One Hundred Years in Yosemite: The Story of a Great Park and Its FriendsRussell, Carl Parcher
History
One Hundred Years in Yosemite: The Story of a Great Park and Its Friends
Russell, Carl Parcher
Yosemite National Park (Calif.) -- History; Yosemite Valley (Calif.) -- History
I returned to Yosemite in the summer of 1921—again in coöperation with
Dr. Bryant. The movement seemed to be well on its feet so I withdrew
at the end of that summer. We were appointed as temporary rangers with
duties informally defined. Each morning a field trip was conducted by
one or the other of us alternately, the alternate holding office hours
for questions by visitors. (Questions averaged 45 to the hour). In the
afternoon a children’s field class was held. In the evening we
alternated with talks at Camp Curry and the “Old Village” near
Sentinel Bridge. They were busy days but interest was good. Week ends
were devoted to overnight trips by one or the other of us.
At the urgent request of Mr. Ansel Hall I initiated the same type of
work at Crater Lake Park, Oregon, in 1926 and continued it in 1927. My
son, Alden Miller, was associated with me and two students, Miss Leigh
Marian Larson and Miss Ruth Randall, acted as volunteers in charge of
wildflower display. Reports of this work should be in the Crater Lake
files. During the summer we were visited by Mr. Mather, by Dr. John C.
Merriam, and by Mr. John D. Rockefeller and family. The interest of
these men was immediate and finally bore material fruit in improvement
of Crater Lake Park and the whole Nature Guide movement in America.
Just as had been the case at Yosemite, we were appointed as rangers.
My duties at Crater Lake included nature guiding, directing traffic,
comforting crying babies, rounding up stray dogs, and a wild drive
down the mountain to Medford Hospital with a writhing appendicitis
patient and his distracted wife in the rear seat.
I have not been officially connected with the work since but have sent
many graduate students to the Yosemite Field School with what I hope
was the right point of view. My own retirement at 70 years leaves me
out of the picture except in an advisory capacity. Just last week in
conference with my associates here, I urged Park Naturalist activity
as one of the public services for which our department should train
young men. So you see that my interests are still with the movement.
It is a field of infinite horizon.
Sincerely yours,
Loye Miller
March 18, 1946.
Dr. H. C. Bryant, the coworker referred to by Dr. Miller, became
Assistant Director of the National Park Service in charge of
interpretive work for all national parks. To Dr. Miller’s statement may
be added Bryant’s words about interpretive work:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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