How did you get involved with the situation at Stoneman Meadow?
It was just a matter of being there at the time. I was considered to be one of the more effective interpreters. During the summer of 1970, even as early as Memorial Day, there were large gatherings of hippies in Stoneman Meadow. In the evening there would be concentrated law enforcement activity to try to control the use of drugs and public nudity. It was evident during that summer we were going to have trouble on July 4th. This was known in advance, and as the density of people built up, the problems got worse. There were problems on July 2, and July 3, but on July 4 the decision was made to announce the closing of the meadow at 7:30 p.m. The NPS had the insight to try to diffuse the tension that had built up. On the day of July 4th Bob Barbee and myself were sent out in uniform (8). We took off our badges and hats so we would look more friendly, just gray shirt and pants. Our job was to talk to them to try and explain the ecological reason for why the meadow had to be closed. We failed in that mission. Announcing that the meadow would close at 7:30 gave the professional agitators amongst them to organize. The people who gathered at the meadow resisted attempts to make them leave at the set time. Law enforcement rangers deputized concessionaire wranglers, put them in uniform, and sent them on horseback into the meadow to try to disperse the crowd. The horse bolted as they were pelted with rocks and bottles. At that time I was not in the meadow. I was adjacent to the meadow at Camp 14 leading campfire songs and telling the attendees at the campfire program not to worry about the shouts and pistol shots heard off in the distance. “The Park Service had everything under control,” I exclaimed, since no one bothered to tell me that the program was supposed to be canceled that night. I was not informed that the superintendent had declared an emergency and closed all interpretive activities. I was just carrying on with my program like I thought I should have. That evening, after the riot, I was drafted- so to speak. I was given a riot helmet and a night stick and told to do down to the entrance and not to let any dirty underwear into the park. That order was given to me by Pete Thompson, who later became a ranger here a Crater Lake (9).
I can recall working through the night and then hearing Pete on the radio the next morning, announcing to anyone who was within radio earshot about how quiet the valley was. They made 170 arrests and turned the visitor center into a holding pen. People filled all the jails of Modesto, Merced and Fresno counties. They brought in the FBI. I think the outcome of that riot in the absence of Park Service training to defuse it, gave birth to a major law enforcement emphasis in the National Park Service.
