1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
Federal News Network presents a daily update of important moments in the history of the U.S. government.
On Oct. 1, 1890, an act of Congress created Yosemite National Park, home of such natural wonders as Half Dome and the giant sequoia trees. Environmentalist John Muir and his colleagues campaigned for the congressional action, which was signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison. Until the 1849 gold rush brought thousands of miners and settlers to the region, Yosemite Valley’s (or Ahwahnee Valley) primary inhabitants were Native Americans such as the Miwuk and Paiute. The influx of tourism, domestic sheep grazing and commercialization of the land motivated Muir to seek its federal protection. In 1864, conservationists convinced President Abraham Lincoln to declare Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias a public trust of California — the first time the U.S. government protected land for public enjoyment; Yellowstone became America’s first national park in 1872. Although many Native Americans were also expelled from their homes in the process. Then on Oct. 1, 1890, Congress set aside over 1,500 square miles of land (about the size of Rhode Island) for what would become Yosemite National Park, America’s third national park. In 1906, the state-controlled Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove came under federal jurisdiction with the rest of the park.
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