In 1893 Representative Anthony Caminetti of California proposed a bill to open approximately half of Yosemite National Park for mining and farming. In protest, the Sierra Club—founded in 1892 by John Muir and other conservationists to protect wilderness areas—sent Congress this petition and a map to draw public attention to the issue.
Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration
Petition from John Muir, et. al., as members of the Sierra Club, regarding the reduction of size of Yosemite National Park, January 2, 1893
Yosemite National Park
The development of the West attracted a growing population. As settlement impacted natural resources, conservationists urged Congress to preserve some of the West’s most scenic and fragile environments. In 1864 Senator John Conness of California introduced a bill making Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias the first parklands set aside by the federal government. Congress initially granted them to California, but in 1890 designated them a National Park. Congress protected Yosemite from encroachment and made it part of the National Park Service established in 1916.
Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.
John Muir, The Yosemite, 1912
In 1893 Representative Anthony Caminetti of California proposed a bill to open approximately half of Yosemite National Park for mining and farming. In protest, the Sierra Club—founded in 1892 by John Muir and other conservationists to protect wilderness areas—sent Congress this petition and a map to draw public attention to the issue.
Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration
