Three Rivers in Tulare County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

Call the Cavalry!

Photographed by Michael Herrick, May 3, 2017

1. Call the Cavalry! Marker

Inscription. Shaping a Park
Call the Cavalry! The Parker Group owes its name to a cavalry officer who commanded troops here in 1893. Why was the military here? Congress established Sequoia National Park in 1890, but the National Park Service did not exist until 1916. So who could protect Sequoia and our other national parks in the meantime? The U.S. Cavalry.

Every summer from 1891 to 1913, mounted troops guarded these parks. They rode almost 300 miles from their post at the San Francisco Presidio. The cavalry’s dual task of guarding the the parks and assisting visitors came with little instruction or funding.

Yet the troopers managed to end serious damage to sensitive alpine meadows by limiting poaching and driving out illegally grazed sheep. They also built roads and trails to provide access for an excited public.

Far from Family The Parker Group of sequoias honors Captain James Parker and his family. In 1893, as the second military superintendent of Sequoia National Park, Parker commanded Troop B of the 4th Cavalry. For several summers, the troops stayed not far from here at a site called Soldiers Camp.

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This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Horticulture & Forestry.

Location. 36° 33.051′ N, 118° 45.865′ W. Marker is in Three Rivers, California, in Tulare County. It is on Crescent Meadow Road 1.4 miles south of Generals Hwy, on the left when traveling south. Located in Sequoia National Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Three Rivers CA 93271, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in California’s San Joaquin Valley,

specifically in the Central Valley,

and in the Sierra Nevada.

It is also on the American Pacific Coast.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Ring of Fire,

in the Pacific Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within one mile of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Buttress Tree (within shouting distance of this marker); The CCC Boys (approx. 0.2 miles away); Stephen Tyng Mather (approx. ¼ mile away);

Parker Group image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Michael Herrick, May 3, 2017

2. Parker Group

These giant trees were named for the eight members of the Parker Family. Captain James Parker, Troop B, 4th Cavalry, U.S. Army, was Acting Supertindent of Sequoia National Park 1893 – 1894

The Naturalists (approx. 0.3 miles away); Auto Log (approx. 0.4 miles away); Colonel Young: A Buffalo Soldier (approx. 0.4 miles away); Middle Fork Canyon (approx. 0.7 miles away); For the Good of the Giants (approx. 1.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Three Rivers.

Also see . . . Sequoia National Park. (Submitted on May 14, 2017, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut.)

Call the Cavalry! & Parker Group Markers image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Michael Herrick, May 3, 2017

3. Call the Cavalry! & Parker Group Markers

The Parker group of Sequoias image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Michael Herrick, May 3, 2017

4. The Parker group of Sequoias

Credits. This page was last revised on May 14, 2017. It was originally submitted on May 14, 2017, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut. This page has been viewed 466 times since then and 31 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on May 14, 2017, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut.