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    Yosemite Valley
    Yosemite Valley
    Yosemite Valley
    Ebook219 pages54 minutes

    Yosemite Valley

    By Leroy Radanovich

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    A natural wonder hewn by glaciers from the granite slopes of the western Sierra Nevada, Yosemite Valley reveals the power and beauty of nature's hand. Here, in the sublime "Incomparable Valley" of naturalist John Muir, alpine forests frame the legendary sites of Half Dome, El Capitan, Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite Falls, and other massive stone clefts. These marvels of rock and water have inspired writers, artists, and photographers ever since the American discovery of the valley by gold miners of the Mariposa Battalion acting as militia in l850. Within four years, Americans who realized the commercial value of Yosemite Valley began developing lodging facilities and promoting it as a tourist destination. Concerned Californians encouraged President Lincoln to grant the valley and the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees to the State of California for the formation of a state park. This led to the creation of Yosemite National Park in l890.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439630716
    Yosemite Valley
    Author

    Leroy Radanovich

    Yosemite historian Leroy Radanovich has written extensively on the park and Mariposa County, and in this volume he explores the park�s surprisingly diverse history. Included here are images of Yosemite�s military and mining history, as well as the road that crossed the Sierra. Some of the settlements and mining camps shown here still survive, while others are merely shadows. Nonetheless, the outer zones of the park hold much intrigue and little-known history, all of which enriches this national treasure.

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      Book preview

      Yosemite Valley - Leroy Radanovich

      story.

      INTRODUCTION

      Yosemite Valley, which has been part of Yosemite National Park since l906, was discovered and entered by white men in March of l851. Its existence was generally unknown by all except the native peoples who lived there on a seasonal basis, even after California became a state in l850. Since the primary focus of the residents of Mariposa County was the development of gold properties, it was only as a result of threats to the miners and their property that Yosemite’s discovery happened as early as it did.

      Gold discovery along the Merced River essentially ended around El Portal, where the geology of the area changed and no gold was present. The last gold mining properties along the river were located near Incline, west of El Portal, and prospectors showed no interest in moving deeper into the Sierra. There is some anecdotal evidence of a sighting of the valley—or perhaps part of the canyon near Cascades—by members of the Joseph Walker party years earlier. There is also a local legend about two bear hunters who saw the valley from some point while chasing their game. However, the valley’s real discovery came when the Mariposa Battalion, under the command of Col. James Savage, attempted to capture the Indians of Yosemite Valley and remove them to the Fresno River.

      In l850, a vigilante group had formed to eliminate the Indians who had been raiding the mining camps and Savage’s Stores in Mariposa County. County sheriff James Burney, concerned the volunteer group would kill all the Indians they found, appealed to Gov. Peter H. Burnett for state support for the campaign against the Indians. The governor replied by forming a legal militia whose charge was to capture the Indians and remove them to a reservation on the Fresno River. Placing Savage in charge, Burnett gave legal sanction to the operation but asked only for the Indians’ safe removal. Three companies of the Mariposa Battalion were formed, with two attempting to find the Yosemite group. After arriving at Bishop Meadow and capturing the Noot-chu group, Savage conducted athletic tests to select the strongest and fastest men from two of the companies; among the group selected was Lafayette Bunnell, a miner who had some medical training. He went along with the group following the trail left by Chief Tenaya into the valley, but this first group left the valley after a few days, having not captured any Indians. After re-provisioning, they returned to the valley and eventually removed the native population. Bunnell, so taken by the scenery he witnessed there, wrote a book many years later describing the discovery of Yosemite.

      By 1855, the legend of a beautiful valley with high cliffs and booming waterfalls enticed James Mason Hutchings and a party of tourists to seek entrance to the valley. When attempts to learn the route from veterans of the Mariposa Battalion were unsuccessful, Hutchings contacted a store owner on the Fresno River who introduced him to natives who agreed to guide him to the place. Hutchings was just as mesmerized by the valley as were some members of the battalion. Being the owner and editor of Hutchings’ California Magazine, a periodical promoting California for tourism and settlement, Hutchings saw an opportunity for the development of the valley as a tourist destination. He brought artist Thomas Ayers to capture images of the valley for his magazine and later brought photographer Charles L. Weed to make the first glass-plate exposures of the valley in l859. What followed was the slow development of a sawmill, lodging units, and farms. Hutchings proceeded to publicize the valley and arrange for visits by tourists, all of whom needed to travel great distances on horseback. It was not until l875 that a road capable of carrying wagons and stages was built.

      When Hutchings and his first sightseer group of 1855 returned, Mariposa Gazette editor L.A. Homes requested that Hutchings write a description of his visit to the magical valley. Journalists took notice of Hutchings’s description in his letter to the Gazette and it was published throughout the country. Visitors came in increasing numbers.

      By 1857, two men by the names of Beardsly and Hite had put up a canvas-covered structure in the old village. This was replaced the following year by a wooden structure constructed of whipsawed planks developed on the site. The following year Hutchings brought in photographer C.L. Weed, who took the first photographs of the valley, including a picture of the Beardsly and Hite Upper House. By 1864 Hutchings had acquired the Upper House, now called Cedar Cottage, and thus began his many years as a host and promoter of Yosemite.

      By l863, concerns were growing over the development of the valley. A team led by Galen Clark of Wawona (discoverer of the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees), Jessie Fremont (wife of the owner of the Fremont Grant mining property in Mariposa), and California senator John Conness gathered together a set of 1861 Yosemite photographs taken by San Francisco photographer Carlton E. Watkins. They used these images to convince President Abraham Lincoln and the U.S. Congress in l863—at the height of the Civil War—to grant Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees to the State of California for the purpose of creating a park. Once granted to the state, the valley remained the property of California until l906.

      In l890, as a result of efforts by naturalist John Muir, the balance of the area around the valley became Yosemite National Park. But it was only after a 1903 meeting between Muir and President Theodore Roosevelt that a movement began to include Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees in Yosemite National Park.

      The photographs in this book cover the development of Yosemite Valley from its discovery by white men until roughly the time of World War II, or approximately 100 years. The historical information provided with each picture is brief but should be adequate to gain an understanding of the

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