III.

That the purposes for which this Corporation is formed are as follows, to-wit: To explore, enjoy and render accessible the mountain regions of the Pacific Coast; to publish authentic information concerning them; to enlist the support and co-operation of the people and government in preserving the forests and other natural features of the Sierra Nevada Mountains; to take, acquire, purchase, hold, sell and convey real and personal property, and to mortgage or pledge the same for the purpose of securing any indebtedness which the Corporation may incur, and to make and enter into any and all obligations, contracts and agreements concerning or relating to the business or affairs of the Corporation, or the management of its property.

IV.

That the place where the principal business of said Corporation is to be transacted is the City and County of San Francisco, State of California.

V.

That the term for which said Corporation is to exist is fifty years from and after the date of its incorporation.

VI.

That the number of Directors or Trustees of said Corporation shall be nine (9), and that the names and residences of the Directors or Trustees who are appointed for the first year, to serve until the election and qualification of their successors, are as follows, to-wit:

JOHN MUIR, Martinez, Cal.

WARREN OLNEY, Oakland, Cal.

J. H. SENGER, San Francisco, Cal.
WILLIAM D. ARMES, Oakland, Cal.
DAVID S. JORDAN, Palo Alto, Cal.

R. M. PRICE, Berkeley, Cal.

MARK BRICKELL KERR, Golden Gate, Alameda Co., Cal.
WILLARD D. JOHNSON, Berkeley, Cal.

JOHN C. BRANNER, Palo Alto, Cal.

VII.

That the said Corporation has, and shall have, no capital stock. And we further certify and declare: That the above-named Directors of the Corporation were duly elected Directors thereof by the members of said Corporation, at an election for Directors held at 101 Sansome Street, in the City and County of San Francisco, State of California, at eleven A. M., on this fourth day of June, 1892, and that a majority of members of said Association

and Corporation were present and voted at said election, and that at such election each of said Directors received the votes of a majority of the members of the Corporation present; as more fully appears from the certificate of the two Tellers of Election hereunto annexed and hereby referred to and made part hereof.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals this fourth day of June, A. D. 1892.

The certificate of the Secretary of State of the State of California was issued June 17, 1892. It will be noticed in reading the above purposes of the club that they show two distinct points of view, which seem to reflect the characters of the two most active organizers. A club to "explore, enjoy and render accessible the mountain regions of the Pacific Coast; to publish authentic information concerning them" was evidently the first idea conceived of by Professor Senger, while the purpose of "enlisting the support and co-operation of the people and the government in preserving the forests and other natural features of the Sierra Nevada Mountains" shows the legal mind of Mr. Olney.

The club began its work in a modest way with a charter membership of 182, but from the first it began developing along all the lines laid down by its founders. The first publication, issued in the summer of 1892, has already been referred to as containing the articles of incorporation and by-laws. The first BULLETIN appeared January, 1893, and the second in June of the same year. These first three publications were of smaller size than the present BULLETIN, being only about 5 by 8 inches. Beginning January, 1894, the BULLETIN was enlarged to its

present form. In 1893 also there were published two outline maps, one of the Yosemite and the other of the Kings River High Sierra, which were the only maps of the high mountains at that time showing trails and routes. From the first also the club took an active part in the protection of the national parks. As early as October, 1892, the club considered, took action against, and by its influence defeated the so-called Caminetti Bill which proposed to cut down the boundaries of the Yosemite National Park, and it also protested against certain illegal timber-cutting in national parks. Money was also appropriated for the improvement of trails and marking of routes in the Tuolumne Sierra.

The question of a seal came up at an early date. When first organized a simple seal was adopted, showing a pine tree within

SIERRA

a circular margin, with the words "Altiora peto" below. In the spring of 1894 Mr. Willis Polk designed the present seal, with the Sequoia gigantea in the foreground, Half Dome and a typical alpine group, Mount Ritter and Banner Peak, in the distance.

It would be quite impossible in the short space of this article to follow all the labors and achievements of the Sierra Club, and besides the later work is already well known to a majority of the members; so I merely mention here the most important pieces of work that it has carried through or aided in carrying through to successful completion. In 1893 the great Sierra Forest Reserves were established; a movement which had always been strongly urged and fostered by the founders of the club. In the fall of 1895 a large and enthusiastic meeting of the club was held, and notable addresses on the subject of forest preservation were made by Professor Le Conte, Mr. Muir, and Professor Dudley. The effect of this was to give the club's unqualified indorsement to the policy of forest reserves, and this greatly aided in the creation of new reserves soon afterward.

The next important work was the establishment of the Yosemite headquarters in 1898. The summer before it was

* SIERRA CLUB BULLETIN, Vol. I, p. 268.

FIRST HEADQUARTERS OF THE SIERRA CLUB IN YOSEMITE VALLEY (1898) Photo by J. N. Le Conte