The History of Yosemite National Park

History of Yosemite includes the Miwok Indians and John Muir. John Muir was a photographer who made Yosemite famous by the black and white pictures that he took. He forged a campaign for the beautiful area to become a National Park. Most of the trails that we hike today in the valley, were forged by John Muir himself.

The first people to live in Yosemite were Native Americans. It is estimated that they lived here 8,000 years ago. The Miwok Indians are probably the most recognized of the many tibes who lived here at one time or another. The Miwok's did not call this place Yosemite. They called it Ahwahnee. Ahwahnee means "Place of a Gaping Mouth". In Yosemite valley there is one nice hotel. It is called The Ahwahnee Hotel. In the valley if you go to the Visitors Center there is a very nice Miwok village that you can walk through. An adjacent musuem, theater room and store give you great hands on history of the Miwok Indians and their life style. The Native American Indians lived off of the land by hunting and fishing. The women harvested acorns and ground them into flour for cooking.

The gold rush in the Sierra foothills of California brought miners to the nearby area. The Indians attacked those after the gold. In return the western miners captured the indians and took them out of Yosemite Valley. Eventually, the indians returned to the valley.

In 1855, tourist started coming to see Yosemite. In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant which let the Valley and the local Mariposa Grove become a public reserve. On October 1, 1890 Yosemite became a National Park. Although the valley is about seven square miles the National Park covers more than 1200 square miles. That means that 95% of Yosemite National Park is designated wilderness. The National Park status covers more than just Yosemite Valley. It also covers the high mountainous country above the valley and Mariposa Grove. The nearby Mariposa Grove houses some of the largest trees in the world.

Here is an interesting fact:The first tourists to Yosemite National Park came in by horseback and stagecoaches! Yep! That's right, they would come on the trails that the Indians made.

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