Sacred Texts  Native American  California 

INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE VALLEY AND VICINITY Their History, Customs and Traditions by GALEN CLARK [1904]

This short little book was written by one of the pioneers of Yosemite National Park, Galen Clark. In 1857 Clark was the first white person to view the Mariposa Grove, a stand of old-growth redwoods which are some of the largest living organisms on the planet. Clark was one of the first full-time white residents of Yosemite and is considered the first ranger of that park. Although obviously Clark had no training in ethnography, he lived for many years with the last generation of pre-contact Native Americans of Yosemite. It is apparent that the Yosemite Miwok, who had a disasterous first contact, were extremely reluctant to open up about the details of their mythology and culture, even to comparatively benign individuals such as Clark. However, this is one of the few first-hand accounts from this period, and the information in this book has been rehashed in many others, such as The Lore and Lure of the Yosemite.

--J. B. Hare