The natural beauty of Yosemite is well documented but the historical legacy of Yosemite National Park as one of the first national preserves is valuable also.
Yosemite Valley's original residents were the native tribes who first inhabited the region about 7 - 10,000 years ago. By the mid-19th-century, the Southern Sierra Miwok were the dominant native group. This culture called the valley Ahwahnee, which roughly translated means " Place of the Gaping Mouth." This hunting and gathering tribe called themselves Ahwahneechee. Additionally, the Ahwahneechee traded with the nearby Mono Lake Paiutes. Ahwahneechee mostly traded acorns for rabbit skins, obsidian, and pine nuts.

It was in 1851 that the Euro-American culture first "discovered" Yosemite Valley. In that year, the California government sanctioned the Mariposa Battalion to capture and subdue "hostile" Indians. The Battalion stumbled upon Yosemite Valley during their pursuit of the natives. The date was March 27, 1851. They were the first group of non-Indians documented to have visited the valley.

In 1855, news of the wondrous valley had spread far and wide. The first tourists arrived that year. In 1864, prominent Californians petitioned Congress to grant Yosemite Valley and the neighboring Mariposa Grove to the State of California as the first public preserve.

Congress agreed and President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant on June 30, 1864. The grant deeded the valley and grove to the state, but the surrounding wilderness area was not included in the package.

In 1868, the naturalist John Muir made his first visit to the region. A love affair began. John Muir even built a cabin in the valley. The cabin had running water - a stream ran through it.

Muir became a constant critic of what he viewed as the abuse of the valley. In particular, he waged a long battle against destructive sheep grazing in the valley. Muir belittled the sheep as "hoofed locusts" and unceasingly lobbied for their removal from the valley floor. Muir and his editor, Robert Underwood Johnson of Century Magazine, organized a campaign to provide greater protection for Yosemite. Johnson contacted his influential friends while Muir spoke and wrote with his usual passion to an interested public. Muir and Johnson argued for National Park protection such as that granted to Yellowstone National Park in 1872.

The strategy worked.

On October 1, 1890, Congress set aside about 1500 square miles of "reserved forest lands" to be called Yosemite National Park. The park would include the valley and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias.

In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir met in Yosemite Valley. They discussed the future of the park. In 1906, the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove were removed from State of California control and placed entirely within the jurisdiction of the federal government.

The spectacular features of Yosemite Falls, Bridalveil Fall, El Capitan and Half Dome are instantly recognizable as one drives through the park. The icy Merced River winds its way through the valley floor, a tranquil complement to the awesome views that bracket the mighty landscape. The lucky visitor will spy deer nodding their heads for a drink in crystal waters.

Yosemite National Park is an international treasure and an endless testament to the notion that sometimes human beings can respect and preserve that which they hold most dear.

Ansel Adams, the famous photographic chronicler of the park, once said, "Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in an edifice of stone and space."

A wonderful sunrise.

An eternal sunrise.