Valentine Camp History - Valentine Reserve

Historic Cabin

Paleoclimate History

Paleoclimatic data for the region suggest significant changes during the potential span of human occupation in the area. When humans were first in the region, most commonly estimated to have been between 12,000 and 10,000 years ago, the Great Basin was undergoing rapid climatic changes, causing alpine glaciers to retreat, lakes to shrink, and the distribution of plants and animals to shift to higher elevations. The intensity and length of the subsequent warming trend, or trends, has been debated, but warm and dry periods that occurred about 2000 years ago and again from about 1100 to 750 years ago may have had significant effects on prehistoric subsistence patterns in the Mammoth Lakes area. Shifts to warmer temperatures and less precipitation would have made high elevation areas and usually-wet meadows more habitable. Even more dramatic environmental change in the Long Valley area was caused by recurrent volcanism. Combined environmental and archaeological data suggest that recurrent eruptions in the InyoMono volcanic chain altered the region’s plant, animal, and water resources drastically enough to curtail use of the area for at least short periods of time. Volcanism also had a positive effect on human use of the area: obsidian from the nearby Casa Diablo resurgent domes was an extremely important stone for the manufacture of tools before Euroamerican contact.

Native Human History

Many of the archaeological sites that have been recorded in the Mammoth Lakes vicinity are lithic scatters, where early travelers and traders reduced chunks of obsidian into more portable (and more valuable) bifaces or cores. Artifacts at these sites often suggest recurrent but shortterm use, with stone-working the main activity. Production of obsidian bifaces for trade appears to have peaked between 3,000 and 1,000 years ago, but the collection and processing of food in the region may have increased over time. One of the largest prehistoric occupation sites recorded in the Mammoth Lakes area is located about a mile east of Valentine Camp. This site was used by Native Americans from as early as 2000 B.C. to late prehistoric times, primarily as an obsidian workshop and subsistence camp. Most site use (as indicated by biface production) occurred between 100 and 600 A.D., with the peak of occupation ca. 300 A.D. Use of the site as a hunting base camp appears to have increased after A.D. 600.

Although most closely associated with the Owens Valley Paiute and the Mono Lake Paiute, Long Valley was also used by several nearby groups: Benton and Round Valley Paiute lived to the east, Monache and Yokuts to the west, and Southern Sierra Miwok to the northwest. The Mammoth Area’s high elevation, ca. 8,000 feet, would seem to inhibit year-round habitation, but other parts of Long Valley were occupied year round by an indigenous population.

EuroAmerican Arrivals

Prospecting and mining east of the Sierra Nevada began in the 1850s; the Lost Cement Mine, near Mammoth Lakes, was purportedly discovered in 1857. As was common across the west, the federal government considered the Eastern Sierra as public land, regardless of prior Native American occupation and use. The General Land Office was created in 1812 to handle and “dispose of” public lands. In 1855, A. W. Von Schmidt was commissioned by the U.S. Government to map lands east of the Sierra Nevada, which included Long Valley. Von Schmidt’s survey, conducted in 1856, included parts of the east and north boundary of Township 4 South Range 27 East, coming within a halfmile of the future Valentine Camp. In 1878 William Minto conducted additional survey in the township, delineating 40-, 80-, and 160-acre parcels within Section 4, where Valentine Camp is located.

Documented mining activity in the Mammoth Lakes area itself dates from 1877 when gold and silver were discovered near Lake Mary by four prospectors trying to relocate the Lost Cement Mine. The Mammoth Mining Company was organized and four town sites were subsequently built: Pine City, Mill City, Mammoth City, and Mineral Park. A 160 acre parcel in the area near Mammoth City and Mineral Park was patented by Thomas Williams in 1897 and later sold to the Valentine Camp founders.

Valentine Camp Founders

In 1916, six businessmen from Los Angeles purchased some land in Mammoth Lakes for $20 an acre and Valentine Camp was founded.

Cabins were either built or moved on site and it served as a fishing and hunting location for the men, their friends and business associates. Travel to the camp was a multi-day endeavor. A train delivered visitors to Lone Pine where drivers awaited for the journey up the Sherwin Grade toll road. It was a bumpy and dusty ride taking the better part of a day.

Once here, accommodations were rustic. The wives, whether invited or not, preferred to stay in comfort in LA.

Over time the property ownership changed hands. A few of the founders lost interest or passed away. Their shares were either sold or passed down to the next generation. Eventually Ed Valentine took control. The elevation took a toll on Ed’s health and he decided he could not come to Mammoth after 1965. Not wanting the camp to be developed similar to the surrounding town, the family looked for other options. The Valentine Foundation discussed the property with The Santa Ana Botanical Garden, the Nature Conservancy and the Audubon Society before settling on the University of California’s Natural Reserve System. The rest is history!