Minerva Hamilton Hoyt

Spirit of the Desert - Joshua Tree National Park, California. Courtesy of Cory Ench. Copyright Ench ©2004.

The Western Woman. Research library, Joshua Tree National Park

Minerva Hamilton Hoyt’s tireless advocacy culminated in the establishment of Joshua Tree National Park.

The transplanted southerner settled in Pasadena where she developed a passion for gardening. Here she was introduced to the native desert vegetation widely used in southern California landscaping. Trips to the desert instilled a great appreciation of the beauty and adaptability of desert plants that thrived in the harsh environment. Hoyt also observed the widespread and wanton destruction of native desert plants and dedicated herself to protecting desert landscapes.

Minerva Hamilton Hoyt served on a California state commission on new state parks. She prepared the report that recommended the creation of parks at Death Valley, Anza-Borrego, and in the Joshua tree forests of the Little San Bernardino Mountains north of Palm Springs. However, Hoyt became convinced that a national park was needed to preserve large desert areas. Her efforts for a desert park included founding the International Deserts Conservation League, hiring and using the work of well-known biologists and desert ecologists, national and international botanical exhibits, letter writing campaigns, and meetings with politicians.

One of Hoyt’s most powerful tools were magnificent photographs which she used to great effect. Early in 1933, Hoyt met with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, and National Park Service Director Horace Albright in Washington, DC. She captured the attention of a busy wartime president, convincing him of the importance of preserving the southern California desert. Roosevelt endorsed the idea and asked Ickes to look into setting the area aside. Despite an unenthusiastic inspection report in 1934, Hoyt, the International Deserts Conservation League, and other advocates continued lobbying until the area was designated as Joshua Tree National Monument in 1936.