NATURE'S ARMY: When Soldiers Fought for Yosemite

Naturalist John Muir described Yosemite as "the most beautiful piece of landscape I have ever beheld." Before its establishment as a national park in 1890, the 2,000-square-mile parcel—including the Sequoia park—was the centerpiece of a battle between those who wanted to exploit the land for their own economic purposes and those who wanted to preserve its wild beauty. Among the latter, Muir suggested strongly that the cavalry of the U.S. Army take charge of the new park. After the Civil War, the "Old Army," as Meyerson calls it, became a peacekeeping force mediating between settlers and Native Americans in the Indian wars and acting as a constabulary force in Yellowstone, the first national park. Drawing on thorough, painstaking research, Meyerson narrates the Old Army's governance of Yosemite and the protection of its natural resources. He profiles leaders like Captain Abram "Jug" Wood, who became the park's first superintendent, mapping its boundaries and guarding against zealous ranchers and homesteaders trying to claim land within the park. The hardy early "rangers" believed they provided a significant service for their country, much as they had in the Civil War, as they tracked trespassers over miles of mountainous terrain in inclement weather. Good old-fashioned communal loyalty, honest leadership, discipline and fairness were the Old Army's foundation that offered a model for the Park Service established in the 1930s. Although Meyerson sometimes loses the trail by seemingly reporting every detail, he offers, on balance, a lively account of a little known chapter in American history. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct.)