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Mineral King Living Historic Community Proposal

Submitted to the NPS, Denver Service Center
and Sequoia National Park
by the Mineral King Advocates
April 1998

  Mineral King's history has been one of partnerships.
Within historic times, it has seen cooperation between
Paiute and Yokut hunters and traders,
between miners and stockmen, resorts and community,
and between community and government agencies.
This tradition and opportunity for cooperative resource management
is more important today than ever before

Vision

Mineral King possesses a unique cultural resource, a living historic community, which provides a living link to the forces, values and dreams that have shaped both California and society's relationship to the High Sierran environment.  In the tradition of Mineral King cooperation, the members of the Mineral King community propose the formation of a partnership with the National Park Service (NPS) based on the mutual goal of cultural resource preservation.  The purpose of the partnership is to preserve and protect the heritage of Mineral King and support the NPS in carrying out its responsibilities as stewards of the resources in its care.  It will assist the NPS in meeting its extensive obligations under the historic preservation regulations.

As a living historic link to Mineral King's past, residents of the Mineral King community have an indispensable core of resources and knowledge of the area to share with the NPS and with the public.  Through the partnership with the NPS, the residents will assist the NPS in providing opportunities for visitors to learn about and enjoy Mineral King's colorful and dynamic past.

The proposal calls for preserving Mineral King’s cultural resources essentially as they are today, but with expanded opportunities for park visitors to learn about and experience the rich history of Mineral King.  Residents would be financially responsible for maintaining the cabins and preserving their historic integrity.  Preservation and maintenance of other historic sites and interpretive activities will be coordinated by the partnership.  The Mineral King community will be recognized officially as the Mineral King Living Historic Community.

In essence, the partnership will provide a framework for the NPS and the community to work together to achieve the goals of cultural preservation in Mineral King.  Through the partnership, the community will work with the NPS to protect Mineral King's cultural legacy for the education and enjoyment of future generations.  

Why Preserve Historic Mineral King?

Mineral King is a rare Living Historic Community containing families, structures and sites that provide a gateway into the history of the Westward Expansion, the California Gold Rush, and the preservation movement.  Many families currently occupying the cabins represent the sixth and seventh generation of the original prospectors and entrepreneurs who came to Mineral King more than 100 years ago to seek their fortune.  Communities with such longevity and continuity are an extraordinary historical resource, particularly in our increasingly transient modem society.

Historically, Mineral King has attracted people for centuries.  They have come to hunt and gather food, strike-it-rich, graze cattle and sheep, harness water for power as early as 1904, run saloons and hotels, establish a military camp, escape the Central Valley summer heat since the 1870s, and enjoy the beauty and grandeur of the Sierra Nevadas.  Human survival, greed, adventure and drama all have been played out in this valley and surrounding mountainsides.  They add up to rich stories of the changes and development of Western U.S. culture, of the people who risked, gambled, and lost, and society's evolving relationship to the, natural environment.  As one of the longest-lived communities in the high Sierra Nevada, Mineral King acts as an historic basis for understanding our responsibility to earth's cultural and biologic systems.  It is a natural classroom for the public to learn about the importance of a high mountain ecosystem and people's evolving relationship with it.

Countless Mineral King visitors, curious about its past, have approached a cabin owner to be fascinated for many an unplanned hour by stories of great-grandparent miners and life in infant California when Mineral King boasted a population of some 3,000 residents.  The NPS has recognized the public's interest in Mineral King's history and has incorporated it into its literature and web sites.  Ranger-led campfire talks, with rangers impersonating some of the old mining characters, and hikes to historic sites have been provided in the past.  Additional NPS interpretive activities to enable visitors to access Mineral King's history, however, have been few. 

Achieving  Compliance

"Federal agencies are required by law to locate, inventory and nominate to the National Register historic properties in Federal ownership or control.  The Federal agencies also are responsible for preserving historic properties under their ownership or control and for assuring that any property that might qualify for inclusion in the National Register is not inadvertently transferred, sold, demolished, substantially altered or allowed to deteriorate significantly." The Natural Register of Historic Places, Section 106, United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service.

Recognizing the financial burden placed on the NPS in fulfilling its responsibilities as a cultural resource trustee, the Living Historic Community proposes to assist the NPS achieve compliance with the laws and regulations governing historic preservation.  It will help the NPS to address the absence of adequate cultural resource protection and maintenance as seen during the past two decades and plan for and implement preservation strategies for the future.

During the past twenty years, the importance of preserving Western U.S. history, vernacular architecture, and cultural landscapes has been recognized, both by society and within the NPS.  The Living Historic Community will be able to assist the NPS in ensuring that the management of Mineral King reflects this expanded understanding of cultural heritage and preservation values, and complies with new NPS policy.  

Operation and Implementation

The Mineral King cabin community will work in partnership with Park management, taking complete financial and maintenance responsibility for the cabins.  Residents "I'll provide the NPS with assistance in management and maintenance of the valley, historic preservation of the mining sites, and interpretive activities.  Special use permits will be issued in five-year increments to cabin permittees on a renewable basis.  Permittees will pay a reasonable annual fee to the NPS, to be determined by the NPS.  Cabins will be occupied and managed by their owners.

The Mineral King community already has a long-established working relationship with the NPS upon which to build the partnership.  Details regarding the structure of the partnership, responsibilities, projects, and the agreement will be worked out jointly. Possible projects could include:

• Maintaining historic structures
• Restoring historic sites
• Creating interpretive displays
• Contributing to historic campfire talks
• Maintaining and providing public access to the historic Point Cabin
• Organizing talks on Mineral King history
• Providing cabin open houses
• Maintaining the historic display in the ranger station

Mutually Beneficial

In addition to assisting the NPS with compliance, the Mineral King community affords the NPS the opportunity to utilize the resource of its residents, who for six and seven generations have come to understand the area and its needs.  Sequoia National Park will host a unique, historic high mountain community that will encourage public visitation and reflect society’s expanding interest in historic preservation.  Sequoia will be the vanguard of the policies put forward at the NPS-sponsored conference of 1994 on “Preserving Historical and Cultural Landscapes in the West.”  It could be the prototype for similar parks desiring to advance with these expanding NPS preservation policies.  The Park visitor’s experience will be enhanced by increased historical interpretive activities, educational opportunities, and the restoration of historical sites.

The Mineral King community will benefit through the official recognition as a living historic community.  This will ensure the longevity if the community and the essential continuity of its residents.  The partnership will provide an opportunity for the community to participate formally in supporting the maintenance and preservation of Mineral King and to share its history with park visitors.

Conclusion

With the ever-decreasing amount of public funds and the ever-increasing needs of our national parks, it is time to look for new and innovative strategies to achieve the goals of preserving and protecting our natural and cultural resources “in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment for future generations.” (1916 NPS Organic Act) Throughout the country, the NPS is increasing its reliance on public/non-profit partnerships and volunteers to fulfill its responsibilities as our nation’s natural and cultural trustee.  Mineral King is in the fortunate position of already possessing a dedicated and knowledgeable community with which to establish such a partnership.

www.MineralKing.org - The Preservation of Mineral King - last updated 07/10/99
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