History of Mammoth Lakes

Mammoth Lakes is one of those special places that substantiate how satisfying California can be for vacationers. Unlike Yosemite and Tahoe, with their branded identities invoking images of El Capitan or the big blue lake, Mammoth offers a more distinct range of impressions.  Pristine and, diverse Mammoth is a world-class resort set amongst the staggering beauty of the Eastern Sierras.

 
The history of Mammoth Lakes begins before human inhabitance, 200,000 years ago when volcanoes burst the mountain region into existence, the last eruption taking place 50 millennia ago.   The Mammoth area is a wide opening in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, dominated by Mammoth Mountain, a volcano rising abruptly from the western edge of the Long Valley Caldera. A gap in the Sierra range allows Pacific storms from the gap in the Coast Range to flow across to the Mammoth area with more moisture and snows than is typical for the range. This additional moisture created a Jeffrey pine forest extending toward the White Mountains that is the largest Jeffrey pine forest in the country. Another asset is the heavy snowfall that coats Mammoth Mountain making it one of the premier ski areas in the country.  However, even with all its natural richness, vast deserts on three sides of the Mammoth area and an immense mountain barrier on the fouth side kept frontiersmen away until relatively late in California's History.

The discovery of the Comstock Lode silver ore in 1858, east of Lake Tahoe, changed the area forever, the Prospectors from the gold fields on the west side flooded east across the Sierra to the Comstock. Rich gold and silver discoveries at Aurora and Bodie fueled rumors and dreams.  Mammoth won coast-wide attention in 1878 and 1879, not for its natural attractions but for the mineral wealth in its hills. What led up to those discoveries was the hunt for the "Lost Cement Mines."

Versions of the finding of what became known as the "Lost Cement Mines" differ only in minor details.  One of the more picturesque versions was written by Mark Twain, in Roughing It.  Twain writes that three German brothers, escaping from an Indian attack on the plains, reached the Sierra at the head of Owens River. There they 'found a ledge, "as wide as a curbstone," of rusty, reddish cement, two-thirds of it pure gold. Taking out about twenty-five pounds each of the ore, they covered up the ledge and resumed their journey. Two of the three perished in the mountains; the third won through to a west-side mining camp, physically and mentally deranged by his sufferings. It is reputed that he was suffering from consumption and passed the ore and a rough map of the area on to other prospectors.  A tremendous excitement was the result and miners poured out of Aurora and Monoville day and night. Never was there a greater furor about a mining find. During the whole summer of 1862 hundreds of prospectors hunted for the red cement; but they found nothing like it.

By 1879 Mammoth's boom was on. Miners staked claims on Mineral Hill and the Mammoth Mining Company was formed.  Mammoth began to boast hotels, saloons, and two newspapers. When gold was discovered on Red Mountain (first called Gold Mountain) in the 1870’s several small towns were established along the creeks. Mammoth City was located on the north side of Red Mountain while Mill City and Mineral Park were located further down the mountain toward the east. Pine City grew up along a little creek north of Lake Mary (then called Summit Lake). Log cabins quickly sprang up in Pine City, perhaps as many as twenty, along with a hotel, saloon and the Pine City Feed and Livery Stable. The site of old Pine City is located just north of Lake Mary, between Lake Mary and Twin Lakes. The livery stable was located approximately on the present site of the Mammoth Lakes Pack Outfit, and the owners advertised a corral with pasture attached, and hay and grain for sale in 1879.

But as fate would have it, a combination of poor yields, embezzlement, fire and severe winters hampered the prospectors’ efforts and as with other mining booms, the mines failed, and in 1881, the miners left, the towns declined and eventually disappeared. By 1888, only a few establishments remained, but the name of Mammoth Mining Company, the largest corporation of the time, stuck

Ranching however, would be the saving grace of the area.  In the 1870’s Charlie and John Summers moved into the region and eventually purchased ranches in Long Valley, Bishop and the Mammoth Meadows. Charlie ranched along Laurel Creek and drove his cattle into Fish Creek for summer grazing.  .

By the early twentieth century, Mammoth experienced a renaissance as a haven for fishing, camping, hiking, mountaineering and horseback riding. In 1905 the summer-season recreation takes hold and the Wildasin Hotel opens.  In 1918 the Mammoth Camp Hotel, near Wildasin's in the meadow is built and the first summer cabins appear. Mammoth has become a tiny village nestled in the meadow below the Mountain, near the intersection of today's Old Mammoth Road and Minaret Road. 

The Roaring Twenties saw resorts begin to pop up in Mammoth and the Lakes Basin: L.A.'s Camp High Sierra, Tamarack Lodge, and Pine Cliff Resort to name a few. Fishing, hiking, hunting, and hot tubing (at Whitmore Hot Springs) become popular pastimes. 
But it was die hard skiers with their portable rope tows that contributed most significantly to Mammoth’s growth. Powered by Ford Model “A” truck motors, these rope tows allowed skiers to experience the rush of alpine skiing. Skiers could pull off Highway 395 and be propelled up McGee Mountain, Deadman Summit and Conway Summit. In 1953, Dave McCoy, one of these dedicated rope tow operators and a hydrographer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, obtained the rights from the Forest Service to build a permanent rope tow on Mammoth Mountain.

Mammoth Mountain was marketed in the mid-fifties, replete with chair lifts and fanatic skiers. Armed with his knowledge of snowpack and snowfall patterns, McCoy pledged to develop the mountain. Two years later, he installed the mountain’s first chairlift. On Thanksgiving Day in 1955, Chair 1 opened with hundreds of eager skiers crowding in lift lines two to three hours long. The future of Mammoth was established and by 1984 the town of Mammoth Lakes was incorporated.  Today, Chair One (or Broadway Express) is a modern, high-speed, detachable quad chair lift, which is on of 28 lifts on Mammoth Mountain. With nearly 3,100 feet of vertical drop, 385 inches of average annual snowfall, and 300 days per year of glorious California sunshine, Mammoth offers snow sports enthusiasts a 3,500 acre (1,416 hectare) winter wonderland to explore and challenge.
Mammoth evolved from these humble beginnings into a world-class mountain resort. Long lift lines are a thing of the past. 28 lifts, including the state-of-the-art 15-passenger Village Gondola, “six pack” Eagle Express, high-speed quads and the Panorama Gondola, whisk visitors to some of the best alpine skiing in the world.  In the summer months the ski gondolas are used by mountain bikers and tourists who wish to get a spectacular summit view of Long Valley Caldera directly to the east and Sierra peaks to the west, south and north.  Summer also brings mountain biking on Mammoth’s extensive network with over 50 miles of trails, including the world famous Kamikaze Downhill, a challenging downhill race off the 11,053 summit.

The recent acquisition by Starwood Capital group promises to keep the Mammoth vision alive by creating premiere quality hotels and base facilities, helping Mammoth to grow up from a sleepy little town, to a first class destination resort, but most importantly a great place to live as well as an exciting place to vacation.