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Guardians of the Yosemite (1961) by John W. Bingaman

FOREWORD

John W. Bingaman has performed a valuable service in publishing these memoirs and biographical sketches. During the five decades to which his story pertains, the local press, the journals of the day, and an occasional book publicized some of the events here covered by Mr. Bingaman, but a far greater number found no recorder. The story of the old-time park ranger was hidden in Government files and in the secret recesses of the minds of a comparatively few surviving participants.

Mr. Bingaman has assembled the published materials and the manuscripts and from them has drawn the central theme for his little book. Equally important, he has rounded out and clothed the frame-work and given it life by applying to it the flesh-and-blood stories supplied to him by his contemporaries. Needless to say, his own personal experiences have enabled him to give to the story the unmistakable mark of authenticity.

Here is an interesting account of the early-day park ranger—he who took over when the United States Army withdraw from Yosemite. The precedents and practices established by him were all-important in shaping the protection principles which characterize the present-day Ranger Department. His public service was such, that even today the part superintendent, the forester, the interpreter, the uniformed personnel, one and all, are in the eyes of the park visitor, “Oh! Ranger!”

Dr. Carl Parcher Russell

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