How the Chinese Built Yosemite (And Nobody Knows About It)

Summary

Many of the nineteenth century roads that enabled Yosemite National Park to become a national treasure – Wawona Road, Glacier Point Road, Great Sierra Wagon Road, and the Washburn Road to the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias ‒ were built by Chinese workers. Chinese cooks, servants, hotel employees, and farm/ranch hands contributed to the park’s tourist services into the early 20th century. Today, few traces of this Chinese presence remain: stone walls, roadbeds, bridges, and a handful of archeological artifacts. How can we discover more about the Chinese presence in Yosemite? And how can we involve the public in that search?

This paper presents an overview of Chinese contributions to the early infrastructure and culture of the park and National Park Service Archeology and Interpretation outreach in partnership with the Chinese Historical Society of Los Angeles, Chinese scholars, and youth volunteers to investigate and commemorate the Chinese presence in Yosemite.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• National Park Service Archeology Outreach and Education at the Centennial   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 60