By 1900, tiny General Grant National Park, founded to protect a
magnificent sequoia grove and one of the world's largest trees, had
become virtually encircled by commercial logging enterprises. This
island of preservation became the port of call for a new generation of
mountain explorers heading towards the vast alpine wilderness to the
east. This new generation of wilderness visionaries--including legendary
preservationist and founder of the Sierra Club John Muir and the artist
Bolton Brown--forged an alliance that fought to protect this
breathtaking landscape. After decades of effort, Congress designated the
vast Kings Canyon National Park in 1940, encompassing the sequoias of
General Grant as well as some of the most spectacular mountain scenery
in North America.