On this day in 1814 Galen Clark was born in Shipton, Canada East (now known as Quebec).
As a young man, he became part of the great westward migration. He first headed to Missouri, where he met his wife Rebecca McCoy, who bore him two daughters. Unfortunately, his wife waste die far too young.
It’s believed that after her death, Galen moved further to the west, settling in California during the Gold Rush to seek his fortune. After living in the Golden State for five years, Clark contracted tuberculosis at the age of 39. Consumption was a fatal diagnosis in 1853, as there was no course of treatment or antibiotics at the the time. Doctors gave him six months to live, and recommended rest and clean air.
Galen moved to Wawona, California – a small ‘census designated place’ located entirely within what would eventually become Yosemite National Park – in 1855.
“I went to the mountains to take my chances of dying or growing better, which I thought were about even.” Galen Clark.
By 1856 he had established a tourist rest stop and small ranch, and spent much of his free time hiking the magnificent Yosemite Valley. On one of his hikes, he happened upon the magnificent Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, and the beauty of the area consumed him. He spent most of his time now exploring the grove and educating tourist and visitors about the Giant Sequoias.
Clark became a conservationist. He began writing letters about Yosemite and the Mariposa Grove to his friends and to his Congressman, John Conness. Working with his contemporary and fellow explorer Milton Mann, Clark contributed heavily to the legislation that eventually became known as the Yosemite Grant.
The Yosemite Grant was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on June 30, 1864, ceding the land to the state of California as a state park. The Yosemite Grant was the first time in the history of the United States that park land was specifically designated for preservation and public use by the federal government, and the wording protecting the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove leaves no doubt that this land is for the people forever; “to be left inalienable for all time.”
Galen Clark, his lungs healed and his “six months to live” long since past, was appointed the Grant’s first guardian by the board of commissioners, and served in that position for 21 years. He wrote three books on Yosemite, including “Indians of the Yosemite” (1904), “The Big Trees of California: Their History and Characteristics” (1907), and “The Yosemite Valley” (1910).
In 1910 he died at the home of his daughter Dr. Elvira M. Lee in Oakland, California.
In the Mariposa Grove at 240 feet tall stands the cinnamon-colored “Galen Clark Tree” named in honor of the conservationist who sought to protect the Giant Sequoias and the Yosemite Valley. Mount Clark and the Clark Range, located east of the Yosemite Valley, are also named in his honor. Clark is a charter member of the Sierra Club.