Yosemite National Park

Native Americans lived in the Yosemite area as long as 8,000 years ago. By the mid 1800’s the Indian were mainly Southern Miwok, or as they called themselves, the Ahwahneechee.

John C. Fremont explores Mariposa foothills and engages in battle with local Indians but does not learn of the existence of Yosemite Valley.

After the discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada foothills in 1848, thousands of fortune-seeking miners conflicted with the Native Americans. Later in 1851 the Miwok people were force off their land to the Fresno River Reservation.

In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill to protect Yosemite Valley.

In 1872, the US government set aside land for the first national park. National parks are created to protect unique natural areas. People cannot hunt or build on national park lands. But they can camp, hike, and view wildlife in these parks, Yosemite became a national park in 1890.

For many years all goods taken into the Yosemite region were carried by pack mules 50 miles over rough mountain trails from Mariposa or from Coulterville. It was not until 1874 that the first wagon roads were completed. The tourist travel then increased by leaps and bounds.
Yosemite National Park