the john muir exhibit - people - galen clark - influential people in john muir's life - john muir exhibit
Galen Clark
1814-1910
- One of Yosemite's earliest explorers, its first public guardian, and one of its most revered hosts, tour guides, and protectors for most of his life. He
was a charter member of the Sierra Club.
- Galen Clark, with Milton Mann, was one of the earliest white
settlers to explore the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias in 1857.
- In 1866 Clark was appointed to be the first Guardian of
the new Yosemite Grant, and he served in this role for twenty-one
years.
- John Muir met Galen Clark on his first visit to Yosemite, and
later called him "the best mountaineer I ever met,
and one or the kindest and most amiable of all my mountain friends."
- Clark wrote
several books, including Indians of the Yosemite (1904), The
Big Trees of California, Their History and Characteristics (1907),
and The
Yosemite Valley (1910)
- For more information, see Galen Clark: Yosemite Guardian by Shirley Sargent.
Photo courtesy of Yosemite Library, National Park Service
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