Galen Clark
Encyclopedia
European American
A European American is a citizen or resident of the United States who has origins in any of the original peoples of Europe...
to discover the Mariposa Grove
Mariposa Grove
Mariposa Grove is a sequoia grove located near Wawona, California, United States, in the southernmost part of Yosemite National Park. It is the largest grove of Giant Sequoias in the park, with several hundred mature examples of the tree...
of Giant Sequoia trees, and is notable for his role in gaining legislation to protect it and the Yosemite area, and for 24 years serving as Guardian of Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
.
Early life and education
Galen Clark was born in 1814 in the small town of Dublin, New HampshireDublin, New Hampshire
Dublin is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,597 at the 2010 census. It is home to both the Dublin School and Yankee Magazine.-History:...
. He was probably educated in its common schools.
Marriage and family
He joined the westward migration as a youth. In Missouri he met and married Rebecca McCoy. They had two children who survived until after their parents' deaths: Elvira M., who married and became a doctor in Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
; and another daughter who married John T. Regan of Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
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Move to California
After his wife died young, Clark moved to California to seek his fortune, probably about 1848 at the time of the California Gold RushCalifornia Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
. In 1853 at the age of 39, Clark contracted a severe lung infection that was diagnosed as consumption (as tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
was called in his time). Doctors gave him six months to live, as they had no antibiotic
Antibiotic
An antibacterial is a compound or substance that kills or slows down the growth of bacteria.The term is often used synonymously with the term antibiotic; today, however, with increased knowledge of the causative agents of various infectious diseases, antibiotic has come to denote a broader range of...
treatment at the time, but counseled rest and outdoor air.
Clark moved to the Wawona, California
Wawona, California
Wawona is a census-designated place in Mariposa County, California. It is located east of Mariposa, at an elevation of 3999 feet...
area as a homesteader
Homesteading
Broadly defined, homesteading is a lifestyle of simple self-sufficiency.-Current practice:The term may apply to anyone who follows the back-to-the-land movement by adopting a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle. While land is no longer freely available in most areas of the world, homesteading...
. "I went to the mountains to take my chances of dying or growing better, which I thought were about even." (Galen Clark, 1856) Upon his discovery of the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, Galen Clark spent most of his time exploring the area and teaching others about the mysteries of the giant, cinnamon-colored trees.
He wrote about protecting the grove to friends and the US Congress. He contributed to the writing and passage of legislation to protect the area, gaining support of US Senator John Conness
John Conness
John Conness was a first-generation Irish-American businessman who served as a U.S. Senator from California during the American Civil War and the early years of Reconstruction. He introduced a bill to establish Yosemite National Park and voted to abolish slavery...
from California. The act for the Yosemite Grant was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
. Ceding the land to the state of California for preservation, the grant was the first of its kind. The legislation was to protect Yosemite Valley
Yosemite Valley
Yosemite Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of California, carved out by the Merced River. The valley is about long and up to a mile deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan, and densely forested with pines...
and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias for "public use, resort, and recreation ... to be left inalienable for all time." Galen became the first "guardian of the grant". His lungs healed, and he explored and climbed much of the area.
Clark did not seek to enrich himself from Yosemite Valley or the Sequoia trees. He ran a modest hotel and guide service. A poor businessman, he was constantly in debt. His Clark's Station, for example, had several more employees than required for the number of guests and its short season.
Toward the end of his life, Clark was desperately poor. He wrote three books on Yosemite. These include Indians of the Yosemite (1904) and The Yosemite Valley (1910). Clark's book on the sequoia trees is simple, factual, and direct. He left out his personal role in the discovery, popularization, and protection of the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees. He served as hotel keeper, guide, and guardian of Yosemite and the Mariposa Grove.
In 1910 he died at the home of his daughter Dr. Elvira M. Lee in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
.
Legacy and honors
- Clark gained preservation of what became Yosemite National Park, and raised awareness of the wilderness, setting an example for the preservation of other ecosystems and wilderness areas.
- Today, the Giant Sequoia that would have been the first of its kind to be seen by Clark at the Mariposa Grove is named and marked "Galen Clark Tree" (240 feet; diameter 15.3 at 10 feet above mean base) in memory of his contribution to the preservation of the Giant Sequoia ecosystemEcosystemAn ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
and the idea of the national park. - Mount ClarkMount Clark (California)Mount Clark is an tall granite peak in the Clark Range. It is a popular destination for mountaineering.It is named for Galen Clark, an early explorer and the first guardian of Yosemite National Park. The Clark Range, also named for Galen Clark, is a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada...
and the Clark RangeClark Range (California)The Clark Range is a subrange of California's Sierra Nevada in Yosemite National Park.-Geography:The range extends in a north-south direction from Quarzite Peak to Triple Divide Peak and separates the drainage basins of the Illilouette Creek from the uppermost portions of the Merced River...
, located east of Yosemite Valley, were named in his honor.
Popular culture
- Clark's life and efforts to preserve the Giant Sequoias of Yosemite were depicted in the 1976 TV movie Guardian of the Wilderness (also known as Mountain Man). He was portrayed by Denver PyleDenver PyleDenver Dell Pyle was an American film and television actor. He is best remembered for playing Uncle Jesse in The Dukes of Hazzard .-Early life:...
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See also
- History of the Yosemite areaHistory of the Yosemite areaFor over 3,000 years Sierra Miwok, Mono, Paiute, and other Native American groups have lived in the central Sierra Nevada region of California. When European Americans first visited the area that would later become Yosemite National Park, a band of Miwok-speaking Native Americans called the...
- Mount Clark (California)Mount Clark (California)Mount Clark is an tall granite peak in the Clark Range. It is a popular destination for mountaineering.It is named for Galen Clark, an early explorer and the first guardian of Yosemite National Park. The Clark Range, also named for Galen Clark, is a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada...
- Clark Range (California)Clark Range (California)The Clark Range is a subrange of California's Sierra Nevada in Yosemite National Park.-Geography:The range extends in a north-south direction from Quarzite Peak to Triple Divide Peak and separates the drainage basins of the Illilouette Creek from the uppermost portions of the Merced River...
- Yosemite ValleyYosemite ValleyYosemite Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of California, carved out by the Merced River. The valley is about long and up to a mile deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan, and densely forested with pines...
External links
- Short radio episode Samoset about John MuirJohn MuirJohn Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions...
showing Ralph Waldo EmersonRalph Waldo EmersonRalph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...
the Mariposa Grove and Galen Clark asking Emerson to name a tree, from The Life and Letters of John Muir, 1923. California Legacy ProjectCalifornia Legacy ProjectThe California Legacy Project began in 2000 as a project at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, CA and later partnered with Heyday Books in Berkeley, CA. The project uses a research team of SCU interns to create radio scripts for the radio anthology "Your California Legacy" on KAZU 90.3 FM,...
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