Back in the day, in Yosemite National Park, California, visitors were treated to a spectacle where a roaring bonfire was built at the edge of Glacier Point and at 9 pm sharp the fire’s embers were pushed over the edge of the cliff creating a “Waterfall of Fire”. Yosemite’s Firefall took place from 1872 to 1968. (Photo courtesy of NPS)
I was fortunate to view this spectacle in June of 1967 during my first visit to Yosemite National Park. I was five years old but remember it well. I sat in the back seat of our 1965 Ford Country Sedan station wagon with my younger sister. Other kids were outside playing in the meadow but I wasn’t allowed to get out of the car. Only my Dad was allowed to do so. We were parked along a park road with a view of Glacier Point. I remember the traffic jam that ensued afterward when everyone attempted to return to their lodging for the night.
How it all Started
In 1872, years before Congress designated Yosemite as a national park, the original Firefall was inadvertently started by James McCauley, the owner of the Glacier Point Mountain House Hotel. On summer evenings, McCauley built a large campfire at the “point” where the granite cliff juts out over the Valley entertain his guests. At the end of the evening, he would then put out the fire by kicking the smoldering embers over the edge Glacier Point. Spectators on the floor of Yosemite Valley would see these falling embers and it appeared as a flowing waterfall. People in the valley were fascinated by the falling embers and commented to McCauley’s sons. Some visitors offered money for them to have another firefall that evening. Seeing a business opportunity, they gathered wood for a larger fire, carrying it up the mountain on burros.
In 1897, the Washburn brothers, who owned the Wawona Hotel outside of Yosemite Valley, had the Guardian of the State Grant evict James McCauley from the Mountain House Hotel and took it over. Apparently, he only had a 10 year lease on that property. That temporarily stopped the Firefall.
The Camp Curry Years
In 1899 David and Jennie Curry moved to Yosemite Valley and established Camp Curry a family campground of canvas tents at the base of Glacier Point (still exists). Soon he heard visitors reminiscing about the Firefall when McCauley ran the hotel at Glacier Point. He felt that that would make his camp more attractive to visitors so sometime in the early 1900s, Curry reestablished the Firefall during the summer season.
Camp Curry would have a campfire show from 8-9 pm culminating in the Firefall promptly at 9 pm. David Curry added a few dramatic flourishes of his own. At 9pm sharp, a master of ceremonies in Camp Curry would shout to the firemaster at Glacier Point…
“Hello, Glacier Point!”
“Hello, Camp Curry!”
“Let the Fire Fall!”
“The Fire Falls!”
Then the burning embers from the red-fir bark bonfire (they found that red-fir gave the brightest glowing embers) were pushed over the edge.
The End of a Tradition
In 1968 George Hertzog, the director of the National Park Service, ended the Yosemite Firefall once and for all. He stated the obvious, that the Firefall was an unnatural spectacle more appropriate for Disneyland than a national park. In addition, this display attracted huge crowds that tramped through and damaged meadows on the Valley floor. It caused traffic jams on the Valley’s roads (which I remember!!). Lots of red-fir bark was unnecessarily and unnaturally removed to fuel the fire.
A final ceremonial Firefall was held on Jan 25, 1968. According to a National Park Service press release: “The Firefall, a fancy of James McCauley’s that caught on, and was popular for almost a hundred years, died Thursday, January 25, 1968 in a blazing farewell. It was a dandy Firefall, fat and long and it ended with an exceptionally brilliant spurt, the embers lighting the cliff as they floated slowly downward … There weren’t many people around to watch. Maybe fifty. Hardly any congestion at all.”
A pale scar remains on the cliff face where the fire burned away the lichen on the rock (red arrow is pointing to Overhanging Rock where the Firefall was launched). It’s not as obvious as it used to be. Thousands of visitors enjoyed the Firefall for nearly a century. Now it only exists in the memories of us baby-boomers who were lucky enough to witness it.