Tag: Yosemite

Yosemite Valley

Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove were the very first lands to be set aside as a National Park for protection and use for all people. On June 30, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill granting these lands to the California State for “public use, resort, and recreation” for all time. 

Evidence of humans visiting the Valley can be traced back 8-10,000 years. People have actually lived in the valley for over 3 millennia. Paiutes were considered the main indigenous group living in and around Yosemite and the Sierra foothills. Ahwahneechees were a specific, Paiute-speaking people whose homelands were the Valley.

Mariposa Battalion

The first non-indigenous people to enter the valley were members of the Mariposa Battalion on March 27, 1851. This was at the time of the California Gold Rush. Tens of thousands of prospectors and new settlers arrived in this part of California to search for new-found fortunes in gold. They displaced the indigenous people. As a result of this invasion, war broke out between the prospectors and new settlers, and the people whose homelands were being taken over. 

The Mariposa Battalion entered the valley to pursue the Ahwaneechees. Their purpose was to drive out the people and place them in reservations. 

Ahwahnee

Ahwahnee is the original, native name for Yosemite Valley. It means “gaping mouth”. This name was given by Chief Tenaya of the Ahwahneechees, (people who lived in Ahwahnee), to Major Savage of the Battalion. It refers to the appearance of the cliffs when viewed from the valley floor.

The Ahwahneechees were called Yosemites by their enemies. It is a derivative of a Miwok word meaning “killers”. Other interpretations, for instance, also suggest it refers to them as “grizzly bears” or “fierce as grizzly bears”. Yosemite was the name used by members of the Mariposa Battalion. They referred to the people of the valley by this name because Miwoks were employed as their advisors and scouts. It was an Indian dialect Major Savage spoke and understood.

Yosemite Valley was renamed by Lafayette Bunnell, a member of the Battalion. Alternative names were discussed but, after a vote was taken by the soldiers, it was decided to call the valley Yosemite. This was in recognition of the people they had captured and were taking to reservations.

The true, tragic story of Chief Tenaya and his people is re-told in the historical fiction Great Spirit of Yosemite: The Story of Chief Tenaya.