Carl Parcher Russell (January 18, 1894 – June 19, 1967) was a historian, ecologist, and administrator. Russell was born January 18, 1894, in

Fall River, Wisconsin Fall River is a village in Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States, along the North Fork of the Crawfish River. The population was 1,801 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Alfred Brayton, ...

. He joined the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

(NPS) in 1923 as a Naturalist in

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...

. In 1931 he received a Ph.D. in

Ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. He served as an officer for the NPS for 34 years, from 1923 until his retirement in 1957. He was the Chief Naturalist of Yosemite from 1923 to 1929. He specialized in frontier history, studying its material culture in minute detail, and documented pioneer life for the NPS and others. Russell served in several regional positions in the NPS, including NPS Chief Naturalist of Yosemite (1923–1929), regional director, and

Superintendent. Russell retired from the park service in 1957, and he died at his home in

Orinda, California Orinda is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census is estimated at 19,514 residents. History Orinda is located within four Mexican land grants: Rancho La ...

, on June 19, 1967, after a heart attack.

Books by Carl P. Russell

''One Hundred Years in Yosemite''
(1931, 1947, 1957) * ''Guns on the Early Frontiers'' (1957) * ''Firearms, Traps and Tools of the Mountain Men'' (posthumously, 1967) * Besides books, Russell wrote several articles for ''Yosemite Nature Notes'' and NPS and historical journals, and papers for various conferences.

Online article by Carl P. Russell

"Early Years in Yosemite," ''California Historical Society Quarterly'' 5:4 (December 1926)

References

External links

Collection Guide to the Carl Parcher Russell papers, ca. 1929-1965
at

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library is the primary special-collections library of the University of California, Berkeley. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retain the name Bancroft Library in perpetuity. ...

Collection Guide to the Carl Parcher Russell papers, 1940-1966
at

Biographical sketch
(WSU Libraries). WSU is the depository for his papers.

* 1894 births 1967 deaths National Park Service personnel American ecologists University of Michigan alumni 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers People from Fall River, Wisconsin Historians from Wisconsin 20th-century American male writers {{US-historian-stub