Yosemite, in all its profound beauty, is often imagined in a pristine state untouched by humankind. But its human history spans millennia.
About 6,000 years ago, humans came to the Yosemite Valley. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Ahwahneechee had lived there for generations and had little contact with non-natives. Then, beginning in 1849, the Gold Rush shifted the focus of the nation and the world to California—and Yosemite was forever changed.
At this 150-year anniversary of the Yosemite Grant, establishing the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias as the nation’s first protected wilderness, we look anew at this remarkable place. With Yosemite: A Storied Landscape we bring to life surprising, poignant, revealing, and sometimes tragic stories that inhabit this land as densely as its waterfalls and trees.
By uncovering its human stories—through photographs, videos, artworks, historic objects, and words—we can know Yosemite better and love it more deeply.