Tag: The Three Brothers

The Three Brothers are a rock formation in Yosemite Valley, comprising of three sloping, granite peaks. They stand at an elevation of 6,170 feet (1,881 m). The highest peak is “Eagle Peak”, flanked by Middle and Lower Brothers. Eagle Peak was named after the eagles that once inhabited the peak. 

They were named in honor of the three sons of Chief Tenaya. It was below these peaks that his sons were captured during the Mariposa Indian War of 1850/51. Tenaya was Chief of the Ahwahneechees, who were the original inhabitants of Yosemite Valley, which they called Ahwahnee. The Mariposa Battalion was a military band, authorized by the California State Governor in 1850 to protect gold prospectors and new settlers.  They had arrived in California in their tens of thousands during the Gold Rush to seek their fortunes. The Ahwahneechees had come into conflict with these new arrivals. In 1851 the Battalion invaded Yosemite Valley in pursuit of Chief Tenaya and his people to drive them from the valley and take them into reservations.

The unarmed, youngest son of Tenaya was murdered by members of the battalion.

The Ahwahneechee name for the rock formation was Pompompa (or Kom-po-pai-zes, or sometimes called, Pompomposus). It is thought to mean leaping frogs.

The story of Chief Tenaya, his family, and people is re-told in the historical fiction Great Spirit of Yosemite: The Story of Chief Tenaya. It is based on true historical events with imagined storytelling, depicting the lives of the Ahwahneechees and their epic struggle to resist the invaders.