[Howard Coffin Tibbitts (1863-1937), photographer]. President William Howard Taft and John Muir at Grizzly Giant. Silver gelatin photographic print. [Yosemite, California]: N.p., [October 1909]. Subjects identified to frame backside. 8 1/4 x 6 1/4 in. Matted and framed to 11 3/4 x 9 3/4 in. 

In October 1909, President William Howard Taft (1857-1930) traveled to the Yosemite Valley and was guided by "Father of the National Parks" John Muir (1838-1914). While traveling through the park, they came to a point where the horses could not carry President Taft, and he hiked the distance instead. Here, Muir and Taft pose with others in their party in front of "Grizzly Giant," one of the giant sequoias in Mariposa Grove.  

The entire party from left to right is composed of several notable California politicians, including the Governor: Representative James C. Needham (1864-1942), Rep. William F. Englebright (1855-1915), Muir, Taft, Governor James Gillett (1860-1937), Senator Frank Flint (1862-1929), and Rep. Duncan E. McKinlay (1862-1914). The man at the extreme left is identified as William Hosler of the Hearst Newspaper Service. 

Muir used the time with the president to advocate for the protection of Hetch Hetchy Valley, which had been slated during the Roosevelt administration to be dammed. Persuaded, Taft suspended the Interior Department's approval for the Hetch Hetchy right-of-way. After intense public debate, however, President Wilson authorized the dam in 1913. 

Views from the expedition, this pose exceptionally so.  

Early Photography, Historic Photography, Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, Tintypes, Cased Images, Union Cases, Albumen Photographs, CDVs, Carte de Visites, Cartes de Visite, Carte-de-visite, Cartes-de-visite, CDV, Cabinet Cards, Stereoviews, Stereocards, Stereographs] [Western Americana, Western History, Western Expansion, Wild West] [Politics, Political Ephemera, Presidential Elections, Presidents] [Theodore Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt, National Parks, California, Californiana]

Not examined out of the frame.