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Place Names of the High Sierra (1926)
by Francis P. Farquhar

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C

First ascent, August 11, 1922, by George Downing, Jr. (S.C.B., 1923, XI:4, p. 425.)

Castilleia, or castilleia, is the botanical name for the Indian paintbrush.

“No wonder the hills and groves were God’s first temples, and the more they are cut down and hewn into cathedrals and churches, the farther off and dimmer seems the Lord himself. The same may be said of stone temples. Yonder, to the eastward of our camp grove, stands one of Nature’s cathedrals, hewn from the living rock, almost conventional in form, about two thousand feet high, nobly adorned with spires and pinnacles, thrilling under floods of sunshine as if alive like a grove-temple, and well named ‘Cathedral’.” (Muir: My First Summer in the Sierra, 1911, p. 196.)

John Muir climbed to the topmost spire, September 7, 1869. (Muir: My First Summer in the Sierra, 1911, p. 332.)

Theodore S. Solomons describes an ascent in 1897. (S.C.B., 1901, III:3, p. 236.)

The name is spelled “Sha-goo-pah” by Wallace; also in Elliott’s Guide to the Grand and Sublime Scenery of the Sierra Nevada (1883), where it is said to be the Indian name of Mount Williamson (pp. 38-39).

Kroeber says the meaning is unknown, but the name is almost certainly a Mono word. (Kroeber: California Place Names of Indian Origin, 1916, p. 38.)

“We have mapped it as the Chagoopah Plateau, as it is traversed by the creek forming the Chagoopah Falls.” (William R. Dudley, in S.C.B., 1898, II:3, p. 187.)

“But that other cliff, Odysseus, thou shalt note, lying lower, hard by the first: thou couldest send an arrow across. . . . and beneath it mighty Charybdis sucks down black water, for thrice a day she spouts it forth, and thrice a day she sucks it down in terrible wise.’” (The Odyssey of Homer, Done into English Prose, by S. H. Butcher and A. Lang, 1883, book XII, p. 195.)

Chittenden is best known for his history, “American Fur Trade in the Far West,” and for his many years’ connection with Yellowstone National Park, where he rendered distinguished service in construction of roads and bridges.

“At the northeast extremity of the Merced group is the grand peak to which we first gave the name of the ‘Obelisk,’ from its peculiar shape, as seen from the region north of the Yosemite. It has, since then, been named Mount Clark, While the range to which it belongs is sometimes called the Obelisk Group, but, oftener, the Merced Group, because the branches of that river head around it.” (Whitney: Yosemite Guide Book, 1870, p. 108.)

First ascent by Clarence King and James T. Gardiner, July 12, 1866. (King: Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada, 1872, pp. 197-205.)

“I named it ‘The Cloud Mine’ because the clouds hung so low overhead. At the same time I named the creek Cloud Creek and put the name in my notebook. I often referred to my mine as being up in the clouds. . . . The claim I had recorded on my return to Visalia as the ‘Cloud Claim’.” (Letter from judge William B. Wallace, in S.C.B., 1924, XII:1, pp. 47-48.) The event occurred in 1880.

The meadow on Evolution Creek was named by members of the U. S. Forest Service engaged in building the John Muir Trail in 1915.

The mountain, overlooking the Tuolumne Cañon above Muir Gorge, was named by R. B. Marshall, U.S.G.S. (R. B. Marshall.)

The pass was named by a Sierra Club party, July 13, 1912, upon discovering it as a promising route for animals between Kern and Roaring rivers. Colby was leader of that party, and subsequently did much to explore approaches and encourage attempts at crossing. The first-known crossing by saddle- and pack-animals was on August 5, 1920, by a party including Duncan McDuffie, James S. Hutchinson, Ernest McKee, and others. (S.C.B., 1921, XI:2, pp. 128-129.) There is evidence that the pass was used by sheepmen many years before. (S.C.B., 1900, III:2, p. 167.)

“Its prime mission is to insure its members against want, or fear of want, by providing comfortable homes, ample sustenance, educational and recreative facilities, and to promote and maintain harmonious social relations, on the solid and grand basis of liberty, equality, and fraternity. The much-vexed question as to why it is that those who do the work of the world do not enjoy its fruits, and the remedy therefor, is solved for the first time in the history of the world at Kaweah.” (The Kaweah Commonwealth, November, 1889.)

Construction of a road to Giant Forest was begun in 1886 and completed as far as Colony Mill in 1890. The establishment of Sequoia National Park put an end to aspirations for the Giant Forest. The history of the Colony was marked by fraudulent misrepresentation on the part of the promoters, alleged dishonesty among the managers, and dissension among the members. The organization collapsed in 1891, leaving a few innocent idealists as victims. (George W. Stewart, in Weekly Visalia Delta, November and December, 1891; Burnette G. Haskell, in Out West, September, 1902.)

Two varieties of columbine, Aquilegia truncata and Aquilegia pubescens, are found in the High Sierra. The flowers of the former are scarlet, tinged with yellow; of the latter, cream yellow, varying occasionally to white or to shades of red, pink, or purple. (Jepson: Manual of the Flowering Plants of California, 1925, p. 375.)

“Mount Conness bears the name of a distinguished citizen of California, now a United States Senator, who deserves more than any other person, the credit of carrying the bill, organizing the Geological Survey of California, through the Legislature.” (Whitney: Yosemite Guide Book, 1870, p. 100.)

“I recognized the old familiar summit . . . and that firm peak with titan strength and brow so square and solid, it seems altogether natural we should have named it for California’s statesman, John Conness.” (King: Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada, 1872, p. 267.)

The members of the Whitney Survey were naturally appreciative of Senator Conness for helping their cause. Excepting for this mountain, however, his name has almost faded from history along with the names of other party politicians.

First ascent by Clarence King and James T. Gardiner, 1864. (Whitney: Yosemite Guide Book, 1870, p. 103.) Occupied as a survey station by Lieutenant M. M. Macomb and party, of the Wheeler Survey, September 25, 1878. (S.C.B., 1918, X:3, plate CCXIX.) Occupied by U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1879, 1887, and 1890. (George Davidson: The Occupation of Mount Conness, in Overland Monthly, February, 1892, p. 116.)

Charles Converse took up timberlands here in the ’70s. He had come to California in 1849, and was in the vicinity of Millerton about 1852. He ran a ferry across the San Joaquin at what is now Friant until 1869. Built the first jail in Fresno County, and was the first person confined in it. (L. A. Winchell, George W. Stewart.)

The Indian name of the lake was Wit-sa-nap, according to Mrs. A. A. Forbes, of Bishop. (S.C.B., 1913, IX:1, p. 55.)

(Hutchings: In the Heart of the Sierras, 1886, pp. 287-288; Report of the Commission on Roads in Yosemite National Park, California, dated December 4, 1899—[Colonel Samuel Mather Mansfield, Captain Harry C. Benson, J. L. Maude, commissioners.] Senate Document No. 155, 56th Congress, 1st Session, 1900.)

Coulterville named for George W. Coulter, a pioneer of the Tuolumne-Merced region; one of the first commissioners appointed to manage the Yosemite Valley grant, 1864.

The mountain coyote (Canis latrans lestis) has a wide range throughout the Sierra. (Grinnell and Storer: Animal Life in the Yosemite, 1924, pp. 71-76.)

The coyote figures prominently in the myths of the California Indians, particularly in creation myths. (Powers: Tribes of California, in Contributions to North American Ethnology, III, 1877.— Merriam: The Dawn of the World, 1910.— Kroeber: Indian Myths of South Central California, in University of California Publications—American Archaeology and Ethnology, IV:4, 1907.)

“It is often visited by blue cranes to rest and feed on their long journeys.” (Muir: My First Summer in the Sierra, 1911, p. 122.)

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