Robert Aquinas McNally

Now it's cars in long lines and tourists in sunburned throngs. Back in the day, the valley's granite grandeur became a killing field. Read it here.

The state of California never hesitated to raise the money and pay the bills for its campaign to wipe out the tribes. Read it here.

International law raises such a high bar that even some of the worst atrocities fall short. Still, California in the 19th century makes the cut. Read it here.

Just over five years ago, Governor Gavin Newsom made a startling public admission: California is guilty. Now the state wants to do better. Read the backstory and a progress report here.

Let's stop to marvel at the miracle of mountains. Read it here.

John Muir was ever on the lookout for the primal garden. Yet when he thought he had found it, the reality was a lot more complicated. Read it here. 

Closing out the Euro-American conquest of the West, expropriated tribal landscapes became Indigenous-free parks and monuments. Now tribes are turning the tables by using the national monument as a way to get back something of what was taken. Read it here.

To discover the truth of the moment, trust words written at the time, not later, when the writer may have a different agenda. Read it here.

With so many self-published books flooding the market, too many good titles languish unnoticed. Here's an example.

Borrowing a turn from Henry David Thoreau, John Muir championed moving over the landscape in a way that underscored its sacred quality. He had a point. Read it here.