Are you an explorer or educator? Do you have children intrigued by the past? Here you will find maps, guides, and activities to help make history your story.
Come meet the people of the past who influenced our present… those whom we remember and those we have forgotten. Let their collective story enhance your own.
Are you an historian, archaeologist, educator, or student seeking information about Sequoia National Park and vicinity, as well as those who helped shape it?
Do you have a family story, a photograph, or other content to share? Do you have comments or questions? We look forward to your input and feedback.
REVIVING LOST VOICES
The stories we tell about ourselves – the stories that define us as individuals – are in turn defined and framed by our cultural narratives. Our shared myth, if you will. Our personal stories develop within the context of the stories of our time and the stories of our past on which they are based. Together, our personal and cultural narratives give us a sense of self identity, a sense of place, and a sense of time. Yet, the stories we tell about our past exclude important individuals and groups of people. Thus, our cultural narratives unravel, and so do we as individuals. When our personal stories exist outside a meaningful shared context, we become alienated and rootless.
Female voices are among those that have been most excluded from our narrative, including Sequoia’s mining history. Across the United States, female miners were rare. Yet, at least three dozen women held mine claims during the Mineral King mining rush (1873-1882), and evidence suggests they did not play a hands-off role. These women left their print on the landscape in the form of mines, trails, and compacted rectangles where they made their homes. It is time that their stories be told.
The photo depicts Emma Crowley and Anna Mills, two of Mineral King’s mine claim owners. [Courtesy of the Crowley Family]
FEATURED STORIES
Harriet Hill (1834-1887) and her husband Jesse once presided over a town considered the most lawless in the west. In 1874 she became the first woman in the region to sign her name on a mine claim.
Rhoda McGinnis
Rhoda McGinnis (1856-1909) was one of the most active and successful miners in Mineral King in what is now Sequoia National Park. In 1874 she gave birth to the first child born in the mining camp.
Lucretia Baker
Lucretia Baker (1818-1909) is often credited with naming the General Grant tree. She was a romantic and adventurous person known to pan for gold in the hills on her own. She left her son a fortune.
Anna Mills
Anna Mills (1855-1921) was a miner, adventurous traveler, teacher, and the first woman to run for office in Tulare County. In 1878, she was also in the first party of women to climb Mt. Whitney.