Clare Marie Hodges (1890–1970) was one of the first paid female rangers for the National Park Service, working at
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...
.
Early life
Clare Marie Hodges was born in
Santa Cruz in 1890.
She first visited
Yosemite Valley
Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a U-shaped valley, glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California, United States. The valley is about long a ...
at age 14 on a 4-day horse-riding trip with her family/
Hodges attended and graduated from the
San Jose Normal School (now
San Jose State University
San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...
) where she helped contribute to the herbarium.
She also was the president of the literary society and authored "Songs of the Trail."
Career
In 1916, Hodges began teaching at the Yosemite Valley School as a grade school teacher.
During the spring of 1918, there was difficulty in finding enough male rangers, due to the
World War I draft. With two years of experience working at the Yosemite School and familiarizing herself with the trails in Yosemite, she applied to become a park ranger to Yosemite's superintendent at the time,
Washington B. Lewis. Later Hodges recalled that she said, "Probably you'll laugh at me, but I want to be a ranger?" To which Lewis responded, "It's been in my mind for some time to put a woman on one of these patrols — only I couldn't find the right one before."
Her job was mounted patrol through the park and included delivering the park's gate receipts from
Tuolumne Meadows
Tuolumne Meadows () is a gentle, dome-studded, sub-alpine meadow area along the Tuolumne River in the eastern section of Yosemite National Park in the United States. Its approximate location is . Its approximate elevation is . The term ''Tuolumn ...
to the park headquarters, which required an overnight trip on horseback.
She wore a park service badge and
Stetson hat
Stetson is an American brand of hat manufactured by the John B. Stetson Company. "Stetson" is also used as a generic trademark to refer to any campaign hat, particularly in Scouting.
John B. Stetson gained inspiration for his most famous hats ...
and had the same duties as her male colleagues, but refused to carry a gun.
She served as a ranger from May 22 to September 7, 1918.
Clare Marie Hodges was the only fully commissioned female park ranger for 30 years.
Personal life
Hodges married Peter Wolfsen, a mariposa cattle rancher, and took on his last name. She remained active in the
Mariposa community by guiding groups throughout the Yosemite region. She and her husband were both active at
Camp Wawona
Yosemite National Park ( ) is a national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service ...
, operated by the Seventh-Day Advent Church. Clare became the camp's first naturalist.
She died in 1980 at age 89. In honor of her and her husband's contributions to the Mariposa community, a nature trail was named in their honor.
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodges, Clare Marie
National Park Service personnel
Yosemite National Park
1890 births
1970 deaths
San Jose State University alumni