1950

YOSEMITE

Nature Notes

Mode Witteman photo. Fortieth Anniversary, death of Galen Clark— "Guardian of Yosemite." Cover Photo : North Dome, winter, Yosemite Valley. By Ansel Adams from "Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada" text by John Muir, 64 photographs by Ansel Adams. Reproduction by kind permission of Houghton Mifflin Company.

THE MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF

THE Yosemite NATURALIST division AND

THE YOSEMITE NATURAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION, INC

C. P. Russell, Superintendent D. E. McHenry, Park Naturalist H. C. Parker, Assoc. Park Naturalist R. N. McIntyre, Asst. Park Naturalist

VOL. XXIX MARCH, 1950 NO. 3 "REMINISCENCES OF GALEN CLARK YOSEMITE VALLEY CAL.

1880" [Editorial Note by C. Gregory Crampion, University of Utah. This brief autobiographical account will add an item to the published Galen Clark bibliography. These reminiscences were dictated to an employee of Hubert Howe Bancroft who, in addition to the writing of his monumental Works, performed an important service by collecting the memories of many California pioneers. The incomparable Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, California has generously given permission to publish these reminiscences by Clark in the Yosemite Nature Notes. The manuscript, which is somewhat sketchy and obviously in answer to diverse questions put by Bancroft's employee, is reproduced without editorial change. Assistance in the preparation of this material was provided by the University of Utah Research Fund. Most of this account is concerned with Clark's Ranch at Wawona, the discovery of the Big Tree groves, and his experience as guardian of Yosemite Valley. The last paragraph refers to the Mexican land grant known as "Las Mariposas." With indefinite boundaries this grant was purchased by John C. Fremont in 1847 and was originally located to include most of the watershed of Mariposa Creek where Fremont and his employees were the first discoverers of gold there in 1849. In final government surveys, required in such cases, Las Mariposas was relocated to include not only the upper portion of Mariposa Creek but the rich mines in Bear Valley discovered by John F. "Quartz" Johnson and developed by the Merced Mining Company. In a series of lawsuits, the famous land grant, as relocated, was finally confirmed to Fremont. This produced harsh feelings toward Fremont and the successive owners of Las Mariposas which have persevered with diminishing intensity for almost a century.] "I was born in Mass. in 1814, tho' the Frazer River excitement carried I was raised in Dublin, Cheshire Co., all the miners away; and the counN. H. I left New York in the fall of try has never been thickly settled 1853 to come to California, my obsince. ject being to hunt for gold. I came "As I never met with any success by steamer. In the summer of 1854 in mining for myself, I worked with a came to Mariposa Co. in pursuit of mining Co. as assistant, as packer gold. Mariposa was then quite a and camp-keeper of the Mariposa large town and full of miners, probably Ditch Company. That was in 1855. ably ten people then where there is In the spring of 1856 I had a hemone now in the country. People inorrhage of the lungs, as in consevested their money in ware-houses quence went up into the mountains and iron-proof buildings, but when south fork of the Merced, and set the miners left business was at an tied at what is known as Clark's. As end; the mining ceased in 1857 when I went there for my health I spent

the first season in leisure. I had dians; they caused very little troucamped there in 1855 and liked the ble; no more murder and thieving locality. among them than among the whites. "My nearest neighbor was 16 miles in the Fall of 1863 there was a white distant. I was entirely alone, with man, a Capt. Gould killed between the exception of persons who were Clarke's [sic] Ranch and Yosemite; passing and stopping temporarily. waylaid and killed. It was not I was waiting to have the Ditch Co. known certainly for a year that such settle with me which they never did. a murder had been committed. Two "The trails were opened through of the principal Indians concerned Mariposa and Coulterville in 1856, in it were killed afterward. Capt. and then travel commenced in the Gould had been a sea-captain and Yosemite; all were camping parties. was returning from mining from The Mariposa trail was opened by Mono Co. In 1875 there was another Mann Brothers; the expense of open murder in Merced on the Coulter ing the trail was between $700 and ville road about 8 miles from here; $1,000. a man named Boston, toll-collector "In the month of June 1857, Milton for the Coulterville road was mur Mann and myself discovered the dered by Indians. No proof could be Mariposa Grove of Big Trees. I was brought up however against any not working on the trail with the exone. ception of the bridge at my place. "In the year 1858, in the spring, I We were looking for the three trees discovered the Fresno Grove, about which had been described to us by 8 miles in a S.E. line from the Maria hunter named Ogg and so discov posa Grove. The Indians directed ered the grove before we knew me here—Fresno and Mariposa there were any other trees of that Grove have each about 600 of the kind, and afterward found the three big-tree species. trees isolated about one mile S.E. "The regular travel commenced in from the Main Grove. We then made 1857 and I began to give entertainit known so as to attract travel ment at my place and as travel inthrough that route. The Mann Bros. creased I increased my accommodakept it up for about three years, tions. Many distinguished visitors when it was made a free trail. Their came to the valley and expressed toll was four dollars for about 36 the wish that the Yosemite should miles toll trail; saddle horses $3 a be set apart as a public park. day. Among the most active was Mrs. "The agricultural interests have inFremont and I. W. Raymond of S. F. creased in Mariposa Co. as the He was the prime mover in securing mining interests have died out. All its being set apart for that purpose. the agricultural portions of Mariposa In the winter of '63 a bill was intro Co. have segregated into other duced to that effect and it became a counties. Mariposa Co. originally law in 1864. A board of Commisembraced Merced, Fresno and Tulare, they being taken from the sioners was appointed to take county in inverse order. Its chief in charge of it and I was appointed as terest now is the Valley and Big one of the first. Gov. Low made the Trees. appointment. " The valley and Clarke's [sic] "There has never been any acciRanch were summer resorts for Indians, where any person has been

hurt on any of the trails in the Congress he sent a private survey valley. to Bear Valley and Princeton, em- "In 1865 I was appointed Guardian bracing the town of Mariposa also, of the Valley, by the Board of Corna grant of nine square leagues, missioners and have acted in that which was discovered to be a rich capacity ever since. I took in a mining district; and all unbeknown partner in the hotel business, in 1871, to the miners secured his patent to Edwin Moore, as I wanted a partner the grant. Serious trouble threatened, who had a wife. We carried on the but some compromise was effected, business until 1875 when we sold so it passed over to the Fremont out to Washburne, Chapman and Company. The man known as Coffman owners of the Mariposa "Quartz" Johnson was in possession and Yosemite Stage Line. In 1875 at that time of the survey. Quartz I came into the Valley to make my Johnson has been long known in permanent residence here. San Francisco. It was called then "The Fremont Mexican Grant was the Merced Mining Co. The Fremont Company got hold of all the mining called a " floating claim," subject to claims. While in Mariposa County, location within certain extensive Fremont would never transact busiboundaries; they were given when ness without his wife being present, the country was unexplored, they who had a much clearer head than could be located within extensive he. Fremont became entangled in boundaries without being definitely debt, and eventually the Mariposa defined. He first located his grant on estate was sold for debt." the Mariposa Creek near the mouth June 1880 and while waiting for a patent from Yosemite Valley.

MIDGET BEETLES AGAINST MIGHTY MONARCHS

By Emil F. Ernst, Park Forester Insect control operations against under very favorable conditions, as destructive bark beetles have been many as three broods in a year. an established feature of Yosemite The mountain pine beetle may have National Park management since as many as two broods in a year, 1932. Since then large numbers of but in this instance conditions must insect infested trees have been be extremely favorable for brood detreated in the unrelenting campaign velopment. The mountain pine to keep losses from bark beetles beetle attacks sugar pine, lodgepole within reasonable limits. Bark pine, western white pine and often beetles fill their niche in Nature's ponderosa pine. Each species of scheme of things and complete bark beetles leaves, in its characterelimination of bark beetles cannot istic galleries, its signature of rebe expected nor is such an objecsponsibility. tive desired. With the hundreds upon hundreds With one exception, the bark of thousands of trees in the Yosemite beetles being combatted in the park forests, one may wonder how the have life-cycles of a year or less. insect control crewman is able to The western pine beetle which atfind the insect infested tree. As with tacks the ponderosa pine may have, Man, a tree indicates by symptoms

Photo by Anderson. Monarch of Yosemite Valley. its status of ill health. The symptoms may take one or more several forms visual to the trained observer. The most conspicuous symptom displayed by the insect infested tree, which is visible for miles, is the change in color of the needles. The insect control man has become accustomed to detecting almost imperceptible changes in the healthy appearing foliage of a forest. Lime green or lemon green foliaged trees may be under new attacks of bark beetles and such trees are closely inspected. Trees with sorrel colored foliage are usually insect infested with the brood still in the bark. Successful attacks of bark beetles are always indicated by a change in foliage color to sorrel and later to a gray black. The tree is dead or dying at the time the sorrel color has become established. However, all sorrel colored trees are not treated. Close inspection may reveal that the bulk of the brood has already flown, or the attack, although the tree is dead or dying, may not be dense enough to warrant the use of insect control funds in treating when trees with bigger and more healthy broods may exist elsewhere in the control area. The treater determines the extent of the brood by sampling the bark of the infested tree. Quite often in the immediate vicinity of abandoned insect killed trees there may be other trees under attacks that will eventually kill the trees, but these trees have not shown the tell-tale off color of the attacked trees. The first is by observance of the fact that pitch tubes of the attacking parent beetles can be readily discerned from a distance either by their number or by their newness and brightness. When the bark beetles attack and start their mining of the cambium layer of the tree, the tree exudes quantities of pitch in an endeavor to drown out the attackers. The beetles in their effort to overcome this pitch build up little mounds of both pitch and sawdust on the bark of the tree which can be seen at times for some distance. A second way in which trees are known to be under attack is the presence on the bark of suspected trees of the insect predator of the bark beetles. There are three principal predators, the first and most reliable being the Tiger Clerid, the second is another closely related

Clerid and the third is the Blue-green Trogositid or Gilmore, nicknamed from "Gilmore" Blue-green gasoline. The presence of several of these beetles on a tree is a sure sign that bark beetles are attacking. The third, and also an unquestionable means of detecting infested trees, is the presence of woodpeckers or signs of their work. When travelling or working on infested trees, the rat-tat-tat of woodpeckers is closely investigated. Many a woodpecker, by his talking, has done himself out of a source of delectable morsels. As soon as the location of the woodpecker is determined the tree is closely inspected. If no other signs of bark beetle work is apparent immediately, the amount, depth and character of the woodpecker's work on the bark of the tree will reveal the condition of the Photo by Anderson. Scouting Insect Infestation. bark beetle brood and also its species. The moral of this story could be "When you have a good thing, keep quiet about it."

WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE GLACIERS OF YOSEMITE?

By Robert N. McIntyre, Assistant Park Naturalist On October 1, with good weather District Ranger Carl Danner. From and a bright moon which made posthis location the lobes of Lyell Glacier a longer working day, the surcier and Maclure Glacier were survey party left Tuolumne Meadows vey before the party retired to the Ranger Station for the beginning of Tuolumne Meadows station for short two weeks of study of the ice bodies trips to other ice bodies. lying within and near the boundary Due to the long, dry summers of of Yosemite National Park. The field 1947, 1948 and 1949 and due to the party of Harry C. Parker, Associate light snowfall on the summit of the Park Naturalist; Robert N. McIntyre, Sierra Nevada during the winters Assistant Park Naturalist in charge of 1946, 1947 and 1948 the survey of of technical work; Ralph H. AnderOctober 1949 promised to reveal son, Information and Editorial Spemany things about the Yosemite cialist; Douglas Powell, graduate glaciers not known previously. student of the University of CaliPrior to the beginning of the Ocfornia; and Dr. Verlin Baysinger of tober field work the presence of four the Lewis Memorial Hospital Staff new ice bodies or glacierets had who later joined the group, were been established by nonprofessional packed in to the Upper Lyell Base investigators. During July of 1949 Camp on the Tuolumne River by Mr. Harry James with a party of

"Trailfinders" had visited and photoof 1947. The objectives were set up graphed a glacieret in the Gibbs to conform with an overall plan for Canyon Area east of Mt. Dana. In the parks issued by the Director of early August of 1949, students of the the National Park Service, WashingYosemite Field School had observed ton, D. C., as well as to meet the a third lobe of Lyell Glacier to the needs for a more complete survey southeast of Mt. Lyell.2 In late Auof the local area. gust of 1949, Boy Scout Troop 50 of Priority of work was set up so Yosemite Valley had visited an ice that the greatest amount of work body or glacieret above a lake could be accomplished in the two about one mile west of Helen Lake weeks period in the field. Although on the northern slope of Kuna not all of the work could be cornCrest.3 In early September of 1949 pleted by the October survey party, Mr. A. E. Harrison, faculty member it is hoped that a systematic record of the University of Washington, obof all ice bodies in the area can be served a glacieret then being uncompleted with a minimum of time covered on the northern slope of and labor during the coming years. North Peak near Mt. Conness.3 The first week of October was All of these observations were spent by the party on or near the checked against the original studies three lobes of Lyell Glacier and at carried out in the Sierra Nevada by Maclure Glacier. Here old stations I. C. Russell, geologist of the U. S. were relocated and made permanent Geological Survey 1883-84, and by the setting of brass bench marks found with the exception of the in the solid rock. New stations were North Peak Glacieret which had not located and photographic points plotted on his map, the "Existing used as long ago as 1883 were reing Glaciers of the Sierra Nevada."4 established. At these points new Dr. Carl W. Sharsmith, a scientific photographs for modern compariobserver and ranger naturalist stasons were taken. tioned at Tuolumne Meadows, in a Measurements across the east and statement to the writer prior to the west lobes of the Lyell Glacier were October investigation, observed that made with steel tape and Abney the apparent melting of the Dana level to determine the difference in Glacier and others in the Yosemite thickness of the ice bodies as comArea during the summer of 1949 was pared to their thickness in past greater than in any one year since his summer observations began years. From the data obtained it was possible to draw transverse proin 1931. files of the ice surface on cross-secThe objectives to be accomplished tion paper to a predetermined scale. by the survey party in October were From this work we are now able to based on the fact that since the war answer graphically a question put year of 1943 only three glaciers had to us by Dr. Francois E. Matthes been observed and photographed by some years before his death as to the park naturalists. This work was whether the surfaces of our glaciers done by the survey party in the fall were concave, convex, or convex.1 Yosemite Nature Notes, Vol. XXIX, February 1950, Page 15. 2. Report of Glacier Studies in Yosemite National Park,1949, Page 13. 3. Report of Glacier Studies in Yosemite National Park, 1949, Page 18. 4. U. S. Geological Survey, Fifth Annual Report 1883-84, opposite page 310.

convex (which last they were found Glaciers for determination of a scale to be) as they move from the cirques of measurement and with the use in which they generate. of an engineer's planimeter the folPhotographs compared over a lowing areas of exposed ice were period of years showed us that the computed. The west lobe of Lyell lobes of Lyell Glacier have melted measured 104 acres, the east lobe and receded very rapidly since the 94 acres and the southeast lobe 28 days of 1883. The 1949 measureacres, making a total of approximents, taken at stations K and L on mately 226 acres of exposed ice as the west lobe of Lyell, when comcompared to the 321 acres exposed pared with those of 1933 indicate on the Palisades Glacier which is that a tremendous volume of ice has reported to be the largest in the disappeared since that year. Notes Sierra Nevada. taken in 1933 by the survey party reDuring the second week of Ocvealed that the eastern ice edge of tober with periods of unsettled the west lobe of Lyell Glacier was weather and new snow, the survey then 20 feet below the newly estabparty visited and photographed lished point K. Our measurements Koip, Conness and Dana Glaciers of October 1949 showed the ice edge on trips from the Tuolumne Meadto be 52.8 feet below and 79.5 feet of ows Ranger Station. On the way to horizontal distance to the west of Conness Glacier via the mining road Point. K. around Saddlebag Lake, a distant The average variation in thickview of the North Peak Glacieret was ness of the ice mass along Base obtained showing a sizeable ice Lines G-H and K-L since 1933 indibody. Due to the depth of new snow cates that since that date the ice on Conness the old measuring stamass has diminished some 1 1/2 feet tions could not be located, but perper year in thickness. Stations that manent photographic stations were in the early 1930's were very close established and pictures were taken. to the ice bodies are now high and The trip to Koip Glacier was a dry. The unprecedented melting of rugged affair through new snow snow during the 1949 season exwhich concealed the loose rocks of posed parts of the glaciers which the moraines. Here photographs have probably not been seen by were taken and new stations were man before this year. established for future use. From the For comparative purposes and for huge moraine at the foot of the glaan estimate of the areas of exposed cier the Army bomber, which burned ice on Lyell and other glaciers in or and scattered death on the ice durnear the park, U. S. Army Air Corps ing the war years, could be seen aerial photographs taken in Septemperched above the bergschrund as ber of 1944 were used in conjunction with the October survey. The huge crevasse. A number of years southeast lobe of Lyell Glacier, from now, as this metal skeleton discovered by the students of the emerges from the ice, startled obYosemite Field School, has turned servers may well have a museum out to be a sizeable body of ice piece from the technical age of when viewed from these aerial World War II. photographs. _ The trip to Dana Glacier was most Known base lines (G-H and K-L) revealing.5 The glacier proper was were plotted on the enlarged aerial a mass of blue, glare ice cut with photograph of Lyell and Maclure crevasses and fissures while the

surface consisted of huge ice humA complete record of the 1949 inmocks. Two ice caves were observed vestigation in report form with a on the western flank where the ice check list of the Yosemite glaciers has arched over rock outcroppings. and glacierets is now available to One of these caves was visited. the public in the Yosemite Museum There the underside of the glacier Research Library. Twenty ice bodies could be seen, cold, dry and very in or near Yosemite have been reblue. corded over a period of years since The Dana ice mass has decreased 1883 and are now listed for study. so much in volume in the past few It is hoped that within five years a years that some observers have complete photographic record of come to believe that it was receding these ice bodies will be on hand from its terminal moraine. This fact taken from permanent photo points has not yet been established, but that can be easily found and used during the coming years it will be for comparisons in future years. watched closely. The only reliable If the summers of the Yosemite measuring station found intact in the region continue to be long and dry area was station 5A on bedrock as in the past few years, and if the below the western flank of the ice. winters continue to be bitterly cold In 1935 the slope distance from this with less snowfall in the higher station to the ice was 84 feet, while elevations, we can expect more the 1949 measurement was 224 feet, snowbanks in the high peaks to melt showing a recession of 140 feet in and reveal a number of ice bodies or glacierets not known at this time. 14 years or ten feet per year. This Along with this we can also expect figure is merely an indication of the a decided slumping of the glacial change taking place on one flank moraines and a separation of moand cannot be considered the averraines from the true fronts of the age amount of melting for the whole larger glaciers which are now well ice body. covered with rock debris. 5. See photographs inside back cover.

Engraving of Dana Glacier from photo by I. C. Russell, 1883, Fifth Annual Report, U. S. Geological Survey 1883-84. Photo of Dana Glacier by Ralph H. Anderson, 1949, showing the loss of ice in a period of 66 years.

Digitized by Yosemite Online Library Dan Anderson