http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/lester_yo-semite.html
THE YO-SEMITE,
ITS HISTORY, ITS SCENERY, ITS DEVELOPMENT.
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By JOHN ERASTUS LESTER.
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Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1873, by John Erastus Lester, in the
office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
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PROVIDENCE:
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR.
1873.
Providence Press Co., Printers.
http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/origin_of_word_yosemite.html
Origin of the Word Yosemite
by Daniel E. Anderson
(December 2004; last updated July 2011)
Gresham’s Law of Information: Bad information drives out good. No matter how long ago a correction for a particular error may have appeared in print or online, it never seems to catch up with the ever-widening distribution of the error.
What does Yosemite mean?
Yosemite Valley looking west from Yosemite Village
The Yosemite People called Yosemite
Ahwahnee or “mouth,” because the valley
walls resembled a gaping bear’s mouth.
Yohhe'meti (Southern Miwok) or Yos.s.e'meti (Central Miwok) originally referred to the Indian tribe that lived in Yosemite Valley. Yosemite means literally “those who kill” (Yos, “to kill,” the modifier e, “one who,” and the plural suffix -meti). It was used by the surrounding Miwok tribes. The Yosemite people were referred to as killers by these surrounding tribes, who feared them. The Yosemite tribe, led by Chief Tenaya, were composed of renegades from multiple tribes, including Mono Paiute from the eastern Sierra. The Paiute were traditional enemies of the more-peaceful Miwok people.