There have always been stories about women who posed as men so they could fight in the Civil War. And as Civil War re-enactors strive to be accurate, perhaps it shouldn't be too surprising that a number of women now pose as men in uniform to participate in Civil War re-enactments.

An Associated Press story gives a detailed and entertaining look at women who don the uniforms of the Blue or the Grey today. The article mentions that the community of re-enactors, just like the real military over the centuries, has not always been welcoming of women.

One woman who wanted to participate at a recent re-enactment at Fort Sumter had to cite a 1993 federal court ruling which prohibited discrimination at National Park Service events.

Another unexpected group of Civil War re-enactors are those in England. The Guardian recently published a photo gallery showing British re-enactors dressed as American Civil War soldiers.

Having grown up near Civil War sites, I fully understand how the war can become part of your life. But seeing the photos of the re-enactors on the far side of the Atlantic, I realize anyone can find themselves fascinated and affected by the Civil War.

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I'm camping at Yosemite National Park (and writing this from a wifi lounge at a campground) and yesterday I took in a "Walk With a Ranger" program on the topic of bears. One stop on the "bear walk" was the site of an apple orchard planted by one of the first settlers in Yosemite Valley.

Talking about the settlers prompted the Ranger, Tom Lambert, to mention that yesterday was the anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln signing the 1864 federal law that protected Yosemite Valley.

As Ranger Lambert told the story, The Yosemite Valley Grant Act was actually prompted by a citizen writing to his Senator, urging him to protect Yosemite Valley so it wouldn't be commercially exploited the way Niagara Falls had been.

Amazingly, the suggestion from a citizen made its way through Congress, and on June 30, 1864, at the height of the Civil War, President Lincoln signed the legislation into law.

That law was the first time the federal government took action to preserve a wilderness. And the spirit of that law later helped inspire the National Parks.

And by the way, the "bear walk" at Yosemite is incredibly interesting and I highly recommend it. I learned a lot about the black bear, and it was fun to have some relevant 19th century history turn up as a bonus.

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The Conservation Movement which developed late in the 19th century was partly inspired by the Transcendentalist writers who wrote about nature decades earlier.

The most prominent Transcendentalist was Ralph Waldo Emerson, who came to fame as a controversial thinker in the 1830s. Emerson would come to advocate ideas such as love of nature and self-reliance, which came up against religious orthodoxy in New England at the time.

A close friend of Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, advocated simple living, as well as a profound love of nature. Thoreau's book Walden, in which he wrote about living in a simple cabin in the woods, was not appreciated during his lifetime, but it is considered a classic of American literature today.

In the late 19th century John Muir, a mechanical wizard who literally walked away from what could have been a successful life in rapidly industrializing America, became an eloquent spokesman for conservation.

Muir revered Emerson, and the admiration was returned. When Emerson visited Yosemite Valley in 1871, at the age of 68, he spent time with Muir, who was 33. And Muir would always refer to Emerson as one of his great inspirations.

Illustration: Ralph Waldo Emerson/Library of Congress

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This week I'll be spending time in Yosemite National Park, and I'd like to take the opportunity to encourage everyone to visit the National Parks this summer. Not only are they amazing natural treasures, but they represent an important aspect of the history of the 19th century.

It's remarkable to consider that a century generally remembered for industrial development also gave birth to the Conservation Movement, which advocated preserving vast tracts of wilderness.

The American artist George Catlin, who is known for his classic paintings of Indians, first proposed, in the early 1840s, the idea that wild lands should be set aside as a "Nations Park, containing man and beast..."

Decades later a government expedition established that seemingly implausible stories about a remarkable landscape in the remote American West were entirely accurate. And remarkable photographs of the region inspired the U.S. Congress to designate Yellowstone as the first National Park in 1872.

The writer and activist John Muir campaigned to preserve more wilderness, and his efforts led to the spectacular Yosemite Valley becoming a National Park in 1890.

Today the National Parks System comprises nearly 400 properties, including parks, battlefields, and other national monuments. And it's heartening to think that people in the 19th century had the foresight to preserve some very special parts of the country.

Illustration: Self-portrait of George Catlin painting among the Indians/Library of Congress

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