People

Kitty Tatch and Katherine Hazelston, waitresses at Yosemite National Park hotels, dance on Overhanging Rock at Glacier Point in 1900. These pictures were later made into postcards, autographed and sold for years.

George Fiske

The history of people in Yosemite goes back thousands of years. American Indians traveled and used this area since Ice Age glaciers receded providing an environment for plants, animals, and people to survive. Their descendents remain a part of Yosemite’s history to the present day.

In 1849, the discovery of gold in California meant new groups of people arriving in California. Competition for land and resources brought many of these groups into conflict, and, often, into violent confrontations. The first non-native group to enter Yosemite was the Mariposa Battalion, a Euro-American militia formed to drive the native Ahwahneechee people onto reservations. After the Mariposa Indian War came to a close, Yosemite was now open to settlement and speculation.

Through the work of illustrators, authors, painters, and photographers, word spread of the magnificent valley in the heart of the Sierra Nevada and giant trees. Many pioneers became tourist operators, building hotels and inns and starting stagecoach companies to bring the interested early tourists on the long journey to Yosemite. By 1864, the value of Yosemite was recognized by the federal government when Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant, placing Yosemite under the protection of the state of California.

The growth of the national park and the surrounding areas has seen a large cast of characters. Some are famous worldwide, like John Muir and Ansel Adams, while others are significant at a smaller scale.

Individual and group contributions to Yosemite abound and help shape how we learn about and experience the park today.

 

 

Cultural Groups

Yosemite is and has always been shaped by a diverse array of groups, many of whom worked in unseen roles. Whether tending the land, caring for visitors' needs, or shaping park management, these stories left a lasting legacy around the park.

 

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  Yosemite Indians

  Learn about the culture of the Southern Sierra Miwok, one of seven tribes traditionally associated with Yosemite.

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  Yosemite's Women

  Women have played an important—though often hidden—part in Yosemite.

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  Chinese History in Yosemite

  Learn more about how early Chinese immigrants played an important role in shaping the Yosemite that we know today.

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  Buffalo Soldiers

  Buffalo Soldiers, like their white counterparts in U.S. Army regiments, were among the first park rangers.

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  Basque Sheepherders

  Thousands of sheep once grazed in Yosemite's high elevation meadows. Many of the sheepmen were Basque immigrants.

 

Naturalists and Park Guardians

After the forcible removal of American Indians from their role as caretakers to the land, Yosemite has long been the target of resource exploitation and the subject of much political debate. Ranger naturalists, conservationists, and even U.S. Army soldiers have all contributed to the protection of Yosemite's natural resources.

 

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  Galen Clark

  Galen Clark spent the last 50 years of his life publicizing and protecting the Big Trees and Yosemite.

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  John Muir

  Just a few years of living in Yosemite inspired naturalist John Muir to become an early publicist and fierce defender of Yosemite.

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  George Melendez Wright

  Despite a brief career, George M. Wright’s many contributions to the National Park Service are as valuable today as they were a century ago.

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  Buffalo Soldiers

  Buffalo Soldiers, like their white counterparts in U.S. Army regiments, were among the first park rangers.

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  George Monroe

  As the most acclaimed stage driver in Yosemite, George Monroe took the reins for everyday visitors and the park's most illustrious guests.

 

Artists

Yosemite's dramatic landscapes have inspired people to create art since time immemorial. Artists have inspired the continued protection and stewardship of Yosemite for over a century.

 

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  Thomas Hill

  After visiting Yosemite in 1865, Thomas Hill spent the rest of his life painting, and sometimes living, in Yosemite.

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  Therese Yelverton

  Author Maria Thérèse Longworth Yelverton, (Viscountess Avonmore), visited Yosemite in 1870, befriending Muir and the Hutchings family.

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  Ansel Adams

  When photographer Ansel Adams looked through his camera lens, he saw more than Yosemite's rocks, trees, and rivers. He saw art.

 

Entrepreneurs

It did not take long after the first outsiders entered Yosemite Valley before it became clear that its stunning scenery would soon be a world-class tourist destination. The tourism business made its way not only to Yosemite Valley, but surrounding areas as well.

 

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  James and Elvira Hutchings

  James and Elvira Hutchings offered a soft bed to Yosemite’s earliest travelers and James was one of Yosemite's earliest publicists.

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  Albert and Emily Snow

  For close to 20 years, the Snows welcomed guests to their picture-perfect La Casa Nevada hotel, near the base of Nevada Fall.

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  John and Bridget Degnan

  Hard-working immigrants Bridget and John Degnan journeyed to California in 1884 to build a life in the picturesque Yosemite Valley.