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.