By 1900, tiny General Grant National Park, founded to protect a magnificent sequoia grove and one of the world's largest trees, had become virtually encircled by commercial logging enterprises. This island of preservation became the port of call for a new generation of mountain explorers heading towards the vast alpine wilderness to the east. This new generation of wilderness visionaries—including legendary preservationist and founder of the Sierra Club John Muir and the artist Bolton Brown—forged an alliance that fought to protect this breathtaking landscape. After decades of effort, Congress designated the vast Kings Canyon National Park in 1940, encompassing the sequoias of General Grant as well as some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in North America.
Author Ward Eldredge, curator for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, presents here a collection of rare images from the park's rich history, framing the astonishing visual beauty with the inspirational stories of those who fought to preserve it. The images tell a stirring tale of a natural place that nearly fell victim to commerce and industry. Eldredge, also the author of Arcadia's Sequoia National Park (2008), truly brings Kings Canyon to life in this rich volume of early photographs.