Yosemite turns 150
On June 30, 1864, the first California State Park was created when Congress enacted the Yosemite Grant Act, establishing Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove as the first protected wild land for all time. The land was later designated a National Park in 1890.
As Yosemite celebrates 150 years, a look back at some early images of the magnificent natural site.
Learn more about the history of Yosemite National Park here.
In this image, five U.S. Army soldiers of the 24th Mounted Infantry, mounted on horses near a road in forest.
Yosemite National Park
Morning sunlight on the eastern wall of El Capitan, Yosemite Valley, with Merced River in the foreground.
Yosemite National Park
President Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir stand on a rock at Glacier Point, Yosemite, ca. May 1903.
Yosemite National Park
Mrs. George Fiske skiing in Yosemite, ca. 1890s.
Yosemite National Park
A distant silhouette view of Kitty Tatch and friend dancing on the overhanging rock at Glacier Point, Yosemite, ca. 1890s.
Yosemite National Park
The front of the Wawona Hotel in Wawona, Calif., ca. 1880s.
Yosemite National Park
R.E. Jeffrey's handcrafted motor home, built on the chassis of a 1905 Pierce Arrow; in Yosemite Valley, with the Sentinel Hotel in the distance.
Yosemite National Park
Naturalist and conservationist John Muir (1838-1914) seated on a boulder. Muir initiated efforts resulting in the creation of Yosemite National Park in 1890.
Yosemite National Park
Five men and eight women, with wagons and tent at a campsite in Yosemite Valley, ca. 1890.
Yosemite National Park
Four horses and a stagecoach on the Wawona Road to Yosemite Valley.
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite Falls and surrounding cliffs, with Merced River and meadows in foreground.
Yosemite National Park
Suzie McGowan, Mono Lake Paiute, standing in a meadow near Yosemite Falls, with baby Sadie in a cradlebasket on her back.
Yosemite National Park
View of lower Yosemite Valley from Union Point on the Four Mile Trail, 1961.
Yosemite National Park
Lucy Telles, also known as Pa-ma-has (1885-1955), sits beside a large basket which she completed in 1933 after about four years of work, in Yosemite.
Yosemite National Park
About 40 members of U.S. 6th Cavalry, Troop F, shown with their horses, are lined by a Fallen Monarch tree in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, Yosemite, ca. 1899.
Yosemite National Park
The ski lodge building at Badger Pass Ski Area, 1936, Yosemite.
Yosemite National Park
The front of LeConte Memorial Lodge, Yosemite Valley.
Yosemite National Park
A group of about 26 Native Americans seated and standing beside a cedar bark structure, near the Merced River, Yosemite Valley, ca. 1872.
Yosemite National Park
A bear trap made of logs is pulled with a horse-drawn wagon, in front of Yosemite Store, Yosemite Valley, ca. early 1900s.
Yosemite National Park
Nine park rangers called the "First Rangers" of Yosemite National Park, are shown mounted on horses lined up in a meadow in Yosemite Valley, ca. 1915; with Yosemite Falls in distance, and dog in foreground.
Yosemite National Park
The view across Hetch Hetchy Valley, ca. early 1900s, from the southwestern end, showing the Tuolumne River flowing through the lower portion of the valley, prior to damming.
Yosemite National Park
People camping with tents and automobiles in Stoneman Meadow, below Washington Column, Yosemite Valley, ca. 1927.