Video
Stephen T. Mather Film Collection: A Trip to Yosemite Park, California, 1927
Descriptive Transcript
Title card: The Yosemite Park and Curry Company Presents “A Trip to Yosemite Park, California.”
A car approaches a small entrance station. The US flag is on the flagpole in front of the building.
Intertitle card: Checking in at the Arch Rock Ranger Station.
The car continues towards the entrance station. Scene shifts to a woman standing at the entrance station with her car behind her. She receives an entrance pass from the park ranger in the station and turns back towards the car.
View from inside the car as it drives on a dirt road towards a narrow gap in large rocks.
Intertitle card: Arch Rock.
View of the car driving along and underneath Arch Rock. The car continues along the road passed large boulders.
Scene shifts to a raging river running along the road. The camera then follows the car along wooded roads. The car approaches a clearing among the trees. A waterfall is seen.
Intertitle card: Cascade Falls.
Views of a raging waterfall from different angles. Views through the trees past a fence to a calm lake, then past trees to a waterfall in the distance.
Intertitle card: --Overlooking a deep vale, shut out from the rude world by gigantic walls.
View across a valley to El Capitan’s cliff face, towards Half Dome in the distance, with a waterfall in the middle ground.
Intertitle card: El Capitan, whose wall scarry a shean [sic] as if it were made of chased silver.
View of the El Capitan that widens back out to the view across the valley.
Intertitle card: Bridal Veil Falls nourished through the summer by the snow-clad peaks of the Sierras.
View of the rapidly flowing Bridal Veil waterfall crashing down the granite wall.
Intertitle card: Half Dome stands as a sentinel at the upper end of the valley as if to welcome the visitor.
View of Half Dome across the valley.
Intertitle card: Ribbon Falls.
View of a waterfall running down a tall rock face.
Scene changes to trees streaming past as the car drives by. A tall granite rock towers over the pine trees below.
Intertitle card: In the mirrored pools of the meadows.
Camera pans down from a meadow to still pond reflecting a large granite rock. Trees stream past as the car drives along. Trees and mountains reflected in calm water. Trees stream by as the car drives along. A panning view of the mountains and trees reflected in the water. The camera pans up revealing the ground and trees. Trees move slowly past the car.
View from the car driving along the road, passing another car.
A tree lined dirt road with a large fallen tree along the side of the road. Between the thick trees, a large waterfall can be seen streaming down a cliff face.
Intertitle card: Yosemite Falls.
Close up view of the waterfall, with camera panning from the ground up.
Scene shifts to a herd of about seven elk walking through a meadow.
Intertitle card: The herd of elk in Yosemite.
The herd of about seven elk walking through a meadow with trees and mountains in the background. Close up of a deer eating. View of six elk walking and grazing in the meadow.
A man and woman stand in front of a stone and wood building surrounded by trees.
Intertitle card: Superintendent’s Office, Yosemite Park.
The camera pans from the man and woman standing in front of the stone and wood building up to a rushing waterfall above.
A man and woman sitting in front of a large wooden building.
Intertitle card: Officers and Rangers Club House, Yosemite Park.
The camera pans up from the large wooden building to a waterfall above it. A close up of a two-tier waterfall. Driving along a road.
Large wooden entrance arch reading “Camp Curry Welcome”. Two large buildings are seen through the archway. Several cars are parked in front and many people mill about.
At Camp Curry, tourist buses are parked in front of buildings with people on board and milling around them. The scene changes to a swimming pool with a low stone wall around it. A building with a porch runs along one end. A lifeguard sits in a tower watching people swim. Other people sit on the walls watching. The scene changes again to a view over a roof, up a cliff. Cars are packed on either side of the road before a large wooden arch that reads, ‘Farewell Come Again.” People walk in under the sign. A car drives out. The driver reaches out the window to shake a woman’s hand. Close up of the woman as she smiles and waves. Although the film does not identify her, she is probably Jennie Foster Curry, known as “Mother Curry,” who, with her husband David Curry, established Camp Curry in 1899.
Intertitle card: Mirror Lake
A view of the mountains reflected in the waters of the lake.
Intertitle card: The New Hotel Ahwahnee
Exterior views of the Ahwahnee Hotel, built of stone and wood, with awnings over the windows, wooden balconies, and stone chimneys. A waterfall can be seen cascading down behind the hotel.
Interior views of the Ahwahnee Hotel show a large room. Although not identified in the film, this is the Great Lounge. Parts of the exposed ceiling timbers, floor-to-ceiling windows, and balconies overlooking the room at the far end give the impression of space. The room is furnished with three wrought iron chandeliers, Persian rugs on the floor and walls, tables, table lamps, and couches and armchairs. A large fireplace is at one end. The scene changes to show the Great Loung from the other end, revealing another large fireplace with a large rug hanging above it and others hanging over the balconies above. Fresh flowers in vases are on the tables. Artwork can be seen on the ceiling beams.
Another room has large floor-to-ceiling windows, and chairs placed around a stone feature with a balcony above. Large rugs are placed on the floor. Although the film does not identify it, this room is the solarium.
Another room has wood paneling on the walls. Although the film does not identify it, this is the mural room. A trestle table and chair, armchairs, lamps, an end table, and a chandelier decorate the room. The left wall is only partially paneled, and a mural fills the rest of the space. A bear and a dear can be made out in the mural. Although not identified in the film, this is a mural featuring the plants and animals of Yosemite by Robert Boardman Howard. Close-up view of a corner fireplace with curved metal chimney. Andirons stand ready in the unlit fireplace.
View of a hallway with several doors running off it. Two chairs and an end table site unused between two doors. A run is beneath them, over the wooden floor. Painted designs run along the hallway just below the ceiling.
A view of a bedroom at the hotel. Two twin beds are separated by a small nightstand. A candlestick telephone and a lamp are on the top of the nightstand. A small writing table and chair with a rush seat are at the side by the curtained window. A view towards the door shows an armchair, a table with a mirror above it, and a full-length mirror on the interior of the door.
Views of the Ahwahnee dining room with a high, open ceiling revealing log roof trusses, and floor-to-ceiling windows on one side. The center of the room is open with a wide carpet runner on the floor, flanked by dozens of tables with chairs on each side. The tables are set with tablecloths and flower arrangements. Triangular chandeliers hang from the ceiling above the tables.
Intertitle card: Through the dining room window.
Camera pans up to a waterfall rushing down a cliff. Scene shifts to exterior views of the hotel then up the mountains. View of the hotel patio with log and stone railing. Armchairs and fabric and metal chairs with sunshades on them dot the patio.
Mirror Lake; exterior and interior of the new Ahwahnee Hotel; Happy Isles; Vernal Falls; Nevada Falls with Merced River below; a waterwheel. The camera pans up to the waterfall and mountains from the patio.
A river rushes past.
Intertitle card: Happy Isles.
Scenes of a river rushing over rocks and small boulders. Trees line the river and a few even grow within it. The camera pans up past the river to a waterfall in the distance.
Intertitle card: Vernal Falls.
Vernal Falls waterfall. A man and woman stand at a railing a the top of a waterfall. The water goes over the top of the falls, falling to the rocks below. The man and woman at the top are seen again before the camera focuses on the water at the base of the falls.
Waterfall seen from a distance.
Intertitle card: Nevada Falls.
Scenes of a waterfall rushing over a cliff, past trees, under a cloudy blue sky.
Intertitle card: Merced River below Nevada Falls.
A rushing river.
Intertitle card: A waterwheel.
Rushing water of the Merced River.
Intertitle card: The End.
Description
Silent film titled "The Yosemite Park and Curry Company Presents a Trip to Yosemite Park, California." Places visited include Arch Rock Ranger Station; Cascade Falls; El Capitan; Bridal Veil Falls; Half Dome; Ribbon Falls; Yosemite Falls; the superintendent's office; officer's and ranger's clubhouse; Camp Curry; Mirror Lake; the new Ahwahnee Hotel (including interiors); Happy Isles; Vernal Falls; and Nevada Falls.
Duration
14 minutes, 39 seconds
Credit
NPS History Collection (HFCA 1883)
Date Created
12/05/2024
Copyright and Usage Info