A TRIP TO YO-SEMITE IN 1874 - PART 1

 

No cars.  Just trains, carriages, horses, & mules.

Over the next few weeks I’m going to be sharing my great grandfather, John Kinsey Smedley’s story of his trip to Yosemite in 1874.  He kept a journal of the trip of which his daughter, my paternal grandmother, Harriet (Hattie) Bell Smedley Bradley, made a handwritten copy.

Funny thing about that – in his journal, my great grandfather said certain things I guess my grandmother did not feel was proper for her father to have mentioned – such as swear words or the fact that he liked talking with women.  They were neither married nor engaged at the time – though they did later marry – but her father was in a serious relationship with the woman who would become my grandmother’s mother, so not cozying to the idea of her father swearing or liking to talk to other women, my grandmother made no mention of any of that in her handwritten copy of his journal. J

Having only read grandmother’s version of great grandfather’s trip, when one of my aunts gave me his journal and I read it, I developed a whole new ‘picture’ of who my great grandfather was.  He was still a fine fellow and all that, but he had a delightful sense of humor including, sometimes, words that grandmother did not find “proper”.  And while he expressed a fondness for talking with women, it was all done quite properly and at one point he mentions wishing he had “his Ella” (my great grandmother) with him.  But daughters have firm feelings about their fathers, so I guess I can’t scold my grandmother for her editing.

In 1990, then, after reading his journal and living in the very area he went through on his way to Yosemite all those years ago, I decided to follow – as best I could – the same routes he took on his trip.  In some cases, reservoirs had been created which obliterated some of the old routes, but I managed to find most of them.

Right off the bat, at the beginning of my quest, however, while driving away from Milton on the first part of Rock Creek Road which is still narrow and only roughly paved, I came around a corner and smack into the middle of a bunch of cows!  I wasn’t sure what to do?  I had cows in front of me, cows behind me, and cows on either side of me all jostling around my car and mooing loudly.  Yikes!  But I just kept inching my way along tooting my horn and finally found my way through them.  Luckily I didn’t have any other such experiences! :[]

TRACING JOHN KINSEY SMEDLEY’S TRIP TO YO-SEMITE IN 1874

Copied from his personal journal and augmented with photographs, remarks by the compiler, as well as remarks from the diary of Helen Hunt Jackson who made a trip to Yo-Semite in 1872.

Compiled by J.K.’s great-granddaughter,

La Nightingail 

              I don’t know what drew my great grandfather, John Kinsey (J.K.) Smedley, to visit Yo-Semite?  James Hutchings put out a magazine advertising the beauties of the place.  A yearly subscription cost $3.50 and in addition, a subscriber would receive one of two paintings worth $2.50.  If a person sent him 5 new subscribers, they would receive a silver pencil & case worth $5.00.  If a person sent him 10 new subscribers, they would receive a gold pencil & case worth $15.00.  And if a person sent him 20 new subscribers, they would receive a silver watch cover worth $30.00.  (The more things change, the more they stay the same!)  Also, I don't know why J.K. chose this particular time to make the trip?  Both the Mariposa and Big Oak Flat wagon roads all the way into the Valley – eliminating the need to travel the last 18 miles by saddle train – were due to open in little more than a month.  Perhaps he wanted to beat the ‘crowds’?  Or perhaps it was simply the only time he had to go.

Sample pages of John Kinsey Smedley’s personal journal – written in pencil.

Journal of John Kinsey Smedley's trip to Yo-Semite in 1874

          Left Sacramento on the 18th of May, 1874 at 5PM in company with Mr. Sutton. (He never mentions how he came to be with Mr. Sutton?)  Item:  Arrived at Stockton at 9PM - 46 miles.  Went to the Yosemite House.  Had a nice ride and some fun at Mr. Sutton’s expense. 1^st, he had no lunch and became hungry. Got crackers and cheese at Galt station, then lunched at Stockton after our arrival.  Next morning--19th --looked up a team.  But as the rest of the party (a Mr. & Mrs. Conant & son, & Mrs. Whitehouse) had not arrived from San Francisco, we had to await them.  They came on the 11AM train, but had tickets by another route (the stage), so we left them and we then met a real good fellow – a Mr. Clark of Erie, also a gentleman from San Francisco, a Mr. Howe.  So we made up a party and chartered a private team at $212.00, sending the team to Milton to meet us there next day.

          Took a look around the city before leaving.  Then off we went, as jolly a crowd as could be.  Engine ran off the track at Milton.  But train kept the track.  (Passenger trains first began making the extended trip from Stockton to Milton in July of 1871.)

Train station at Milton.

Milton then.

Milton now.

          Left Milton on the 20th at 1:30 PM, party consisting of W.E. Clark, W.S. Sutton, G.W. Howe, and J.K. Smedley, with Gill Chase for guide.  After lunching at the old Tornado Hotel – takes its name from being blown down some years ago – Sutton was appointed "Interrogator", Clark as "Referee", Howe as "Judge", and Smedley as "Reporter" who has jotted down every little thing as you readers will find on reading through . . . and the party proceeded to move.

The old Tornado Hotel

We had a very fine large span of bay horses and a nice easy riding carriage.  The road winds around the foothills crossing Rock Creek where the citizens of Milton get the water which is hauled in carts.

Rock Creek Road today.  At least it’s paved now, though roughly.  I met the cows a ways on.

  At Oak Grove we put on our linen dusters and were now ready for dust, wind, or rain and Yo-Semite or die! (Crossing the Salt Springs Valley beyond Oak Grove would have been quite dusty.)  Crossed Bear Mountain at 3PM.  Passed Black's old ranch – 4 miles – where most teams water their animals.  Saw some nice vineyards rising up the mountain.

Oak Grove current day.  Rock Creek Road now two lanes and better paved – for a while.  It deteriorated again to a narrow rough paved road going up over Bear Mountain, but there was always (sometimes, just barely) room for two cars to pass.

Salt Springs Valley

View looking back from Bear Mountain.  The background reservoir would not have been there in 1874.

Meandering along – now seeing some bold peak of the Sierras, now crossing some gulch.  But on we go to Nassau Valley, a pretty little valley nestled between two mountains.

          Arrived at Gibson's – 11 miles – at 5PM.  Jack was assemblyman from the Calaveras district 2 years ago and we had a good chat over old times.

          Left Gibson's and drove on to Altaville 7 miles, where we saw them washing gold.  Quite a foundry at Altaville as there is a great mining region all around.  Altaville is a very pretty place, but showed signs of better days.  In fact, every little town we went through looked the same, except Sonora, of which I will write anon.

Altaville then

Altaville currently - is part of Angels Camp now.

          Many incidents and much amusement was offered us by the thousands of questions asked by Mr. Sutton.  Such as "Mr. Chase, how old is that tree?" or "How many houses will be standing in Altaville in a hundred years?" and many foolish things. (Personally, I wouldn’t have found his questions foolish, but apparently he was asking quite a lot of them.)

I was about to tell him not to talk Chase to death the first day out, but just beyond Altaville we stopped to see some miners wash the gold, or "pan out" as they say here.  When Chase and I got a chance to gasp for one word in edgewise, he told me: "I believe that fellow will talk me to death.  He beats all the men or women I ever saw."  So when we started again, I winked to Chase to give him a rub when he (Sutton) asked him anything again and in a second, Sutton said: "What do they do with the gold when they get it washed out?"  Chase looked over his shoulder at me, and Howe and Clark were getting tired of Sutton – fearing he would so bother the guide that we would not be able to make the round trip as we anticipated.

          "Oh for Christ's sake, give me a rest." Chase said.  "I'm hoarse now and if you won't ask me any more until we get to Murphy's and let me sleep tonight I'll talk to you all day tomorrow."  The rest of us just roared and Sutton said nothing more until we arrived at Murphy's - 7 miles - it being then 7:30 and one hour ahead of the stage that had to go a different route.  We were glad to alight and get dusted off and washed up in anticipation of a good supper as we were tired and hungry. In about 20 minutes supper was ready and I assure you we did full justice to it.  (This would have been at the Sperry & Perry Hotel in Murphy’s.)           

The Sperry & Perry Hotel (now Murphy’s Hotel) about the time great grandfather would have been there.

Murphy’s Hotel today with its old-fashioned charm preserved.

          After most of the guests had retired in the hotel and Mr. Sutton too, the rest of us were telling our host of the comic events as we christened Sutton, and I never laughed so much in my life.  After lots of fun and laughter, we thought it best to go to bed and get an early start for the celebrated Big Trees in Calaveras Grove.

(To be continued)

:->

La Nightingail