After touring Yosemite's Visitor Center, we headed to the amazing hotel described as..."The Ahwahnee shines as Yosemite National Park’s distinctive AAA® Four-Diamond hotel.  Known for its magnificent façade, and architecture, The Ahwahnee was specifically designed to highlight its natural surroundings, featuring Yosemite Falls, Half Dome and Glacier Point.  The destination of queens and presidents alike, this distinctive Yosemite hotel offers a perfect balance of history, hospitality and elegance."

We came for the history! In the early 1920's, Stephen Mather, the National Park Service Director, realized that the Park needed accommodations to suit the affluent and influential traveler. The concept of a hotel such as this became the impetus to draw such a visitor. The visitors with money would help the entire National Park System grow. He really needed their support.
In July 1925, Gilbert Stanley Underwood was selected as the architect. Due to its remote location, the construction of The Ahwahnee was the most complex trucking endeavor of its day. Over 5,000 tons of stone, 1,000 tons of steel, and 30,000 feet of timber were hauled over the challenging mountain roads. To protect The Ahwahnee from fire, a fate of many of the Park's earlier hotels, its wood-like facade is actually concrete, poured into rough-hewn wooden forms and stained to look like redwood (we found this fact to be awesome).
The site, once a village of the native Miwoks, was chosen because of its exposure to the sun and stunning views of Yosemite's icons.

Our tour guide, Cory, made the Ahwahnee come alive for us. Its history fills books. This lesson was incredibly informative and we highly recommend it.
Our evening's history lesson was about Galen Clark who came to Yosemite at the age of 42, thinking he was going to die soon, due to poor health. In 1855, he arrived and though not the first to see the Mariposa Grove, he is believed to be the first known to count and measure the giant Sequoias. This humble carpenter would eventually spend the remaining 50 years of his life publicizing and protecting the Big Trees and Yosemite—seeing it both as a state grant and a national park. Pete Devine told Galen's story so believably. We really were on the edge of our seats, absorbing it all.

History can be found in Yosemite's Cemetery, as well. In 1910, a few days before his 96th birthday, Clark died at his daughter’s home in Oakland, California. Decades earlier he had chosen his final resting place not far from Yosemite Falls. He dug his own grave, planted seedling sequoias from the Mariposa Grove Sequoias and selected a granite marker. Today, we stood at Galen Clark’s gravesite and marvelled at the growth of those sequoias amidst the expanse of his conservation efforts. The Park is the majestic place that draws millions each year, due to a handful of people who saw its worth. Galen Clark was one of those Yosemite champions. What a perfect person to learn about while on this trip.