Indian tribes of the Southern Sierra
In native times, the parks were home to two distinctive Indian groups, the Western Mono and the Tubatulabal. The Balwisha division of the Shoshonean-speaking Western Mono inhabited the the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains between their summit and western foothills. The Kern River drainage was home to the Shoshonean-speaking Tubatulabal or Pitanisha. more...

Charles Young and the Buffalo Soldiers
Before 1916, a company of mounted cavalry troops were dispatched each summer from San Francisco's Presidio to patrol what is now Sequoia and Kings Canyon. In those early years, the summer of 1903 stands out as a monument to energy and commitment. This was the year that Captain (later Colonel) Charles Young and soldiers of the all-black troops I and M of the 9th Cavalry came to the Sierra. Young and his troopers completed the first road to the Giant Forest, making the grove easily accessible for the first time. On the day the road opened, modern tourism began in Sequoia National Park. more...

History of the parks
The full story of one week in 1890 when the Giant Forest was added to Sequoia National Park and the precursor to Kings Canyon sprang into existence may never be known. Through clever legislation, some unknown agents grew the two parks that now protect nearly half the remaining sequoia groves in the world. more...