the beginning of yosemite tourism - Yosemite Online

ottles), food and food preparation tool remains, andpharmaceuticals. Other object types, such as structuralremains (nails, glass, etc.), personal objects (tobacco tins,clay pipe fragment), and shell casings, were present, butin much smaller numbers than the domestic objects. Themajority of the objects dated from 1880 to 1910, consistentwith the time frames of the hotel and saloon.When analyzed, artifacts from the Hurst Saloon providedevidence of trade networks that connected WilliamHurst to his neighbors, local merchants, regional producers,and national and international manufacturers.Although only less than one percent of the total assemblagecould be identified as to manufacturing origins, themanufacturers that could be identified revealed connectionsto communities in California, the eastern UnitedStates, and Great Britain.The local network was represented by fragments ofeggshells. Although it is uncertain where the eggs originated,Ann Gobin was known to keep chickens at herhotel across the Big Oak Flat Road. These remains mayrepresent the tangible expression of a system of barterknown as “neighboring.” As elaborated by Miner (1949)in his study of a farming community in Iowa and later byAdams (1976, 1977) in his study of Silcott, neighboringwas an outgrowth of a primarily “cashless” or “cash poor”local economy that relied on bartering relationships forgoods and labor.These relationships created social and economicties that resulted in a system of alliances and the formationof community bonds. Given the fact that solitaryshepherds, placer miners, farm laborers, and NativeAmericans were Hurst’s primary clientele, this cashlesssystem of barter was most likely extensive and mayhave served as the basis for the local economy atCrane Flat.The regional network was evidenced by a single bottleof soda water that was produced at the Thomas LeonardSoda Works in Sonora, California. Although this bottleprovides the only precise evidence for a regional network,the high percentage of consumer goods in the assemblageshows Hurst’s connection to merchants in the area whoprovided such goods.No merchants were identified from the archeologicalremains, but further historical research, which focuses onthe account books and inventories of nearby merchantsin the counties of Tuolumne and Mariposa, may allowfor more information about Hurst’s interactions withinthe regional commercial economy. With known rivalriesbetween business interests in Tuolumne and Mariposacounties, this research may provide a better understandingof Hurst’s political interests.Further inference as to Hurst’s connection to aregional network was made through an analysis of theferrous metal cans and can fragments recovered from thesite. Over 65% of the assemblage consisted of cans andcan fragments, which represented a minimum of 132individual cans. This proliferation of canned goods at theHurst Saloon coincided with the development of the firstautomated can making machinery in the 1880s whichgreatly increased production.The Gobin and Hurst Way Station at Crane Flat in 1901. Photo attributed to Celia Crocker Thompson courtesy of the Yosemite ResearchLibrary.14 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