Yosemite Blog

Category: History

  • Robert Scoble and Thomas Hawk Hang Out With Michael Adams

    Thomas Hawk takes some beautiful photos and I will admit I’m openly jealous. A few days ago Thomas and Robert Scoble (aka Scobleizer to all you geeks out there) were lucky enough to spend 2 days with Michael Adams, Ansel Adams son, and get a front row tour of some of Adams’ favorite locations. Very…

  • Adams Yosemite

    There’s a really cool interactive over at the New York Times that shows 9 different Ansel Adams photographs and where they were taken in relation on a map of the park. The interactive is part of an article the times ran a few days ago called “What Adams Saw Through His Lens“. New York Times:…

  • Photo of the Day: Observation by Upshift

    Today’s Photo of the Day isn’t actually OF Yosemite but something that’s a part of Yosemite’s history, one of the old railway cars that used to bring visitors into the park. Upshifts caption reads: “NILES CANYON, CA — The historic Yosemite Valley #330 Observation Car. Built in 1907, it is one of the more historic…

  • Team Works To Record Oral History of Yosemite

    Paul Rogers and his team are undertaking a very ambitious project, recording Yosemite’s oral history. UnionDemocrat: “‘The park has never really had a formal oral history,’ Rogers said. ‘We’re looking for personal voices among a cross-section of people.’ Rogers said his team plans to interview former and current National Park Service and concession employees, longtime…

  • Park History Project

    Yosemite National Park Announces Launch of Oral History Project Participants sought for recorded sessions to document Yosemite area history currently titled “I Remember Yosemite…” Yosemite National Park has launched a multi-year oral history project to capture the stories of people who have helped shape, and whose lives have been shaped by, one of the nation’s…

  • Paiutes or Miwok? Only Time Remembers

    FresnoBee.com: “Who were the early inhabitants of Yosemite Valley — Miwoks or Mono Lake Paiutes? The answer matters to David Andrews, a Paiute who believes his ancestors’ history has been underplayed by the National Park Service. Yosemite National Park’s historical displays mention both Indian groups as having a presence in the glacially carved valley. But…

  • Historic Yosemite Register to be Preserved

    A major donation was announced Friday that will help preserve the original register from Yosemite during the 1800’s. The register contains thousands of signatures from visitors including some of the most notable of the era like William Randolph Hearst, John Muir and Uslysses S. Grant. abc7news.com: “‘It’s an irreplaceable record of Yosemite’s early history,’ Yosemite…

  • Like a Ghost from the Past

    A.J. Morris over at the Public Domain Photoblog posted this really cool photochrom from the early 1900’s. Judging from the angle it was taken at Artists Point along the old road from Mariposa. You could try to get the same shot today but unfortunately trees have did what trees do and now block the view…

  • A. Phimister Proctor & Half Dome

    Now there’s a name for you! Why is he the subject of today’s blog?  Well, we all should know by now that the first ascent up Half Dome was done by George Anderson in 1875. As any 3rd grade history student knows, he did this by drilling holes and made his own staircase with steel…

  • Sharsmith Peak On Hold

    Carl Sharsmith’s name is almost synonymous with Yosemite and Tuolumne Meadows. He was a much beloved naturalist whose nature walks inspired millions to step off the asphalt and see the wild Yosemite few do. Unfortunately efforts to honor the longtime Yosemite icon by naming a peak in his honor have run into a bureaucratic quagmire.…