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Albert Bierstadt, Hetch Hetchy Valley, California, c. 1874–80, oil on canvas, 94.8 x 148.2 cm

Erin Monroe, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art and Dr. Beth Harris, "Albert Bierstadt, Hetch Hetchy Valley, California," in Smarthistory, 21 December, 2018 Charles Frederick Hoffmann (1838-1913), “ Notes on Hetch-Hetchy Valley,” Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences (San Francisco: CAS, 1868), series 1, 3:5, pp. 368-370. Digitized by Dan Anderson, July 2005. Ezra David Romero, "Celebration and Concer: Hetch Hetchy Resevoir Turns 100, But Climate Change Complicates its Future," KQED Dr. Kelly Enright, "1848-77 in the United States, an intoduction," Smarthistory National Park Service, "The American West," NPS National Park Service, "Hetch Hetchy," NPS United States Department of Agriculture, "Pinus Sibiniana", USDA

Historic Hetch Hetchy Valley

In the 19th and early 20th Century, Hetch Hetchy Valley was considered on of the country's most beautiful natural sites. It contained multiple 1,000+ foot-tall waterfall surrounded by huge granite and talc shelves. The largest of the falls, Hetchy-Hetch fall, was 1,700 feet-tall and had a greater volume of water flow than the more famous Yosemite fall. It was often visited by the Pah-Utah Indians, who would collect acorns which were in abundance in the Valley.

Hetch-Hetchy Valley, 1917

Hetch-Hetchy Valley Today

In 1923, Hetchy-Hetch Valley was dammed to create a resevoir. As of 2023, the resevoir provides water to 2.7 million people around the San Fransico metropolitan region. There is a major concern as to whether it will remain a viable source of water as climate change has decreased the snowmelt the resevoir receives. In addition to this concern, the dam compromised the surrounding environment and the Indian communities that remain to this day. There are many calls from environmentalists and activist organizations to divert water to areas were it flowed historically, or even to tear down the dam entirely.

Misha Logvinon, Hetchy Hetch Valley, 37.86042°N / 119.61545°W

Manifest Destiny

The term "Manifest Destiny" was coined in 1845 by journalist John O'Sullivan and referred to the idea that Western-Expansion of the United States was inevitable and divineley-ordained. The idea of manifest destiny made scenes of the west a popular subject for art and a point of curiosity for those who had never been to the west. The American march westward came largely at the expense of the Natives who already occupied the west of the continent. Hetch-Hetchy was originally occupied by Pah-Utah and Big Creek Indians before Americans colonized the region.

Albert Bierstadt

Albert Bierstadt was a Prussian-born American artist known for his tremendously popular landscape paintings. While he visited the locations that he depicted, he actually completed his paintings in his NY studio. He did not rely entirely on what he observed, instead opting to emphasize aspects of the locations by making certain larger and more colorful.

Albert Bierstadt, Albert Bierstadt Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Landscapes of the American West

In a time where America was healing from the throes of Cvil War, photographer Carleton Watkins' prints introduced the greater public to the majesty of the American West. His photographs captivated Americans who had never seen anything like it, and especially captivated artists Thomas Moran and Albert Bierstadt. Inspired by Watkins' photographs, they journeyed west and created the portraits for which they are so famous. Even before Yellowstone became the nation's first National Park in 1872, these men had traveled and depicted the region. Today, they are considered the father's of the western-American art movement.

Carleton Watkins, Vernal Fall, 300 ft., Yosemite Valley, 1878-1881, mammoth-plate albumen print 15¼ x 21in. (38.8 x 53.3cm.)

Gray Pine (Pinus Saniniana)

The Gray Pine is a pine tree that is endemic to California. They are used to make railroad ties, wood chips, among other things. The relatively moderate climate of Hetchy-Hetch once provided the perfect environment for these trees to grow, and they could be found all throughout the valley. They would have been a very prominent elment of the landscape taht Bierstadt witnessed. You can still see the today, though the resevoir has hurt their numbers.

Brian Kelley, Gray Pine