A Brief History of Sequoia National Park    

Sequoia, California’s first and the nation's second oldest National Park, is located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and consists of more than 400,000 acres.  It attracts more than one million visitors annually.  Established in 1890, the Park is perhaps best known for the Giant Forest,  an immense stand of more than 8,000 colossal sequoia trees, including the General Sherman Tree, reputed to be the world's largest living thing.  In addition to the General Sherman Tree, which is as tall as a football field on end and with branches that are mini-trees in themselves, the Park is home to Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain in the United States outside of Alaska and one of the country’s most frequently climbed peaks.  The park also protects more than 200 caves, including its most famous, Crystal Cave. 

Indigenous peoples have traveled the forests of the Sequoia since before recorded history.  The first Native Americans to inhabit the area were a Paiute group (the Monaches or Western Monos), that migrated over the Sierra Nevada from the east near Mono Lake.  The Potwishas and the Wuksachis were subgroups of the Monaches who lived in the foothills near the lower Kaweah River.  Another subgroup, the nomadic Tubatulabals, settled near the Kern River.  From here, they would travel into the mountains of the Great Western Divide and as far as Mount Whitney.  

In 1806, Spaniard Gabriel Moraga was the first European to lead an expedition to Kings Canyon, discovering and naming the Kings River in honor of the Biblical Three Wise Men.  In 1827, trappers and explorers began to trickle through the lofty passes and deep valleys on each side of the Sierra.  The gold rush of 1849 drew many thousands of outsiders to California, searching for mineral wealth and beginning the exploration of the mountains.  In 1864, a scientific exploration to map and identify major geographic features led to the naming of Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the park.  

In 1873, famous naturalist John Muir visited Kings Canyon, which impressed him with its similarity to the terrain of his beloved Yosemite Valley.  In 1877, Muir climbed to Converse Basin, six miles north of Grant's Grove and discovered a sawmill established to process lumber from the Sequoia groves.  He found that the mills had cut down every mature tree but one in the basin, prompting a strong lobbying effort to save the trees.  Fueled by Muir's efforts and editorials in the Visalia Delta newspaper, president Benjamin Harrison signed the bill in 1890 that established Sequoia National Park as California’s first National Park, and protected it from further logging.  It is the second National Park, after Yellowstone.  

In 1940, Congress created Kings Canyon National Park in the area next to Sequoia.  As a World War II economy measure, Sequoia and Kings Canyon were managed jointly by the National Park Service and that successful policy continues today. 
 

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