PLACE NAMES

OF THE HIGH SIERRA

By

Francis P. Farquhar

 

 

 

SUPPLEMENTARY BIOGRAPHIES

 

ADAMS, James Capen, born Medway, Massachusetts, 1807; came to California, 1849, abandoned civilization and made his home in the wilds of the Sierra Nevada, 1852-1855, with headquarters camp between Merced and Tuolumne rivers, not far from Yosemite; visited Yosemite Valley, 1854; captured wild animals, especially grizzly-bear cubs, which he reared to maturity and trained to follow him; traveled widely with his animal train; came to San Francisco and exhibited his animals (the grizzlies “Samson,” “Lady Washington,” “Ben Franklin,” with elk, mountain lions, and others), 1855-1859; sailed for New York, 1860, and contracted with P. T. Barnum, exhibiting his animals in New England during summer of 1860; died before the end of that year. (The Adventures of James Capen Adams, Mountaineer and Grizzly Bear Hunter, of California, by Theodore H. Hittell, published in Boston and San Francisco, 1860; reprinted, 1911.)

 

 

AGNEW, Jesse Barber, born Iowa, 1863; son of Abram Agnew, a typical pioneer, who crossed the plains from Ohio to California several times between 1846 and 1873, when he brought his family and settled in Santa Clara Valley; Jesse worked for D. K. Zumwalt in Tulare County, 1883-1891; engaged in seed business in San Jose and San Francisco, 1891-1920; acquired lands in Kings River Cañon, Horse Corral Meadow and vicinity, in partnership with Zumwalt; donated eighty acres in Kings River Cañon to Sierra Club, 1924. (S.C.B., 1924, XII:I, p.93.)

 

 

AYRES, Thomas A., born New Jersey; came to California, 1849; a landscape painter; accompanied James M. Hutchings on the first tourist trip to Yosemite Valley, 1855. “In October, 1855, was published a lithographic view of the Yo Semite Fall (then called Yo-Ham-i-te), from the sketch taken for the writer by Mr. Thomas Ayres, in the preceding June, and which was the first pictorial representation of any scene in the great valley ever given to the public.” (Hutchings: In the Heart of the Sierras, 1886, p.97.)  This lithograph was followed shortly afterwards by another showing the general view of the valley as sketched by Ayres, June 20, 1855, the first drawing of the Yosemite ever made. (Same, p.88.)  In 1856, Ayres made a second trip to Yosemite, this time on his own account, and made a number of drawings, which eventually found their way to England. (See photographic copies in California State Library, Sacramento.)  Trip described by Ayres in Daily Alta California,  August 6, 1856.  These views were exhibited in New York, 1857, and Ayres was engaged by Harper & Brothers to illustrate several articles on California. (Sacramento Daily Union, June 1, 1858.)  Lost at sea on the “Laura Bevan,” en route from San Pedro to San Francisco, April, 1858. (Daily Alta California, May 27, 1858.) “His ingenuity and adaptability to circumstances, with his uniform kindness and good-nature, made him the very soul of the party.” (Bunnell: Discovery of the Yosemite, 1880, p.311.)

 

 

BADÈ, William Frederic, born Minnesota, 1871; A.B., Moravian College, Pennsylvania; B.D., 1894; Ph.D., 1898; B.D., Yale, 1895; professor of languages and Old Testament literature, Moravian College, 1896-1902; professor of Old Testament literature and Semitic languages, Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, California, since 1902.  President of Sierra Club, 1919-1922; a director since 1907; editor Sierra Club Bulletin, 1911-1922; editor Life and Letters of John Muir, 2 volumes, 1923-1924; editor of Muir's A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf (1916), The Cruise of the Corwin (1917), Steep Trails (1918).

 

 

BOLING (or Bowling), John; captain of one of three companies of Mariposa Battalion, 1851; name spelled Boling by Bunnell, Bowling in Elliott's History of Fresno County and by Kuykendall; on first expedition to Yosemite Valley, March, 1851; on expedition in pursuit of Indians in upper San Joaquin region; in command of second expedition to Yosemite, May, 1851, going as far as Lake Tenaya; sheriff of Mariposa County, 1852.  (Bunnell: Discovery of the Yosemite, 1880.---R.S. Kuykendall: Early History of Yosemite Valley, in The Grizzly Bear, July, 1919, reprinted by National Park Service, Department of the Interior.---W. W. Elliott: History of Fresno County, 1882.)

 

 

CARSON, Christopher (“Kit”), born Kentucky, 1809; boyhood in Missouri; accompanied Ewing Young's band of beaver trappers to Arizona and California, 1829-1830; hunter and trapper in Rocky Mountains, 1831-1842; accompanied Fremont on expeditions of 1842 (to Rocky Mountains), 1843-1844 (to Oregon and California), 1845-1846 (to California); on last of these expeditions accompanied Fremont in search of other members of party, going far up into High Sierra between north and middle forks of Kings River in midwinter, 1845-1846; joined General Kearny's forces as guide on way from New Mexico to southern California, October, 1846; bearer of dispatches to Washington with Lieutenant Edward F. Beale, 1847; returned to California, 1853, with a band of sheep; Indian agent at Taos, New Mexico, from 1854; suppression of Indian war parties in southwest; colonel, New Mexico Infantry, 1861-1866; brevet brigadier-general of volunteers, 1865; died, 1868, (DeWitt C. Peters: The life and Adventures of Kit Carson, 1858 (new edition, 1873).---Charles Burdett: The Life and Adventures of Kit Carson, 1861.---J.S.C. Abbott: Christopher Carson, Known as Kit Carson, 1901.--- E. L. Sabin; Kit Carson Days, 1914.---Charles L. Camp: Kit Carson in California, in California Historical Society Quarterly, October, 1922; I:2.---See, also, references under FREMONT.)

 

CRAVEN, Alfred, born New Jersey, 1846; graduated U.S. Naval Academy, 1867, resigned as Master, U.S.N., 1871; assistant in Geological Survey of California (Whitney Survey), 1871-1874, associated as mining engineer with brothers-in-law, Ross E. Browne and Charles F. Hoffmann, 1874-1884; engineering work in New York State since 1884; chief engineer New York subway, 1910-1916; now living in Pleasantville, New York, 1926.

 

 

DAVIDSON, George, born Nottingham, Eng., 1825; came to United States 1832; A.B., Central High School, Philadelphia, 1845; A.M., 1850; Ph.D, Santa Clara College, 1876; Sc.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1889; LL.D., University of California, 1910; member of U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1845-1895; in coast survey work, California, Oregon, Washington, 1850-1895; a regent of University of California, 1877-1884; professor of geography, University of California, 1898-1911; president California Academy of Sciences, 1871-1887; a charter member and for many years a director of the Sierra Club; conducted important triangulation work in the Sierra, using Mount Conness as a station; died, 1911. (S.C.B., 1912,  VIII:3, p.212, portrait.---Davidson:  The Occupation of Mount Conness, in Overland Monthly, February, 1892.)

 

 

EISEN, Gustavus A., born Sweden, 1847; Ph.D., University of Upsala, 1872; came to United States, 1872, and to California, 1873;  visited Yosemite and Mono region, 1874, with Dr. Friedrich Ratzel, of Leipsig; manager of his brother's vineyard, Fresno, 1874-1880,  visiting High Sierra each summer, usually with Frank Dusy; became interested in preserving Big Trees, lecturing on the subject before the California Academy of Sciences; member of committee appointed by Academy to prepare map and mark boundaries of proposed national park; this work, coinciding with activities of George W. Stewart, Frank J. Walker, and others, of Visalia, led to establishment of Sequoia and General Grant national parks, 1890; engaged in wide variety of scientific and archeological research; author of many books and papers; now (1926) living in New York City.

 

 

FREMONT, John Charles, born Savannah, Georgia, 1813; second lieutenant Topographical Engineers, U.S. Army, 1838; brevet captain, 1844; resigned, 1848; major-general, 1861; resigned, 1864; major-general (retired), 1890; major, California Volunteers, 1846; married Jessie Benton, daughter of Senator Thomas H. Benton, of Missouri, 1841; engaged in a series of exploring expeditions, 1838-1854; U.S. Senator from California, 1850-1851; first Republican nominee for presidency, 1856, defeated by Buchanan; governor of Territory of Arizona, 1878-1881; died at New York City, 1890.  On second exploring expedition under his command, 1843-1844, crossed Sierra Nevada by Carson Pass; from Sutter's Fort (Sacramento), went south on east side of San Joaquin Valley and crossed Tehachapi.  On third expedition, 1845-1846, crossed Sierra by Donner Pass, while others of his party, including Talbot, Walker, and Kern, went south by Owens Lake and crossed to Kern River via Walkers Pass; Fremont, Carson, and others, in searching for them, ascended high into the Sierra between north and middle forks of Kings River; December, 1845, and January, 1846. (Memoirs, pp. 448-453.)  (Fremont: Memoirs of My Life, vol. I [no others published], 1887; Report of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the Year 1842, and to Oregon and Northern California in the Years 1843-'44, 1845; Geographical Memoir upon Upper California, in Illustration of His Map of Oregon and

 

California, 1848.---Frederick S. Dellenbaugh: Fremont and '49, 1914.)

 

 

GREELEY, William Buckhout, born Oswego, New York, 1879; B.S., University of California, 1901; M.F., Yale Forest School, 1904; member U.S. Forest Service since 1904; inspector, forest reserves of California, 1905-1906; supervisor, Sequoia National Forest, 1906-1908; chief forester since 1920; lieutenant-colonel, Engineers, and chief of forestry section, A.E.F., 1917-1919.

 

 

HUBER, Walter Leroy, born San Francisco, 1883; B.S., University of California, 1905; district engineer for California and Nevada, U.S. Forest Service, 1910-1913; consulting civil engineer, practicing in San Francisco since 1913; vice-president, American Society of Civil Engineers, 1925-1926.  President of Sierra Club, 1925-1926; a director since 1915.  Contributor to Sierra Club Bulletin; 1915, IX: 4; 1921, XI:2; 1924, XII:1; 1926, XII:3.

 

 

LAMON, James C., born Virginia, 1817; emigrated to Illinois, 1835, and Texas, 1839; came to California, 1851, and settled in Mariposa County; visited Yosemite, 1857 and 1858; came to Yosemite early in 1859, assisted in building hotel (known for a while as the Hutchings House, later as Cedar Cottage); located pre-emption claim at upper end of valley, cultivated garden, planted orchard, built a cabin; began to winter in the valley, 1862; second winter, built another cabin near Royal Arches; pre-emption claims denied by courts, but he received compensation of $12,000 by act of state legislature, 1874; died in Yosemite Valley, 1875. (Muir:  The Yosemite, 1912, pp. 237-239.----Hutchings: In the Heart of the Sierras, 1886, pp. 135-138.

 

 

LEWIS, Washington Bartlett, born Marquette, Michigan, 1884; B.S. in civil engineering, University of Michigan, 1907; member of U.S. Geological Survey, 1907-1916; surveyed in Wyoming, 1907-1908; head topographer with first National Geographic Society expedition to Alaska, 1909, studying glaciers in Yakutat Bay region; topographic surveys in Oregon and in Salinas Valley, California, 1909-1910; second Alaska expedition, 1910, in Prince William Sound and Copper River regions; member U.S.G.S., commission to Argentine Republic, under Bailey Willis, 1911-1915; surveyed in Texas, 1915; superintendent of Yosemite National Park since March 3, 1916.

 

 

MARSHALL, Robert Bradford, born Virginia, 1867; member U.S. Geological Survey, 1889-1919; surveying in California, 1891-1902; geographer with administrative charge of California, Oregon, and Nevada, 1905-1907; chief geographer, 1908-1919; superintendent of national parks, Department of the Interior, 1916; commissioner major, Engineer Officer Reserve Corps, 1917; lieutenant-colonel, 1918; now living at Patterson, Stanislaus County, California, 1926.  Principal topographic work on following U.S. quadrangles covering High Sierra: Dardanelles, Yosemite, Mount Lyell, Kaiser, Tehipite (northern half).

 

 

MATTHES, François Emile, born Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1874; B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1895; member U.S. Geological Survey since 1896; topographic surveys of Grand Cañon of the Colorado, 1902-1904; topographic map of Yosemite Valley, 1905-1906; author of Sketch of Yosemite National Park (1912), Mount Rainier and Its Glaciers (1914). Contributor to Sierra Club Bulletin: 1910, VII:4; 1911, VIII:1; 1911, VIII:2; 1913, IX:1; 1914, IX:3; 1920,  XI:1; 1926, XII:3.

 

MOORE, Tredwell, born Ohio; graduated U.S. Military Academy, second lieutenant, 1847; first lieutenant, 1851; captain, 1859; major, 1866; lieutenant-colonel, 1872; brevet brigadier-general, 1865; died 1876.  On duty with 2nd Infantry in Mariposa                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 County, 1851-1852; built part of Fort Miller on San Joaquin River; led party of troops to Yosemite, capturing and executing Indians who had killed two miners near Bridalveil Falls, and pursued Chief Tenaya and other Indians across the Sierra, June                                     and July, 1852, returning in August.

  “Lieutenant Moore crossed the Sierra over the Mono trail that leads by the Soda Springs through the Mono Pass.  He made some fair discoveries of gold and gold-bearing quartz, obsidian and other minerals, while exploring the region north and south of Bloody Cañon and of Mono Lake.  Finding no trace whatever of the cunning chief, he returned to the Soda Springs, and from there took his homeward journey to Fort Miller by way of the old trail that passed to the south of the Yosemite.”  (Bunnell: Discovery of the Yosemite, 1880, p.277.)

 

 

PRICE, Robert Martin, born Wisconsin, 1867; at age of ten, family moved to Nebraska; moved to Riverside, California, 1881; Ph.B., University of California, 1893; LL.B., Hastings College of Law, 1896; practiced law in San Francisco, 1896-1900, in Alaska, 1900-1903, in Reno, Nevada, since 1904.  A charter member of the Sierra Club; secretary, 1896-1900; a director since 1915; president, 1924-1925.  Contributor to Sierra Club Bulletin; 1893, I:I; 1895, I:6; 1912, VIII:3, 1922, XI:3.

 

 

REDINGTON, Paul Goodwin, born Chicago, Illinois, 1878; A.B., Dartmouth, 1900; Master of Forestry, Yale, 1904; appointed forest assistant, Bureau of Forestry, U.S. Department of Agriculture, July 1, 1904; (Bureau of Forestry changed to U.S. Forest Service in 1905); timber inspector, 1905; forest inspector, 1907; associate district forester, Rocky Mountain District, 1908; forest supervisor, Sierra National Forest, California, 1908-1916; reorganization of Sequoia National Forest, California, 1916; district forester, Southwestern District, headquarters at Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1916-1919, with brief interval as city manager of Albuquerque; district forester, California District, headquarters at San Francisco, 1919-1926; assistant forester, U.S. Forest Service, Washington, D.C., from March 1, 1926.  Lecturer on forestry at Yale School of Forestry, Syracuse University, University of Michigan, Michigan Agricultural College, University of California.

 

 

SAVAGE, James D., had trading post and mining camp on Merced River, 1849-1850; driven by Indian raids to Mariposa Creek, 1850; also had a branch post on Fresno River; Mariposa Battalion formed, with Savage as major; at head of two companies, pursued Indians to cañon of the Merced, being first white men to enter Yosemite Valley, March 25, 1851; after Indian disturbances were quieted, Savage resumed trading on Fresno River; murdered, August, 1852.  (Bunnell: Discovery of the Yosemite, 1880--- R. S. Kuykendall: Early History of Yosemite Valley, in The Grizzly Bear, July, 1919, reprinted by National Park Service, Department of the Interior.---W. W. Elliott: History of Fresno County, 1882.---Daily Alta California, San Francisco, April 23, 1851.

 

 

SMITH, Jedediah Strong, born Chenango County, New York, 1798; came to St. Louis at early age and spent several years in Indian country; with David E. Jackson and Milton L. Sublette, acquired William Henry Ashley's interest in Rocky Mountain fur trade, 1826; Smith undertook exploration for new beaver country in southwest and was leader of first party of white men to make overland journey from Mississippi Valley to California; passed through southwestern Utah, crossed Cajon Pass, arriving at San Gabriel, November, 1826; crossed to San Joaquin Valley, probably via Tehachapi, and camped near Kings River early in 1827. 

   “On my arrival at a River which I called the Wim-mel-che, (named after a tribe of Indians who reside on it of that name) I found a few Beaver.---& Elk, Deer & antelope in abundance.  I here made a small hunt, and attempted to take my party across the [mountain] which I before mentioned, & which I called Mount Joseph, to come on & join my Partners at the Great Salt Lake.---I found the Snow so deep on Mount Joseph, that I could not cross my horses,---five of which starved to death.  I was compelled therefore to return to the Valley which I had left.  And there leaving my party, I started with two men, seven horses & 2 mules, which I loaded with hay for the horses & provisions for ourselves, and Started on the 20th of May & succeeded in crossing it in 8 days---having lost only two horses & 1 mule.  I found the snow on the top of this mountain from 4 to 8 feet deep but it was so consolidated by the heat of the sun, that my horses only sunk from ½ foot to one foot deep.

   “After travelling 20 days from the East side of Mount Joseph, I struck the S.W. corner of the Great Salt Lake, travelling over a country completely barren, and destitute of game.” (Letter from Jedediah S. Smith to General William Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs; dated from Little Lake of Bear River, July 12, 1827; quoted verbatim from original in office of Indian Affairs, Washington, by C. Hart Merriam in California Historical Society Quarterly, October, 1923, II:3, pp. 233-236.)

   This was the first known crossing of the Sierra Nevada by white men.  Smith promptly returned via southwest and rejoined his men near American River; thence moved north through Sacramento Valley to coast of northern California and southern Oregon; escaped with two men from massacre by Indians on Umpqua River, July 14, 1828; reached safety at Fort Vancouver on Columbia River; returned to Rocky Mountains in summer of 1829; sold his interest in fur trade and reached St. Louis, October, 1830; set out on Santa Fé Trail in spring of 1831; murdered by Comanche Indians on the Cimarron, 1831. (H.C. Dale: The Ashley-Smith Explorations, 1918.---C. Hart Merriam: in S.C.B., 1923, XI:4, pp. 375-379; in California Historical

Society Quarterly, October, 1923, II:3, pp. 228-236; in same, April, 1924, III:I, pp. 25-29.---F. N. Fletcher, in California Historical Society Quarterly, January, 1924, II:4, pp. 344-349.

 

 

SOLOMONS, Theodore Seixas, born San Francisco, 1870; stenographer, photographer, journalist, lawyer, miner, fiction writer; pioneer and explorer in the High Sierra; went to Alaska, 1898, and remained ten years; later in New York; now (1926) living in California.  Explored and named Evolution Group and was first to propose high mountain trail route along crest of Sierra.  A charter member of Sierra Club.

   Publications on High Sierra:  Among the Sources of the San Joaquin, in S.C.B., 1894, I:3; A Search for a High Mountain Route from the Yosemite to the Kings River Cañon, in S.C.B., 1895, I:6; An Early Summer Excursion to the Tuolumne Cañon and Mt. Lyell, in S.C.B., 1897, II:1; An Ascent of Cathedral Peak, in S.C.B., 1901, III:3; Mt. Goddard and Its Vicinity, in Appalachia, January, 1896, VIII:1; The Grand Cañon of the Tuolumne, in Appalachia, November, 1896, VIII:2, Explorations in the Sierra Nevada During the Season of 1896, in Appalachia, July, 1897, VIII:3; Unexplored Regions of the High Sierra, six articles in Overland Monthly, May, June, August, November, 1896, and January, August, 1897; Grand Cañon of the Tuolumne, in The Traveler, December, 1894; In a Crevasse of the Lyell Glacier, (fiction), in The Traveler, May, 1895; An Enchanted Gorge, in The Traveler, November, 1895; Tehipite Valley, in The Traveler, May, 1896.

 

 

SOVULEWSKI, Gabriel, born Suwalki, Poland, 1866; came to United States, 1882; lived in Chicago until 1888; enlisted, 1888, and served two five-year enlistments in Troop K, 4th U.S. Cavalry; corporal, 1892; sergeant, 1893; quartermaster-sergeant, 1898.  While serving in the army, was on duty in Sequoia and General Grant national parks, 1891, 1892; in Yosemite National Park, 1895, 1896, 1897.  In the Philippines, 1898.  In Yosemite National Park as packer for troops, 1899.  Employee of street-railway company, San Francisco, 1901-1906; relief work with army quartermaster department after San Francisco fire, 1906.  Since August, 1906, in Yosemite National Park---first as laborer, then as supervisor of the park in charge of all outside work, especially trail construction and road maintenance; in full charge of park during absence of army superintendents; since 1916, supervisor of trails and other duties in the park.

  “[Corporal Gabriel Sovulewski], Troop K, Fourth Cavalry, had charge of the guard in General Grant Park until a few days ago, and showed great tact in his relations with the numerous visitors, while he performed the duties required of him with firmness and thoroughness.”  (Report of the Acting-Superintendent [Captain J. H. Dorst] of Sequoia and General Grant National Parks for 1892, p.21.)

 

 

STEWART, George W., born Smith's Flat, near Placerville, California, 1857; lived in El Dorado County until 1869, then Santa Cruz County until 1872, when he moved to Tulare County; wrote for Visalia Delta, 1876-1880;  associate editor, Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, 1880; editorial work in Hawaii, 1880-1883; returned to Visalia, 1885, and resumed work on the Delta, continuing until 1899; officer of California National Guard since 1887, attaining rank of lieutenant-colonel; register of U.S. Land Office at Visalia, 1898-1914; land attorney at Visalia since 1914; first visited High Sierra in 1875; while editor of Visalia Delta, took active part in preserving the big trees, and is properly regarded as “the father” of Sequoia National Park; organizer and president of The Mount Whitney  Club, 1902-1904, and editor of the three numbers of its journal; now living at Visalia, 1926.

 

 

TAPPAAN, Clair Sprague; A.B., Cornell, 1898; LL.B., 1900; professor of law, University of Southern California, Los Angeles; a director of the Sierra Club, and assistant manager of its high-mountain outings since 1912; president of the Sierra Club, 1922-1924.

 

 

WHEELER, George Montague, (1842-1905); graduated U.S. Military Academy, second lieutenant, engineers, 1866; assistant engineer in construction of defenses of Fort Point, San Francisco, 1866-1868; first lieutenant, 1867; on geographical reconnaissance in central Nevada, 1869; in charge of Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian, 1871-1879; captain, 1879; retired by illness, 1888; rank of major, 1898.

 

 

WHITE, John Roberts, born Reading, England, 1879; served in the Greek Foreign Legion in 1897, fighting against the Turks in Thessaly; came to Canada, 1898, and then to Alaska; enlisted in the 4th U.S. Infantry for duty in the Philippines, 1899, and spent the next fifteen years in the Philippine Islands; transferred to the Philippine Constabulary, 1901, as second lieutenant; became lieutenant-colonel, 1908, and colonel, 1914; medal for valor in Moro campaign at Jolo, 1906; in many engagements with insurgents; governor of Agusan province, 1911; retired from Constabulary, 1914, because of physical disability in line of duty; special representative of American Red Cross in Central Europe, 1916; entered military training camp, 1917, commissioned major, and later, lieutenant-colonel, U.S. Army; attached to Adjutant General's office, then Signal corps; qualified as pilot in aviation; to France with A.E.F., September, 1918; provost-marshal of Paris after the armistice; resigned from army because of ill-health and sought recuperation at Grand Cañon National Park, where he was made chief ranger; superintendent of Sequoia and General Grant national parks since July 12, 1920.

 

 

WINCHELL, Elisha Cotton, born Springfield, Massachusetts, 1826; emigrated to Missouri, 1835; crossed the plains to California, 1850, and settled in Sacramento, practicing law; moved to Millerton, on San Joaquin River, then county seat of Fresno County, 1859; district attorney, 1861; county judge, 1864-1867; when county seat was moved to site of Fresno, 1874, he established first law office in Fresno; continued practice of law until 1900; died, 1913.  Visited Kings River Cañon, September, 1868, and published account in San Francisco Morning Call, September 11 and 12, 1872.  (Reprinted in S.C.B., 1926, XII:3, pp. 237-249.)

 

 

WINCHELL, Lilbourne Alsip, born Sacramento, 1855, son of Elisha Cotton Winchell; grew up in close association with pioneers of the San Joaquin Valley and adjacent mountains; educated in San Francisco; spent five months in High Sierra, 1879, visiting Tehipite Valley with Frank Dusy, exploring Palisade region, and making first ascent of Mount Goddard with Louis W. Davis; other extensive exploring trips in High Sierra extending over period of many years; now living in Clovis, Fresno County, 1926. (Portrait in S.C.B., 1923, XI:4, plate CXII.)

 

 

YELVERTON, Maria Teresa Longworth, known as Thérèse Yelverton, Viscountess Avonmore, born 1832; married Major William Charles Yelverton, Viscount Avonmore, 1857; marriage denied by Yelverton; litigation to establish validity brought great notoriety; Yelverton disappeared; she traveled widely and published several books; visited Yosemite, 1870, where she wrote “Zanita: A Tale of the Yosemite,” published 1872, a romantic novel in which the characters represent John Muir and James M. Hutchings and his family, especially Florence Hutchings (“Zanita”); died, 1881. (Charles Warren Stoddard; In the Footprints of the Padres, 1902; chapter, “A Mysterious History,” omitted from later edition. ---Badè: Life and Letters of John Muir, vol. I, 1923, pp. 278-283.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transcribed Marilyn R. Pankey.

Source: “Place Names of the High Sierra” by Francis P. Farquhar. Pages 111-119.  Published by Sierra Club, San Francisco, CA 1929.

© 2017  Marilyn R. Pankey.

 

 

 


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