(37°43′18″N 119°38′47″W)
Description:
Although Yosemite Valley was undoubtedly seen from above by Walker’s party in 1833, the first white men to enter it were the members of Major Savage’s Mariposa Battalion, March 25, 1851. In discussing what name should be given to the valley, some romantic and foreign names were offered. Dr. Lafayette H. Bunnell, one of the party, suggested “that the name of the tribe who had occupied it, would be more appropriate.”
“I then proposed ‘that we give the valley the name of Yo-sem-i-ty, as it was suggestive, euphonious, and certainly American; that by so doing, the name of the tribe of Indians which we met leaving their homes in this valley, perhaps never to return, would be perpetuated.’ Upon a viva voce vote being taken, it was almost unanimously adopted.”
“Lieutenant Moore, of the U.S.A., in his report of an expedition to the Valley in 1852, substituted e as the terminal letter, in place of y, in use by us; no doubt thinking the use of e more scholarly, or perhaps supposing Yosemite to be of Spanish derivation. This orthography has been adopted, and is in general use, but the proper pronunciation, as a consequence, is not always attainable to the general reader.” The Indians recognized the name as that of the tribe, but not of the valley, which they called Ahwahnee. (Bunnell: Discovery of the Yosemite, 1880, pp. 61-64.)
J. M. Hutchings, in 1855, in publishing a lithograph of the falls from a drawing by T. A. Ayres, used the name “Yo-Hamite”; whereupon Dr. Bunnell wrote a letter explaining the origin of the name. Hutchings published the letter and at the same time explained the derivation of his version, which he had obtained from Indians who declared the correct pronunciation to be “Yo Ham-i-te,” or “Yo-Hem-i-te.” He unwillingly acquiesced in the use of “Yo-Semite.” (Hutchings: Scenes of Wonder and Curiosity in California, 1860, pp. 75-78.) Hutchings then insisted on using the form Yo Semite, explaining that he had it on Bunnell’s own authority that this was correct, and that the form Yosemite was due to a printer’s error. Yo Semite was used in the act of Congress of 1864, granting the valley to the State of California. (Hutchings: In the Heart of the Sierras, 1886, p. 61.) As the contentions of Hutchings subsided, the present usage became established, aided no doubt by the wide circulation of the Whitney Survey publications, which used Yosemite in all editions. (See, also, Hutchings’ California Magazine, July, 1856, I:1, pp. 2-8; May, 1859, III:11, pp. 498-505.)
“Hutchings was right, Yo-ham-i-te being the name of the band inhabiting a large and important village on the south bank of Merced River at the place now occupied by Sentinel Hotel and its cottages. These Indians hunted the grizzly bear, whose name—Oo-hoó-ma-te or O-ham'i-te—gave origin to their own. The tribe next north of the valley called the grizzly Oo-soó-ma-te, which doubtless accounts for the euphonious form given by Bunnell and now universally accepted.” (C. Hart Merriam: Indian Village and Camp Sites in Yosemite Valley, in S.C.B., 1917, X:2, p. 203.)
“The word ‘Yosemite’ is simply a very beautiful and sonorous corruption of the word for ‘grizzly bear.’ On the Stanislaus and north of it the word is u-zu'mai-ti; at Little Gap, o-so'mai-ti; in Yosemite itself, u-zu'mai-ti; on the South Fork of the Merced, uh-zu'mai-tuh.” (Powers: Tribes of California, in Contributions to North American Ethnology, III, 1877, pp. 361-362.)
[Editor’s note:
For the correct origin of the word Yosemite see
“Origin of the Word Yosemite.”—DEA]
Place Names of the High Sierra (1926) by Francis P. Farquhar
"The only one which is current is that of the Valley itself—”Yosemite,” and this, it appears, is not the name given to the Valley by the Indians; the word means “Grizzly Bear,” and was probably the name of a chief of the tribe; or, perhaps, this was the name given to the Valley by the band of Indians driven out by the whites in 1851. Such would seem to be the case, from the fact that the name became current at that time. At all events, it is well known that the present Indian name of the Valley is, not Yosemite, but Ahwahnee." The Yosemite Book: a description of the Yosemite Valley and the adjacent region of the Sierra Nevada, and of the big trees of California by Josiah Dwight Whitney, Jr.
pg 230-233, In Up and Down California: The Journal of William H. Brewer, 1860-1864, Book 4, Chp 3
"The only one which is current is that of the Valley itself—”Yosemite,” and this, it appears, is not the name given to the Valley by the Indians; the word means “Grizzly Bear,” and was probably the name of a chief of the tribe; or, perhaps, this was the name given to the Valley by the band of Indians driven out by the whites in 1851. Such would seem to be the case, from the fact that the name became current at that time. At all events, it is well known that the present Indian name of the Valley is, not Yosemite, but Ahwahnee." The Yosemite Book: a description of the Yosemite Valley and the adjacent region of the Sierra Nevada, and of the big trees of California by Josiah Dwight Whitney, Jr.
pg 230-233, In Up and Down California: The Journal of William H. Brewer, 1860-1864, Book 4, Chp 3
Trips:
- November 11, 2015 - Meetup day hike around the East end of the Valley
- October 1, 2016 - Meetup hike around the west end of Yosemite Valley
- October 15, 2016 - Meetup hike around the east end of Yosemite Valley
- October 22, 2016 - Walking Mirror Lake Loop
- April 19, 2017 - Day Hike with John, Roger and Jerry
- March 10, 2018 - Day hike around the east end of Yosemite Valley with Meetup group
- March 28, 2018 - Yosemite Valley Wander by myself.
- May 5, 2021 - Walking the middle portion of Yosemite Valley on the Valley Loop Trail with Rose, Sherri and Gary
- October 21, 2021 - Tour of Glacier Point and Yosemite Valley areas
- October 29, 2021 - Walked West end of Yosemite Valley
- November 2, 2021 - Day hike around the central part of Yosemite Valley
- January 6, 2021 - Afternoon trip to the Valley in the snow. Walked around Leidig Meadow. Spectacular in the snow
- April 28, 2022 - Stroll along the east end of Yosemite, a lot of it along the Merced.
- December 24, 2022 - Family hike plus Moriah up the South Fork of the Merced past Swinging Bridge. Then on to Yosemite Valley
- April 12, 2023 - Doing recon for a wedding site.
- May 10, 2023 - Jessi, Sherri and Gary go dogwood chasing
- May 23, 2023 - Exploring Yosemite Valley, tourist style, with Connie, Steve, Sherri and Gary
- September 27, 2023 - Doing recon for wedding. Then hiked some of Valley Loop and Four Mile trail
- April 19, 2024 - Day trip to the Valley, visiting Yosemite Falls: Steven, Sherri and Gary
- November 6, 2024 - Walking around the east end of the Valley from Camp Curry to Mirror Lake and over to the Ahwahnee
- November 13, 2024 - Sherri and Gary walked the west side of the Valley from Bridalveil up to the base of El Capitan, down to the Pohono Bridge and back.
References:
- Wikipedia
- NPS Site on Yosemite Valley
- NPS Site on Yosemite Valley hikes
- Metropolitan Museum of Art-pictures of the valley
Pictures:
April 12, 2023 - From Ahwahnee Meadow, looking eastward 
April 12, 2023 -From Tunnel View 
April 12, 2023 - From Ahwahnee Meadow looking eastward 
April 12, 2023 - From Tunnel View 
April 12, 2023 -West of Tunnel View 
April 12, 2023 -West of Tunnel View 
May 10, 2023 - View from Valley View 
May 10, 2023 -View from Tunnel View 
May 10, 2023 -Yosemite Falls
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