Joshua Tree National Park, California Aug 10, 2024

Joshua Tree National Park, California

California"s Joshua Tree National Park has a history that began way before it was made a national monument on August 10, 1936. Located where the Mojave and Colorado Deserts meet, it has been home to various cultures for thousands of years. Its earliest known residents were people from the Pinto Culture, who lived here from 8000 to 4000 BCE. Centuries later, this land was inhabited by the native Cahuilla, Serrano, and Chemehuevi peoples. The park"s namesake, the Joshua tree, grows in a landscape covering 1,242 square miles. Despite their name, they are not really trees, but rather a kind of succulent. Native to southwest US and northern Mexico, they can grow up to 40 feet tall.

© Chris Moore - Exploring Light Photography/Tandem Stills + Motion

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Today in History

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Aug 10, 2021Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch on the institution s 175th anniversary
Aug 10, 2022Joshua Tree National Park
Aug 10, 2023World Lion Day
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