Yosemite Ranger Shelton Johnson
Bringing America’s Buffalo Soldiers to life in a California national park.
By Erin Deinzer
For just one moment, imagine what our country would look like had we not set aside our natural treasures—no Grand Canyon to glide through on clear blue water beneath towering limestone cliffs, no Great Smoky Mountains exploding with color on a brisk fall morning, and no Yosemite, with its thundering roar of waterfalls plunging into the valley below.
“Yosemite made Yellowstone possible; it established a precedent and sparked a conservation movement. It was an accidental birth, but the formation of a state park in California is what nurtured the idea of a national park system.” —Shelton Johnson
Shelton Johnson is an Interpretive Ranger at California’s Yosemite National Park. Featured in the Ken Burns’ six-part PBS series, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, Johnson also appears in the film Yosemite—A Gathering of Spirit, a documentary that explores the landmark federal act signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1864. During the height of the Civil War, the beleaguered president’s land use act set into motion the preservation of 60-square miles of California’s Yosemite Valley as a state park.
Before the creation of the National Park Service (NPS) the U.S. Army patrolled the park, keeping out poachers, grazing animals, and developers wanting to capitalize on its natural resources. At the turn of the 20th century, a group of African American soldiers, stationed at the Presidio in San Francisco (now part of the NPS), spent their summer patrolling the Sierra Nevada range. Those soldiers—members of the 24th Infantry Regiment, as well as those of the 9th Cavalry Regiment—were dubbed “Buffalo Soldiers” by Native Americans who’d fought against them during the Indian Wars, a name the soldiers themselves viewed as one of respect as the buffalo was considered an animal of great toughness in battle.
“The Buffalo Soldier story was immersed in conflict, yet there they were—wearing the uniform. It took two weeks to ride from the Presidio to Yosemite, and while they were stationed there they patrolled the valley, built and maintained trails and wagon roads, and wove themselves into the fabric of the park.”
Johnson’s path to becoming part of that same fabric began in Detroit. An inner-city kid with roots in both the black and Native American community, he didn’t have much opportunity to experience America’s parks. Originally pursuing an MFA in Michigan, he took a summer job as a dishwasher in Yellowstone. Stepping off the bus in Gardiner, Montana, the first living being he encountered was a 2,000-pound bison.
“Once I got into Yellowstone and it got into me, it completely changed the trajectory of my life. The irony of growing up in Detroit is that it was a French settlement in the New World. Go back 200 years and you’ll discover that its name was originally le détroit du Lac Érié, which translates to: the strait of Lake Erie. So you see, history is all around us—even in the heart of the inner city.
”Horace Greeley said, ‘Go West, young man,’ because you could reinvent yourself in the west. Self-definition and re-definition was all possible here. The experience of the frontier, the wilds themselves, is a western experience. The United States is essentially a frontier culture.”
For Johnson, the move west proved fortuitous: After working in a series of national parks, he was transferred to Yosemite. There, fortune introduced him to a couple of park rangers familiar with the story of the Buffalo Soldiers’ role in the history of Yosemite.
Coming across a photograph of some mounted soldiers on patrol, Johnson felt as if he’d found the most significant discovery of his career. These African Americans, long since deceased, were like a bridge to his work within the same park.
”I feel uniquely qualified to tell this story. My dad was in the army and through my ancestry, I feel connected to both the black and the Native American experience.
“From an interpreter’s point of view, I’ve struck gold. I can tell a story of national significance and one I feel can change people’s perception of the park.”
After doing extensive research, Johnson decided the best way to bring history to life was to do so literally. He created a living history performance titled, Yosemite Through the Eyes of a Buffalo Soldier, 1904, which he presents as an interpretive program at the park and around the country.
”When I was younger I wanted to be a musician, but I left music because I was painfully shy. I made wallflowers look gregarious! I’m an introvert; a bookworm. But the story of the Buffalo Soldiers was more important than my fear, so I pushed myself to become a performer.
“In order to be fully a part of the character I play, I felt I needed to learn how to ride a horse. The park service has a riding program for their mounted patrols, so I learned a new skill. Then I started getting historic gear for my horse and had a uniform created.”
Most of the time, Johnson presents the story of Yosemite as seen through the eyes of Sergeant Elizy Boman, the character he developed based on an actual Buffalo Soldier. But in order to get the story about the critical role they played in the history of the park out to a wider audience, he asked Oprah to come to Yosemite. The popular performer did show up, surprising him and bringing along her best friend, Gayle.
“It’s important for African Americans to reclaim a part of their history they can be proud of. The story of the Buffalo Soldiers is a story whose time has finally come. The seed of this history was just waiting for 100 years to sprout. And in the years since I’ve been working in Yosemite, I have seen an increase in the number of African Americans enjoying the park.”
In 2015, a staggering 300-million visits were recorded within the national park system. Of those, more than 4 million were logged by Yosemite, the 4th most-visited national park in the U.S.
What is it about the Yosemite Valley that led to its creation as a park in the first place, and that still calls to so many more than 150 years later?
”At the turn of the 19th century, a cultural revolution and romanticism altered our view of the land in a way that embraced it versus conquering it—to experience the sublime and be transformed.
“When someone is at the Swinging Bridge, viewing one of the highest waterfalls in the world, they can be pulled into the moment and become completely unaware of anything else around them. Astonishment happens whether its via a shortcut or the long way around.
“In the springtime when there’s a full moon, you can see a lunar rainbow; a ‘moonbow.’ It’s absolutely magical. When you’re outside, experiencing the forces that have been at work for millennia, you learn that magic happens every day—right here on earth.”
Author’s note: As of 2021, Ranger Shelton Johnson celebrated 28 years (of his 35-year career) at Yosemite National Park. In February 2022, the National Park Trust honored him with the American Park Experience Award, which recognizes individuals or groups who have made “extraordinary efforts to enhance the awareness and appreciation of our nation’s public parks, lands, and waters.”
Find more information about Yosemite National Park, a company that specializes in travel to the area, additional insights into the Buffalo Soldiers’ role in our National Park System, and info about Yosemite’s southern entrance.
Other Yosemite Stories
See these other stories about Yosemite published in BATW’s Stories of Travel, Culture, and the World:
