More Posts at Yosemite Tales Coming Soon…

I have about 8 posts at Yosemite Tales coming soon that I am in the middle of developing. Putting them together is taking me much longer than I anticipated because they are all intertwined. I find one piece of information and it reveals issues with another. So, I thought I’d introduce you to some of these works-in-progress. So, in no particular order:

James Mason Hutchings- 1820-1902
This is a mini-biography on one of the three major contributors to Yosemite History. He was an enthusiastic promoter of the region, publishing accounts of its wonders all over California, as well as the rest of the country. He led one of the first tours to Yosemite and his account of this trip and others, brought attention to California and the rest of the country of Yosemite.

John Jay Cook – 1837-1904
Another post at Yosemite Tales coming soon is about the guy after whom Cook’s Meadow is named. JJ, as he was often called, was also an Inn Keeper and an excellent business man. He, his son and grandson worked closely together in and around Yosemite and with other notables of Yosemite’s early years.

The Yosemite Pioneer Cemetery
There will be multiple posts at Yosemite Tales coming soon discussing the various people buried at the 45 grave-sites at the Yosemite Pioneer Cemetery. Who were these people? Why were they buried here? Are they of special privilege? When was the cemetery first used?

The Early Hotels and Buildings
Upper House, Bernard House, Yosemite Falls Hotel, Hutchings House, Cedar Cottage of the Sentinel Hotel. Where are these hotels now? Where were they? Has the village always been where it is now?  This series of posts will discuss the various hotels, now and in the past, as well as some of the other features of the early park.

The First View of the Yosemite Valley
History has declared Major James D. Savage, who led the Mariposa Battalion, to be among the first westerners to enter the Yosemite Valley, March 25, 1851. But were they really the first to view the valley? In this post, we will look at a couple of incidents that may de-throne Major Savage. The Walker Party Expedition from Missouri in 1833 and William Penn Abrams, grizzly bear hunter, in 1849 are possible candidates.

Going Rogue
I recently read Josiah Whitney’s account of his travels in the back country of Yosemite. There was a sense of unboundless freedom of movement back then (c.1863). Could we do that today? How would we do it? Backpacking? On Horseback? Hoverboard? Well, maybe. This post will explore options and highlight what we might see.

The Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne – A Virtual Hike
I have previously posted about hikes I’d like to take, but this one, a minimum of 27-mile, multiple night backpack is more like a pipe-dream for me. So, with the help of Google Earth, I take the hike to see what I could see and how I might deviate from the trail and the possible consequences if I do.

Chief Tenaya
You see his name entering from the South Entrance to the park as Tenaya Lodge; in the back country as Tenaya Lake and in the valley as Tenaya Canyon in which flows Tenaya Creek; the feed of Mirror Lake. We may know Chief Tenaya was the leader of the Native American tribe who inhabited the Valley when the Mariposa Battalion arrived in 1851. If he was responsible for the death and destruction perpetrated on the settlers in the area, why is he commemorated through out the park? In this  post at Yosemite Tales coming soon, I will try to show who Tenaya was and what is known of his life and, in a sense, its ironic ending.