Dr. Russell’s One Hundred Years in Yosemite, appearing now in its new version, gives not only a chronology of events, and the persons taking part in them, related to this place of very special beauty and meaning. It also portrays, in terms of human experience, the growth of a distinct and unique conception of land management and chronicles the thoughts and effort of those who contributed to it. It tells of the obstacles overcome, and of the pressures, present even today, to break down the national park concept, and turn these lands to commercial and other ends that would deface their beauty and impair their significance.
This book, therefore, is more than a history of Yosemite. It traces the evolution of an idea.
In scholarly fashion, sources of information are cited. Many of the documents and other source materials upon which the book is based are preserved in the Yosemite Museum, thus giving special interest to visitors to Yosemite.
Belief in the worth of the national park program cannot but be strengthened by reading One Hundred Years in Yosemite.
Newton B. Drury,
Director, National Park Service
February 13, 1947
PREFACE
It is the purpose of One Hundred Years in Yosemite to preserve and disseminate the true story of the discovery and preservation of America’s first public reservation to be set aside for its natural beauty and scientific interest.
When the original version of this book was written in 1930, I had recently completed the collation of manuscript diaries and correspondence, newspaper files, old journals, hotel registers, state and federal reports, photographs, and a variety of other pertinent historical source materials in the library of the Yosemite Museum. This was the material upon which the book was based. In the preface of the book I made a plea for the contribution of additional Yosemite memorabilia to be added to the Yosemite archives. Perhaps some of the fine response from donors during the past sixteen years is traceable to that plea; more likely, the increased interest in the Yosemite Museum results from the creditable work of the park’s staff members and the message carried by the monthly publication, Yosemite Nature Notes. The notable growth of the Yosemite Museum collections and the improvement of its exhibits and its general program of interpretive work are heartening to all who had a hand in the establishment of the work.