Description
Photocopy of original hotel register, unpaginated, bound volume of
approximately 207 pages with preface and copies of two photographs. The
register has also been microfilmed and is held by the University of the Pacific
and the University of California. The Hotel Register is first addressed "To
Chas. E. Peregoy, from his friends Geo B. Bayley & Clinton Day. June, 1870.
First entries are signed by them on June 11, 1870. However the second page
lists entries for September 10, 1869 and June 3, 1870. An estimated 5,000
guests enjoyed Peregoy's hospitality. Inn visitors came from throughout the
United States and twenty-two foreign countries. Famous guests included Mark
Hopkins, De Witt Talmage, Joaquin Miller, Asa Gray, Horace Greeley, and John
Muir. Many guests made comments about their sightseeing and the views,
expressed appreciation of the guides, wrote poems about the hotel, or
disparaging remarks about hotels in the valley. The last guests
Background
Born in Baltimore (1826) Charles Peregoy came to California in search of
gold (1849). He engaged in mining in Calaveras and Mariposa counties. Sometime
in the 1850's Peregoy bought a ranch at Mormon Bar about two miles from the
town of Mariposa. Shortly after Charles Peregoy made the final payment on the
Mormon Bar ranch, John C. Fremont claimed the land as part of his Mexican land
grant and demanded that Peregoy pay him rent on his property. The latter
refused and took the case to court where it was litigated for seventeen years
before finally being settled in Peregoy's favor. Faced with the possibly of
losing his property, he decided to concentrate on stock raising rather than
making costly improvements on the land. During the summer months Peregoy drove
his cattle through Mormon Bar, past Clark's Station (Wawona) and up toward
Glacier Point to the spot later known as Peregoy Meadows. Here he established a
cattle camp and lived with his wife and five children during the summer.