Lafayette Bunnell
Lafayette Bunnell was born in Rochester, New York, in 1824 and lived in Buffalo and later Detroit in his youth. He was the son of a doctor and the nephew of another, and studied to become one himself. His uncle encouraged him to seek his fortune in the west. When the War with Mexico began Bunnell enlisted in the Army, serving as an orderly. Bunnell worked in the American hospital in Cordova during the war, and mustered out after its end.
Deciding to follow his uncle’s advice, and spurred further by the confirmation of the news of gold being found in California, Bunnell headed west. Bunnell traveled through Texas and Mexico to the California gold fields. He first saw Yosemite on his trip to the gold fields from a distance, but in describing it to miners he could find out nothing about it other than it was in Indian territory.
The gold rush of 1849 drew over 40,000 to the region and pushed much of the Indian population from the areas where they resided. Conflicts between small parties increased throughout the year 1850. In December 1850 the Ahwahneechee and Chowchilla tribes raided a post on the Fresno River. The California State Militia formed a battalion in Mariposa County to retaliate. Bunnell was a member of the battalion which was mustered by the Mariposa County Sheriff with command given to James Savage, whose post had been the one raided.
The battalion crossed the Merced on its route to attack the raiders and on its way spotted Yosemite in the distance. Later Bunnell was to confront the massive rock now known as El Capitan. Bunnell was inspired to have the men vote on a name for the valley, and is thus credited with having named it Yosemite.
Bunnell Point in Little Yosemite Valley is named for Bunnell, who again served in the Army as a surgeon during the Civil War. After the war he lived in Minnesota, where he wrote several books, including Discovery of the Yosemite and the Indian War of 1851 Which Led to That Event in 1880.