A wonderful 100 year old letter describing a trip to Yosemite in 1916.
The letter, written on Camp Curry letterhead is dated Sept. 22, 1916. The envelope is printed with the words:
A MESSAGE FROM
"THE STENTOR"
OF YOSEMITE
CAMP CURRY, CALIFORNIA
and
Make 1916 a Yosemite Year
The envelope is postmarked "SAN FRANCISCO & LOS ANGELES SEP 22". There are two canceled 1 CENT stamps. It is addressed to Mrs. William B. Hicks, Westport Point, Massachusetts.
Inside are 3 sheets of Camp Curry letterhead, DAVID A. CURRY, Proprietor, with a picture called, "Happy Isles." There is writing on both sides and even a little drawing. The letter is written by a woman named Mary to her parents.
Background and Provenance:
"Mary" was Mary Elizabeth Hicks Brown, only child of William and Caroline Hicks. At the time she wrote, she was 22 years old and accompanied by her husband, George P. (Percy) Brown. I believe they were on their honeymoon. They had come to the park from San Francisco and planned to go on to Los Angeles after their stay in Yosemite.
Camp Curry was established in 1899 by former teachers, David and Elizabeth Curry, as an alternative to the more expensive hotels that existed in Yosemite Valley at the time.
Here are a few excerpts from the letter:
Dear Mama and Papa, - It has been nearly a week since I wrote a letter to you. To-night I am so tired, I can't move, but I must send a letter. When I tell you what we did to-day you will not think it strange I am weary. Percy and I with a guide went to Claud's Rest on the backs of mules. The trail up the mountains was far from smooth, and many people faint away when they look down the canyons, perhaps two thousand feet to the valley. However, I did not feel afraid, for mules are very sure footed animals and you can't make them leave the trail unless you whip them......
As you see by this paper we are staying at Camp Curry, one of the best camps we have been in.... Mr. Curry is a big man and is ever giving out announcements. Every evening there is an entertainment in the grove and some of the famous people who happen to be here take part....
At eight o'clock a great event took place - a "fire-fall." The government gives permits once in a great while for people to build a big bon fire at Glacier Point...and when the fire is reduced to embers, shove them over the edge. The vertical drop is 3,000 ft. You can't imagine how pretty the red coals look coming down through space. They tell us that the last fire-fall was seven years ago...
To-night there is a thunder storm. Lightning is flashing on Half Dome, El Capitan and all around us. Our tent is just under Glacier Point, so we have a back fence 3,000 ft. high...
To-morrow we leave for Merced....and take a sleeper for Los Angeles, Cal. We take a seven passenger auto from the camp here and ride out through the valley, woods and prairies to the rail road. I never saw such winding, hilly roads as there are here! Coming in I was sick and threw up. A Japanese Count was in the party and he was ill, too....
I must stop and go to bed.... With lots of love, Mary
Camp Curry became Curry Village and continued in operation for many years, despite the untimely death of David Curry. He developed blood poisoning following an injury to his foot in 1917, just one year after this letter was written.
The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The fire-fall Mary described was a major draw to the area and the tradition was carried on until 1968.
An amazing personal account!
Note: The other envelope pictured contains a letter Mary wrote to her parents from the Alvarado Hotel in San Francisco, just prior to her trip to Yosemite. It gives a detailed description of Chinatown and other points of interest. It will be sold separately.
