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Contents Foreword Preface All things seen and known Terra incognita Land of high enchantment A fraternity of titans All things enjoyed and suffered Mining is a sucker's dream King Solomons Flying Spur The family adrift The mountains of my youth Theodore the indefatigable The damnably mean pen I swing Epilogue Bibliography Index
Foreword
Miss Sargent's writings have touched on virtually every aspect of the Valley and its alpine surroundings, but in one area she seems to be particularly interested--indeed, dedicated. That is the rescue of major figures of the Yosemite story who have been unjustly neglected because of what we might call the John Muir Syndrome. Muir and Yosemite are now almost synonymous. He has loomed so large in the public imagination that he not only dwarfs his peers, but throws a shadow over even the greatest of them--mountaineers such as Clarence King, and writers such as J. Smeaton Chase. Because they were becoming so hard to discern in this Muir-inflicted obscurity, Miss Sargent earlier devoted her attention to the likes of Galen Clark, James M. Hutchings, and Theodore Lukens. Now she has turned to the man whom we might well call the Lost Trailblazer of the Sierra—lost to us, that is, until now. In this book Shirley Sargent has done a remarkable job of uncovering the true story of the John Muir Trail while putting together—from very scattered sources—the life of Theodore Solomons. Ironically, but naturally, the Sierra crest trail was not named for the man who conceived it and laid out the northern portion of it—Theodore Solomons—but was another, unnecessary, honor heaped upon the Scots naturalist. The Pioneer of the John Muir Trail was the most maverick of mountaineers. Solomons was a talented city boy who, seemingly, spurned the intellectualism and professionalism of his kin for a Muir-like dedication to exploring, mapping, and climbing in the Sierra Nevada during his early years. He was very unconventional, unorthodox (almost eccentric)—whether in the mountains or in San Francisco—in both religion and life style. Theodore's love for the Sierra was absolute while he explored and mapped the crest trail from Yosemite to Kings Canyon over several years. Yet figuratively, he walked away in 1897 to adventure in the Klondike-Yukon gold rush, and, eventually, to remote Candle, Alaska where he was successful at mining. Like Jack London and Rex Beach, Solomons became a writer of fiction and non-fiction about Alaska (as well as the Sierra Nevada), but was never anywhere near as successful as they were, even though he had a go at Hollywood screenwriting in the 1920s. When he returned to California from Alaska, Solomons married, had children, and reestablished his Yosemite connection via a homestead at Flying Spur (now the home of his biographer), but flitted in and out, intermittently, as he tried to make a living with his pen. By then, his mountaineering reputation had faded. By rights, the John Muir Trail should have been remembered as Solomons' great monument, but his bitter latter-day attacks on his former Sierra companions of the trail alienated even his friends. He was his own worst enemy. The essential loner, he was also both prickly and thin-skinned. He resented being slighted, and his blunt feuding with Sierra Clubbers endeared him to no one. His spiny personality, when combined with his unpopular advocacy of Sierra access and use, insured that he would be made the “odd man out” by his Sierra Club peers. On the other hand, perhaps some credence may be given to his claims that he was the victim of latent anti-Semitism. Shirley Sargent has done an exemplary job of detective work in piecing together for us the dramatic personal and professional life of Theodore Solomons—until now, something of a mystery man. This biography will serve as another kind of monument to a cantankerous—but dedicated and important—member of the cadre of mountaineers who pioneered the Sierra. RICHARD H. DILLON THIS BOOK WAS INSPIRED in June 1953 when my father presented me with a small, battered acetylene lamp—and his account of finding it among the burned remnants of a house near my summer cabin, eleven miles west of Yosemite Valley. That event intrigued me—a young and romantic writer—into visiting Flying Spur for the first time. Clusters of brush and thickets of small pine trees blocked the old road to the end of a mountain spur, where the tantalizing ruins of a fireplace and chimney fascinated me. Horace Meyer, a local cattle rancher, told me that the place had belonged to a writer named Solomons who had a beautiful wife and an “awful smart daughter and boys who were full of the devil.” Their log house had burned, while empty, in 1936. Solomons, he added, had been an important mountaineer. Old issues of the Sierra Club Bulletin documented that Theodore Seixas Solomons, 1870–1947, had been a pioneer explorer in the 1890s, particularly in the mountain fastness between Yosemite and Kings Canyon. He was the first to photograph the Tuolumne Canyon and such summits as Banner Peak and Mount Ritter. He was the one who discovered, and named, the great peaks ringing Evolution Basin. But most importantly he was the man who had been inspired by a vision, who had traveled, who had surveyed, and who had mapped the major portion of the high mountain route that was to become the famed John Muir Trail. Further research showed me that Solomons had been a court reporter, a journalist, a miner in Alaska, and a published author of both fact and fiction. By the 1950s virtually no one knew his name, let alone his significance. Letters of his, safeguarded in the Yosemite Research Library, indicated brilliance, humor, tenacity, and, at times, arrogance—all of the prime ingredients for a biography. I determined to rescue Solomons from obscurity, but at the time I was engrossed with writing teenage novels and short historical pieces. Yet I never forgot my ambition. That ambition was advanced in August 1960 while I was drowsily listening to a recorded interview with Frank Marks on the history of Wawona. His statement, “My cousin Theodore Solomons had a place called Flying Spur,” jolted me awake. A few days later I drove to Wawona to interview Mr. Marks. It was he, then ninety-one years old, who told me that Theodore's wife had been committed to a mental institution, that Theodore had died in 1947, and that probably his second wife, whose last known address he gave me, was also dead. I sent a letter to the estate of Yvonne Robinson Solomons. Within a week, her reply informed me—a la Mark Twain—that “the report of my death has been greatly exaggerated.” A month or so later we met and, until her death, maintained a deep and enriching friendship. During the next ten years I met Theodore's son Leon, his daughter, Eleanor (Toni) Solomons Volcani, and his niece Aileen Jaffa. All three were generous and forthcoming with both information and encouragement for my proposed biography of Theodore. Even though I had become a full-time historian, and even though I had made Theodore's derelict fireplace the focal point of my new home in 1964, I had too many other books in my typewriter to tackle the project. Finally, in 1981, I began this memorial—a labor of love, but a labor enlightened, enlivened, and enriched by Flying Spur, Theodore's family, other historians, librarians near and far, and friends. I want to express deep gratitude to Toni Solomons Volcani, to Yvonne Robinson Solomons, who died in 1965, and to Leon Solomons and Aileen Jaffa, whose recent deaths caused me grief. Two of Frank Marks' children, Alice M. McCarthy and Frank Marks, Jr., were helpful, as was Edith Solomons Green, Theodore's niece. Librarians in New York, Missouri, Washington, Alaska, and, of course, California—particularly the staff at the Bancroft Library and Fresno County libraries—patiently answered my questions and supplied me with documentary data, such as photographs and birth and death certificates. There were two particularly exciting days in 1982. The first was when William Roberts at the Bancroft Library informed me that he had located 230 unidentified glass negatives in storage. He thought they were the ones I was seeking, taken by Solomons in the 1890s and later given to the Sierra Club. A few weeks later I had the thrill of viewing each of the large glass plates on a light table. Some were broken, some damaged in other ways, but many were splendid, as readers of this book will see. Fellow sleuth Roberts, now the Archivist at the University of California at Berkeley, is high on my list of favorite people. Another highlight of my research was when Frances Abramowitz, an old friend, unearthed—almost literally—handwritten wills and codicils of enormous import in the labyrinths of the Surrogate Court of New York County. In Nome, Alaska, Pamela McMillan copied records pertaining to mining. Gladys Hansen, archivist of the San Francisco Public Library, Barbara Lekisch, former librarian of the Sierra Club, Chris Ortiz, and Fred Sandrock answered various research questions. Mary Vocelka, Linda Eade, and Jim Snyder, all of the Yosemite Research Library, were invaluable. Among other aids, Virginia Ried of the San Joaquin Valley Information Service borrowed microfilm of the Nome Nugget, which I studied at the Fresno Public Library. Barbara Billeter, Kaye Ferrara, and Judy Rauner helped me find and copy pages from the old Adventure magazines, which I had traced to the main San Diego Public Library. E. A. (Mac) McKinlay checked old newspapers in the Oakland Public Library, and found USGS maps of Alaska for me. John Osborne did important research for me in Los Angeles. The staff at the Magnes Museum in Berkeley and Dr. Norton B. Stern, editor of the Western States Jewish History, tried to keep me straight on Jewish history. Dieter Goetze and Jim Snyder kept me from straying afar in describing the actual trails. Editing was supplied by the late Peg Plummer, Marilyn Fry, Connie Holland, Anne Otto, Hank Johnston, and Peter Browning. Last minute pre-publication proofing was done by Phyllis F. Broyles. Many a letter was transcribed for me by Ann Matteson. Typing and retyping were provided by Karen Woods, and—with typewriter, computer, and a sharp editorial eye—Raye Santos. I also appreciate Dick Dillon's comments and foreword and Peter Browning's publishing expertise. An index to a biography is indispensable, yet difficult and exhausting. My drudgery was lessened first by John Osborne, who helped me make headings, and next by Mary Vocelka, whose skill, judgment, and patience enlarged the index even as they relieved my mind. The logo was generously supplied by artist-architect Bob McCabe. Finally, Phyllis Broyles aided me in making the last refinements. Errors or omissions in either the text or the index can only be charged, however, to me. Bless all the wonderful people mentioned above, cited in the text, or, heaven forbid, overlooked. Unwittingly my co-author was Theodore Solomons himself—for his words, for the painting reproduced on the cover of this book, and for his photographs, which enhance this volume. Finally, thanks to my dear departed dad for finding the catalyst lamp and Flying Spur, and for lending me the money to buy it and to build a home here in the World's Best Place. Shirley Sargent, Flying Spur
Index A Abel, Dana, Adams, Ansel, Agnews State Hospital, Alaska, Appalachia, Appalachian Mountain Club, B Bailey, Charles A., Balloon Dome, Banner Peak, Beach, Rex, Beasore Meadows (Basaw), Bennett, Lake, Berkeley Fire, Bierce, Ambrose, Bierce, Leigh, Big Meadow, Big Oak Flat Road, Blair, Emily Newell, Blair, Harry, Blake, Ansel, Blayney Meadow, Bonner, Ernest C., Bowdish, Percy, Bradley, Cornelius B., Bradley, Harold C., Brewer, William H., Bridalveil Fall, Brown, Bolton Coit, Browning, Peter, Bureau of Public Roads, Bush, Alice, Dr., C Cal-Berkeley (University of California at Berkeley), 1923 fire near, California Cascade, California State Historical Assn., Camp Curry, Candle City, Candle Creek, Cathedral Peak, Cathedral Rocks, Charybdis (peak), Chicago Creek, Chicago Creek Coal Company, Chickering, Allen, Chilkoot Pass, Chinatown (San Francisco), Chirothesian Church of Faith, Church, Katherine Gray. See Solomons, Katherine Church, Church, Margeretta Josephine Gray, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Clark, Galen, Colby, William, advising Theodore S. Solomons, corresdondence with Theodore S. Solomons, first mountaineering, quoted, Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Corbaly, Kate, Coulterville Road, Coy, Owen C., Crampton, C. Gregory, Crane Creek, Crane Flat CCC Camp, Crocker's Station, Crown Creek, D Darley, Priscilla and Marshall, Darwin, Mount, Davis, Mabel, Dawson City, mining in, Dawson, Glen, Dawson, Muir, Dawson's Book Shop, Deering City, Depression 1893, Depression 1930s, Devils Postpile, Diablo, Mount, Disappearing Creek, Dusy, Frank, Dyea, E Eagle Scouts, Echo Valley, El Capitan, Ellsworth, Rodney S., El Portal, Elsinore, Lake, Emerald Lake, Emerald Peak (formerly Emerald Point), Enchanted Gorge, Eskimos, film about, Evolution Basin, Evolution Creek, Evolution Lake, Evolution Valley, Examiner, San Francisco, F Fairhaven Mining District, Farquhar, Francis P., correspondence with Solomons, disagreement with Solomons, Farquhar, Marjorie Bridge, Federal Writers Project, Ferris, Zacharias, Fish Camp, Fish Creek, Fish Creek Canyon, Fish Valley, Fiske, Mount, Florence Lake, Florence, Mount, Flying Spur, summer home, burns, Forest Homestead Act, Foresta, Foresta Assembly, Foresta Fall, Foresta Land Co., Forsyth, William M., Frank, Helen. See Solomons, Mrs, Lucius Fresno Colony, Froberger, Bob, G Gagnon, Dennis, Glenn, Myron, Goddard Divide, Goddard, Mount, Goetze, Dieter, Gould, Rosa M. See Solomons, Rosa Gould, H Haeckel, Mount, Hahnemann Hospital College, Hall, Ansel, Harwell, C. A. "Bert," Hastie, John L., Hebrew Young Men's Literary Association, Hermit, The (peak), Hetch Hetchy Valley, Hoffman Radio Co., Hoffmann, Mount, Hollywood, Home of Peace Cemetery, "Hornitos" Project, Hoyt, Florence and Homer, Huntington Library, Hutchings, James M., Huxley, Mount, I Isberg Pass, J Jackass Meadows, Jackson, Ben, Jackson, Katherine (Kay), illness of, Jaffa, Adele S., See Jaffa, Mrs. Meyer David's illness, Jaffa, Aileen, becomes nursemaid to Solomons children, closeness to Theodore, interviewed, quoted, Jaffa, Edward, Jaffa family, Berkeley home burns, Jaffa, Joan, Jaffa, Larry, Jaffa, Meyer, as chemist, Jewish district (San Francisco), John Muir Trail, dispute of origin, explored 1893-94, inspiration of, surveyed, Judah L. Magnes Museum, K Keith, William, Kettlewell, Bea, Keystone Coal Company, Kings Canyon National Park, Kings River, Kings River Canyon (formerly called King's Canyon), Kiwalik River, Kiwalik Roadhouse, Klondike, Klondike Gold Rush, Knibbs, Henry Herbert, Kotzebue, Kotzebue Sound, Kugruk River, Kutner, A., Co., L
Laberge, Lake,
Latta, Frank,
Lazarus, Dinkelspiel and Co.,
Le Conte Cascade (now Waterwheel Falls),
LeConte, Joseph,
LeConte, Joseph N. ("Little Joe"),
quoted,
LeConte Memorial Lodge,
Leonard, Richard,
Lincoln Grammar School,
Little Crane Creek,
Little Jackass Meadow,
Little Yosemite Valley,
Little Nellie Fall,
Lofberg, Lila and Ted,
London,
Jack,
Los Angeles County Superior Court,
Lowell High School,
Lukens, Theodore P.,
Lyell Basin,
Lyell Glacier,
Lyell, Mount,
Lynn Canal,
M Maclure, Mount, McCarthy, Alice Marks, McCauley, Fred, McCauley, James, McCauley, John, McCauley Ranch, McClure, N. F., McWade, Rosalie, Madera Flume and Trading Company, Mammoth Lakes, Mammoth Trail, Mariposa, Mariposa Battalion, Mariposa Chamber of Commerce, Mariposa Gazette, Marcus, Sig, Marks, Bernard (Fleishman), career of Marks, Fannie Olmstead, Marks, Frank, at Flying Spur, interview, marriage of, Marks, Frank, Jr. Marks, Gertrude Fleishman, Marks, Hannah, See Seixas, Mrs. Gershom Mendes. Marks, Howard, Marks, Lewis (Fleishman), Marsh, Lake, Marshall, Robert B., Mather Pass, Matthes, François E., Maybeck, Bernard, Merced Grove of Big Trees, Merced Lake, Merced Peak, Merced Basin described, Metaphysics, Meyer & Company, Meyer, Elizabeth McCauley, Meyer, George, Meyer, Horace, Meyer Ranch, Miles Canyon, Miller and Lux sheep camp, Minarets, The, Mono Creek, Mono Pass, Muir Gorge, named, Muir, John, described, Muir Pass, N National Park Service, Newell, Anna Gray, Nome, Nome Nugget, Northwest Mounted Police, O Ockenden, Olmsted, Frederick Law, P Pacific Crest Trail, Pacific Electric Railway Co., Pacific Hebrew Orphan Asylum and Home Society, Pacific Real Estate & Mining Bureau, Parsons Lodge, Pathway in the Sky, Peixotto, Jessica, Peixotto, Sydney, Pine Ridge, Polly Dome, Price, Jennie Ellsworth (Mrs. Robert), Price, Robert, Pywiack Dome, R Reid, _____, Ricketts, Ed, Ritter, Mount, Robinson, Iva Whitman, Robinson, William G., death, Robinson, Yvonne L., See also Solomons, Yvonne R. Roper, Steve, Rosicrucians, Roth, Hal, Russell, Carl P., S San Francisco, earthquakes, San Francisco Examiner, San Joaquin River, Middle Fork of, South Fork of, Sault, Helen and H. R. "Bert," Scholtz, Margaret, Scylla (peak), Senger, Joachim Henry, Sequoia National Park, Seven Gables (peak), Seward Peninsula, map of, Shanabarger, Mickey, Sharktooth Peak, Sharp, James B., Sheepherders, Sierra Club building destroyed, formed, library, meetings, register, Sierra Club Circular, 1896, Sierra Club Bulletin, Francis P. Farquhar editor of, Sierra Club Directors, Sierra Club Mountain Records, Sierra Club Place Names Committee, Sierra Nevada, described, Sierra Point, Silver Creek, Silver Pass, Silver Peak, Simon-Dinkelspiel and Co., Simpson Creek, Simpson Meadow, Skagway, Snyder, Jim, Solis-Cohen, Jacob, Solis-Cohen, Judith, Solis-Cohen, Meyer David, Solomons, Adele Rosa, education, graduates from medical school, marriage, See Jaffa, Adele S. Solomons, David Seixas, birth, death, grammar school, illness, Solomons, Eleanor S., See also Volcani, Eleanor (Toni) Solomons birth, correspondence with father, gifted student, in convent, letter from father, marriage to Ben Jackson, marriage to Ben Volcani, quoted, reminiscences as daughter, Solomons, Frank Benjamin, Solomons, Gertrude, Solomons, Gershom Mendes Seixas, death, Solomons, Hannah Marks (Mrs. Gershom Mendes Seixas Solomons), Anti-Semitism, death, illness, return to teaching, Solomons, Katherine Church (Mrs. Theodore S. Solomons), birth of children, committed to asylum, death, Solomons, Leon Henry, birth, death, employment with National Park Service, family background, grammar school, quoted, stay at Flying Spur, Solomons, Leon Mendes, death, education, graduates from college, Solomons, Lucius Levy (grandfather), Solomons, Lucius Levy (grandson), becomes attorney, death, in San Francisco society, marriage, Solomons, Mrs. Lucius Levy (Helen Frank), Solomons, Lucius Levy (Moses, great grandson), career, death, inheritance, Solomons, Mount, Solomons, Rosa Gould (Mrs. Theodore S. Solomons), Solomons, Selina (granddaughter), astrologer, death, interests, Solomons, Selina Seixas, death, Solomons, Theodore S., Alaska years, coal mining, descriptions, lost in blizzard, practices law, with Eskimos, Anti-Semitism, Berkeley home burns, camping in the Sierra, charter member of Sierra Club, correspondence with Farquhar, death of, early employment of, explorations in 1888, explorations in 1892, explorations in 1894, explorations in 1895, explorations in 1896, explorations in 1897, fatherhood, Flying Spur burns, Hollywood, homesteading and life at Flying Spur, "Hornitos Project," illnesses, impressions of John Muir, Kings Canyon National Park development, map, marriage to Rosa M. Gould, marriage to Katherine Church, marriage to Yvonne Robinson, mountaineering Mount Solomons named, photographs of, returns to California, scouting trip, Sierra Club, affiliation with, Starr, Walter A., dispute with, Theodore Solomons Trail named, vacations at Flying Spur, Yosemite Museum, affiliation with, youth, Solomons, Yvonne R. (Mrs. Theodore S. Solomons), at Yosemite Museum, death, Flying Spur, sketch by, life at Flying Spur, South Cosmopolitan Primary School, Sovulewski, Gabriel, Spears, John, Spears, Ray, Spencer, Mount, Spiritualism, Stanislaus National Forest, Starr, Walter A., dispute with Solomons, Starr, Walter A., Jr., State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA), State Historical Records Survey, Stein, Gertrude, Stein, Mike, Stein, Sally (Mrs. Michael), Steinbeck, John, Stern, Norton B., Stewart City, Stewart River, Sweet, Adolph, Sweet, Bertha, Sweet, Mabel, Sweet, Stella, T Tagish, Lake, Tamalpais, Mount, Temple Emanu-El, Tehipite Dome, Tehipite Valley, Tenaya Lake, Terman, Lewis, M., Theodore Solomons Trail, Theosophical Society, Theosophy, Thirty-Mile River, Thompson, Charles G., Thousand Island Lake, Tresidder, Donald B., Triple Peak Fork, Tunemah Trail, Tuolumne Canyon, Tuolumne Meadows, Turner, H. W., U
Union Street School,
University of California at Berkeley.
See Cal-Berkeley.
United States Army,
United States Geological Survey (USGS)
geologists,
mapping,
V Van Dyke, W. S., Van Hise, Charles, Vermillion Valley (now Lake Thomas A. Edison), Vigilance Committee, 1856, Volcani, Ben, Volcani, Eleanor (Toni) Solomons, Volcani, Yanon, Voorsanger, Jacob, W Wallace, Mount, Wanda Lake, Wangenheim, Julius, Washburn Lake, Watkins, Carleton E., Wawona, Wawona CCC Camp, Weston, Otheto, White Horse Rapids, White Pass, Whitney, Mount, Widforss, Gunnar, Wilson, Billy, Winchell, Elisha C., Winchell, Lil, correspondence with Solomons, Wise, Ray, Woodward's Gardens, Work Projects Administration (WPA), Y Yosemite, Yosemite Lodge, Yosemite Lumber Company, Yosemite Museum, Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Park and Curry Co., Yosemite Valley, Yosemite Valley Railroad, Yukon River, Yukon Territory, |