Women of Yosemite: The Employees

Women have played an important—though often hidden—part in Yosemite. In the 1800s, women were expected to play a traditional role in the private world of the family and the home. With the birth of the railroad and as the Gold Rush drew people to California in the late 1800s, pioneering women found ways to broaden traditional roles.

Claire Marie Hodges, 1918.

Clare Marie Hodges was the first woman ranger in Yosemite. She began teaching in the Yosemite Valley School in 1916. During World War I, Hodges heard about the difficulty the park was having finding men to work as rangers due to the demands of the war. In the spring of 1918, she applied to the superintendent, Washington B. Lewis, and said, "Probably you'll laugh at me, but I want to be a ranger." He responded, "I beat you to it, young lady. It's been on my mind for some time to put a woman on one of these patrols." Her job consisted of taking the gate receipts from Tuolumne Meadows to park headquarters, an overnight ride on horseback.

Enid Michael dances with a bear, early 1920s.

Enid Michael came to Yosemite Valley in 1916 when she married Charles Michael, Yosemite's assistant postmaster. An ardent naturalist-botanist, Enid was appointed a seasonal ranger in 1921, serving in that position for 20 years. As a temporary park ranger making $80 a month, her duties included lecturing at museums, giving nature walks, and collecting and preparing plant specimens. By 1929, she had collected and mounted 1,000 plant specimens as well as recording visits by 130 bird species. Her most significant accomplishments were the creation of a wildflower garden behind the Yosemite Museum and writing 537 articles—the largest body of writing on Yosemite by any author.

Maggie Howard, 1935

Maggie Howard was a Paiute born at Mono Lake, and she spent much of her life in Yosemite Valley. She was one of the first American Indian women to do cultural demonstrations. She worked at the Yosemite Museum from 1929-1942 demonstrating acorn preparation and basket weaving, a tradition that continued with succeeding cultural demonstrators, Lucy Telles and Julia Parker.