It was during the throes of the Civil War , with lots of bloody and brutal fighting still ahead , when President Abraham Lincoln turned his attention to the Mariposa Grove and the Yosemite Valley areas of California . Lincoln 's signature on the Yosemite Land Grant bill on June 30 , 1864 , set a precedent for the preservation of the young country 's wilderness . That act 150 years ago was the first instance of the U.S. government setting aside scenic wilderness for public use and preservation . The act put both tracts of land in trust for the state of California , and it set the stage for the 1872 establishment of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming , Montana and Idaho as the first national park . Calling it a `` remarkable message of hope for a nation embroiled in a bloody civil war , '' National Park Service director Joseph Jarvis suggested Lincoln 's actions may have been `` assuring the nation of better times ahead , as if he knew that Americans would need places where they could go and find peace in the perfection of the natural world . '' The land around the grove and the valley became Yosemite National Park in 1890 . Both pieces of land were re-acquired by the federal government and combined with the national park in 1906 , which created the park much as we know it today . Yosemite now hosts 3.7 million visitors annually , and the numbers are expected to swell for anniversary events through October . But the glorious groves of ancient sequoias , spectacular waterfalls and 750 miles of trails that are now Yosemite National Park 's 1,200 square miles are a joy for travelers to visit any time of year . Read more about Yosemite : A crown jewel of the national parks . Click through the gallery for a visual history of Yosemite . Do you have fond memories of Yosemite National Park ? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below .
The land grant that first protected Yosemite turns 150 this year . Federal government moved to save Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove . Yosemite now hosts nearly 4 million visitors annually .