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THE PIONEER CEMETERY IN YOSEMITE VALLEY
The cemetery in Yosemite was probably first laid out in the 1870's when
the Valley was under the guardianship of the State of California. In
1906/7 Gabriel SOVULEWSKI and Lawrence V. DEGNAN outlined the area with
Incense Cedar trees. In 1918 they built the fence that enclosed about 40
graves. This Includes approximately 10 Indian graves.
Harry EDDY died 10 Oct 1919, was a carpenter who worked on the Yosemite
barn. He lived in a tent at the rear of Gabril SOVULEWSKI’s home.
Another source says he was a road laborer in the employ of the
government and he was found dead in his tent in the laborers' camp.
Frank BOCKERMAN died 9 July 1910: He walked into the park looking for
work and died in the Army hospital. All that was known about him was
that he came from Coulterville.
William Bonne ATKINSON born in Yosemite Valley 25 June 1898, died 15
April 1902, was the youngest child of Charles and Nell ATKINSON.
Atkinson was an employee of the State of California.
James Mason HUTCHINGS. A large rugged piece of granite and a trim stone
cross mark the graves of this pioneer Yosemite Valley family.
Effie CRIPPIN. who died at 14 was the youngest of four daughters of
Joshua D. CRIPPIN, Sheriff of Mariposa county from 1857 until his death
in 1870. His widow married John K BARNARD who operated the Barnard House
Hotel in the Valley from 1877 to 1892. Barnard was evicted on 11 May
1893 after litigation that reached the State Supreme Court. Florence
HUTCHINGS sang at Effie’s funeral a few weeks before her own death.
Mrs. Laura CANNON and her husband were staying at the Stoneman House
hotel in the summer of 1895.
Thomas GLYNN died 19 Dec 1881. He and his wife, Elizabeth, were from
Maine. He was Mexcan War veteran and a currier by trade. His wife was an
excellent cook and operated a hotel at Glacier Point for awhile.
Agnes Armour LEIDIG, born in Coulterville 24 Feb 1867,died 21 Dec 1868,
was the second of 11 Leidig children. Her parents were pioneer hotel
keepers in the valley. She was first buried near the present site of the
Ahwahnee Hotel and later moved to the cemetery. When she died her mother
was the only white woman in the valley and there were only four white
men.
Albert MAY, died 23 Oct 1881, age 51, a native of Ohio. He was a
carpenter and caretaker for A. G. BLACK, owner of Black's Hotel.
James Chenowith LAMON lies beneath a 20-foot spire made of an elegant
piece of white granite taken from one of the Three Graces.
Galen CLARK, chiseled his name on the rough boulder that is his
headstone. In 1930 his nephews, L. L. McCOY and A. M. McCOY, added the
dates 1814-1910.
George and Carrie FISKE. George FISKE, a native of Massachusetts, was a
noted photographer who had a studio in the valley. Carrie FISKE,
visiting the valley about 1900 from Massachusetts/Ohio, purchased a
photograph from him which led to romance and marriage. Carrie FISKE died
11 Jan 1918, age 63, and George FISKE died in 1920.
Hazel Caroline MEYER (MYERS) Jan. 23, 1902 -July 5, 1905, was the daughter of
George and Lizzie MEYER, pioneer settlers in Mariposa County near the
park boundary. Lizzie MEYER was the
niece of James McCAULEY who built the Four Mile Trail to Glacier Point.
Rose and Gabriel SOVULEWSKI
Gabriel SOVULEWSKI was born in Poland, came
to America at 16 and enlisted in the Army. In 1895 he was Sergeant of
Troop K 4th Cavalry during the time the
U.S. Army administered the park. He continued in administration after he
became a civilian. Many of the 740 miles of trails were planned and laid
out by him. Mrs. Sovulewski lived in Yosemite Valley for 22 years and
died in August 1928 at 54. No date is
given for Gabriel SOVULEWSKI's death.
Leonidas G. ‘Dick' WHORTON was shot and killed at his Cascades house by
Abel MANN on 4 April 1887. Whorton had been Justice of the Peace in the
valley. In 1870 he and Peter GORDON were partners in the Lake House at
Mirror Lake. Several factors led to the killing -a woman and the Civil
War being two of them. Mann was tried in the Mariposa County Superior
Court and acquitted Some years later he tried to cut his wife's throat.
He was said to have committed suicide when surrounded by a posse.
John HAMILTON who died in July or August, 1882, was a guide who had a
cabin in EI Capitan
Meadow.
George G./B. ANDERSON is the courageous Scot who first climbed Half Dome
on 12 Oct 1875.
He also built the trail from Happy Isle to Vernal Falls in 1882.
____WOOD from Knights Ferry was a cattle guard for J. B. CURTIN who died
at Tamarack Flat.
A. B./G. B. (Angelo) CAVAGNARO died 9 Sept 1885, age 62. He kept a
general store in the Old Village in the valley.
John C. ANDERSON died 5 July 1867, age 55, a stage driver killed by a
horse. He was first buried at the base of Four Mile Trail near George
FISKE's home and later moved to the cemetery.
Tradition says his locust wood switch, stuck in the ground to mark his
grave, sprouted and the locust trees in the valley are it's descendants.
Baby COYLE. Walter COYLE of Groveland, who worked in Yosemite from time
to time, was camped in the valley with his family when the baby died.
Albert Baldwin GLASSCOCK born 3 Sept 1843, died 9 July 1897, native of
Missouri, took over the Barnard House, renamed it the Sentinal Hotel and
died there. The tall rough gravestone was hauled from the vicinity of
Bridalveil Falls and carved by Davis B. LAWLER, an employee of the
state.
Sadie SCHAEFFER. Official report of coroner's jury states she was about
28, a waitress at the Sentinel Hotel, who went boating with Johnny van
CAMPEN in a small homemade canvas boat. Swept
into the rapids near the EI Capitan bridge, she was drowned.
Another source says she was 14 or 15, visitor from Packwaukee,
Wisconsin, who drowned in the Merced River 7 July 1901.
Forest S. TOWNSLEY. Chief Park Ranger, died of a heart attack 11 Aug
1943, near the lake which now bears his name. Born in 1882 in Greeley
Center, Nebraska, he came to Yosemite in 1913 and was
promoted to Chief Ranger in 1916. He was a skilled taxidermist. His work
was displayed in his office until the first museum was set up in Chris
JORGENSEN's old cabin. The present museum was built in 1926.
Townsley's son, John, a ranger, continues his father's tradition of
devotion to the Park Service.
James MORGAN died 10 July 1901, age 69. For 35 years flowers were sent
by his family each Memorial Day for his grave. His wife was later buried
beside him.
Son of Capt. R. H. BENNETT was drowned 24 July 1870 while attempting to
cross a branch of the Merced River on a mule. His was the first burial
in the cemetery.
Frenchman. probably Etienne MANET, was granted a license in 1889 to sell
vegetables. Said to have been slightly demented he was found dead in his
cabin.
WOODCOCK, Nothing known of this man.
George Ezra BOSTON, died 12 Aug 1875, age 50, native of Virginia, a toll
collector at Bolton's tollhouse on the Coulterville road, was burned
alive in his cabin. A notorious Indian scoundrel, Piute George, was
suspected of setting the fire.
McKENZIE, who died perhaps in the summer of 1896, was a member of a
camping party.
A. W. B. MADDEN, died in 1883, was a tourist, perhaps from England, who
died while staying at the Sentinal Hotel.
Cremation was practiced by the Ahwahneechees living in pre-discovery
Yosemite. The last cremation ceremony was held on the death of a nephew
of Chief One-Eye DICK, who was killed in a hunting accident about 1873.
The earliest recorded Indian burial was that of KOSANO or TORCH
BEARER, father of Ta-bu-ce. More than 80 years old and not well, he died
after a difficult trip through the snow from his native Mono Lake east
of the Sierras in about 1875. His daughter said he was not buried in the
present cemetery. The following bits of information on Indian graves
were gathered from many sources, including
interviews with Indians living in Yosemite. Ten of the grave markers are
redwood boards that have been placed in recent times. The eleventh is a
simple granite boulder. The following accounts are headed by
inscriptions as they appear on the markers.
Sally Ann CASTAGNETTO -Died April 12, 1934. Sally Ann Dick CASTAGNETTO
was a full-blooded Yosemite Indian. Her father was Indian DICK and her
mother was Mary DICK. Sally Ann was considered one of the most beautiful
of Yosemite Indians. She was talkative and full of life. Her first
husband was an early miner named Stegman. After his death she married
Johnny BROWN. Johnny CASTAGNETTO operated the Hennessey ranch near
Mariposa and sold vegetables in the valley. When
he became sick and moved to Coulterville Sally Ann went to nurse him.
Mother of Lucy - Part Yosemite, Very little is known about the mother of
Indian Lucy BROWN. Early photos show she must have been very old when she
died.
May TOM -Aged 14 -Piute. May Tom was the niece of Ta-bu-ce (Maggie
HOWARD). May was killed by a falling tree while camped with her aunt.
Ta-bu-ce's leg was broken in the accident and she remained lame. May Tom
died about 1905. Ta-bu-ce was a fine basket weaver and made acorn cakes
for visitors. She was buried with Indian ceremonies at Bishop,
California east of the mountains late in
January 1947.
May Dick –Yosemite, May Dick, mother of Sally Ann CASTAGNETTO, was a
full blooded Yosemite. Her husband, Indian Dick, cut wood for early
valley settlers.
Grandmother of Lucy TELLES. Susie SAM, Lucy TELLES grandmother, was a
Yosemite born in the valley. Her husband was Captain SAM, who supplied
fish for Camp Curry and the Sentina] Hotel.
Many of the early Indians were very successful fishermen, but would
not reveal their secrets. Susie SAM died in August about 1904.
Lucy -Died 1920 -Part Yosemite, Lucy BROWN or Indian Lucy, said to be
nearly 120 years old at her death, was one of the last Indians who was
in the valley at it's discovery in 1851. She was the oldest of six
generations, many of whom lived in the valley. Her husband was Bill
BROWN. She was the cousin of Maria LEBRADO, last survivor of the
original Yosemites. Lucy's death is recorded as 1924.
Bill BROWN -Died 1899 –Yosemite, Bill BROWN or Mono Tom BROWN was the
husband of
Lucy BROWN, father of Johnny, grandfather of Chris BROWN. He was one of
the first Indians to be buried in the Yosemite Cemetery.
Lancisco WILSON -Died 1885 -Piute. He was the father of Johnny WILSON.
His Indian name was Tu-tok-a-nu-la, the inch worm that, according to
Indian legend, climbed El Capitan. Lancisco WILSON was one of the old
Yosemite chiefs and was approximately 115 when he died.
Johnn~ BROWN -Died 1934 –Yosemite, Johnny BROWN was born about 1860. He
first married Sally Ann DICK. His second wife was Lena BROWN. They had
four children; Chris, Virgil, Alves and Hazel. Chris BROWN (Chief
Lee-mee) was named for artist Chris JORGENSEN. Chris BROWN and Lizzie,
last surviving Nutchu, performed the Indian rites at Johnny BROWN's
burial.
Lee-mee who passed on the songs and dances of the Me-Wuk people near
Mariposa. died in 1956. His passing left no one to carry on the culture
of Yosemite's Indians.
Pete HILLIARD 1870-1934. Pete HILLIARD was part Yosemite and an old
timer in the valley.
John Baptista BACIGALUPI said his father was Chinese. Pete lived most of
his life in the valley and worked for the government. When his sister,
Louisa Westfall HILLIARD, died she was nearing 100.
Louisa TOM –1856, Louisa TOM asked to be buried here with her family.
Hers will probably be the last burial in this cemetery. Her passing,
probably at more than 100, was marked by an old time Indian 'cry' by her
family.
It is certain there are graves outside the cemetery. Researchers at the
Yosemite Museun find references to unmarked and forgotten graves.
Sources: 1. Yosemite Indians and Other Sketches by Mrs. H. J. TAYLOR 2.
Guide to the Pioneer Cemetery- Yosemite National Park by Lloyd W.
BRUBAKER, Laurence V. DEGNAN and Richard R. JACKSON.
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MORE INFORMATION ON THE YOSEMITE CEMETERY
http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/pioneer_cemetery/