William Edward Colby (May 28, 1875 – November 9, 1964) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, conservationist, and first Secretary of the Sierra Club.

Early life and education

William Colby was born in Benicia, California and was brought up by his aunt after being orphaned at the age of six. He received his law degree from

Hastings College of the Law The University of California, Hastings College of the Law (UC Hastings) is a public law school in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1878 by Serranus Clinton Hastings, UC Hastings was the first law school of the University of California ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, and his legal practice specialized in

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

and

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

issues. In 1937, he received an Honorary Degree from

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was ...

, then a women's college, in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

Colby and the Sierra Club

Colby joined the Sierra Club in 1898, the year of his graduation from law school. He served as the club's representative in the

Yosemite Valley Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a U-shaped valley, glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California. The valley is about long and deep, surroun ...

area. In 1900, he became the club's secretary, and served (bar two years) in that post until 1946. He also served as a director of the club for 49 years. Colby was a pioneer in the Sierra Club's outing program, and led his

High Trips The High Trips were large annual wilderness excursions organized and led by the Sierra Club, beginning in 1901. The High Trips lasted until the early 1970s, and were replaced by a larger number of smaller trips to wilderness areas worldwide. Orig ...

to the Yosemite area from 1901 to 1929; he also led the 1928 High Trip to the Canadian Rockies, and at the end of that trip was given a heartfelt fireside tribute by his fellow hikers, who included 26-year-old photographer Ansel Adams. Colby joined Sierra Club founder

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, a ...

in lobbying the U.S. Federal authorities to protect the

, by the creation of the

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...

. In 1905, when the city of San Francisco lobbied Congress to allow it to dam the

Hetch Hetchy Valley Hetch Hetchy is a valley, a reservoir, and a water system in California in the United States. The glacial Hetch Hetchy Valley lies in the northwestern part of Yosemite National Park and is drained by the Tuolumne River. For thousands of years bef ...

to provide the growing city with water, Muir and Colby were leaders of the campaign to prevent the damming of the

Tuolumne River The Tuolumne River (Yokutsan: ''Tawalimnu'') flows for through Central California, from the high Sierra Nevada to join the San Joaquin River in the Central Valley. Originating at over above sea level in Yosemite National Park, the Tuolumne ...

and the flooding of the valley. Colby called the valley "the indispensable entrance and exit to the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, next to the Canyon of the Colorado, the most wonderful gorge in America.". In 1927, when the

California Legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legislatu ...

established the State Park Commission, Colby was its first Secretary. Other members of the State Park Commission included: Major Frederick R. Burnham, W. F. Chandler, Henry W. O'Melveny, and Dr.

Ray Lyman Wilbur Ray Lyman Wilbur (April 13, 1875 – June 26, 1949) was an American medical doctor who served as the third president of Stanford University and was the 31st United States Secretary of the Interior. Early life Wilbur was born in Boonesboro, Iowa, ...

Colby wrote the introduction for Muir's book, '' Studies in the Sierra''. Colby's other campaigns led to the expansion of the

Sequoia National Park Sequoia National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing ...

and the creation of

Olympic National Park Olympic National Park is a United States national park located in the State of Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest, and the forests of the drier ...

and the

Kings Canyon National Park Kings Canyon National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, the park was greatly expanded and renamed to King ...

. In 1960, he was the first winner of the

Sierra Club John Muir Award : ''For similarly named awards, see John Muir Award (disambiguation)'' The Sierra Club John Muir Award was awarded annually by the Sierra Club. It was the club's highest award. According to the Sierra Club, "it honors a distinguished record of l ...

. He was a trustee of the Sierra Club Foundation from 1960 until his death. Colby died at home in Big Sur, California on November 9, 1964. In 1965, the Sierra Club re-dedicated the reading room and library in its San Francisco headquarters as the William E. Colby Memorial Library.William E. Colby Memorial Library
Sierra Club website, URL retrieved July 7, 2006 The Sierra Club annually awards the William E. Colby Award to those it feels have given great service to the environment.

References

External links

Guide to the William Edward Colby Papers
at

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...

Sierra Club 1928 High Trip Photo Album - presented in honor of William Colby

The Story of the Sierra Club
by William Colby (written in 1947)(PDF) {{DEFAULTSORT:Colby, William Edward 1875 births 1964 deaths American conservationists Sierra Club directors University of California, Hastings College of the Law alumni Sierra Club awardees People from Benicia, California