Josephine Clifford McCrackin

Born in Prussia in 1838, Josephine Clifford McCrackin came to the United States as a child and later built a literary career in the American West. She wrote fiction, journalism, and essays, and became part of the lively California literary world that included figures such as Bret Harte, Ina Coolbrith, and Joaquin Miller.

Her life was marked by unusual range and resilience. She worked as a writer and newspaper contributor, drew on her experiences of army life and the frontier in her books, and eventually settled in the Santa Cruz Mountains. There she became closely identified with the landscape that shaped so much of her later work.

McCrackin is remembered not only for her writing but also for her conservation work. After a devastating fire in the redwoods near her home, she became an energetic advocate for protecting those forests and was associated with the movement that led to Big Basin becoming California’s first state park.