"Ambitiously tying East to West, The Making of Yosemite is among the more significant of recent books examining the overlapping histories of the American West and the Civil War. . . .[the] powerful merit of this book is Huntley’s suggestive finding that the object of Hutching’s eye and mind, if not western nature writ large, might be redemptive and rejuvenating in the processes of post-Civil War national healing."—Pacific Historical Review
“Huntley concludes the book with a brief, yet poignant discussion of the complex historical relationship between entrepreneurs and the creation of sacred places such as Yosemite. By restoring Hutchings’s place in Yosemite’s creation, Huntley argues the modern environmental understandings of nature too often obscure the role of boosters, and more broadly capitalism, in the production of landscape. In this manner, The Making of Yosemite joins a growing number of works underlining the complex connections between wilderness preservation and consumerism in American history, and perhaps, as she suggests, offers a more complete understanding of our relationship with Yosemite today.”—Environmental History
“Huntley has written a provocative work. She has taken on the myth that Yosemite Valley was set aside by noble ‘gentlemen’ and administered by selfless commissioners who opposed selfishness, greed, and exploitation of the environment. She has proven that it was not that simple.”—Oregon Historical Quarterly
“An important examination of the role Hutchings played in not only the promotion but also the establishment and preservation of Yosemite National Park.”—Historian
“A worthwhile biography of the late nineteenth-century publisher, hotelier, and businessman James Mason Hutchings and his contribution to the early history of Yosemite National Park. Huntley successfully recasts Hutchings in the historical narrative, revealing interesting inconsistencies in the historical record as well as challenging conventional notions of binaries (such as nature versus culture, business versus environment.) The book is beautifully written, reflective, and nuanced. While some may take issue with the closing comments that business and environment can sit comfortably together . . . a valuable addition to California history.”—Journal of American History
“Fills a hole in the literature about Yosemite and the national parks in general. . . . Reminds us that few characters are unblemished villains or saints: we all live in a complex world, with competing, diverse motives. Hutchings, like Muir, was one such person.”—Montana The Magazine of Western History
“Environmental historian Huntley puts Yosemite pioneer hosteler James Hutchings in a broad perspective. . . . Recommended.”—Choice
“Hutchings’s career, Huntley argues in her persuasive new book, ‘illustrates the way that the Yosemite Grant [later park] and the environmental conservation movement it launched were integrally connected to and interdependent upon the consumer tourism that would be his bread and butter.’ Hutchings’ actions on the ground and in print made it possible for such well-heeled visitors as Alice Van Schaack to revel in this remote playground; and, ever since, for millions of others to hike its trails, scale Half Dome, or bed down in Camp Curry. . . . So why is Hutchings so little known today? Why is Huntley’s penetrating examination of his life and career the first full-length treatment of an individual who did so much to bring Yosemite to light? Now you can thank John Muir.”—Char Miller in “The Back Forty,” on KCET.org
“A remarkable, exciting, and thought-provoking study that reinterprets the history of Yosemite National Park specifically and the history of the national parks and conservation generally. It is packed with stunning insights, revelations, and arguments that Huntley presents with great intellectual sophistication and in clear, vigorous, and in places lyrical prose. It will compel scholars to revise how they think, teach, and write about national parks, conservation, and land policy, and will be especially useful for undergraduate and graduate courses in environmental and Western history.”—Mark Fiege, author of Irrigated Eden: The Making of an Agricultural Landscape in the American West
