Portal:History/Featured article/July, 2007

The known history of the Yosemite area started with Ahwahnechee and Paiute peoples who inhabited the central Sierra Nevada region of California that now includes Yosemite National Park. At the time when the first non-indigenous people entered the area, a band of Native Americans called the Ahwahnechee lived in Yosemite Valley. The California Gold Rush in the mid-19th century greatly increased the number of non-indigenous people in the area. Conflict ensued as part of the Mariposa Wars, and the Mariposa Battalion entered Yosemite Valley in 1851 while in pursuit of the Ahwaneechees led by Chief Tenaya. Accounts from this battalion were the first confirmed cases of Caucasians entering the valley.

The Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove were ceded to California as a state park, in 1864, with Galen Clark as its first guardian. Access to the park by tourists improved in the early years of the park and conditions in the Valley were made more hospitable. Naturalist John Muir and others soon became alarmed about over-exploitation of the area, and helped push through the creation of Yosemite National Park in 1890. It would not be until 1906 that the Valley and Grove would be added.

Jurisdiction of the park was first under the United States Army's 4th Cavalry Regiment, and was transferred to the National Park Service in 1916. Many improvements to the park made through this entire time induced dramatic increases in visitation. Controversies did arise along the way; the most notable was the failed fight to save Hetch Hetchy Valley from becoming a reservoir and hydroelectric power plant. Since then, about 94% of the park has been set aside in a highly protected wilderness area, and other protected areas were added adjacent to the park. The once-famous Yosemite Firefall, created by red hot embers being pushed off of a cliff near Glacier Point at night, has been discontinued.