Human habitation in the Sierra Nevada region of California reaches back 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. Historically attested Native American populations, such as the Sierra Miwok, Mono and Paiute, belong to the Uto-Aztecan and Utian phyla. In the mid-19th century, a band of Native Americans called the Ahwahnechee lived in Yosemite Valley.
About History of the Yosemite area in brief
Human habitation in the Sierra Nevada region of California reaches back 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. Historically attested Native American populations, such as the Sierra Miwok, Mono and Paiute, belong to the Uto-Aztecan and Utian phyla. In the mid-19th century, a band of Native Americans called the Ahwahnechee lived in Yosemite Valley. In 1864, Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoia trees were transferred from federal to state ownership. Yosemite pioneer Galen Clark became the park’s first white guardian. The U.S. Army had jurisdiction over the national park from 1891 to 1914, followed by a brief period of civilian stewardship. Construction on the O’Shaughnessey Dam began in 1919 and was completed in 1923. In 1964, 89 percent of the park was set aside in a highly protected wilderness area, and other protected areas were added adjacent to the park. The Yosemite Firefall, created by pushing red hot embers off a cliff near Glacier Point at night, was discontinued in the mid to late 20th century along with other activities that were deemed to be inconsistent with protection of the national Park. The Paiutes of Yosemite Valley called themselves the “dwellers in Ah-ne-chee,” meaning “wellers’ in Ahwaneechee’s” The Ahwneeces were decimated by a disease in about 1800, and left the valley under the leadership of Chief Tenaya, although returned about 200 years later under an new chief, Displaced Son of Ah-whee.
The California Gold Rush greatly increased the number of non-indigenous people in the region. Indigenous people continued to be forced out periodically, while white settlers were paid a total of USD 60,000 to move out of the valley. Naturalist John Muir and others became increasingly alarmed about the excessive exploitation of the area. Their efforts helped establish Yosemite National Park in 1890. The loss of Hetch Hetchy led to the formation of the National Park Service through the approval of the Organic Act of 1916. Yosemite Valley was added to the nationalPark in 1906. The Central SierraMiwok lived along the Tuolumne and Stanislumne Rivers, while the Paiutes inhabited the Merced and Chowchilla Rivers. The Tarmarack phase lasted from 500 until 1200, marked by a shift to using smaller rock points, indicating development and use of the bow and arrow. The Mariposas were the primary inhabitants of the foothosos in the Yosemite area and the east during the historic phases of the Yosemite region. The last phase of contact with European Americans lasted from 1200 until contact with Europeans in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The first European contact with the area was in the early 1800s, when European Americans came to the area to trade and raid.
You want to know more about History of the Yosemite area?
This page is based on the article History of the Yosemite area published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 03, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
