Cactus Queen: Minerva Hoyt Establishes Joshua Tree National Park

Reviewed by Tom and Sandy Farley

December 1, 2024

By Lori Alexander, illustrated by Jenn Ely. Calkins Creek, 2024. 40 pages. $18.99/hardcover; $11.99/eBook. Recommended for ages 7–10.

This is a biography that needed to be written: first, because we are both environmentally conscious Californians who have visited Joshua Tree National Park and had never heard of Minerva Hoyt, and we think we should have; and second, the biography provides a model for how to get a big thing done.

Minerva Hoyt was born in Mississippi in 1866. She married a physician and moved with him to Pasadena, Calif. She loved nature trips. The deserts of southeastern California particularly fascinated her. Minerva became concerned over city residents going out in the desert and digging up plants to put in their yards. Since the climate conditions were not the same, many of the transplants died. She felt moved to act, even though she did not—at first—realize the scope and value of what she was undertaking.

This beautiful book traces Minerva’s efforts, setbacks, and eventual success in 1936, when President Roosevelt signed a proclamation designating the area a national monument, and thus protecting about 825,000 acres. (Many years later, in 1994, it was redesignated as a national park.) Her work leading up to this moment took place during a time when few women dared to take such grand initiatives. But Minerva did know a bit about politics. Her father served as a state senator in Mississippi. She had connections with influential folks and community organizations. She used her artistic talents to create traveling exhibits that let people in other parts of the country experience the unique ecosystem of the Mojave Desert. She understood that people won’t care about what they don’t know about. She wrote, “[W]e must see to it that parks are created in which the unique desert atmosphere and its matchless growth and its silence and mystery are preserved for the education and delight of the people.”

Jenn Ely’s illustrations give the feel of the desert and chronicle the work it took to gain the protection of the Joshua tree. This plant, by the way, is neither a tree nor a cactus but a large yucca plant of a variety that grows nowhere else in the world.

We found the postscripts valuable, making the work useful to teachers and serious students. Postscripts to the picture book include supplementary biographical information; supplementary botanical information; animal life in the park; author’s notes, including reporting on severe vandalism that happened during a government shutdown in 2018–19; tips for environmental activists; and a bibliography.

Tom and Sandy Farley are members of Palo Alto (Calif.) Meeting, theater arts teachers, storytellers, volunteer booksellers with Earthlight, and coauthors of the Earthcare for Children curriculum.