Yosemite History By caddyp Period: 1000 BCE to Jan 8, 1850 Valley inhabited by Native Americans Feb 7, 1851 Discovery by Ethnic Eurpoeans specifically Mariposa Battalion Commander Major James Savage. Chief Tenaya and the Ahwahneechee were captured, their village burned, and the were transported to a reservation near Fresno Feb 7, 1857 Mariposa Grove of Sequoia Trees is discovered