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Nature and History on the Sierra Crest: Devils Postpile and the Mammoth Lakes Sierra Devils Postpile Formation and Talus

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Nature and History on the Sierra Crest: Devils Postpile and the Mammoth Lakes Sierra Devils Postpile Formation and Talus National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Devils Postpile National Monument California Nature and History on the Sierra Crest Devils Postpile and the Mammoth Lakes Sierra Christopher E. Johnson Historian, PWRO–Seattle Nature and History on the Sierra Crest: Devils Postpile and the Mammoth Lakes Sierra Devils Postpile formation and talus. (Devils Postpile National Monument Image Collection) Nature and History on the Sierra Crest Devils Postpile and the Mammoth Lakes Sierra Christopher E. Johnson Historian, PWRO–Seattle National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior 2013 Production Project Manager Paul C. Anagnostopoulos Copyeditor Heather Miller Composition Windfall Software Photographs Credit given with each caption Printer Government Printing Office Published by the United States National Park Service, Pacific West Regional Office, Seattle, Washington. Printed on acid-free paper. Printed in the United States of America. 10987654321 As the Nation’s principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has responsibility for most of our nationally owned public lands and natural and cultural resources. This includes fostering sound use of our land and water resources; protecting our fish, wildlife, and biological diversity; preserving the environmental and cultural values of our national parks and historical places; and providing for the enjoyment of life through outdoor recreation. The Department assesses our energy and mineral resources and works to ensure that their development is in the best interests of all our people by encouraging stewardship and citizen participation in their care. The Department also has a major responsibility for American Indian reservation communities and for people who live in island territories under U.S. administration. Contents Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Converging Pasts: Nature and Culture in the Postpile Region One A Landscape in Time: Nature and History along the Middle Fork San Joaquin 9 Tw o Sierra Crossings: Native Americans, Trade, and Environmental Change 19 Three Euro-American Exploration and Resource Extraction in the High Sierra, 1700s–1800s 35 Four The Yosemite Grant, Tourism, and the Origins of Conservation in the Sierra Nevada, 1864–1890 59 National Monument, Regional Politics: The Administrative Evolution of Devils Postpile, 1890–2011 Five Shifting Boundaries, Shifting Values: From National Park to National Forest to National Monument, 1890–1911 71 Six Defining the Monument: Jurisdiction, Agency Values, and the Return to Yosemite, 1912–1934 85 Seven Establishing a Presence: Devils Postpile under Yosemite, 1934–1941 93 Eight The War Years: Park Service and Forest Service Cooperation, 1941–1951 105 Nine Reclaiming the Monument: Development, Interpretation, and “Mutual Cooperation” under Yosemite, 1952–1953 115 Ten A Neglected Stepchild: Mission 66 and the Trans-Sierra Highway Debate, 1954–1972 129 Eleven Reviving the Monument: Transfer to Sequoia, Interagency Cooperation, and the Origins of the Shuttle, 1972–2000 151 Contents Twelve Toward a “Quality Monument Experience”: Resource Management and Wilderness Politics, 1972–2000 167 Thirteen The Making of a Network Park: Ecological Management and Regional Politics, 2000–2010 177 Historical Contexts for the Period of Federal Management: The Mammoth Lakes Sierra, Recreation, and Science Fourteen Regional Context: The Mammoth Lakes Sierra 191 Fifteen Devils Postpile and Rustic Recreation 195 Sixteen From Geologic Interpretation to Ecosystem Management 215 Conclusion: Regional Cooperation and the Future of Devils Postpile 233 App. A Summary of Historic Contexts and Associated Resources 237 App. B National Register Recommendations 245 Selected Bibliography 247 Index 259 vi List of Figures Devils Postpile formation and talus. ii Regional Map. xiii Devils Postpile National Monument and vicinity. xiv Devils Postpile park map. xv Geologic map showing types of rocks and a self-guided nature trail. 10 Glacial polish and striations at the top of the Postpile. 10 Devils Postpile columns and talus. 11 Rainbow Falls. 12 A part of the soda spring in Soda Springs Meadow. 15 1992 Rainbow Fire burning near Reds Meadow. 16 Obsidian point. From a 2006 Park Service archaeology site condition assessment report. 21 Monument at Casa Diablo. Note the geothermal plant in the background. 22 North Fork Mono brush shelter with bedrock mortars. 23 Acorn and seed baskets. 25 North Fork Mono woman pulverizing manzanita berries. 26 Owens Valley Paiute Tule House. 26 Owens Valley Paiute Jack Stewart demonstrating a fire drill. 29 John C. Fremont´ party crossing the Sierra Nevada in 1843. 37 Map of the expeditions of the Mariposa Battalion during 1851. 38 Robert Eccleston, 1830-1911. 39 Devils Postpile cabin in 1934. 43 Overhead shot of the Postpile cabin. 44 1939 photo of the Postpile cabin showing its proximity to the Postpile formation. 44 Mammoth City resident Tex Cushions’s team of sled dogs across the river from the Postpile in winter. 45 Miners on the summit of Iron Mountain west of Devils Postpile. 46 Sketch of the Postpile formation from an 1892 State Mineralogist report on the North Fork Mining District. 46 1892 sketch map of the North Fork Mining District showing the soda spring, Reds Meadow (labeled “Peck’s Meadow”), and the Yosemite National Park boundary north of Agnew Meadow. 47 1939 photo of John Beck’s cabin near Beck’s Lake west of Devils Postpile. 48 1916 Madera County map showing Devils Postpile at its extreme eastern terminus. 48 List of Figures 1981 photo of a cabin at the Minaret Mine site. 49 1981 photo of a partially collapsed structure at the Minaret Mine site. 49 Remnant of the Minaret Mine road bed adjacent to the present Minaret Lake Trail. 50 Ruins of one of J. W. Starkweather’s mining operations in the area, date and location unknown. 51 “Hoofed Locusts.” 52 Sheepherder carving in Devils Postpile showing the initials “E. S.” 54 Notch carved in a tree, presumably for supporting a table or sleeping platform. 55 Portrait of James M. Hutchings. 60 Early sketch of Yosemite Valley. 61 Hutchings’s photograph of Devils Postpile in 1875. Note the leaning column and the man standing below and to the right of it. 63 The Brewer Party of 1864. From left to right: James T. Gardiner, Richard Cotter, William H. Brewer, and Clarence King. 64 George Bayley’s sketch of Rainbow Falls, 1878. 65 Cavalry “T” blaze in Devils Postpile National Monument. 72 Sheepherder and sheep in a meadow. 73 Cavalry officer Nathaniel F. McClure’s 1896 map of patrol routes in Yosemite National Park. 74 Close up of the same map showing Reds Meadows as a patrol hub. 75 Walter L. Huber. 79 Original Map drawn by Walter Huber and filed with the 1911 proclamation establishing Devils Postpile National Monument. 80 Walter L. Huber surveying the Devils Postpile boundary in 1912. 81 1927 map of Sierra National Forest showing Devils Postpile at the top right. 86 Reds Meadow guard station built in 1927 by Ranger Malcolm McLeod and occupied by he and his wife Emma McLeod. 87 The original National Park Service ranger station set up at Devils Postpile in 1934 following the transfer from the Forest Service. 94 Ranger Duane Jacobs inspecting a site at the base of the Postpile talus for the placement of an interpretive sign. 95 1937 photo of the Reds Meadow Bath House, built by a CCC crew in 1935. 95 The CCC bath house as it appears today. 96 Yosemite engineer Theodore Cronyn establishing the Devils Postpile National Monument boundary during the 1934 boundary survey. 97 Cronyn’s 1934 map based on the corners established in 1912 by Walter Huber. 98 Regional map included with Cronyn’s 1934 report. 99 Photo of Soda Springs Meadow from Cronyn’s 1934 report. 100 1937 proposed boundary adjustment to match the rectangular shape of the monument as depicted in the map filed with the 1911 proclamation. 102 1941 tourist brochure map showing a rectangular boundary. 102 viii List of Figures Campers in the monument campground in 1940. 108 A family on the original bridge over the San Joaquin River south of Soda Springs Meadow, 1939. 108 Backpackers in a meadow near Devils Postpile in the 1940s. 109 1940 tourist brochure for Devils Postpile. 110 Back cover of a 1941 tourist brochure. 111 Ranger-led walk. 118 The partially collapsed Postpile cabin, 1949. 121 The cabin after its collapse in 1954. 121 Hikers with ranger at the Devils Postpile flagpole, 1955. 125 Mother and daughter at the Rainbow Falls viewpoint, 1955. 130 Map of the proposed Minaret Summit Highway, 1966. 135 Development plan, 1963. Note the location of the proposed Mammoth Pass road and the space reserved for expansion across the river opposite the campground. 136 Close-up of an alternate development plan, 1963. Note the 3,000-square-foot visitor center and the expanded parking areas. 136 Bishop local and former Sequoia and Kings Canyon superintendent Stanley Albright with Lou Roeser at Mule Days. 138 Governor Ronald Reagan with former Reds Meadow Pack Station owner Arch Mahan (left) and Rock Creek Pack Station owner Herbert M. London (right), 1972. 141 Governor Reagan beginning the ride to Summit Meadow, 1972. 142 Mules in the monument parking lot, 1974. 144 Postpile–Soda Springs Meadow Bridge. Note the cracked piling on the left, 1970s. 145 Stock trails in Soda Springs Meadow, 1974. 146 Wymond Eckhardt, 1983. 152 Postpile-Soda Springs Meadow Bridge. 154 Publicity for Devils Postpile, 1974. 155 Mules and cars in the monument parking lot, 1974. 156 Devils Postpile–Reds Meadow shuttle brochure. 160 Line for the shuttle bus at the monument ranger station, 1980. 161 One of the blue Quicksilver Stage Line shuttle busses that operated from 1981 to 1986. 162 Ranger Coy sitting in the Postpile talus, 1972. 168 The 1992 Rainbow Fire from Reds Meadow Pack Station. 173 Burnt sign. 173 The “shingle factory” near the junction of the King Creek Trail, 1977. 175 Devils Postpile, 1935.
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