Promoters established rough accommodations as early as 1857 to house tourists and scientists, such as Clarence King and Charles Hoffmann of the Geological Survey of California. The State of California built the Stoneman House in 1887 in an attempt to provide finer accommodations than previously afforded. John Degnan and his wife established a bakery in 1884 that eventually became the store and restaurant present today. The Currys, former teachers who provided camping tours during their summer vacation, arrived in 1899. Their venture evolved into the Curry Village of today.
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La Casa Nevada: Snow's Hotel with Nevada Fall.
Credit: Photographer: Carleton Watkins; Yosemite NP Archives RL_16481
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The former site of the La Casa Nevada hotel. It was set several hundred yards from Nevada Fall.
Credit: NPS Photo / Ted Barone 2020
La Casa Nevada and Nevada Falls, ca. 1875
In 1870, Albert and Emily Snow established La Casa Nevada at the base of Nevada Fall. Its three buildings were positioned so the spray from the waterfall would reach the porch of each building. Mrs. Snow baked doughnuts, bread, and pies, drawing early travelers to their doors. While La Casa Nevada was mostly a lunch spot for hikers visiting Vernal and Nevada Falls, those hiking further to Glacier Point, Half Dome, or Little Yosemite Valley often stayed the night. Emily Snow joked, “Well, you folks would hardly think it, but there is eleven feet of snow here all summer. My husband is near 6 feet tall and I’m a little over five. Ain’t that eleven?” The hotel was foreclosed on in 1897 and torn down by the State of California in 1900.
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A man paddles upstream in front of the Hutchings House.
Credit: Photographer: Unknown; Yosemite NP Archives RL_16521
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The Merced River flows past the hotel site.
Credit: NPS Photo / Ted Barone 2020
Hutchings House, ca. 1890
James and Elvira Hutchings purchased the old Upper Hotel on the south bank of the Merced River in 1864 for $400 and renamed it the Hutchings House. The hotel was located in the old Yosemite Village between Sentinel Bridge and the Four Mile Trail. Hutchings expanded the hotel, building the "Big Tree Room" around a 175-foot-tall incense cedar tree. He also added glass panes to windows, stuffed the mattresses with ferns, and “rooms” were separated by sheet partitions. Their daughter, Flo, was the first non-Indian child born in Yosemite Valley.
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The Stoneman House with Half Dome in the background.
Credit: Photographer: George Fiske; Yosemite NP Archives RL_12567
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The view east across Stoneman Meadow.
Credit: NPS Photo / Ted Barone 2020
The Stoneman Hotel, ca. 1890
By the end of the 19th century, demand for finer accommodations increased but existing hotelkeepers were reluctant to invest due to a 10-year lease limit and no guarantees of lease renewal. The State of California, which administered Yosemite Valley at the time, decided to invest $40,000 and build the Stoneman House, named after a former governor. Completed in 1888 on Boling Point, the site of a horse racecourse established by the Mariposa Battalion in 1851, the hotel accommodated 150 guests, and offered rooms at $3 to $4 per day. The dining room sat 200. The hotel included a large parlor, spacious reading and writing rooms, and bathrooms and toilet rooms on each of its three floors. Unfortunately, beset by plumbing and construction defects, the hotel burned down in 1896.
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Members of the U.S. 6th Calvary on the Fallen Monarch.
Credit: Photographer: H.C. Tibbets; Yosemite NP Archives RL_02916
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Tourists admire the size of the Fallen Monarch.
Credit: NPS Photo / Ted Barone 2019
Troop F on the Fallen Monarch, 1899
About forty members of U.S. 6th Cavalry, Troop F, are shown mounted on, or standing beside their horses, and lined up atop and beside the Fallen Monarch tree in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. In 1890, additional lands surrounding Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove were set aside by Congress but retained in federal control instead of being given to the state. To oversee the federal reserve, the Department of the Interior requested that the army send cavalry troops to patrol those areas. The first troops from the Presidio of San Francisco arrived in 1891 and served from May to October until 1913, except for the duration of the Spanish-American War in 1898. The federal troops helped stop rampant timber cutting, sheep and cattle herding, trespassing, and general despoliation of natural resources.The Monarch Tree itself fell over 300 years ago. It is 26 feet in diameter at its base and 285 feet long.
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Setting out to trap a bear.
Credit: Photographer: Unknown; Yosemite NP Archives RL_001707
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Looking west across Cook's Meadow towards Lower Brother.
Credit: NPS Photo / Ted Barone 2020
Early Bear Trap, 1900
The management of Yosemite’s bears has evolved since early in the park’s history. As bears habituated to humans, they developed a taste for human food. This became a source of entertainment for visitors. The National Park Service (NPS) maintained bear feeding areas with grandstands and “bear pits” of trash to entice bears so visitors could watch. Sadly, many bears were killed in the name of public safety as they became more aggressive, damaging property and confronting people. Even today, bears will break vehicle windows, pop open camper shells, and crawl through the back seat of a car to get at food in the trunk. That said, bear incidents in 2020 are down 98% since 1998 (the year with the most incidents). A bear incident is when a bear causes a monetary loss to a person--that is, if the bear causes property damage or obtains food. Bear incidents also include cases of bears causing injury to a person (which are fairly uncommon).
Note: the haze in the background of the modern photo is smoke from multiple lightning-caused fires in Northern and Central California.
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The Cavalry rides in Cook's Meadow with Half Dome in the background.
Credit: Photographer: Unknown; Yosemite NP Archives RL_13719
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Smoke from fires obscure the view of Half Dome to the East.
Credit: NPS Photo / Ted Barone 2020
14th Cavalry near Yosemite Camp, 1909
The military made a major contribution toward the conservation of Yosemite’s natural resources, convincing the public that preservation was necessary through strict enforcement of regulations. They forged a lasting legacy in terms of building roads and trails, campgrounds, administration buildings, policies on natural resource management, conservation and protection, scientific research, and the initiation of interpretive and naturalist programs.
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The Cavalry rides into Yosemite Valley from the west.
Credit: Photographer: Ansel Adams; Yosemite NP Archives RL_14350
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Meadows and marshes have grown over some old trails.
Credit: NPS Photo / Ted Barone 2020
United States Cavalry, ca. 1909
The Army protected the National Park System when no other source of protection was available. Many military personnel went from the army to become the first civilian ranger force prior to the establishment of the National Park Service in 1916.
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Cattle graze in Leidig Meadow.
Credit: Photographer: Unknown; Yosemite NP Archives RL_16371
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Tourists on bicycles ride on the old cattle road.
Credit: NPS Photo / Ted Barone 2020
Dairy Herd in Leidig Meadow, ca. 1918
From 1917 to 1921, as California was in the midst of drought, the Defense Department demanded that Yosemite open its summer meadows to cattle grazing. Drought severely reduced forage at lower elevations and the cattle would have otherwise been butchered. An estimated 20,000 head of cattle were brought into the Yosemite area in 1917. The practice ended in 1924.
Note: the haze in the background of the modern photo is smoke from multiple lightning-caused fires in Northern and Central California.
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Tourists enjoy a close-up with Tule Elk with Half Dome in the background.
Credit: Photographer: Unknown; Yosemite NP Archives RL_16373
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The old paddock has been replaced by restored and protected meadows.
Credit: NPS Photo / Ted Barone 2020
Elk Paddock, ca. 1921
Tule Elk, native to the San Joaquin Valley, were driven to near extinction due to habitat loss from human development. A number of activists searched for locations to place remnants of the herd. Yosemite Valley was proposed despite the fact it is not their natural habitat. Yosemite’s Superintendent Lewis favored the plan because it would “increase the variety of attractions to the visitor to the park.” By 1921, a herd originally numbering twelve animals had been established in Cook’s Meadow, contained in a 28-acre paddock. The herd increased by 25% annually and quickly outgrew the paddock. In 1933, the herd was relocated to a refuge in Owens Valley.
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