38 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



Lembert lived on his property in summer but spent the 

 winters in a small cabin near Cascade Creek in the Merced 

 Canon, just below Yosemite Valley. In the winter 1896-97, 

 his body was found in the cabin, evidently murdered for the 

 small amount of money which he was known to have kept 

 always with him. 



After his death the property passed to Jacob Lembert, 

 his brother and his only surviving relative. On January 7, 

 1898, the Soda Springs claim was sold by the Lembert 

 estate to the McCauley brothers of Big Meadows. They 

 took possession and refenced most of the land, and soon 

 after built a new and larger cabin on the rocky knoll west 

 of the spring. This cabin still stands in fair condition, the 

 old Lembert structure, as well as the fences having been 

 crushed by the snow or otherwise destroyed. The Mc- 

 Cauleys used the land for pasturing cattle for many years. 

 Many efforts were made to purchase it from them, but, real- 

 izing its value, they refused to part with it. In the fall of 

 1911, J. J. McCauley finally decided to sell, and fixed a 

 definite price. He intimated to certain of our members that 

 if the Sierra Club wanted to buy the land, it would be given 

 first chance. Immediately the Directors of the Club sent 

 out a circular letter to a number of members known to be 

 interested in such an acquisition, and this resulted in bring- 

 ing in enough money to pay the necessary deposit to hold 

 an option till January 1, 1912. Then followed a second 

 letter to the entire membership, which resulted in enough 

 subscriptions to cover the entire purchase price, Mr. Mc- 

 Cauley very generously extending the time of the option 

 to July 1st to give the Club time to make the final collec- 

 tions. On June 26th the purchase was made, and the deed, 

 the original patent and all other papers were turned over to 

 the Directors of the Club. 



The property is described in the U. S. Land Office as the 

 southwest quarter of Section 5, Township i south, Range 24 

 east. Mount Diablo meridian, (160 acres). The tract extends 

 directly across the main portion of the Tuolumne Meadows. 

 The two southerly corners are in the meadow, the northerly 

 ones on the timbered hillside above the spring. 



