Describes the origins, history, and culture of the Mono people from what is now California, from prehistory to the present.

A dramatic environmental saga unfolds in Hart's compelling story of the fight to save Mono Lake, and ancient inland sea in located in the eastern Sierra Yosemite National Park. Hart integrates natural, social, and political history into a story that is a source of hope for anyone concerned about the environment. Complementing Hart's narrative are stunning photos takes by many leading nature photographers, including David Sanger, Galen Rowell, and Betty Randall. 61 illustrations. 31 color plates.

The Nim (North Fork Mono) Indians have lived for centuries in a remote region of California’s Sierra Nevada. In this memoir, Gaylen D. Lee recounts the story of his Nim family across six generations. Drawing from the recollections of his grandparents, mother, and other relatives, Lee provides a deeply personal account of his people’s history and culture. In keeping with the Nim’s traditional life-style, Lee’s memoir takes us through their annual seasonal cycle. He describes communal activities, such as food gathering, hunting and fishing, the processing of acorn (the Nim’s staple food), basketmaking, and ceremonies and games. Family photographs, some dating to the beginning of this century, enliven Lee’s descriptions. Woven into the seasonal account is the disturbing story of Hispanic and white encroachment into the Nim world. Lee shows how the Mexican presence in the early nineteenth century, the Gold Rush, the Protestant conversion movement, and, more recently, the establishment of a national forest on traditional land have contributed to the erosion of Nim culture. Walking Where We Lived is a bittersweet chronicle, revealing the persecution and hardships suffered by the Nim, but emphasizing their survival. Although many young Nim have little knowledge of the old ways and although the Nim are a minority in the land of their ancestors, the words of Lee’s grandmother remain a source of strength: "Ashupá. Don’t worry. It’s okay."

The Mono traditionally occupied portions of the Sierra Nevada and the adjacent Great Basin. Their beliefs, customs, technology, and social structure were shaped by the landscape of this region of California and the resources they were able to glean from it. This fascinating book uses colorful photographs, primary sources, and accessible language to bring the history of the Mono people to life. Offers an informative supplement to elementary social studies concepts.

Mono Basin is a closed hydrologic basin spanning the border between California and Nevada. Los Angeles has been diverting streams since 1941 that normally would flow into Mono Lake. It has been predicted that continued diversion will have major ecological consequences for the natural resources of the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area. This book studies the ecological risk assessment that considers the effects of water diversions on an inland saline lake. It examines the hydrology of the Mono Basin, investigates the lake's physical and chemical systems, studies the biological relationships, and predicts the effects of changes in lake levels on the ecosystem.

Between 1934 and 1941, the City of Los Angeles sent 2,000 men to work on aqueducts and an 11-mile tunnel beneath volcanic craters in the Mono Lake Basin of the Eastern Sierra. MONO tells the story of fish biologist Justin Hearth, as he surveys the waters of the Mono Lake watershed, falls in love with that landscape, and also with Alisa Stohler. Her family had been forced from a farm in the Owens Valley in 1930 and is now caught up in changes brought by the distant city's unending thirst for growth. This story explores the minds and hearts of a generation shaped by the Great Depression and facing the threat of world war. MONO confronts the question, "What were they thinking back then, as choices were made that endangered Mono Lake and its tributary streams?"

Discover the history and ghost towns of Mono County, California