Florence Hutchings

Florence Hutchings (also Floy or Flora, August 23, 1864 – September 26, 1881) was the daughter of James Mason Hutchings and his wife Elvira. She is the namesake of Yosemite's Mount Florence.

Her life

She was born on August 23, 1864, and was the first non-Ahwahnechee born in Yosemite Valley.

Her birth occurred in the Hutchings' Upper Hotel, and she grew up in a log cabin built in 1865 on the north side of the Valley near Yosemite Falls.

She grew to fame due to her tomboy ways, and often complained that she had not been born a boy. She played with lizards instead of dolls and rolled her own cigarettes when she was older.

She defied many conventions of her time. She rode bareback, camped and hiked alone; she greeted Yosemite visitors in "knee-high boots, trousers, a flowing cape, and a wide-brimmed hat" with an exuberant "Welcome, welcome!".

Florence died when guiding a party to Glacier Point, on the Ledge Trail. According to one account a large boulder loosed and hit her. Her grave is in the Yosemite Cemetery, just east of Yosemite Falls.

John Muir's observations on her

Of her, John Muir observed "Your Squirrel [Florence Hutchings] is very happy. She is a rare creature."

He also noted

Legacy

Yosemite's Mount Florence was named for her. John Muir was credited with saying of her, "Let us give the girl, for her own and her father's sake, some graceful mountain height, and let it be called 'Mount Florence'."