Sailing into the sunset at Lake Yosemite
The sky is blue, the water is calm, and the breeze gently stirs the golden ripples on the lake.
Sailing into the sunset at Lake Yosemite is the subject of local artist Henry DuPertuis’ latest oil painting. At 94, Henry has not slowed down a bit when it comes to lending a helping hand at the Courthouse Museum. He is hoping that his work will raise a good amount of money for our museum at the Merced County Historical Society’s 26th annual Bill Kirby Western Barbeque and Auction on Sept. 13.
Lake Yosemite is Merced County’s top recreational spot. However, this was not always the case. When the lake was first built in 1888 by Crocker-Huffman Land and Water Co., it was used solely as a reservoir to supply drinking water to the city of Merced in addition to irrigation. Thus, any recreational activities were prohibited. Merced’s late Elmer Murchie, who worked for the company for 52 years, remembered an incident in which a prominent local doctor was arrested and fined for swimming in the lake.
Everyone knew the lake was to visit and see. Rowena Granice Steele, California’s first female novelist and the editor of the San Joaquin Valley Argus, wrote in 1888, “As it would be impossible to give a pen picture of the clear quiet beauty of the lake and the charming blue and silver sky which smiled down upon the mirror-like lake, I will not attempt it as it would only be a daub compared with the real water and the ethereal sky.”
By 1916, however, the water, became unsafe to drink largely because of the Yosemite-Sugar Pine Lumber Mill, which ran its plant upstream on the Merced River at Merced Falls. Merced finally sunk its first city well in 1917 and switched its drinking water supply from the reservoir to the ground. The company wasted no time in turning Lake Yosemite into a recreational center by planting the gum trees that remain standing today. It also began an annual swim carnival in 1919.
When the Merced Irrigation District purchased the water works and rights from Crocker-Huffman in 1922, it leased the lake to a private concessionaire. When concessionaire Robert T. Murgatroyd did not live up to the terms of his contract, his contract was terminated and the new contract was awarded to James Agustus “Gus” Law in 1926.
The lake, fed by the water from the newly completed Exchequer Dam and Reservoir, presented many recreational opportunities with a boat launch, bathhouse, dance floor, banquet hall, wharf, and platform area equipped with concession stands and tables and chairs. This cool place on a hot summer day offered swimming, boating, fishing, dancing, and picnicking for all ages.
Law was determined to make the resort into the summer sports center of the San Joaquin Valley; thus, in 1927, he spent $1,200 to install a water chute, which soon became the main attraction. Speed boat races and a sailing regatta also became an annual event at Lake Yosemite.
During the Great Depression, as much as Law would have liked to invest and maintain the resort, it became too expensive to operate with all of the attractions. In the winter of 1932, Law and his attorney, Andrew Schottky, came before the MID board to ask for some relief due to the loss of revenue that year. By the summer of 1933, he had to give up his lease and the Lake Yosemite resort never returned to its heyday. In the ensuing years, MID tore down the buildings and piers, abolished houseboats and pretty much restored the lake to its natural borders and beaches.
The major transformation of Lake Yosemite to the public park we know today occurred in 1938 when Merced County signed a 50-year lease with the district for an annual fee of $1. Under the direction of County Engineer Bill Bedesen, with the labor funded by the Works Progress Administration, improvements at the lake took place at a speedy pace. The sand for the beach was hauled in from Cressey, new piers for boats and swimming were erected, and new bathrooms of cobblestone were built. Lake Yosemite Park became a source of community pride as was evident when more than 2,500 people attended the dedication of the park on May 30, 1939. It also was seen as a great triumph in the midst of the Great Depression.
Today, as we enjoy this public park, now next to a growing university campus, we should take a moment to remember the early days of recreation at Lake Yosemite.
Sarah Lim is museum director for the Merced County Courthouse Museum. She can be reached at mercedmuseum@sbcglobal.net.
At a glance
Henry DuPertuis’ “Sailing in the Sunset at Lake Yosemite” offers an opportunity to capture the early days of recreation at the lake. To bid on Henry’s oil painting or other one-of-a-kind works of art, including Jim Cunningham’s canvas print of “Merced City’s Founders’ Day, 2014,” please join us at the 26th annual Bill Kirby Western BBQ/Auction at Lake Yosemite on Sept. 13. The tickets to the event are presold and available at the museum gift shop. All proceeds benefit the museum programs and the Bill and Tom Kirby Agricultural Scholarship at Merced College. Central California Events and Entertainment is a sponsor of this event. Music will be provided by Evening Edition Jazz Combo.
This story was originally published September 2, 2016 at 11:03 AM with the headline "Sailing into the sunset at Lake Yosemite."