"Names, once they are in common use, quickly become mere sounds,
their etymology being buried, like so many of the earth's marvels,
beneath the dust of habit."
Salman Rushdie
British-American Novelist
Yosemite National Park contains many names that identify historic landmarks, granite domes and ridges, trees and flowers, and rivers and creeks, etc. Most of these names have endured over the past 150 years since the Park has been explored, developed, and visited. Some have become so common that they now reflect just a mere “sound,” as Salman Rushdie might say, without the hint of consideration for their origin.
For example, three meadows in Yosemite Valley (Leidig, Cook, and Stoneman) still bear the names of individuals who ran businesses or made claims on real estate in the Valley, yet conjure up little meaning for most visitors. Leidig Meadow, which sits at the west end of the Valley, draws its name from George F. and Isabella L. Leidig who built and managed their own hotel from 1869 through 1887 near what is now the trailhead of the four-mile trail.
Unfortunately for the Leidigs, their hotel met its demise before the end of the 19th century due to the sting of competition. John Jay Cook, a businessman intent on expanding his interests into Yosemite Valley, promoted the idea to the Yosemite Commissioners that leases for other inns be terminated as a condition of his acceptance of the manager position of the newly constructed Stoneman House Hotel in 1889. Although the Meadow still bears the Leidig name, only a small stand of black locust trees marks the spot where their comfortable and welcoming lodging house once stood. A survey of Yosemite visitors would show that few could identify the people behind the Leidig name. (Photo above: The Leidig Family and guests in front of their hotel. Photo courtesy of The National Park Gallery Digital Archives; Public Domain. Photographer unknown)
Stoneman Meadow retains the name of the former California Governor, George Stoneman (1882), who influenced the building of the Stoneman House Hotel in 1888. It was designed to add finer accommodations to Yosemite Valley. The hotel, managed by John Jay Cook as noted above, burned to the ground in 1896 due to shoddy workmanship. The meadow grasses have long since re-colonized the real estate where the Stoneman Hotel once stood. For the millions of guests who come to Yosemite Valley, the word “Stoneman” identifies a meadow (and a bridge) and little more.
As for Cook’s Meadow, it became the location where John Jay Cook, while managing the Stoneman House Hotel, allowed his cattle to graze in the well-watered meadow grasses. The meadow ultimately came to reflect his name as a result of the honor bestowed on him by some who wished to recognize his impact on the Park. As a businessman, he teamed with the Washburn Brothers (Cook’s sister married Henry Washburn) to buy Clark’s Station when Galen Clark experienced financial problems. Cook, Washburn, and their partners built the historic and still operational Wawona Hotel in Wawona.
Although Cook’s and his family’s impact on the development of Yosemite cannot be denied, the meadow itself gives no clue of its association with Mr. Cook and his family. The name “Cook” has, by and large, become simply a sound that identifies a swath of green space that offers wide-open views of Yosemite Valley along with a diversity of flora and fauna that richly inhabit it.
Photo Below: Looking across Cook's Meadow toward Yosemite Falls.
There remains a Yosemite name, however, that still prompts thoughts of the hospitality and comfort once offered up in a bygone era. That name is Curry. David and Jennie Foster Curry, two teachers who came to Yosemite in 1898 to share their love of the outdoors and to provide “a good bed and clean napkin with every meal" for $2 a day, won over the hearts of Yosemite visitors with their modest but comfortable accommodations and their generous and tasty meals.
Starting with only seven tents, they quickly expanded to 25 by the end of their first year to meet the growing need for reasonably priced accommodations in the Valley. Their good business sense and desire to provide a memorable stay made the expansion of their operation essential to meet the needs of their guests. As one Park document (page 16) states: “Thanks in large part to the charisma of its founders, Camp Curry has also been the park’s perennial crowd-pleaser and was historically quite profitable.”
A National Park website, highlighting the talents of college graduate Mrs. Curry, in particular, notes the following:
“Jennie made beds, packed box lunches, and helped plan additional guest services. When David died in 1917, "Mother" [as she was called] Curry carried on the camp and oversaw expansions, continuing Yosemite Park and Curry Company leases from the government with the help of her children. By 1922, Camp Curry had grown to 650 tents, 60 rooms in cottages, a cafeteria, a bakery, an ice plant, a candy kitchen, soda fountain, a studio, laundry, bathhouses, pool, auditorium, bowling alley, pool hall, a post office, and a store.”
Today, Camp Curry goes by the official name of Curry Village. Nevertheless, the “Camp” retains two essential elements that contribute to it remaining a desired destination. Those two elements focus on lodging and meals.
Regarding lodging, Camp Curry offers many of the same accommodations initially built by the Curry family. Fifty rustic wood-sided cabins with or without baths, 18 motel-like rooms, and 400+ bare-bones canvas tent cabins exude a historic feel. In fact, Curry Village qualified for a listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Admittedly, neither the current lodging nor food costs compare to the reasonable rates of the early 20th century. Still, the historic feel of the accommodations takes visitors back in time to when Camp Curry became synonymous with hospitality and comfort. For anyone who has stayed at Camp Curry, merely mentioning the Curry name continues to invite notions of yesteryear.
One can even request a tent cabin with a heater, an amenity that should not be dismissed during late autumn to early spring. These quaint tent cabins, approximately 33 feet by 15 feet, contain sleep configurations that accommodate 2-5 guests.
Although the 403 tent cabins come crowded together amidst the tall conifers that point up toward Glacier Point, their numbers highlight another feature that the Currys shared as part of their hospitality and brought people back year after year.
All those people have to eat. No food or cooking is allowed in the tent cabins so Curry Village provides a small grocery/gift store, a pizzeria, a bar, and a large-scale cafeteria. Again, the food and the prices have no comparison to what “Mother” Curry once provided. Nevertheless, guests gather together here, sometimes in great numbers, to rest and refuel and to share their experiences in this favorite National Park. Every time I have eaten here, I have enjoyed the company of individuals from faraway lands, getting to know them, and welcoming them myself to this cherished Valley. I picture that as something the Currys would have fostered since, aside from their lodging and food, they provided entertainment and brought people together to share their experiences.
The Currys made sure to give all of their guests who came to their humble camp more than just a “good bed and clean napkin with every meal." They never neglected to extend a warm welcome to all who sought out the comfort of their tent village.
How can I be sure of that? The handmade message built in 1914 by David and Jennie Curry’s son, Foster, has weathered the test of time. All who pass under it to register for their stay are instantly reminded of why the Curry name not only endures, but remains more than a mere sound. Their message still communicates their genuine hospitality. The sign simply reads: “Camp Curry . . . Welcome.” That’s a “welcome” that still has much meaning today. – See photos below.
Photo below: Camp Curry Entrance. Photo courtesy of the
National Park Gallery Digital Archives. Photographer unknown.
Photo below: "Mother" Curry standing under Camp Curry Entrance
before "Welcome" signage added. Photo courtesy of the National
Park Gallery Digital Archives. Photographer unknown.
REFERENCES
YOSEMITE: THE PARK AND ITS RESOURCES: A History of the Discovery, Management, and Physical Development of Yosemite National Park, California (Volume 1 of 3), Historical Narrative by Linda Wedel Greene (September 1987).
YOSEMITE: THE PARK AND ITS RESOURCES: A History of the Discovery, Management, and Physical Development of Yosemite National Park, California (Volume 2 of 3), Historical Narrative by Linda Wedel Greene (September 1987).
Isabelle Logan Leidig – Self Sufficient Inn Keeper in Yosemite (Book Chapter from: High Country Women: Pioneers of Yosemite National Park) by Chris Enss. Riverbend Publishing (2013). Website: https://chrisenss.com/isabelle-logan-leidig-an-inkeeper-in-yosemite/
National Park Service/Yosemite NP (nps.gov): Yosemite’s Women: The Concessioners (Jenny Foster Curry).
YosemiteTales.com: Yosemite of Yesteryear – Part 1 Upper & Lower House, Leidig's and Peregory's.
National Park Service, Yosemite National Park (nps.gov): Cultural Landscape Report Camp Curry Historic District. (2010).
SierraNevadaGeotourism.org: Cook’s Meadow Loop.
Wikipedia.org: National Register of Historic Places in Yosemite National Park.
Online Archives of California (oac.cdlib.org): Yosemite Park and Curry Company Collection, Yosemite National Park Archives.
National Park Service/Yosemite NP (nps.gov): Yosemite Ranger Notes: A View from Cook’s Meadow (August 10, 2017).