1937 Butler Pictorial View of Yosemite Valley, California

Making Yosemite More Accessible.

This is a 1937 pictorial map of Yosemite Valley by Lowell Butler, prepared for Westways, a periodical of the Automobile Club of Southern California. Although 'preaching to the choir' of automobile owners and enthusiasts, the map nonetheless demonstrates the increasing accessibility to the park that automobiles allowed.

A Closer Look

The map covers from Crane Flat to El Portal in the west and from Mt. Watkins to the Illilouette Creek in the east. Mountains and other natural features (waterfalls, rocks, cliffs) are labeled throughout, including famous landmarks like El Capitan and Bridalveil Fall, with their elevations noted. Roads, hiking trails, ranger stations, and waterways are also indicated, and useful notes are interspersed throughout, such as 'Hospital and post office', 'Swell fishing for everyone,' and 'Magnificent Views.' Particularly on the left half of the map, people are illustrated engaging in a variety of leisure activities, from scenic drives to horseback riding, fishing, and skiing.

Making Yosemite More Accessible

This map appeared after the automobile boom of the 1920s, which, along with the construction of improved roads, made Yosemite much more accessible to a wider range of travelers than had previously been the case. Not long after the Yosemite Valley was discovered (which occurred soon after the California Gold Rush), it became a popular destination due to its natural beauty, and efforts were made to establish wagon roads to the valley. Initially, these followed Native American routes. By the late 1860s, efforts were made to expand existing dirt trails (the Coulterville Road) and build an entirely new road (the Big Oak Flat Road), allowing access to the Yosemite Valley from the west. Both projects ran into technical, financial, and political obstacles, but were driven on by competition against each other and the popular demand for such a route. Both roads were completed in 1874 within a month of each other (neither made much money despite charging tolls since travelers could always choose the other route if it was less expensive). The following year, a road further south from Mariposa was also constructed. Nevertheless, these stagecoach roads took two days from the nearest cities and were dangerous, not least because of highway robbers.

The Southern Pacific Railroad had built a partial line to the Yosemite Valley, but travelers still relied on stagecoaches for most of the journey. Thus, there was a strong argument to be made for constructing a railroad to the valley, which was completed in the first decade of the 20th century as the Yosemite Valley Railroad. This proved even more challenging than the construction of stagecoach roads, but it was successful once operations began in 1907. In 1913, specially built buses made by the White Motor Company provided regular service to Yosemite Valley (the railroad had a collaborative relationship with the White Motor Company, as White cars would wait for arriving trains at their terminus at El Portal, seen at left here, and drive passengers to attractions around the valley). However, automobiles would eventually eclipse the railroad, with the first paved road reaching the valley (Glacier Point) in 1918, and others followed soon afterwards. This map appeared just after the opening of the Wawona Tunnel (simply marked 'Tunnel' here) in 1933, which is still the longest highway tunnel in California.

One group that benefitted from the increased mobility and freedom of movement that automobiles offered was women, who more often than not are behind the driver's wheel in the illustrations here. Women were actually often featured as drivers in the literature of automobile enthusiasts of the time, the result of greater freedom and social equality in the 1920s and a de facto alliance between automakers, marketing people, and feminists. Generally, the 1930s shifted towards a focus on luxury (for those who could afford new cars amid the Depression) rather than freedom and mobility, with women more frequently being depicted as passengers or as standing outside the vehicle, though they probably were actually driving more often than ever.

Publication History and Census

This map was prepared by Lowell Butler in 1937 for Westways (previously Touring Topics), a publication of the Automobile Club of Southern California (ACSC). It was part of a set, all published in Westways in 1937, the others being 'The Parks of the Living Giants' about Grant and Sequoia National Parks (Rumsey 11599.000), 'Play Places of the Monterey Peninsula,' and 'Within and about The Joshua Tree National Monument.' Butler is better known for his later, 1950s pictorial maps done for the ACSC and the Title Insurance and Trust Co., making this among his earliest known works. The present map is not listed in the OCLC and is only noted in institutional collections at the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.

Cartographer

Lowell Butler (fl. c. 1937 - 1971) was an illustrator who served as Art Director for Westways magazine, published by the Automobile Club of Southern California. He produced some of the organization's most iconic maps, including 'A Map of the Marked Historical Sites of California' (1952), 'Outdoor Play Places of California' (1954), and 'Spanish California: A Map of the Missions, Presidios, Pueblos and Some of the More Interesting Ranchos' (1956).   Further Details...

Condition

Excellent.

References

Rumsey 11600.000.