The Story Of Ishi, The Yahi Man Who Emerged From The California Wilderness — Then Became A “Living Exhibit” In San Francisco

Then Ishi appeared.

To the public imagination, he seemed to prove the story.

Here was supposedly the final untouched survivor.

The frontier could be declared finished.

The museum could receive the last man.

The public could look at him with fascination and sadness.

The violence that produced his isolation could fade into the background.

This framing converted a political history into a natural tragedy.

Instead of asking, “What happened to the Yahi?” the public could ask, “How did this mysterious man survive so long?”

Instead of asking who killed Yahi families, readers could marvel at Ishi’s arrowheads.