History of Valentine Camp Mary M. Farrell Trans-Sierran Archaeological Research P.O. Box 840 Lone Pine, CA 93545 November 7, 2015 Prepared for Valentine Eastern Sierra Reserve University of California, Santa Barbara, Natural Reserve System Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory 1016 Mt. Morrison Road Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546 Abstract Located in Mammoth Lakes, California, Valentine Camp and the nearby Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory form the Valentine Eastern Sierra Reserve, a field research station in the University of California's Natural Reserve System. The University’s tenure at Valentine Camp began over 40 years ago, but the area’s history goes back thousands of years. Before the arrival of Euroamericans in the nineteenth century, the region was home to Paiutes and other Native American tribes. Land just east of Valentine Camp was surveyed under contract with the United States government in 1856, and mineral deposits in the mountains just west of Valentine Camp brought hundreds of miners to the vicinity in the last decades of the nineteenth century. Even as mining in the region waned, grazing increased. The land that became Valentine Camp was patented in 1897 by Thomas Williams, a rancher and capitalist who lived in Owens Valley. It was Williams’s son, also Thomas, who sold the 160 acres to Valentine Camp’s founders. Those founders were very wealthy, very influential men in southern California who could have, and did, vacation wherever they wanted. Anyone familiar with the natural beauty of Mammoth Lakes would not be surprised that they chose to spend time at Valentine Camp. Valentine Camp was donated to the University of California Natural Land and Water Reserve System (now the Natural Reserve System) in 1972 to ensure the land’s continued protection. “We gave the land because we love it. I can’t think of a more stable and careful caretaker than the University of California.” -Carol Valentine, 1972 i Acknowledgements This report was completed at the request of Dan Dawson, Director of the Valentine Eastern Sierra Reserve (VESR). I am grateful for the opportunity to learn more about Valentine Camp, and for Dan’s supreme patience while I did so. Dan also supplied me with key documents to start the research: Carol Valentine’s brief history of the camp, and the chain of title that had been prepared when the land was transferred to the University of California. At the county offices in Bridgeport, California, Barry Beck and Amber Reigle of Mono County’s Assessor’s Office, and Ruth Hansen, Deputy Clerk, Mono County Clerk-Recorder’s Office, allowed me access to their archives and helped me find copies of relevant documents. Larry Weitzel, Bureau of Land Management, California State Office, Sacramento, sent me a copy of the original patent certificate for the land that became Valentine Camp and researched the price paid for the parcel. Mark Davis, of the Southern Mono Historical Society, conducted a search of the collection archived at Hayden Cabin to provide some additional information. Kathleen Wong, the Principal Publications Coordinator of the University of California’s Natural Reserve System, supplied key information about the transfer of Valentine Camp to the University. Deborah Harnke, Reference Librarian, Bureau of Land Management Library National Operations Center, Denver, and Michele Hartshorn, Assistant Clerk-Recorder of Inyo County, provided useful direction. Jeff Burton of Trans-Sierran Archaeological Research prepared some of the maps used in this review, and Emily Farrell assisted in the search for documents. I also thank Jeff Burton, Dan Dawson, Bill Gillespie, and Kathleen Wong for providing comments on earlier drafts. ii Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Location and Setting ................................................................................................................... 1 Archaeology ................................................................................................................................ 4 Paiute and other Native American Residents ............................................................................. 5 Conflicts with New Arrivals ......................................................................................................... 6 The Establishment of Federal Lands ........................................................................................... 7 Mining and Ranching................................................................................................................... 8 Roads and Recreation ............................................................................................................... 11 Valentine Camp ............................................................................................................................. 15 The First Private Owner ............................................................................................................ 16 Intermediaries ........................................................................................................................... 21 The Founders ............................................................................................................................ 23 William Lucas Valentine (1870-ca. 1944) .............................................................................. 24 William G. Kerckhoff (1856-1929) ......................................................................................... 26 Joseph Francis Sartori (1858-1946) ....................................................................................... 27 George Wallace ..................................................................................................................... 28 Ira Clifton Copley (1864-1947) .............................................................................................. 28 H. W. O’Melveny (1859-1941) ............................................................................................... 30 Michael Connell (ca. 1860-1935) ........................................................................................... 31 Mr. Millican /Milliken (1893-1981) ....................................................................................... 32 Joe Cook (ca. 1855 to at least 1930) ...................................................................................... 34 Valentine Camp Cabins ............................................................................................................. 35 Roughing It ................................................................................................................................ 38 The Cabin Builders .................................................................................................................... 40 John Tibbets ........................................................................................................................... 41 Ed Chamberlain ..................................................................................................................... 41 Neighbors .................................................................................................................................. 41 Mammoth Lakes When Valentine Camp Was Founded ........................................................... 45 iii Boundaries ................................................................................................................................ 46 Transition to University Ownership ............................................................................................... 47 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 49 Bibliography and notes .................................................................................................................. 50 Appendix A. Chain of Title ............................................................................................................. 61 Appendix B. Valentine Camp References at Southern Mono Historical Society ........................... 65 Appendix C. Additional Biographical Information ......................................................................... 70 William L. Valentine .................................................................................................................. 70 One of San Marino’s Founders: William L. Valentine (1870 - 1942) ..................................... 70 William Kerckhoff ...................................................................................................................... 72 West Adams Heritage Association Biography: William G. Kerckhoff .................................... 72 Letter from Kerckhoff to Secretary of Interior, April 28, 1899 .............................................. 75 Joseph Francis Sartori ............................................................................................................... 77 Los Angeles County Biographies: California of the South ..................................................... 77 Security Pacific: A History ...................................................................................................... 79 Henry W. O'Melveny ................................................................................................................. 81 Los Angeles County Biographies ...........................................................................................