Editing Yosemite Valley (section)

== History ==
{{main|History of the Yosemite area}}
[[File:Brooklyn Museum - Half Dome, Yosemite Valley, California - Marguerite Thompson Zorach - overall.jpg|thumb|left|Half Dome and Liberty Cap, Yosemite Valley, California. [[Marguerite Zorach]] ([[Brooklyn Museum]])]]

=== Native Americans in Yosemite ===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Captain John Paiute Poko Tucket.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Captain John, leader of the [[Yosemite-Mono Lake Paiutes]]]] -->

Habitation of the Yosemite Valley proper can be traced to about 3,000 years ago when vegetation and game in the region was similar to that present today; the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada had acorns, deer, and salmon, while the eastern Sierra had pinyon nuts and [[obsidian]].
The prehistory of the area is divided into three cultural phases on archaeological grounds: the "Crane Flat" phase, (1000&nbsp;BCE to 500&nbsp;CE) is marked by hunting with the [[atl atl]] and the use of [[grinding stone]]s; the "Tarmarack" phase (500 to 1200 CE), marked by a shift to using smaller rock points, indicating development and use of the [[bow and arrow]]; and the "Mariposa" phase, from 1200 until European contact in the mid-19th century.<ref>Wuerthner, George (1994). Yosemite: A Visitors Companion. Stackpole Books, p. 13</ref>

In the 19th century, it was inhabited by a [[Miwok]] band who called the Valley "Ah-wah-nee" and themselves the [[Ahwahnechee]].<ref>[http://www.abovecalifornia.com/lib/Houghton/18.php abovecalifornia.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070217114105/http://www.abovecalifornia.com/lib/Houghton/18.php |date=2007-02-17 }}. Retrieved 4 January 2007.</ref> 
This group had trading and family ties to [[Mono Lake]] [[Northern Paiute|Paiute]]s from the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. They annually burned the vegetation on the Valley floor, which promoted the [[California black oak|black oak]] and kept the meadows and forests open. This protected the supply of their principal food, [[acorn]]s, and reduced the chance of ambush. At the time of first European contact, this band was led by [[Chief Tenaya]] (Teneiya), who was raised by his mother among the [[Mono Lake Paiute]]s.

=== 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>

=== Yosemite: The first park ===
[[File:Galen Clark in the Big Tree Grove.jpeg|thumb|right|upright|Galen Clark in the Big Tree Grove]]
The work of Ayres gave Easterners an appreciation for Yosemite Valley and started a movement to preserve it.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/museum/centennial/treasures/Yose.htm|work=National Park Service Museum Centennial|title=Early drawing of Yosemite Falls|access-date=2010-08-19}}</ref> Influential figures such as [[Galen Clark]], clergyman [[Thomas Starr King]] and leading landscape architect [[Frederick Law Olmsted]] were among those who urged Senator John Conness of California to try to preserve Yosemite.{{sfn|Wuerthner|1994|p=23}}

President [[Abraham Lincoln]] signed a bill on June 30, 1864, granting Yosemite Valley and the [[Mariposa Grove]] of [[Sequoiadendron giganteum|giant sequoias]] to the State of California "for public use, resort and recreation," the two tracts "shall be inalienable for all time".{{sfn|Schaffer|1999|p=48}} This was the first time in history that a federal government had set aside scenic lands simply to protect them and to allow for their enjoyment by all people.

Simply designating an area a park isn't sufficient to protect it. California did not set up an administration for the park until 1866 when the state appointed [[Galen Clark]] as the park's guardian. An 11-year struggle followed to resolve homesteading claims in the valley. The challenge of increasing tourism, with the need to first build stagecoach roads, then the [[Yosemite Valley Railroad]], along with hotels and other facilities in and around the Valley was met during the rest of the 19th century. But much environmental damage was caused to the valley itself at that time. The problems that Yosemite Park had under state control was one of the factors in establishing [[Yellowstone National Park]] as the first completely national park in 1872.

[[File:8. The vernal fall, Yosemite valley.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Vernal Fall]], Yosemite by [[Carleton Watkins]] {{circa|1873–83}}]]

Due to the difficulty of traveling there, early visitors to the valley came for several weeks to a couple of months, often as entire families with many possessions. Early [[hotel]]s were therefore set up for extended stays and catered primarily to wealthy patrons who could spend extended periods away from home. One of these hotels—the [[Wawona Hotel]], built in the 1880s—still operates.

After the Valley became a park, the surrounding territory was still subject to logging, mining, and grazing.  [[John Muir]] publicized the damage to the [[subalpine zone|subalpine meadow]]s that surround the Valley and in 1890, the government created a national park that included a much larger territory—enclosing Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove.

===20th century===
[[File:The Yosemite Valley from Inspiration Point, Showing Bridalveil Falls.jpg|thumb|right|The Yosemite Valley from Inspiration Point, showing visitors gazing at Bridalveil Falls, 1921]]
As with Yellowstone, the new federal park was under U.S. Army jurisdiction until 1914. In 1906, the state ceded the Valley and Mariposa Grove to the federal government. The [[National Park Service]], on its creation in 1916, took over Yosemite.{{sfn|Schaffer|1999|p=52}}
[[File:Jo Mora 1931 Yosemite map.jpg|thumb|upright|1931 [[pictorial map]] by [[Jo Mora]] ]]
Yosemite Valley is listed as a [[Historic districts in the United States|National Historic District]] and as a [[California Historical Landmark]].<ref name="nris"/><ref name=CHL/> After the creation of the Park Service, many separate hotel owners held separate concession contracts. The Yosemite Park Company had built the Yosemite Lodge and Yosemite Village had its own group of merchants. Fire had destroyed a number of the original valley hotels and concession owners came and went until Park Service forced the two largest companies to merge in order that one single concession contract could be given. In 1925 the two family-run companies became the Yosemite Park and Curry Company and went on to build and run the [[Ahwahnee Hotel]] as the company headquarters for years, introducing a number of traditions, including the [[Bracebridge dinner]].

[[Curry Village]] was the site from where villagers and visitors watched the [[Yosemite Firefall]]. This "fall" was large batches of red hot embers dropped from Glacier Point. The Park Service stopped this practice in 1969 as part of their long process of de-emphasizing artificial park attractions.

On July 6, 1996, a massive [[rock slide]], weighing an estimated 60,000–80,000 tons, crashed {{convert|1800|ft|m}} into the valley from the east side of Glacier Point, traveling at over {{convert|160|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}. Dust blanketed that part of the valley for days, and the wind speed in front of the slide is estimated to have been {{convert|300|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}. One person was killed in the slide.

=== Merced River Plan ===
In 1987, Congress designated 122 miles of the Merced as a [[Wild and Scenic River]]. Yosemite National Park contains 81 of these miles, and the valley contains eight of those miles. This designation will "...&nbsp;preserve the Merced River in free-flowing condition and to protect the water quality and the outstandingly remarkable values (ORVs) that make the river worthy of designation."<ref>{{cite web|title=Merced – Friends of the River|url=http://www.friendsoftheriver.org/site/PageServer?pagename=merced#1|website=www.friendsoftheriver.org|access-date=2014-09-17|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140928101146/http://www.friendsoftheriver.org/site/PageServer?pagename=merced#1|archive-date=September 28, 2014}}</ref>

In March 2014, the park system released the ''Merced Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive Management Plan/EIS ''to address the preservation of the river, safety, and to improve the visitor experience in the park. The plan will restore meadows and river bank areas and remove non-essential roads. Camping capacity will increase by 37%, and recreational services will be expanded. The plan calls for an 8% increase in parking for day use visitors to Yosemite Valley, including a new 300-car parking lot. The plan will allow the valley to accommodate a peak of 20,100 visitors per day.<ref>{{cite web|title=Merced River Final Plan and EIS – Yosemite National Park (U.S. National Park Service) |url=http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/mrp_finalplan.htm |website=www.nps.gov |access-date=2014-09-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228075416/http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/mrp_finalplan.htm |archive-date=December 28, 2014 }}</ref>

The plan has been criticized for prioritizing park visitors over the preservation of the river and the valley. Some believe there should be further limitations to the number of cars and parking lots in the valley, and more focus on public transportation.<ref>{{cite web|title = <nowiki>Yosemite National Park | National Parks Traveler</nowiki>|url = http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2014/04/opinion-yosemites-merced-wild-and-scenic-river-plan-brought-you-billionaires-and-their-politicians24986|website = www.nationalparkstraveler.com|access-date = 2014-09-17}}</ref> On busy summer days, there can be long delays and traffic gridlock at the entrance to Yosemite.<ref>{{cite web|title = CSERC: Yosemite overcrowded – Problems and Solutions|url = http://www.cserc.org/main/news/news_briefs/2012-01_Yosemite_overcrowded.html|website = www.cserc.org|access-date = 2014-09-17|archive-date = 2015-01-24|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150124035959/http://www.cserc.org/main/news/news_briefs/2012-01_Yosemite_overcrowded.html|url-status = dead}}</ref>

[[File:Yosemite Valley, 8x10 Negative, 1999.jpg|thumb|Yosemite Valley 1999]]
{{wide image|Panorama_Half_Dome.jpg|800px|Panorama of Yosemite Valley including Half Dome as seen from Glacier Point}}