Teddy Roosevelt in California: The Whistle Stop Tour That Changed America by Epting Chris

Author:Epting, Chris [Epting, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Published: 2015-11-09T05:00:00+00:00

Another of the splashy front-page accounts of Roosevelt’s adventure.

The Chronicle continued its intense reporting. This piece ran in May 1903:

“Roosevelt Pitches His Camp Near Bleak Sentinel Dome in Snowstorm”

There were no dusty roads for Pres. Roosevelt or his attendants today. Instead of the shelter of the great spreading trees, the warm sunshine and the singing birds, the president rode through the deep snow, accompanied by John Muir and guides Leonard and Leidig, stopping now and then to allow their fatigued horses to rest before plunging through another snowdrift. Occasionally they would throw their bridle reins over the pommels and turn partly around in their saddles to view some gigantic cliff or tortuous valley that spread off to one side of the difficult trail, which they were traveling .

The start was made early in the morning from the big trees, where the presidents bivouac had been made the night before. The president rose greatly refreshed, the sleep in the clear, cool air of the mountains having greatly relieved his fatigue of the previous day’s hard trip. He was anxious to be off with as little delay as possible, and so no stop was made at the Wawona hotel, where the remainder of his party, consisting of private secretary Loeb, Gov. Pardee, Benjamin Ide Wheeler and others had spent the night .

Avoiding the main road, and long before most of his associates were up, the president, filled with his usual enthusiasm for adventure, passed rapidly down the narrow defile known as Lightning Trail and struck off for the Yosemite Valley. An hour later the main road was reached and the steep ascent to the top of Chinquapin began. The party reached the summit before noon, and then the difficult portion of the trip began. Here the party not only had the steepest ascents, but the deep snow as well. Slowly they passed by Crescent Lake, Bucks Camp and Ostrader Lake, reaching Mono Meadows about 2 o’clock. Here the steep grades were left behind and the rest of the trip to Glacier Point was made with only the deep snow to contend with. About 4 miles from the point the president passed Dewey Trail, named in honor of Adm. Dewey and which leads over to the top of Bridalveil Fall .

Late in the afternoon, the president, rather worn and weary with his hard day’s march, reached the heights at the back of Glacier Point, and his camp was pitched just back of Sentinel Dome. During all of the afternoon the party worked their way over a difficult defile, struggling to see their narrow trail in the midst of a blinding snowstorm. For three weeks the weather conditions around the valley had been perfect, but today a change took place as the warm sunshine of the previous days gave way to overcast skies and whirling snow. In the valley itself the snow changed to rain, drenching the members of the presidential party as they proceeded up the difficult heights of the Glacier Point trail .

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