9 like the idea of america itself full of competing

9. Like the idea of America itself, full of competing demands and impulses…the national park idea
has been constantly debated, constantly tested, and is constantly evolving, ultimately embracing
places that also preserve the nation’s first principles, its highest aspirations, its greatest sacrifices
—even reminders of its most shameful mistakes.
10. Most of all the story of the national parks is the story of people . People from every conceivable
background…People who were willing to devote themselves to saving some precious portion of
the land they loved—and in doing so, reminded their fellow citizens of the full meaning of
democracy.
11. From the very beginning, as they struggled over who should control their national parks, what
should be allowed within their boundaries, even why they should exist at all, Americans have
looked upon these wonders of nature and seen in them the reflection of their own dreams .
12. At the end of this segment William Cronon talks about our national parks representing the
immensity and intimacy of time. The intimacy of time is that shared in these special places with
other people. He concludes it is love of place, love of nation that the National Parks are meant
to stand for.

Episode 1, Chapter 2
“Yosemite”
1. Early in 1851, during the frenzy of the California Gold Rush, an armed group of white men was
scouring the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada searching for Indians, intent on driving the
natives from their homeland .
2. They called themselves the Mariposa Batallion. Late in the afternoon the battalion came to a
narrow valley surrounded by towering granite cliffs, where a series of waterfalls dropped
thousands of feet to reach the Merced River on the valley’s floor.
3. One of the men, a young doctor named Lafayette Bunnell, stood there transfixed.
4. He wrote in his journal, “As I looked, a peculiar exalted sensation seemed to fill my whole being
and I found my eyes in tears with emotion .”
5. The rest of the battalion did not share his enthusiasm and set fire to the Indian’s homes .
6. Since they were the first white men to enter the valley they chose to give it a name. It was
named Yosemite because it was thought that was the name of the tribe they had come to
dispossess.
7. Later, scholars would learn that in fact the natives called the valley Ahwahnee and that they
called themselves the Ahwahneechee. Yosemite it was learned meant something entirely
different. It refers to people who should be feared. It means “they are killers .”
8. In 1855, a second group of white people arrived in Yosemite Valley—this time as tourists , not
Indian fighters. They were led by James Mason Hutchings.
9. Hutchings hoped to make a fortune by promoting California’s wonders through an illustrated
magazine .

10. Many people were determined to see this wonderland. The trip required a two-day journey
from San Francisco to the nearest town and then, with no wagon road into the valley, a grueling
three-day trek by foot or horseback, up and down steep mountainsides on narrow, rocky paths.