Native Americans: for at Least 2,000 Years, Indian People Visited the Tuolumne Meadows Area of Yosemite National Park
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Native Americans: For at least 2,000 years, Indian people visited the Tuolumne Meadows area of Yosemite National Park. Some primarily in the summer months, and some relocate to the high country for summer hunting and gathering, others utilize Tuolumne Meadows as a stop on the trade rout east. Items such as acorns, baskets, and beads were exchanged by western slope Miwoks for obsidian, pine nuts, moth larvae, fly pupae, and salt from the east side Monos. Early Exploration: The first pioneer visitors to Tuolumne Meadows were prospectors and adventurers. In 1860, a group of miners staked a claim near Tioga pass, and in 1863, the Whitney survey party established a camp at Tuolumne and began to explore and map the area. Many of the peaks and landmarks in the region were named by the group. Ore from the Tioga Mine was found to be rich in silver some fifteen years later, and a flurry of mining activity occurred along Yosemite's eastern edge well into the 1880's. Mines were worked in such locations as Bennettville, Mt. Dana, Lundy Canyon, and Mono Pass. John Muir: Explorer, naturalist, amateur geologist, and leader of the conservation movement in the United States, was born in Scotland in 1833, and spent his boyhood in Wisconsin. He attended the University of Wisconsin, wandered in Canada, the South, Cuba, then found his way to his promised land in California. His abiding concern throughout most of his adult life was the preservation of the country's parks and forests. Although his writings belong to geology and glaciology as much as it does to conservation literature, the work which consumed most of his energies was the campaign he waged for Federal action to establish a system of National Parks and Forest Reserves. Famous for his nature writing and his work in conservation, he spent the summer of 1869 as a shepherd in and around Tuolumne Meadows. His experiences then and during several years of residence in the Yosemite Valley led him to push for the establishment of Yosemite National Park. A dream that was realized in 1890. He died on Christmas Eve, 1914. The Tioga Road: Originally known as the Great Sierra Wagon Road, this road across Yosemite's high country was built during 1882 and 1883 to provide access to the Tioga area mines. Shortly after the road was completed, however, mining activities ceased in the Yosemite region. The route was operated as a private toll road for a number of years, while it's condition worsened and worsened. Much effort was made in government attempts to purchase the Tioga road , but no appropriations ever were made for that purpose. Finally, in 1915, Stephen T. Mather purchased the road for $15,500.00 and donated it to the federal government. Extensive repairs to the road were made during the 1920's and 1930's, and long sections were paved. In 1961, a project to realign and completely pave the Tioga Road was completed. Geology: Tuolumne Meadows is a great place to see how ancient glaciers changed and shaped the landscape. Glacial action eroded steep-walled canyons to create U-shaped valleys (Lyell fork of the Tuolumne river), rounded domes (Lembert Dome), and polished many rock surfaces in the region. Glaciers left boulders, called erratics, here and there throughout the area as they receded. Ridged deposits of rocks and other debris, called moraines, mark the outer boundaries of the glaciers and can be spotted along the Tioga Road between Tuolumne Meadows and Tioga Pass. .