Trade paperback, 272 pages,
6 x 9, 24 illustrations,
bibliography, two indexes.
ISBN: 0-944220-19-3.
$18.95

Yosemite Place Names
The history of geographic names in
Yosemite National Park (2nd edition)
by Peter Browning

Includes old names, Indian names, fanciful names, names that won't be missed, newspaper accounts of the first tourist parties to visit Yosemite Valley, in 1855 and 1856, and 24 historic photos.

“A thorough collection of geographic names. Drawings and early photographs add to the enjoyment of the
book. The account of the first tourist group to visit the valley, in 1855, is worth the price of the book alone.”
(The Sacramento Union.)

Register Rock
“Our descent [from Vernal Fall] was slow and tedious. On our route we passed a large boulder, which from its appearance, has recently been detached from the mountains and fallen nearly to the bed of the stream. It weighs many thousand tons, and on the lower side we registered our names, and for that reason it may be known as 'register rock.'” (San Joaquin Republican, October 16, 1855.)

For more information, see:  Contents, Illustrations, Preface, Introduction.  Ordering information.

Trade paperback, 264 pages,
6 x 9, 15 photographs, two
historic maps, bibliography.
ISBN: 0-89997-119-9  
$15.95

Place Names of the Sierra Nevada

From Abbot to Zumwalt

by Peter Browning

The first book on Sierra place names since Francis P. Farquhar's pioneering 1926 volume, Place Names of the High Sierra. Browning had access to Farquhar's extensive revision notes, and also utilized a variety of original sources—in particular, several decades of newspaper stories on microfilm, the records of the General Land Office, and the Lake Survey reports of the California Department of Fish and Game

The book gives the derivation and lore associated with each name, as well as quotes from many of the explorers and travelers of the Sierra Nevada. Also listed are the elevations of peaks, passes, and lakes, and the topographic maps on which to find these features and their names.

This title is now out of print. A new edition is being prepared.