On April 25, 1936, Arthur B. Johnson, Chair of the Rock Climbing Committee of the Southern California Sierra Club Chapter led what was likely the first ever climbing-focused expedition in the Wonderland Rocks area of Joshua Tree, before it was even designated as a national monument on August 10th of the same year. In the 1930s, the Sierra Club was the preeminent climbing organization in Southern California, and helped to bring European Alpinist techniques to the California landscape.