A Night at the State Library with Scott Stine

In July 1833, Joseph Walker embarked on a journey across the Sierra to California with a company of fifty-eight fur trappers, two hundred horses, and a year’s provisions. Although the expedition was long credited with the first non-Native American discovery of the Yosemite Valley, research by Professor Scott Stine has revealed this as a myth. Professor Stine has used his expertise in geomorphology, hydrography, and biogeography to reconstruct this journey by embarking on the same path himself.

Using first-hand accounts of the Walker’s Brigade field clerk, Zenas Leonard, he discovered that this Yosemite myth has little basis in fact, and that Walker’s journey took him well north of Yosemite Valley. Join Professor Stine at the California State Library for a lively discussion of his book, how he traced Walker’s steps, and the discoveries he made along the way.