How did the riot affect the rest of the summer at Yosemite? Did you work all the way through September?
I worked until the next year. Patrol rangers were given intensive training that summer. [U.S.] Park Police were sent into Yosemite and they trained seasonal and permanent NPS rangers in defensive horseback patrol and self defense. Everyone went through about one week of knowing how to use a night stick. They instigated more horseback patrol. Visitation dropped of markedly, but at the same time [the anticipated] Labor Day problems never came about.
I had a question about the emphasis on horse patrol. Why did things go so badly in the meadow?
Because the rangers weren’t trained and neither were the horse. Afterwards they brought in pre-trained horses which didn’t spook in the presence of belligerent behavior. Just the sight of a patrol ranger brought immediate respect. Lawlessness dropped dramatically in Yosemite Valley that summer. In anticipation of a Labor Day riot they brought in rangers from all over the Western Region. I remember joking that there seemed to be a ranger behind every tree at that time. There was not much sign of belligerent behavior. The number of youthful visitors of hippie persuasion dropped off drastically and Yosemite Valley was restored to more of family use area.
Was there any further trouble while you there?
No. I would say if anything there was sort of a backlash. Law enforcement techniques were fairly strict. Anybody who was caught breaking the rules was cited or arrested and brought in at that time. Because of that I am sure that people who had access to others with political influence complained bitterly about the Gestapo techniques of the NPS. It was not the riot itself, as opposed to the overly strict enforcement of regulations that occurred after the Stonemand Meadow riot that brought about the replacement of all supervisory staff within the following year. There was a time lag of about a year that everyone who was in a supervisory position was transferred out-superintendent, assistant superintendent, valley district rangers, and even chief naturalists.
