Theresa Ho, Author at The Redwoods In Yosemite ®

From the Recollections of Life and Events in Wawona series

By Norm Serra, Cabin 11

Bear in Wawona at night We first came in 1961 and stayed at the Mr. Kessler’s (Yosemite Pines) big cabin on Chilnualna Road, now cabin #80, owned by Dick and Carol Chatterton. We stayed in that house again in 1967, the year we
bought our cabin. We have accumulated countless wonderful Wawona memories over the past 40 years.

One of the things I miss most from the old days is our nightly visits by the bears. They used to come singly or in pairs, or a mother and her cubs, or sometimes in groups. One evening we counted eleven bears, seven of whom visited our cabin and four others roaming through The Redwoods. We could hear them coming from far off as they knocked over the metal trash barrels one by one, cabin by cabin, getting closer and closer so that when they arrived we were ready with our cameras.

They would dissect our trash, select the goodies, leave it scattered and be on their way. We were glad to clean up after them because we felt they were friends, a special part of the Wawona experience. They were beautiful animals. To us it was an important part of every evening’s activity.

Bear in Wawona at night Then the rangers decided that bears should not be eating human leftovers. They prohibited our open trash barrels and installed the bear proof containers around the area. Perhaps they were right. Maybe it’s for the best, but the short term results were sad. They stopped coming. We truly missed them as well as our daily visits with Mike, the trash man. We heard several times that hungry bears had broken into cabins to steal food and the repeat offenders had to be destroyed. I don’t know how many were killed over the next few years. I can’t help but feel that those beautiful animals would have preferred to be alive, scrounging in an undignified way for our leavings, but welcomed by all of us. As far as I know they harmed no one except for a few unthinking tourists who tried to get too cozy with them.

Wawona has changed some but it is still wonderful. I decided to come up for a quick trip a month ago to check out carpeting we had installed. By the time I made my plans there were 13 additional members of the family, kids, grandkids and in-laws, who decided to join the party, driving up from L.A. on Friday and home on Sunday.

That’s just one example of how much they all love the place. They never stop expressing their gratitude, nor do I.

Bear in Wawona at night

From the Recollections of Life and Events in Wawona series

by Norm Serra

We all surely have something in common: our love for Wawona. I have enjoyed reading your well-written histories. We discovered Wawona in a roundabout way.

In July of 1960, Janet and I decided that it was time to show our four kids, ages 2 thru 8, the beauties of Yosemite. We had each seen Yosemite Valley only once and knew we had to return. We tried to get reservations in the Valley, but were disappointed because there was nothing available. We were living in the San Fernando Valley at the time and Janet spotted an ad in the Valley Green Sheet for cabins rentals in Wawona.

It had been placed there by Mr. Kessler, a local English teacher who owned Yosemite Pines, the group of cabins across from the Pine Tree Market. He was a wonderful man. He spent his summers in Wawona, renting out his cabins and working on a history of Wawona (I don’t think he ever finished it). We made a reservation, but the night before we were to leave I had a crippling arthritis attack and was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Janet called Mr. Kessler to cancel. He said that if he could rent out the cabin he would return our $10 deposit, however the following week it arrived with a note saying that since I was in the hospital he was sure we needed it more than he did.

I spent a month in the hospital, but the following year, after I had recovered, we tried again. We contacted Mr. Kessler and rented the old brown house on Chilnualna Falls Road, now #80, the Chatterton’s cabin. Mr. Kessler had swings and slides for the kids and he directed us to the swimming holes, the falls, the swinging bridge and all the sights. We had a wonderful time, familiarizing ourselves with Wawona, swimming, hiking, catching our first fish in the pools above the falls and of course visiting Yosemite Valley. We even have pictures taken at Mirror Lake when there was water in it.

Six years later, in 1967, now with five kids, we decided to do it again. We rented the same cabin. Again we had a great time and fell more in love with the area. At that time Mr. Kessler was ready to sell and we offered to buy the cabin, but he was hoping to sell his entire property as a package and didn’t want to break it up. We didn’t know at the time that The Redwoods next door, much smaller then than now, was made up of private cabins. We thought they were government owned. By sheer luck, however, we met Dick Moore the day before we left. He told us he had two cabins for sale, cabins 10 and 11. He wouldn’t show us cabin 10 because he didn’t want to disturb the renters. That impressed us. So we looked at number 11 at the end of Woodpecker Way, a little 800-square-foot log exterior cabin with a decent living room, but just two tiny bedrooms, a tiny bathroom, a tiny kitchen, a small dinette, no deck, and a little front porch. By this time, we were so enamored of the idea of a cabin in Wawona that we made an offer and closed the deal over the phone the next night with the owner, Bill Morrin, who was moving to a larger cabin. It is the best thing we ever did.

The rest is history. We have spent so much time in Wawona that it has become a home away from home for our children and grandchildren. I have so many pictures of family and friends year after year at the swimming holes and skiing at Badger that I don’t know what do with them. I have pictures of two carloads of us driving through the Wawona Tunnel Tree the September before it fell.

Passenger wagon passing through the Wawona Tunnel Tree

Wawona Tunnel Tree (NPS archives)

Over the years we met other cabin owners and regular visitors, great folks who have become very dear long term friends, and we have introduced other friends and relatives to Wawona who have become regular visitors, coming up year after year and renting cabins for their own families and friends.

In 1969 we added a bedroom and bath and a small deck. Still as the family grew it got more crowded.

Finally, in 2002, after I observed my granddaughters, now young ladies, sleeping in sleeping bags under the dining room table, we finally added a fourth bedroom and another bath.

We followed that two years later with a big deck and last year with an extension to the dinette.

The love that our family members have for the cabin and their desire to be there together made these changes imperative. Wawona has brought joy, closeness, great family fun and even tranquility into our lives. Just sitting on the deck at night and looking at the stars is a spiritual experience. I am so grateful.

Like I said, it’s the best thing we ever did.

From the Recollections of Life and Events in Wawona series

By Mark Reed

I enjoy the reminiscing of the fond memories of Wawona. For some of us, this is a big part of who we are.

I remember looking out the window of my parents’ station wagon at the unbelievable white snow-covered mountains. I remember listening to the chains rattling in the wheel wells and the excitement of my brothers and sisters as we slowly made our way to Badger Pass. I remember the everlasting impression the young snow-covered pine trees made on a small child. For this small child, they were the monks of Yosemite looking over the land and the animals that lived there. They were there to greet the visitors in the winter and remind all that passed, this land is truly the creator’s church.

I remember the long winter walks at night with my father in Wawona. The snow-covered ground made that special sound like no other. The crisp clean smell of the air that could only be found in the high country. Holding my father’s hand as we walked through the night knowing that he was there to protect me. You see, he was my hero for showing me and teaching me about places beyond our house in Los Angeles. This place for me was better than church on Sunday.

I have six brothers, four sisters and we all spent Christmas every year in Wawona. I must have been seven the first time I remember coming here. I still have some of the old Super 8 film clips of our trips here. As the years passed the winter snow came later and later but we still came every year. I have thousands of memories here that are priceless. Because of my parents, I continued the tradition of coming to Wawona with my wife and children.

As the years passed I remember looking at my wife and saying; “We need to buy a cabin before we can’t afford to.” You see I wanted to guarantee my great-great-great-great grandchildren’s opportunity to create some of the memories we are sharing here now. So we looked around. I remember going into the Black Oak Lodge (10N). I walked around and walked out. This cabin was a mess and was going to take a lot of work. So we continued to look for one more year. Well our search made full circle and we ended back at the Black Oak Lodge. This cabin was on the market for years with no interested buyers but, as soon as we opened escrow three offers came in right behind us.

This cabin finally found the family it was looking for. We started work on it right away. All the work has been done by my wife and myself with a little help from some friends. So this cabin has become a part of us for generations to come and we will be there to greet them in spirit.

Our cabin is more than just an investment and renting to others is more than just a financial gain. We are giving back to others what we have been given. We are sharing something so personal. We are sharing our hearts with strangers, not ever knowing their stories that they are sharing with each other. They are there, even though we cannot hear them. We can just be assured this place will have the same effect on others.

One last thing: this land was my brothers’ and sisters’ long before we came to know it. We do not believe in the ownership of the land. We are just stewards for a short period of time. We have an obligation to this land to protect it and we are in the unique position to do that for a long time. I am part Mohawk/Apache so I have a natural distrust for any angle whose sole purpose is to exploit for monetary gain. I do live in today’s world so I understand the need for compensation for the use of our homes and Yosemite but, the question always has to be asked “At what cost?”

Finally, the Black Oak Lodge is one of the original cabins of the Bruce Estates and it was a grand home. Does anyone have pictures of what it used to look like?

Last but not least, I have enjoyed talking to some of the original families of Wawona. The stories and accounts of times past cannot be found in any books. So to the new cabin owners: reach out and talk to your elders of Wawona. Become connected to a land that cannot be matched by any other.

From our hearts to yours.

From the Recollections of Life and Events in Wawona series

By Mark Reed

I don’t know how many of you have heard the story about the runaway monkey in Wawona. Well around the year 2000 this monkey decided to take a stroll of Wawona. Everyone who saw this monkey walking down the street could not figure out where she had come from and, most importantly, where was this monkey going. She was walking with a direct destination in mind. This monkey was going to the office to see if anyone could help her find her mom and dad.

She had been to the office on many occasions. Blaine was working that day and knew this monkey, so he approached her to see what he could do. The monkey turned around, walked over to his truck and got in. When Blaine went to his truck she jumped out and headed to the river. Blaine quickly followed. For about two hours Blaine tried to convince her to go back to the cabin she had come from. Blaine had no success. In fact the monkey stood up and chased Blaine into the river and would not let him out for thirty minutes.

My family and I were about two hundred yards down from where this monkey was. We were swimming in our favorite spot. I looked up the river and saw a monkey jumping around. Well this could not be Maggie, OUR monkey. She was safe back at the cabin. It hit me like a brick: just how many monkeys are running around Wawona? So I called out her name, “Maggie.” She let out a large squeak and started running to us. I could not believe what I was seeing. How did she get out? How long has she been running around Wawona? Boy, she was in a lot of trouble. She could have gotten lost or hurt. Maggie is a family member to us. She lives in our house, uses the toilet and flushes by herself. She gets her own snacks from the refrigerator. Most importantly, she has been going to Wawona all her life. She is now fourteen years old.

Maureen, I do not know if management ever told you but, the cabin she came from was yours. On that day the realtor wanted to show us the Black Oak Lodge so we left Maggie in her indoor cage. She was on vacation and she was going to have no part of being left behind. She figured out how to get out of the cage and after getting a quick snack from the fridge she took off on the mission of finding us.

The Maggie break out is still being talked about in the office.

Pat and Norman May with Burrell Maier

From the Recollections of Life and Events in Wawona series

By Norman May – The “C” Cabins; edited by Debbi Shelander

The May family arrived in Wawona on April 3rd, 1933. Norman’s father, Harold, was a rock crusher operator for Granite Construction. After a stay at Cambria in 1932 where Harold crushed rock for the original coastal highway from San Simeon to Morro Bay, he moved on to the next job, which was in Yosemite to build a new road from the South entrance to the tunnel. Harold set up the crusher near the Wawona campground, which was called Camp A. E. Wood at that time, named after the first Army superintendent of Yosemite who was based there. Also, it was called Camp Hoyle, named after Bert and Earnie Hoyle who had a store and a campground there.

The Mays, and other construction families, rented cabins at Camp Chilnualna from the owner, Cornelia McBeth Wooster, an ex-Spanish-American war nurse who had served with the Army in the Philippines. She had traded an apartment house in Oakland to the first owner and builder of Camp Chilnualna, Mr. Spelt, for the property. After moving to Sugar Pine in 1934, where Harold (still with Granite Construction) crushed the rocks to build the present road from the South Entrance to Oakhurst, the family returned to Wawona and purchased Camp Chilnualna from “Corny” (as she was called) and moved her to Imperial Beach below San Diego where she lived out her days.

Times were hard in those days. The depression was at its peak and sometimes Norman’s parents wondered if they had done the right thing by purchasing Camp Chilnualna, but they loved the place and they struggled on. “Corny” had operated a store on the property and the May’s continued this business as well as the cabin rentals.

Other than the Wawona Hotel, Camp Chilnualna was the only other tourist accommodations in Wawona. The Washburns had sold their holdings to the Park in 1932 and Curry Company had taken over the operation of the hotel and the Wawona store and post office. Clarence Washburn, a son, continued on as a manager for Curry Company until he moved to Indio or Palm Springs to manage a hotel there. As mentioned, times were hard in those long ago days.

To make matters worse, the heaviest and coldest winter in the memory of the white man arrived during the winter of 1936-37. The official measurement of snowfall was 16 feet of snow in 6 weeks, settling to a hard pack of 6 feet of “Sierra cement”. The temperature dropped to -28°below zero at Camp Chilnualna, -32° below zero at the CCC Camp, and Al Gordon had -37° below zero at his house up by the hotel. There were broken radiators all over Fresno and Merced (so said the papers), but we didn’t get damaged too badly. There were no power lines to get knocked down because we didn’t get power until 1948 and there were no water pipes to freeze because we didn’t have running water at that time. We carried our water in buckets from an old hand pump on a 12-foot well down in the creek behind our house, after we thawed out the pump with hot water! After our roof was shoveled (on top of the snow already on the ground) we had to tunnel up to get out of our house.

The worst damage from this cold spell was in the store at Camp Chilnualna. Soda pop bottles blew up and bottles of bluing (used in washing in those days) blew up as well. Some canned goods split. What a mess it was!

Chilnualna Falls road and Forest Drive were not plowed in those days. The locals parked their cars down at the Wawona store during the winters. School was held in the summer because the little children just couldn’t make it through the heavy snows that were the “norm” in those years. Some lived as far as a mile away from school (and NO, they didn’t have to walk barefoot!).

We had no propane during those years. Everyone, including Park personnel, burned wood for cooking and heating. We put up 30 to 40 tier of wood every fall to prepare for the winter (there are 4 tier to a cord). Another “norm” during those times was the outhouses that were used for toilets. What fun during those colds winters, especially the year it was 28 below! It was 11 years before we got a bathroom in the house. I grew up taking a bath in a washtub on the kitchen floor in front of the wood cook stove. This usually happened on a Saturday or Sunday. I suspect we got a little “gamey” toward the end of the week.

To make ends meet my dad had gone to work on the road for the Park. The pay was .52 cents an hour. The winter of 36-37 he plowed snow for 6 weeks straight without a break.

The following winter we had the biggest floods on record to that date. The publication called Yosemite Nature Notes has a chronology of the prior floods in Yosemite through the mid 40’s, and they called that flood “the Great Flood of 1937-38”. It came over Christmas and New Year. It washed out a long section of highway 140 between the Valley and El Portal. It also washed out the Indian bridge below Camp Chilnualna at what we call Flat Rock swimming hole today. It also washed out the Bossert house, which was located along the river just above Camp Chilnualna.

Further up, in the area where the Redwood Cabins are located today, the river totally changed its course. What had been river front property was no more. Many years later, Al Gordon put in a rock crusher in the old riverbed. After the flood of 1937-38 washed out the Indian Bridge, the CCC boys built another bridge just down river. It was called the CCC Bridge. This was in 1939. The next flood was in 1950. This flood took out the CCC Bridge and it was never replaced. The stone and cement steps leading up to the bridge are still in evidence today. It was during this flood that Big Tree Creek washed out a section of Highway 41 at the Park line beyond the South Entrance.

The next flood was in 1955. There was some debate as to whether these two “50’s” floods were bigger than the 1937-38 flood. I never did know what was decided about that. I also don’t know how the 1997 flood would rank with these predecessors. I think the powerhouse, which furnished electricity to the Wawona hotel and store, went out in the flood of 1950 also. It stood alongside the river just below the old schoolhouse on the south side of the river. It had a Pelton water wheel, which made electricity when the river was running good. When the river got low, a large one-cylinder generator with a big flywheel took over. By the time it washed out it was no longer in use anyway. P. G. and E. had started supplying electricity in 1948. Another casualty of the 1950 flood was Stella Lake. The dike, which made Stella Lake, washed out and that was quite a passing of Wawona history.

View of Stella Lake around 1900 taken by George Fisk. Courtesy of University of Southern California. Libraries and California Historical Society

Stella Lake was the ice pond, which furnished ice for the hotel, store and local iceboxes, not to mention many hours of wonderful ice-skating for the local residents. Eddy Gordon stretched a wire across the upper end of the lake, which was the boundary for ice-skating. The rest of the lake ice had to be kept clean and was reserved for ice cutting.

The ice-house was located at the lower end of the lake and 300 ton of ice was “put up” every winter, which was enough to supply all the community’s needs through the following summer. When the horses were driven out in the fall, Eddy Gordon always kept an old gray mare named Bell behind. Her duty was to be hitched up to the turnstile and go around driving the conveyor belt, which transported the chunks of ice up, into the ice-house.

The ice was cut by hand with ice saws which were special made for that purpose. We stood on 1 x 12 boards while sawing. This gave us a “straight edge” to saw to, enabling us to cut the ice in exact 12 inch widths. The 12 inch ice “rafts” were then floated to the lower end of the lake and into a chute where a man stood with a pitchfork breaking the ice into 12 inch chunks. From there it went onto the conveyor belt and into the ice-house where it was stacked in layers with sawdust spread between the layers.

The “locals” all looked forward to the ice-cutting time. It always came in December and was considered Christmas money. I don’t know what the pay was before the war, but by the time I started cutting in 1945, it was $1.25 an hour. I cut the last 3 years it was cut, 1945, 1946 and 1947. In 1948 when electricity arrived, there was no longer any need for the ice. Everyone had refrigeration and ice was made when needed. I forgot to mention that the ice cutting started when the ice was 6 inches thick. One year the ice was 12 inches thick by the time we finished cutting.

Getting back to the May family, we continued with the store that “Corny” had operated, making improvements and installing a 5,000 watt Kohler generator, which gave us electricity for the store, as well as one light globe in each of the nine cabins that were on the property.

There was a demand for “something to do”, so in 1938 my parents made an open-air dance floor. It extended out from the store building and then there was an opening cut in the side of the store to accommodate a jukebox, which faced out towards the dance floor. A fellow by the name of Ray Nichols had a string of jukeboxes spread out between here and Fresno. He installed the jukebox and kept it well supplied with the latest records, changing them every two weeks if some weren’t getting played much.

Between the CCC boys, the locals, and the people from the hotel, there was quite a crowd at Camp Chilnualna every night during the summer months. We let them dance until 9:00 p.m. on weeknights and Sunday, and 10:00 p.m. on Saturday nights. We also had a bonfire next to the dance floor with wooden 2 x 12 benches placed around it for those who wanted to toast marshmallows or hot dogs, or just sit by the fire.

In 1942 I took a “leave of absence” from Camp Chilnualna. I had just graduated from high school and I joined the Marines. I will never forget the first words of our D. I. (drill instructor) in boot camp, “You guys are hired killers and I am here to show you how to do it!” After a hasty 6 weeks of boot camp (prior to the war boot camp was 12 weeks) the “hired killers” were immediately sent to the Island of Midway to be on the reception committee for the expanding Japanese Empire. From there we made a bee-line for the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific to invite the Japanese to get out of New Georgia, Bouganville and a little known island called Emireau. I was gone for three years before returning to Camp Chilnualna, 20 months of which was spent in the South Pacific.

In 1949 Camp Chilnualna expanded even more. There was a demand for a restaurant other than the one at the hotel, so we built a restaurant and called it Chilnualna Lodge Café. At the same time two gentlemen approached us with a request to build a theatre on our property, so we leased a parcel of ground to them for that venture. At the same time, Al Gordon approached us with a request to build a service station and garage on our property, so we leased him a section of property to do so.

The theatre didn’t “fly” very well. There was a Pavillion Theatre in Yosemite Valley and another one at Bass Lake. Also the acoustics were not all that good in the Idlewilde Theatre, as it was called, because of the type of sheet rock construction.

After five years the two gentlemen gave it up and left. We then sold the building, except for the lobby and restrooms, to Mariposa County for a garage at their maintenance yard in Mariposa. We then built the large cabin you see there today on the site, utilizing the lobby and restrooms as part of the building.

Because of a misunderstanding with a partner, Al Gordon finally gave up the garage and service station. He moved the building to the Gordon ranch near Mariposa and we built cabin #17C on the site. In the meantime, we retired the store and dance floor and built cabin #18C on that site. The restaurant was going great. We had only been open a year (1950) when the worst happened.

The Korean War broke out, and even though I was in the inactive reserve, I was called back immediately for my specialty, MTACS (Marine Tactical Air Control), acting as a forward observer calling in air strikes on enemy positions. However, I was lucky, after 13 months and practically upon the eve of my departure for Korea, the high command decided that because of my extensive service in World War II, I had enough. They gave me the option of going or getting out. Needless to say, I chose the latter.

I have wandered far a-field from Camp Chilnualna and Wawona, but I wanted to mention how much my getting called back into the Marines disrupted our lives and the course of events for Camp Chilnualna. It was impossible for my parents to continue on trying to run the cabins and restaurant in my absence. So the restaurant was leased out to a gentleman by the name of John Steele. This was a good move. He was a good operator and it relieved the pressure on my parents until I could get home again.

After I came home in October of 1951, things went well for several years until the death of my dear mother in September of 1960. This kind of threw things out of “gear” again. My mother was a strong woman. She was born and raised in the rough mining camps of Montana. She knew what hard work was and wasn’t afraid of it. I must say that her strength, perseverance and tenacity was the glue that held Camp Chilnualna together in the early days.

At this time, I want to mention another lady of strength and resourcefulness who contributed much to the affairs and guidance of Wawona. I went to high school in Fresno with a very pretty girl named Marie Kauffung. Imagine my surprise when many years later this same girl appeared in Wawona. Her name by this time was Escola. She became the lady mentioned above. Wawona owes a lot to her. It is too bad she was taken from us so early.

From the Recollections of Life and Events in Wawona series

By Judy Hiltbrand

We visited Yosemite for the first time in 1965. We stayed with friends in the Wawona area and fell in love with it. We had just moved to San Luis Obispo and our dream was to own a mountain cabin. We came back six months later and rented a cabin from Camp Chilnualna. At that time, we started asking about buying property.

We were referred to Dick Moore at the Redwoods. He told us they had a long waiting list for lots but he let us sign up on his waiting list. We kept checking to find out if we were moving up on the list but no answer. We were going to Idaho in the summer of 1967 and decided to stay in the Redwoods, one night, on our way. We went to find Dick Moore. He said he had two lots for sale, we could choose either one if we could pay that day. $6700.00.

We didn’t have that kind of money. We called our bank and told them our situation. They agreed we could write a bad check which they would honor for the two weeks until we returned. At that time, we had to find a way to repay. Borrowed on insurance etc.

The agreement to purchase the lot also stated that Dick Moore Construction had to build the cabin within two years. We had the cabin started within a few months with most materials provided by Moore Lumber Company (located where the library is today). We needed to use a plan from a book they provided. The agreement also stated that we must rent cabin through the Redwoods. We were in our early 30’s and not very knowledgeable about how business worked. We were so anxious to have a cabin that we just said yes to everything.

We took possession on Thanksgiving 1968. We arrived with 6 small children in the middle of a bad snowstorm. Power was out for the next two days. It was scary for the kids, no lights and using a flash light to find the bathroom etc. There was a lot of banging and funny noises that night. (We later found that a group of deer were sleeping under the edge of our deck to get out of the storm).

We have always been happy we made those foolish mistakes and took a risk. We hope the cabin will be used by our family for many more years.

From the Recollections of Life and Events in Wawona series

By Kathie Dunn

I actually learned much of the pioneer information because I was part of the first Volunteer in Park (VIP) program where the volunteers all manned the cabins down at the Pioneer History Center.

We were the very first living history utilized in the Park. The graveyard up the hill and across from the stables is quite interesting.

Of course, I also remember when I worked in the Park and dated one of the head cowboys for the Park. We’d come up to Wawona and take the horses out after hours for wonderful trail rides.

Speaking of horses – who can come up with all the uses for the now returning to meadow and the golf course? It hasn’t always been such. It was used for farming to supply the Hotel, served as a pasture for the stable horses (they kept a much larger herd of horses and rotated them in and out of the pasture during the summer – actually herding the horses across the highway and down to the barn and back) and, at one point actually had an airstrip.

I was a ski instructor at Badger Flats (oops Pass!), otherwise known as Bad Ass Flats, for 17 years.

What I’d love to see is a book on the ghosts of the Wawona Hotel …

But, back to our area. Piece of trivia. The Moores used to keep a list of renters who were interested in purchasing properties. My parents put us on it when I was just a baby. We rose to the top of the list when Norm Serra’s house was on the market. While we liked the house (I always thought a bear lived in the under house garage, LOL), my parents couldn’t reach an agreement with the owners with the budget we had. The Moores then said they had property available and it got to the point that we had to either buy #11 or a piece of property. Well, we bought the property and, Norm correct me, but I believe he may have bought the house at that time. I don’t think there has been another owner between then and now. We then waited 8 years to build our own home.

To add some boring detail – we commuted every weekend except for three between November of one year and July of the next from San Diego to Yosemite in order to build our home (leaving after my Dad got off work on Fridays and returning after a full day’s work on Sundays). I guess that’s why we take it a bit hard when “standardization” is raised. This home was a labor of love built by our family – the siding was stained down on our driveway in San Diego and brought up by rental truck and we quite literally camped out in our home while building it. Thankfully, it was a mild winter that year.

From the Recollections of Life and Events in Wawona series

By Kathie Dunn, Cabin 20B (We-Dunn-It)

I remember checking in with the Moore’s at their home down by the river. I remember when building our home that we opted to be our own general contractors (hence the name We-Dunn-It) as the Moores at the time: a) were the local general contractors, b) owned the lumber yard (where the library is now) and c) owned the concession where your home would be rented through. I also seem to remember that they were responsible for a great deal of the real estate sales in the area.

The “Bs” are all in an area that they sold the land for – this was land that had been owned by the Bruce/Washburn families. Their original homestead was up on Upper Chilnualna loop and the stones from the foundation in front of their home can still be seen today, although a driveway cutting through it did substantial damage to them. The original log flume for floating the logs used to build the Wawona Hotel cuts across the back of the properties of the “Bs” on the upper side and can still be seen (it’s just a ditch mostly filled in with leaves and needles now).

The restaurant was originally run by the Moores and the name was “Redwoods de Cuisine.” We always laughed because that essentially meant trees as food rather than Food of the Redwoods.

Then, when they were bought out by all of us, the restaurant was run by Erna. She lived across the creek at the time. She is now down in Oakhurst and runs the famous Elderberry. When she left, the Park Service (at the behest of MCI/YP&C at the time) wouldn’t allow the restaurant concession to continue. The frost shop was part and parcel of that.

The garbage “truck” was an old panel truck that Mike originally placed mattress springs on top of to keep the bears out. That graduated to some sort of hinged screen – but that still didn’t keep the bears out. It used to be parked in the small meadow by our home and provided hours of night time entertainment for children using flashlights from the windows.

And then, there was the most famous Wawona bear of all – Rusty. He lived there for years – and was actually a rust colored brown bear – as opposed to the regular black color that the “brown” bears are found in. Other than raiding garbage cans, he was never a real nuisance to anyone and every time the rangers got a bee in their bonnet about removing bears, the locals would always band together to get them to leave him alone. He was also smart enough to always evade their traps.

However, finally, the rangers decided all bears had to leave Wawona. Since he couldn’t be trapped, they went after him with a dart gun. Unfortunately, once darted, he ran up a tree (near our home) and when the dart fully took effect, he fell out of the tree and died. Made many of us very angry and sad … he never bothered anyone. I do have a picture of him at the Samuels place.

Of course, I also remember not having to go on guided “dude” rides at the stables – when you could actually rent horses and go on your own. I remember distinctly being quite insulted that because I was a child, they gave me a pony to ride along with my parents – when I was already riding 17+ hand horses at home.

From the Recollections of Life and Events in Wawona series

By Maureen Donahue

I am Maureen Donahue, co-owner of cabin #42, the last cabin on River Rd right next to the path to the river. My family has been coming here since the 50’s when it was “The Moores Redwoods”.

My parents literally stumbled onto this place. They were to stay in the cinder block places across from the store but I was a baby and they found those places too dirty for a baby. So they got back in the car and went a little further down the road not having a clue what they might find. Dick Moore had several cabins that he had built and we stayed in one of them. Needless to say my parents fell in love with the whole place and came back again.

In the mid 50’s, I think, my dad wrote to Dick (and Jewitt his wife) asking if he would consider selling one of his cabins. I still have the letter. So our owner connection to the Redwoods began with buying #12.

Dick and my dad, Bob, became friends and often golfed together when we were there. I remember coming for the same periods in the summer and playing with the Moore’s granddaughters, Becky and Sarah wonder if they are still around. I have many fond recollections of those days and it would be really fun to share them with anyone who was there back then.

In the 60’s we sold #12 and bought #42 because of its location. In fact, my dad kept writing to Mr. Fortini asking him to let us know if he was ever interested in selling (once my dad set his sights on something….!).

We were so sad when “our” original #12 burned down but the cabin there now is really nice.

My parents also bought 2 lots in the circle around the store. At the time there were only a couple of cabins there, one belonging to the Moore’s son Jerry I think. Anyway they were divided into lots and my parents bought two side by side and owned them for a long time but never built anything on them before selling. I definitely still remember that whole area as being just forest.

Again, I would be interested in sharing memories with those of you from “back then.”

From the Recollections of Life and Events in Wawona series

By Anthony Cooley, Cabin 24

In 1954 Major Warren H. Cooley and his wife Alice were invited by a fellow army officer to spend some time at a place called Wawona. During this visit they both fell in love with the fantastic surroundings and peaceful environment. At a party on the last day of their stay Warren pulled Richard Moore Sr. (original owner and developer of the Redwoods) aside. He pointed to a knoll across the lane and said “Build me a cabin right there!” At the time, there were little more than a dozen cabins in the Redwoods complex.

The dream was established. Six months later, with financial assistance from Zella Gautschi (Alice’s mother) the dream came true and Cabin #24 came to be. Cabin 24 has seen many visitors and many changes over the years. The completion of Cabin 24 came less than 10 years after Wawona received electric power and the same year as the Yosemite Flood of 1955.

Cabin 24 in snow and kids playing with mother on the river

On the night December 21st of 1996 a relentless snowstorm engulfed the Sierras dumping several feet of snow in just a matter of hours. One week later this unusually large snow pack would prove to be a contributing factor to the Yosemite Flood of 1997, which did considerable damage and altered the course of rivers throughout the park. In the early morning hours of December 22nd, with the snow still falling, this storm devastated Cabin #24. A 100-foot pine tree surrendered to the weight of the snow, and broke off 20 feet up, with the remaining 80 feet falling directly onto the unoccupied cabin.

The impact of the tree dislodged the gas water heater exposing the now free flowing gas to the still burning pilot light. Cabin 24 was destroyed. In a single night of nature’s dramatic flurry, the cabin that stood for over forty years was reduced to charred redwood and piles of rubble. The Storm that demolished the cabin also dramatically altered many areas throughout the park as nature continues her ever evolving cycle of transformation.

Upon receiving the news on the morning of December 22, 1996, without a moment’s hesitation nor a second thought the goal was to rebuild.

In over forty years there have been numerous joyous moments and remarkable experiences at cabin 24. Some were captured on film; others live only in memory.

Bears next to car and bucks rutting in 1950s