Newell D. Chamberlain was born in 1880 and spent his early years in San Francisco. In 1926 he established Camp Midpines, so named because it was "amidst the pines and midway between Merced and Yosemite." In the 1930s he compiled this chronicle of events during and after the Gold Rush -- drawing on newspapers of the time and interviews with early pioneers and their children. The result is this kaleidoscopic view of life in a dramatic era in the history of California. Illustrated with many historic photographs, some of which have not previously been published. Book jacket.

The definitive gazetteer of California. This book lists more than 50,000 geographical features including topographical features such as ridges, peaks, canyons and valleys; water features such as streams, lakes, waterfalls and springs; and cultural features such as cities, towns, crossroads and railroad sidings. Entries, divided into 11 multiple-county regions for ease of use, list general and specific locations for each feature as well as listing the United States government quadrangle map on which it appears. Many entries include information about who named the feature, when and why, as well as alternate or obsolete names. Each item of information is documented by citing the map, book or other source used. Approximately 11,000 cross references provide easy access to secondary names, as well as to key words in multiword English-language names. The work contains bibliographic information for each of the thousands of references cited and is completely indexed. This volume is useful to anyone interested in California history, geography or current events.

One of the original 27 counties of California, Mariposa County, located on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada and containing more than 900,000 acres, once covered one-fifth of the state and was considered the "Mother of California Counties." First inhabited by several Native American tribes, the land that became Mariposa County saw a flood of miners and other white settlers to the area with the discovery of gold in 1849. The county produced not only $48 million in gold, but also millions in copper, lead, zinc, and chromite, among other minerals. Now home to more than 20,000 residents, as well as most of the famous Yosemite National Park, Mariposa County takes pride in the history that lives in the Gold Rush buildings lining downtown Mariposa and Coulterville's main streets and still standing in early mining towns like Hornitos and Bear Valley.

Now in a fully updated edition, this invaluable reference work is a fundamental resource for scholars, students, conservationists, and citizens interested in America's national park system. The extensive collection of documents illustrates the system's creation, development, and management. The documents include laws that established and shaped the system; policy statements on park management; Park Service self-evaluations; and outside studies by a range of scientists, conservation organizations, private groups, and businesses. A new appendix includes summaries of pivotal court cases that have further interpreted the Park Service mission.

In this book are the stories of how the names of Yosemite National Park came to be: the record of who named what and when, quotations from explorers, tourists, geographers, rangers, and soldiers, and often the peculiar, humorous, or moving events that gave rise to the names on the maps today.