Early California artists

Some were members of early survey expeditions of the West, such as Thomas Ayres and Albert Bierstadt.

Their legacy includes the National Park Service that formed for conservation and the people's benefit, something new in world history.

President Abraham Lincoln began the system on June 30, 1864[1] upon signing The Yosemite Grant, giving California a state park for "public use, resort and recreation".

"Celebration of Nature" Journalists, Painters and Musicians, formed the Bohemian Club in 1872, and then recruited powerful businessmen and entrepreneurs.

The artists were considered to "advertise" the Wonders of Nature, in a way that caused a groundswell of public opinion to protect the most visually stunning areas like Yosemite from development.

The "Hetch Hetchy Little Arroyo" signed C.N. Doughty , in 1908 and now submerged under a reservoir .