The first European men reportedly see Yosemite…
March 1851 CE
This group has trading and family ties to Mono Lake Paiutes from the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada.
They annually burn the vegetation on the Valley floor, which promotes the California Black Oak and keeps the meadows and forests open.
This protects the supply of their principal food, acorns, and reduces the chance of ambush.
At the time of first European contact, this band is led by Chief Tenaya (Teneiya), who had been raised by his mother among the Mono Lake Paiutes.
The first non-natives to see Yosemite Valley were probably members of the 1833 Joseph Walker Party, which was the first to cross the Sierra Nevada from east to west.
The first descriptions of Yosemite, however, will come nearly twenty years later.
The 1849 California Gold Rush has led to conflicts between miners and natives, and the state has formed the volunteer Mariposa Battalion as a punitive expedition against natives in the Yosemite area.
In 1851, the Battalion is led by Major Jim Savage, whose trading post on the Merced River the Awaneechee had raided.
This and other missions result in Chief Teneiya and the Awaneechee spending months on a reservation in the San Joaquin Valley.
The band will return the next year to the Valley but will take refuge among the Mono Paiutes after further conflicts with miners.
Most of the Awaneechee (along with Teneiya) will be chased back to the Valley and killed by the Paiutes after violating hospitality by stealing horses.
While the members of this first expedition of the Mariposa Battalion had heard rumors of what could be found up the Merced River, none are prepared for what they see on March 27, 1851, from what is now called Old Inspiration Point (close to the better-visited Tunnel View).
Dr. Lafayette Bunnell will later write:
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.
Camping that night on the Valley floor, the group agrees with the suggestion of Dr. Bunnell to call it "Yo-sem-i-ty", mistakenly believing this is the native name.
Bunnell is also the first of many to underestimate the height of the Valley walls.
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