Editing Yosemite Valley (section)

=== The Mariposa Battalion and the first tourists ===
The first non-Native Americans to see Yosemite Valley were probably members of the 1833 [[Joseph R. Walker|Joseph Walker]] Party, which was the first to cross the Sierra Nevada from east to west.{{sfn|Wuerthner|1994|p=14}} The first descriptions of Yosemite, however, came nearly 20 years later. The 1849 [[California Gold Rush]] led to conflicts between miners and Native Americans,{{sfn|Wuerthner|1994|p=17}} and the state formed the volunteer Mariposa Battalion as a [[punitive expedition]] against the Native Americans living in the Yosemite area. In 1851, the Battalion was led by Major [[Jim Savage]], whose trading post on the Merced River the Awaneechee had raided.{{sfn|Harris|Tuttle|Tuttle|1997|p=326}}  This and other missions (the [[Mariposa War]]s) resulted in Chief Teneiya and the Awaneechee spending months on a reservation in the San Joaquin Valley. The band returned the next year to the Valley but took refuge among the Mono Paiutes after further conflicts with miners. Most of the Awaneechee (along with Teneiya) were chased back to the Valley and killed by the Paiutes after violating hospitality by stealing horses.

While the members of that first expedition of the [[Mariposa Battalion]] had heard rumors of what could be found up the Merced River, none were prepared for what they saw March 27, 1851, from what is now called Old Inspiration Point (close to the better-visited Tunnel View). Dr. [[Lafayette Bunnell]] later wrote:

{{blockquote|The grandeur of the scene was but softened by the haze that hung over the valley – light as gossamer – and by the clouds which partially dimmed the higher cliffs and mountains. This obscurity of vision but increased the awe with which I beheld it, and as I looked, a peculiar exalted sensation seemed to fill my whole being, and I found my eyes in tears with emotion.{{sfn|Bunnell|1892|p=63}}}}

Camping that night on the Valley floor, the group agreed with the suggestion of Dr. Bunnell to call it "Yo-sem-i-ty", mistakenly believing that was the native name.{{sfn|Bunnell|1892|p=62}} The term is from the Southern Sierra Miwok word Yohhe'meti, meaning "they are killers," which referred to Savage and the Mariposa Battalion. .{{sfn|Greene|1987|p=22}}<ref>{{cite journal|last=Beeler|first=Madison Scott|title=Yosemite and Tamalpais|journal=Names| volume=55|issue=3|pages=185–186|date=September 1955|doi=10.1179/nam.1955.3.3.185|url=http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/origin_of_word_yosemite.html#beeler}}</ref> 
[[Image:YosemiteValley1stSketchThomasAyres1855.jpg|thumb|left|''The First Picture of Yosemite Valley'' by [[Thomas Ayres (artist)|Thomas Ayres]], 1855]]

James Hutchings—who organized the first tourist party to the Valley in 1855—and artist Thomas Ayers generated much of the earliest publicity about Yosemite, creating articles and entire magazine issues about the Valley.{{sfn|Wuerthner|1994|p=20}} Ayres' highly detailed angularly exaggerated artwork and his written accounts were distributed nationally and an art exhibition of his drawings was held in New York City.

Two of Hutchings' first group of tourists, Milton and Houston Mann, built the first toll route into the valley, with the development of the first hotels in the area and other trails quickly following.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-21 |title=10.5: Case Study - Yosemite National Park |url=https://geo.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Geography_(Physical)/California_Geography_(Patrich)/10:_The_Sierra_Nevada/10.05:_CASE_STUDY__YOSEMITE_NATIONAL_PARK |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=Geosciences LibreTexts |language=en}}</ref> Many of the early pioneers in the valley of European descent, and a few Native Americans, are buried in [[Yosemite Cemetery]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Medley|first=Steven P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kvBNAwAAQBAJ|title=The Complete Guidebook to Yosemite National Park|date=2012-10-02|publisher=Yosemite Conservancy|isbn=978-1-930238-28-2|page=91|language=en}}</ref>