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The Mysterious Rattlesnake Tree, How The Firefall Began And More Stories Of Yosemite

“Yosemite’s Cowboys, Indians and The Old West” book is back in print!

The Mysterious Rattlesnake Tree?? How did the Yosemite Firefall begin? Were there stagecoach hold-ups on the roads to Yosemite?

Who better to tell these stories than the Old Stagecoach drivers who lived through the early days of Yosemite National Park history.

Who was the first to climb Half Dome, and how did he do it? Find out all about it in the pages of The Rattlesnake Tree.

Cowboys Indians and the Old West in YosemiteWhy did Teddy Roosevelt travel west to Yosemite specifically to meet with John Muir?

The Old West in Yosemite was cowboys, Indians, prospectors and entrepreneurs.

Cavalry troops patrolled the region in an effort to keep it safe, but the stage drivers who transported visitors to Yosemite Valley were still stopped and held up by highwaymen.

Colorful characters were the norm back in Old Yosemite, and none were quite as unique as the men who drove the stagecoaches. As they say, these men were as tough as “whang” leather… and I guess that that is pretty tough!

At the same time, it was their job to transport their customers, and they liked people.

Stagecoach trips were lengthy affairs, meaning that there was a lot of time for conversation… and no one liked a tall tale like these men. A “good story” that was based on fact was also worth repeating.

Stage Driver Eddie Webb, the last living Yosemite driver, in 1964.Eddie Webb was the last of Yosemite’s stagecoach drivers.

He and other “old timers” like him who remembered those early days, were more than happy to share their remembrances for the original book entitled “Yosemite Yarns.”

“The Mysterious Rattlesnake Tree, How The Firefall Began And More Stories Of Yosemite,” has been updated with the artwork by Ed Vella as it first appeared. It is available in its original 8.5×11 format.

Click here to buy the Rattlesnake Tree now!

It is also available as a Kindle e-book here.

Some stories are historical accounts like the first successful climb up Half Dome by George Anderson and the meeting between President Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir in 1903. Some are meant to be just plain fun… like this one.

Fun and fanciful stories of Old Yosemite!An excerpt from the story “Down The Mountain In A Gold Pan:”

“Seems old Harry understood the law of gravity but forgot about the law of friction. Tears would come to Hank’s eyes whenever he told the sad experience: ‘Yes, sir, all I ever found of my long lost brother were the copper rivets from his overalls, in the bottom of his red-hot gold pan.’”

With illustrations by famous Yosemite artist Ed Vella, “The Mysterious Rattlesnake Tree” is a fun glance back to Yosemite and the Old West, and the days of her pioneers!

Written by Dave Hubbard and reprinted with permission from http://www.undiscovered-yosemite.com/

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