Video
Stephen T. Mather Film Collection: Yosemite, October 1927
Descriptive Transcript
An old car sits under a shady tree. The camera pans past two large stone and timber buildings. Although the film doesn’t identify them, they are the Yosemite Museum and the post office. Continuing left, the pan reveals NPS Director Stephen T. Mather in a suit. He stands next to a white horse as he talks to what initially seems like only two men, but as the camera continues to pan left, becomes a group of about twenty men and women, probably all Yosemite employees, standing on the porch of a stone and timber building. The sign on the front of the building reads, “US Department of the Interior National Park Service Administration Building.”
The camera pans from Mather to the people in front of the building again.
A close up of Mather speaking. Now there is a ranger on the horse next to him.
Another close up of Mather speaking but from a different angle. A truck drives past him on the dirt road.
A group of 10 men, some in ranger uniforms and some in suits, crowd around Mather as he flips through a hardcover book in his hands. He gives the book to a man in front of him who looks at it.
Men stand in a circle talking, Mather, his hands clasped behind him, has his back to the camera. A couple of men flip through the hardcover book. Mather blows his nose on a handkerchief.
An unidentified man wearing a suit flips through the book. Drawings are visible on one page as the turns it.
Mather and a group of men walk across a dirt lot. They come out of a picket fence in front of a low building.
Mather squats down and takes a sample from the edge of the road. He shows it to another man in a suit.
Mather and three men in suits stand talking on a narrow road near large boulders. The men may be reporters.
A woman holds a small snack above the head of a little bear standing on its hind legs. She teases him with it to get him to walk on his back legs. The scene shifts slightly and it’s possible to see that she is feeding the bear in front of the Ahwahnee Hotel dining room. A man in a suit is with her as she continues to tease the bear with food.
A bear among trees trying to drink from a glass bottle. A woman approaches him with food. He stands on his hind legs revealing a white patch on his chest. She throws the food on the ground and the bear eats it. A shot of the bear sitting on the ground with the white spot on its chest visible.
People mill about in front of the Ahwahnee Hotel. A bear approaches. A man offers it food. Another man lets it rest its front paws on his waist as he feeds it.
Description
Silent black-and-white film of NPS director Stephen T. Mather addressing a group of employees at the Yosemite administration building and walking around the park with a small group of men. Scenes of people feeding bears outside the Ahwahnee Hotel dining room follow. Reminder: Never approach or feed wildlife.
Duration
2 minutes, 57 seconds
Credit
NPS History Collection (HFCA 1883)
Date Created
12/05/2025
Copyright and Usage Info