THE PIONEER CEMETERY IN YOSEMITE
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
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
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.
Caroline MEYER (MYERS) Jan.
23, 1902 -July 5, 1905, was the
George and Lizzie MEYER, pioneer
settlers in Mariposa County near the
park boundary. Lizzie MEYER was
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
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
given for Gabriel SOVULEWSKI's
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
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
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
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
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
WOODCOCK, Nothing known of this
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
A. W. B. MADDEN, died in 1883,
was a tourist, perhaps from England, who
died while staying at the
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,
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
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
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
May Dick –Yosemite, May Dick,
mother of Sally Ann CASTAGNETTO, was a
full blooded Yosemite. Her
husband, Indian Dick, cut wood for early
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
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
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
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
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.
MORE INFORMATION ON THE YOSEMITE
Provided by Tom Hilk
MARIPOSA COUNTY CEMETERIES
MARIPOSA COUNTY HISTORY AND GENEALOGY
email me with any additional information