Lary Dilsaver is a native of the San Francisco Bay area and received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. He is currently Associate Professor of historical geography at the University of South Alabama and an environmental history researcher for the National Park Service. Previous publications include articles on the California Gold Rush, tourism and federal environmental management.

William C. Tweed has studied and explored Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks for mroe than twenty years. Since 1978, he has been a part of the parks' permanent staff, filing both interpretive and general management positions. In 1975 he received a Ph.D. in history from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.