After the meal, in discussing this glorious spot which they had discovered, it was suggested that a name be given it. One of the party, Dr. Bunnell, proposed that it be called the “Yosemite Valley,” to perpetuate the name of the tribe that had so long made its home there. This name was unanimously adopted.
The expedition remained one day and two nights in the Valley, and then were forced to hurry out at the approach of a storm. In three days they had made the round trip through the Valley, exploring it in a general way, and had named some of its principal features. The Indians whom they had gone out to capture, however, were not seen. Later, in 1851, another expedition was made to the Valley in pursuit of the Indians. This was in charge of Capt. John Boling, and Dr. Bunnell accompanied the party. Several Indians were captured, and additional explorations were made.
Not many visits were made to the Valley before 1855. The first regular tourists’ visit was made by J. M. Hutchings, who, having heard of its wonderful scenery, collected a party and went there. The following year regular tourist travel began. The first house built in the Yosemite Valley was erected in 1855. This was afterwards known as Black’s Hotel. It was situated directly opposite the Yosemite Fall. Years ago the old Sentinel Hotel was built by the side of the Merced River, and as patronage increased three cottage annexes to this simple hostelry were erected—one immediately adjoining the hotel building and two across the road. In time a small village grew up along the road and camps were established in the meadows and woods near by. The old Sentinel has now given way to the large new hotel across the river near the foot of the falls. This opens in the beginning of 1917.
The first permanent settler in the Yosemite Valley was J. C. Lamon, who built a cabin in the very end of it in 1860 and planted gardens and orchards. Four years later an act of Congress granted the Valley itself and the adjacent territory to the State of California on the condition that it be held forever as a public park. In 1905, however, California gave back the Valley to the United States, and it now forms part of the Yosemite National Park, which was created in 1890.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 4, No. 16, SERIAL No. 116
COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
FROM A WATER COLOR PAINTING
YOSEMITE FALLS. YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK