- Lafayette Bunnell
Lafayette Houghton Bunnell (1824-1903), an explorer of
Yosemite Valley , was born in Rochester, New York.History
In 1851, Bunnell was a member of the
Mariposa Battalion that became the non-indigenous discoverers of theYosemite Valley . Discovery was not the main purpose of the trip: the Battalion rode out in search of Native American tribal leaders involved in recent raids on American settlements. Bunnell explored the Valley and named many of its features. "Discovery of the Yosemite, and the Indian war of 1851" (1880) contains his account of his exploration and the actions of the Battalion. The majority of what is known aboutChief Tenaya and the Ahwahnees was from Bunnell's written accounts. Bunnell was the first person who encountered Chief Tenaya who subsequently wrote a book. [William H. Howard later wrote an account in cite book|title=The Last of the California Rangers|first=Jill Lilie Emma|last=Cossley-Batt|url=http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/california_rangers/|publisher=Funk & Wagnalls Company|date=1928]Dr Bunnell later served as a surgeon in the
American Civil War .Bunnell Point at the east end ofLittle Yosemite Valley is named after BunnellFact|date=April 2008.External links
* [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/consrvbib:@FIELD(NUMBER(vg20)) Library of Congress summary of Bunnell's book]
* [http://esnips.com/web/YosemiteIndiansWebResearch Dr. Bunnell's book on PDF file for easy research]References
*Hank Johnston, "Yosemite Yesterdays" v. 2 chapter 1 has a biography of Dr. Bunnell
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