Brief History of Yosemite National Park

First people who came to live in the Yosemite Valley were American Indians. This is traced back to around 6,000 years ago. The Yosemite Valley was called "Ahwahnee," which loosely translates into "Place of a Gaping Mouth." People lived there called themselves the "Ahwahneechee."

The gold discovery in the Sierra Nevada foothills in 1848 brought thousands of gold seekers. Then, the Mariposa Indian war came - the natives were killed and lands were stolen. On March 27, 1851, the state-sanctioned Mariposa Battalion moved in and they became the first group of non-Indians to record their entry into the Yosemite Valley

The beauty of Yosemite gradually became well-known. The first group of tourists arrived in the Yosemite Valley in 1855. Nine years latter, a group of Californians persuaded the Congress and President Abraham Lincoln to grant the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove to the state. 

While Johnson lobbied for the park, Muir spoke and wrote of the need for legislation to make the Valley a national park. Their efforts were paid off about a year latter. On October 1, 1890, the U.S. Congress set aside more than 1,500 square miles of "reserved forest lands." It then became the Yosemite National Park.  Muir did not stop fighting to get the Yosemite National Park and surrounding areas preserved.

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