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29-625: The East and West forks of Cherry Creek combine just a couple of miles before reaching the lake, while the North Fork joins the East Fork about 10 miles (16 km) earlier. All three forks begin in the Emigrant Wilderness and all of them flow roughly southwest. The North Fork's source is Emigrant Lake, which is at an elevation of 8,800 ft (2,680 m). The East Fork's source is a couple of miles (~6 – 8 km) southwest of

58-582: A gaping mouth." Those living in awahni were known as the Awahnichi (also spelled Awani , Ahwahnechee , and similar variants), meaning "people who live in awahni". The naming of the Ahwahnee Hotel was derived from the Miwok word. The authenticated Southern Sierra Miwok villages are: After Euro-Americans entered Yosemite Valley and the adjacent Sierras, and established Yosemite National Park ,

87-747: A portion of the Central Valley's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and adjacent plains in modern southern Sacramento County , eastern Solano County , and northern San Joaquin County . They spoke Plains Miwok , a language of the Miwokan branch of the Utian language family. Classical anthropologists recorded a number of specific Plains Miwok villages, but it remained for work by Bennyhoff in the 1950s and 1960s to recognize multi-village territorial local tribes as

116-520: Is approximately 140 miles (230 km) east of San Francisco, California and 50 miles (80 km) south of Lake Tahoe . The northeastern third of the Wilderness is dominated by volcanic ridges and peaks; the remaining areas consist of many sparsely vegetated, granitic ridges interspersed with numerous lakes and meadows. Elevations range from below 5,000 feet (1,500 m) near Cherry Reservoir to 11,570 feet (3,527 m) at Leavitt Peak , but

145-696: Is composed of earth and rock-fill and has a height of 315 ft (96 m) above the original streambed. It was built by San Francisco City and County and the Modesto Irrigation District and Turlock Irrigation District. It was completed in 1956 ; 68 years ago  ( 1956 ) . The lake stores water for the Hetch Hetchy Project , which supplies drinking water to the San Francisco Bay Area, Modesto and Turlock districts. Recreation available at

174-542: The Mono County line and flows into Huckleberry Lake several miles (~6 – 8 km) later. The East and North forks meet several miles (~6 – 8 km) downstream of the lake. There are no lakes on the West Fork. Eleanor Creek, which forms Lake Eleanor , flows into Cherry Creek several miles (~6 – 8 km) downstream from Cherry Valley Dam. Lake Eleanor is another Hetch Hetchy Project facility. Cherry Creek flows into

203-627: The Mono Lake Basin, and entered Yosemite from the east. The Mono name for the Southern Miwok was qohsoo?moho. Miwoks occupied the lower western foothills of the Sierras and entered from the west. Disputes between the two tribes were violent, and the residents of the valley, in defense of their territory, were considered to be among the most aggressive of any tribes in the area. When encountered by immigrants of European descent ,

232-486: The Tuolumne River several miles (~6 – 8 km) later. This campground offers sites on both reservation and first come, first served basis. They have food storage containers, picnic tables and fire rings, with grates for cooking. Some sites offer beautiful lake vistas. The roads through the campground are paved. There are bathroom facilities but no showers. Running water is located every few campsites. The dam

261-653: The Granite Dome area and lakes such as Emigrant Lake, Huckleberry Lake, and Lake Lertora. Valley and Sierra Miwok The Plains and Sierra Miwok were once the largest group of California Indian Miwok people , Indigenous to California . Their homeland included regions of the Sacramento Valley , San Joaquin Valley , and the Sierra Nevada . The Plains and Sierra Miwok traditionally lived in

290-671: The Indian people at that mission, and by 1830 they had reached 42% of the mission's population. In 1834 and 1835, hundreds of Plains Miwok survivors of the Central Valley's 1833 malaria epidemic were baptized at Mission San José. By the end of 1835, Plains Miwok was the native language of 60% of the Indian people at the mission. Between 1834 and 1838 the Alta California missions were secularized (closed as religious and agricultural communes). Many Plains Miwoks moved back to their home areas, where between 1839 and 1841 John Sutter played

319-636: The Plains and Sierra Miwok is one of the most extensive in the state. These groups participate in the general cultural pattern of Central California. Miwok mythology is similar to other natives of Central and Northern California. The Plains and Sierra Miwok believe in animal and human spirits, and see the animal spirits as their ancestors. Coyote is seen as their ancestor and creator god . There were four definite regional and linguistic sub-divisions: Plains Miwok, Northern Sierra Miwok, Central Sierra Miwok, and Southern Sierra Miwok. The Plains Miwok inhabited

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348-766: The Sonora area. In 1931, the United States Forest Service designated this area for primitive management as the Emigrant Basin Primitive Area. On January 4, 1975, the Emigrant Basin Primitive Area was designated as the Emigrant Wilderness. Since 1975, 18 small dams in the Emigrant Wilderness have been the source of an unresolved political debate. The dams were constructed by anglers who tightly stacked nearby stones and boulders. Some support proposals to maintain

377-555: The dams while others feel the dams should be allowed to decay in keeping with the Wilderness Act . A decision by the Stanislaus National Forest to compromise and leave some dams to naturally deteriorate while allowing maintenance of others was overturned in court in 2006, reigniting some of the controversy. The Forest Service chose not to appeal and the dams will gradually disappear. From Sonora Pass in

406-485: The elevation range of most of the popular areas is 7,500 to 9,000 feet (2,300 to 2,700 m). Precipitation averages 50 inches (1,300 mm) annually, 80% of it in the form of snow. Snowpacks typically linger into June, sometimes later following very wet winters. Summers are generally dry and mild, but afternoon thundershowers occur periodically and nighttime temperatures could dip below freezing anytime. Various native peoples occupied this area for 10,000 years, spending

435-512: The first emigrant group to travel the West Walker route over Emigrant Pass , continuing through a portion of the present-day Emigrant Wilderness. Several more emigrant parties were enticed by officials from Sonora to use this route in 1853, but it was a very difficult passage with many hardships and was soon abandoned. Relief Valley and Relief Reservoir were so named because of the assistance some emigrants received there from residents of

464-530: The lake includes, boating , skiing , swimming and fishing . Human contact with the water is allowed because the water has to be filtered anyway. Water from the lake powers the Dion R. Holm Power Plant, a 165 MW hydroelectric facility. Cherry Lake has a warm-Mediterranean climate featuring warm to sometimes hot dry summers, with rare small thunderstorms, and cool, snowy, and rainy winters that receive above average precipitation for California due to its location on

493-601: The local groups off against one another in order to gain control of the lower Sacramento Valley. Other Plains Miwok families remained in the San Francisco Bay area, intermarried with Ohlone , Patwin , and Yokuts peoples, and found work on local Mexican ranchos . The Northern Miwok inhabited the upper watersheds of the Mokelumne River and the Calaveras River . One settlement site is within

522-723: The lower banks of the Merced River and the Chowchilla River , as well as Mariposa Creek . They spoke Southern Sierra Miwok , a language in the Utian linguistic group. The Merced River flows from the High Sierras , through Yosemite Valley , and into the San Joaquin Valley near present-day near Livingston . The Mono tribe people (considered Northern Paiute ) occupied the higher eastern Sierras and

551-514: The neighboring Southern Sierra Miwok tribe referred to the Yosemite Valley residents as "killers". It is from this reference and a confusion over the word for "grizzly bear" that Bunnell named the valley Yosemite. The native residents called the valley awahni . Today, there is some debate about the original meaning of the word, since the Southern Miwok language is virtually extinct, but recent Southern Miwok speakers defined it as "place like

580-645: The north, the Pacific Crest Trail follows a scenic route at the east edge of the Emigrant Wilderness along the high ridge past Leavitt Peak, turns further east from Kennedy Canyon to Bond Pass, and then heads south down Jack Main Canyon. Many other trails criss-cross the Emigrant Wilderness, from Leavitt Meadow on the East side, Kennedy Meadow on the West side, and other trailheads. Highlights include cliffs in

609-553: The present day Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park near Volcano . They spoke Northern Sierra Miwok, a language in the Utian linguistic group. The authenticated Northern Sierra Miwok villages are: The Central Sierra Miwok inhabited the upper watersheds of the Stanislaus River and the Tuolumne River . They spoke Central Sierra Miwok , a language in the Utian linguistic group. The authenticated Central Sierra Miwok villages are: The Southern Miwok inhabited

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638-438: The residents were of both Paiute-Mono and Miwok origin. They had either fought to a stalemate or agreed to peaceful coexistence and had intermixed to a limited extent. Alfred L. Kroeber estimated there to be 9,000 Plains and Sierra Miwok combined in 1770, but this is an arguably low estimate. Richard Levy estimated there were 17,800. In 1848 their population was estimated at 6,000, in 1852 at 4,500, in 1880 at 100, and in 1910

667-567: The signature land-use organization of the Plains Miwok. The published specific village locations were: Among the important landholding local tribes at the time of Spanish colonization in California were: The majority of the members of the Plains Miwok local tribes moved to colonial Franciscan Mission San José , in some cases through attraction and in other cases through intimidation, between 1812 and 1833. By 1815 they represented 14% of

696-700: The south, the Toiyabe National Forest and the Hoover Wilderness on the east, and State Route 108 over Sonora Pass on the north. It is an elongated area that extends northeast about 25 miles (40 km) in length and up to 15 miles (24 km) in width. Watersheds drain to the Stanislaus and Tuolumne Rivers . The Emigrant Wilderness area, which is a glaciated landscape, is entirely within Tuolumne County, California and

725-725: The summer and early autumn hunting in the high country and trading with groups from the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. The most recent groups were the Sierra Miwok of the western slope and Piute of the Great Basin. Following the discovery of gold in 1848, large numbers of miners and settlers came to the Sierra and the native cultures quickly declined. In September–October 1852, the Clark-Skidmore party became

754-555: The traditions today. The original Plains and Sierra Miwok people world view included Shamanism . One form this took was the Kuksu religion that was evident in Central and Northern California, which included elaborate acting and dancing ceremonies in traditional costume, an annual morning ceremony, puberty rites of passage , shamanic intervention with the spirit world, and an all-male society that met in subterranean dance rooms. Kuksu

783-775: The western Sierra Nevada between the Fresno River and Cosumnes River , in the eastern Central Valley of California . As well as in the northern Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta region at the confluences of the Cosumnes River, Mokelumne River , and Sacramento River . In the present day, many Sierra Miwok live in or close to their traditional territories and Indian rancherias , including at: The Plains and Sierra Miwok lived by hunting and gathering , and lived in small local tribes, without centralized political authority. They are skilled at basketry and continue

812-437: The western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Its elevation of 4600 feet is high enough for snowfall in the winters but not high enough for significant amounts that are the only form of precipitation during the cooler months. Emigrant Wilderness The Emigrant Wilderness of Stanislaus National Forest is a formally designated wilderness area in the Sierra Nevada . It is bordered by Yosemite National Park on

841-505: Was shared with other indigenous ethnic groups of Central California, such as the Pomo , Maidu , Ohlone , Esselen , and northernmost Yokuts . However, Kroeber observed less "specialized cosmogony " in the Miwok, which he termed one of the "southern Kuksu-dancing groups", in comparison to the Maidu and other northern California tribes. The record of myths, legends, tales, and histories from

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