History & Culture

The story of the Great Basin is not just one of geology and landforms, but also of people. This region has been home to Native Americans for thousands of years. In more recent times, farmers, ranchers, Mormons, and sheepherders all called the Great Basin home.

Within Great Basin National Park, a representative piece of this massive region, stories of people and of places abound. Humans have left their mark, from the Fremont culture, to the first to fully explore Lehman Caves, Absalom Lehman, to the mining camps that once dotted the South Snake Range. Remnants of these times are invaluable links to the past, as worthy of preservation as much as any of the park's natural resources.

Great Basin National Park Historic Resource Study

The single most comprehensive document on the cultural history of the area within and surrounding Great Basin National Park is the Great Basin National Park Historic Resource Study, completed in 1990. This study contains information on the area from prehistory, exploration, and Native American occupation, to mining, ranching, and the creation of Great Basin National Park in 1986.