Yosemite National Park is established by the U.S. Congress.

Yosemite National Park, located in California’s Sierra Nevada, has a history stretching back thousands of years. Long before European-American settlers arrived, the Yosemite Valley and surrounding mountains were inhabited by Indigenous peoples, including the Ahwahneechee, who developed a close relationship with the region’s forests, rivers, meadows, and wildlife. During the California Gold Rush of the mid-19th century, increasing numbers of settlers entered the Sierra Nevada, leading to violent conflicts and the displacement of Native communities. Reports of Yosemite’s spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, and giant sequoias soon attracted artists, photographers, writers, and tourists, bringing national attention to the area.

Concern about commercial development and environmental damage led to one of the earliest major efforts to protect a scenic landscape in the United States. On June 30, 1864, during the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant. This legislation transferred Yosemite Valley and the nearby Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias to the state of California on the condition that they be preserved for public recreation and enjoyment. It was an important milestone in the history of conservation because it established the principle that exceptional natural landscapes could be protected by government for the benefit of the public. Yosemite Valley itself, however, was not yet a national park.

Naturalist and writer John Muir became one of Yosemite’s most influential advocates during the late 19th century. After first visiting the region in 1868, Muir spent years exploring its mountains and valleys and writing passionately about their natural beauty. He argued that grazing, logging, and other commercial activities threatened the wider Yosemite ecosystem and campaigned for stronger federal protection. His efforts, together with those of other conservationists, helped persuade Congress to establish Yosemite National Park on October 1, 1890. The original national park surrounded the state-controlled Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove. Following years of debate about how the region should be managed, these areas were returned to federal control and incorporated into Yosemite National Park in 1906.

Yosemite became part of the National Park Service when that agency was created in 1916, and during the 20th century improvements in roads and transportation made the park accessible to millions of visitors. Its history has also involved continuing debates over conservation, tourism, water resources, fire management, and the preservation of wilderness. The controversial construction of the O’Shaughnessy Dam in Hetch Hetchy Valley, completed in the 1920s to provide water for San Francisco, became an important episode in the American conservation movement. In 1984, Yosemite was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of its extraordinary geology and biodiversity. Today, Yosemite National Park covers nearly 1,200 square miles and remains internationally famous for landmarks such as El Capitan, Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, and its giant sequoia groves, while also preserving the cultural history of the Indigenous peoples whose connections to the region long predate the creation of the park.