Born: 1 December 1890, United States
Died: 20 June 1970
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is republished from the National Park Service. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Clare Marie Hodges
Yosemite National Park
Park Ranger, 1918
• Born on December 1, 1890 in Santa Cruz County, California.
• In 1904, aged 13, she and her family rode horseback for four days to reach Yosemite Valley.
• Attended San Jose College, enjoying botany.
• In 1913, she made her first trip to Tuolumne Meadows, returning five or six more times.
• Began teaching at the Yosemite Valley School in 1916.
• In the spring of 1918, she overheard park rangers discussing how difficult it was to find men to fill positions left vacant by World War I and applied to Superintendent W.B. Lewis to be a park ranger at Yosemite.
• Thought he would probably laugh at her for wanting to be a park ranger. Instead, he replied that he wanted to hire a female ranger but hadn’t found the right one-until then.
• Hired as a temporary ranger on May 22, 1918, making her the first women ranger in the NPS.
• Given a badge and earned a salary of $900 per year. Wore a stetson hat like her male colleagues, but did not carry a gun.
• Her position ended on September 7, 1918.
• Married three times over her lifetime and had one son.
• Worked as a naturalist for a Seven-Day Adventists’ summer camp at Wawona, teaching botany and horsemanship and establishing nature trails.
• Died on June 20, 1970 from cancer.