Red Moss in Original Canister 
Canister with Reeve’s Handwritten Label
- Red Moss from Yosemite National Park, California
- Yosemite National Park, California 37.8651° N, 119.5383° W
- Collected in Late 1870
- BM# 1948.64.114
Pieces of red moss. From Yosemite National Park. The moss is actually red, brown, and yellow. It is currently unknown what exact type of moss it is.
Reeve traveled to Yosemite a decade before it became a national park.2 At the time John Muir, the father of modern environmental science, was become a fixture there.1 This was part of the 1870 Yale Geological Expedition. At the time the regions they visited were still wild and dangerous.3 Trips like this were fairly common from universities.
For Further Reading
- 2020. National Park Services Yosemite National Park Site. https://www.nps.gov/index.htm
- History.com Editors. 2009. Yosemite National Park established. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/yosemite-national-park-established
- Betts, C.W. 1871. “The Yale College Expedition of 1870.” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine 43: 663-671. New York. Harper Brothers Publishing. https://books.google.com/books?id=CEtOAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA671&lpg=PA671&dq=yosemite+expedition+yale+harper&source=bl&ots=l_nVjo61A-&sig=ACfU3U0ljsudziR9EBVepfAVq7YtmkGwkQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjhhMLRsvfoAhXBc98KHXioB9QQ6AEwDnoECAgQLg#v=onepage&q=yosemite%20expedition%20yale%20harper&f=false
- Whitney, J. D. 1870. “Yosemite Guide-book: A Description of the Yosemite Valley and the Adjacent Region of the Sierra Nevada, and of the Big Trees of California.” https://archive.org/search.php?query=Yosemite%20Guide-book%3A%20A%20Description%20of%20the%20Yosemite%20Valley%20and%20the%20Adjacent%20Region%20of%20the%20Sierra%20Nevada%2C%20and%20of%20the%20Big%20Trees%20of%20California