T.
Regan, Mary Ann Clark (Mrs. John T. Regan)
Richardson, Albert B.
Ridgeway, Joseph
Robinson, Charles D.
Rockwell, Henry S.
Roosevelt, Theodore
Ross, Pinkie P.

Salter, Nelson
Scott, Thomas
Sell, Etta Grace
Sell, William
Sell, William, Jr.
Sentinel Hotel
Sequoia National Park
Sequoia trees
Shenk, Dean
    photographs taken by, 1981
Sierra Club
Smith, John C.
Snow, Albert
Snow, Emily
Snow's Hotel (La Casa Nevada)
Soule, John P.
    photographs by
South Fork Bridge
South Fork of the Merced River
    earthquake at
Sovulewski children
spiritualism
Stevens, John
Stoneman House
Summerland
    described

          T
Taber, Isiah W.
    photographs by
Tileston, John B.
Tuolumne Canyon
Tuolumne Grove of Big Trees

        U
Upper Hotel
    See Hutchings House
Upper Village
United States Army
    See Army, U.S.

        V
Vroman, Adam Clark
    photographs by

        W
Wallace, Miles
Washburn, James L.
Washburn, Albert Henry
    regard for Clark
Washburn and McCready
Washburn, Edward
Washburn, John S.
Watkins, Carleton E.
    photographs by
Wawona Hotel
Wawona Road
Wawona Tunnel
Weed, Charles L.
Whitnet, Josiah D.
White and Hatch's
Wilcox, John W.
Wineman, Mode
    photograph by

Y
Yellowstone National Park
Yosemite Cemetery
Yosemite Falls
Yosemite Grant
    recession
Yosemite National Park created
Yosemite National Park Research Library
Yosemite Valley
Yosemite Valley Board of Commissioners
    organized
    problema
    controversy with Hutchings
    defended
    politics
    approval of Clark
Yosemite Valley Chapel
Yosemite Valley Railroad

Pioneers in Petticoats

Introduction

Visitors to Yosemite Valley have been told for more than a hundred years about
the exploits of the men who discovered it, who chased the Indians out of it, who
explored its recesses and its surroundings, and who built trails and roads, and hotels.
In all this time little has been said about the women who brought homemaking and
comfort to the Valley and brightened the pages of its history with feminine charm.
But now comes Shirley Sargent to present a portrait gallery that blends happily with
both the strength and the delicacy of the Yosemite scene.

The pioneer ladies of Yosemite Valley were varied in character and of strong
individuality as will appear from the following sketches. They had to have courage
and determination merely to get to the Valley in horseback and syagecoach days.
And after they arrived, their duties were urgent and demanding. Even the schoolteachers
had extracurricular duties. It is remarkable how much these pioneer women accomplished
and how successfully they developed a civilized life in isolated surroundings devoid of
most of the amenities of existence.

Miss Sargent writes with special authority, for not only is she an indefatigable searcher
among books and records, but she has built for herself a home in the pine forest not far
from the Valley, and shares with the women of her portrait gallery the inspiring background
of granite walls, plunging waterfalls, flowery meadows, and stately trees. Just as in her
biography of Galen Clark, veteran Guardian of Yosemite Valley, she has brought back
to the Yosemite scene vivid personalities that have been long lost to view. Places without
people are sterile, and she has activated the scene. Her penetration of the informal as well
as the formal archives is amazing and lends authenticity to a delightfully readable book.

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