the beginning of yosemite tourism - Yosemite Online

A R C H E O L O G Y A T B I L L Y H U R S T ’ SS A L O O N , C R A N E F L A T , Y O S E M I T EN A T I O N A L P A R K , C A L I F O R N I ABY KEVIN M. BARTOYAND LAURA KIRNCrane Flat sits at the 6200-foot elevation, astridethe divide between the Merced and TuolumneRivers, holding an intricate montane forest andmeadow system. It is well known as habitat for manyanimal species (including the elusive Great Gray Owl)and abundant meadow resources. Less well-known is thehuman element of the landscape. This article provides aglimpse into this human history of Crane Flat, and a discussionof recent archeological excavations at the locationof Billy Hurst’s Saloon.Scientists have studied the prehistoric archeologicalresources at Crane Flat since the early 1950s. Based onextensive excavations conducted at a large village site,Dr. James Bennyhoff of the University of California atBerkeley proposed a chronology of human occupation inYosemite. The oldest complex he described, the Crane FlatComplex, spanned the centuries between 1,000 BC andAD 500. This complex was characterized by heavy spearand dart points (thrown using an atlatl or spearthrower)and by seed processing using flat granite millingstonesand small, round granite handstones.The site from which these were excavated is nowknown as the “Crane Flat Type Site” since it was from thissite that this material was first recognized and described.Thereafter, material remains of a culture thousands ofyears old became synonymous with the place named formigrating sandhill cranes. In addition to the Crane FlatSite, there are eight prehistoric archeological sites at CraneFlat that represent continuous human occupation over atleast the past 4,000 years (Hull 1990). Together, these havebeen listed in the National Register of Historic Places asthe Crane Flat Archeological District (NPS 1979).The first Euro-American residents of Crane Flat weresheep and cattle herders. The locale was known as apopular camping site, and by the mid 1860s, shepherdHugh Mundy had built a cabin (Whitney 1868). It waslikely Mundy’s cabin that John Muir saw in Crane Flat in1868, during the trip when he first viewed Yosemite Valley(Engberg and Wesling ed. 1999).Muir describes this cabin as a “shanty” of soft sugarpine shakes – so soft in fact, that this quality proved dangerousfor Muir’s traveling companion. In an effort to testhis aim and the worth of his gun, he shot through a pieceof paper fastened to the shanty wall and into the shoulderof his companion, who had foolishly stood inside, on theopposite side of the wall from the target (Engberg andWesling ed. 1999:42).Lewis and Anne Gobin erected another log shanty atCrane Flat by as early as the late 1860s, and were runningsheep and cattle in the meadow by 1870 (Greene 1987)Initially they took in travelers as a courtesy. But eventuallytraffic along the Coulterville Free and Big Oak Flat Trails,and later the Big Oak Flat Toll and Coulterville Roads,increased dramatically. By the mid 1870s the enterprisingGobins had developed their smallhostelry operation into a lively stagestation, offering meals and beds totravelers en route to Yosemite Valley.There are many accounts of theambience and hospitality at Gobin’s.The food was described as “fine fare,such delicious bread and butter, coffeeand rich cream, canned fruits ofall kinds, mutton, ham, etc.” (Prime1872:50). The operators had a dairyhouse in which they churned theirown butter and most likely keptfresh milk and cream (Greene 1987).Hand-drawn map of Crane Flat area fromPaden & Schlichtmann’s The Big Oak FlatRoad.12 Y O S E M I T E A S S O C I A T I O N , S U M M E R 2 0 0 5