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HETCH HETCHY — THE MIWOKS AND DESTINY

Three thousand years ago all that was the Yosemite Region one of the most beautiful sites on this Earth was Miwok Land. The Great Spirit bestowed on those the Spirit loves most the best of everything. Then came the Whites and all that was good turned into a nightmare.
This pattern has been repeated all over the world - the greedy white person with the intense love for greed, materialism, colonist corrupt and mentality have brought misery to good innocent people who always knew better for thousands of years before the night mare stood on their door step.
Around 1833 Captain James Savage and the Mariposa Battalion entered the Yosemite Valley. First they prayed to the Miwoks to give them food and water. It was just a matter of months before they then preyed upon the Miwoks.
These scumbags under the leadership of Captain James Savage drove out Chief Tanaya and the Awahneechees and forced them to relocate to the Fresno River Reservation.
News of the evil doings of Captain Savage spread far and wide - Whites love what they heard and the indigenous people lived in fear of their lives on ancestral land that was given to them by God.
If one asked Lewis and Clark they would tell you how pristine the land and water they laid their eyes were. The White Men just had the privilege to see the good that was and did not know the difference.
The Lower Hotel was built in 1856 at the base of Sentinel Rock a holy site that to this day the First People hold close to their hearts. Tourist started pouring in and Milton and Houston Mann completed the first trail into the Yosemite Valley from South Fork (Wawona).
Galen Clark explored the Giant Sequoias in 1852 and saw the need to protect them. He was one of the first homesteaders in the Yosemite Valley.
The magnificence of Yosemite Valley prompted President Lincoln in 1864 to sign the Yosemite Land Grant into law a fact unprecedented in U.S. history. The Army continued to care for federal lands and at a later date the National Park Service would be formed to Preserve and Protect in 1916. Mariposa Grove that still stands in splendor and Yosemite Valley were granted to the State of California.
John Muir was a White man but his love for Muir Woods and Yosemite Valley was second to none. John Muir arrived in San Francisco and lives by Lobos Creek in a home just outside present day Presidio of San Francisco. John Muir saw the Yosemite Valley in 1868 and the rest in history.
In 1869 the Leidig and Black Hotel was built. In 1872 John Conway builds a Stage Road on the North Side of Yosemite Valley. The Great Inyo Eathquake sent the first of many messages to the transgressors of Yosemite - the homesteaders as well as the many tourists.
In 1876 John Muir publishes his first article on the destruction of High Sierra Meadows by sheep referring to them as "hoofed locusts".
In 1878 Yosemite Valley establishes the first Public Camp Grounds near the site of present day Ahwahnee. Tunnel is cut in the Toulumne GroveÕs Dead Giant.
1882 the Tioga Road bisects the park east to west. John Conway builds yet another road to Glacier Point.
In 1890 John Muir and Robert Underwood convince Congress to create the Yosemite National Park. Yosemite Grant still remains under the California State Control.
In 1891 the first telephone lines are installed in Yosemite. Captain Wood the first acting Superintendent of Yosemite National Park takes charge of the new Yosemite National Park. The Army is stationed in Wawona. In 1892 John Muir was elected as President of the Sierra Club to help and secure federal protection for all of Yosemite. California Fish and Game Commission introduce trout to Yosemite lakes.
In 1895 the Wawana fish hatchery was constructed.
In 1896 firearms were prohibited in the Yosemite National Park.
In 1897 rock steps replaced the wooden ladders at Vernal Falls.
Indiana schoolteachers David and Jenny Curry open Curry Camping Company a 7 tent camping resort. Norwegian painter Chris Jorgensen set up studio at Yosemite Valley and becomes in first artist in residence.
The Holmes brothers from San Jose drive the first car into Yosemite. Today millions of vehicles pollute the Yosemite Valley.
In 1901 the Sierra Club holds its first annual outing in Toulumne Meadows.
Artist Harry Cassie Best 1902 opens BestÕs Studios (now the Ansel Adams Gallery) in the Yosemite Valley. His daughter Virginia later marries famed Yosemite photographer Ansel Adams. J.M. Hutchings dies in a carriage accident on Big Oak Flat Road.
In 1903 the Sierra Club builds LeConte Memorial Lodge in the Valley. Congress denies San FranciscoÕs first application to the United States Department of Interior to build the Hetch Hetchy Dam. John Muir and President Theodore Roosevelt visit Yosemite Valley and discuss Yosemite Grant recession with California Governor George Pardee. The U.S. Weather Bureau installed weather instruments at Yosemite Valley.
In 1905 Yosemite Valley Park area is reduced. California gives up the (Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Big Tree Grove) to the United States. Last hold up of a Yosemite Stagecoach.
1906 Congress accepts recession of the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove back to Federal jurisdiction creating a unified and protected National Park. Buffalo Soldiers continue to patrol the National Parks. The 1906 Earthquake levels the City of San Francisco. City leaders and other powerful entities apply for Hetch Hetchy water rights. Yosemite experiences a decline in visitors from 10,000 in 1905 to 5,414 in 1906.
In 1908 Hetch Hetchy water rights are granted to San Francisco. The Sierra Club initiates its first significant environmental battle and loses the battle. John Muir suffers a defeat that will lead to his death.
In 1912 Sierra Club purchases Soda Springs property at Tuolumne Meadows. Yosemite Hospital is built.
President Woodrow Wilson signs the Raker Act in 1913 authorizing the damming and flooding of Hetch Hetch Valley as a reservoir. Hetch Hetchy Valley is the spiritual ground of the Miwoks. Earlier this land was stolen from the Miwok. Whites see no evil with the desecration of these holy grounds.
In 1914 John Muir dies on December 24 in a Los Angeles hospital. Civilians replace the Calvary mostly Buffalo Soldier an all Black outfit to maintain Yosemite Valley.
In 1915 Hetch Hetchy dam construction begin. Today in 2004 the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission will spend over 4 billion dollars to replace, repair and maintain the water pumps, pipes, and other infrastructure that makes this 89 years operation work.
1916 Congress creates the National Park Service to Preserve and Protect the National Parks. Earlier the Standard Operating Procedures of the Buffalo Soldiers used by the Buffalo Soldiers will be used by the NPS to operate Yosemite Valley and the National Parks. Stephen T. Mather is appointed the NPS Director.
1919 Lt. J.S. Krull lands the first plane in Yosemite Valley.
California elk are introduced into Yosemite Valley in 1920.
As epidemic of hoof and mouth disease attacks Yosemite deer population in 1924.
In 1925 the Yosemite Park and the Curry Company is formed consolidating the Curry Camping Company and Yosemite National Park Company.
In 1926 the Yosemite Museum opens its doors.
In 1927 the Ahwahnee Hotel opens its doors.
In 1928 Maria Lebrado one of the last of the tribal Ahwahneechees gives an oral account of the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Battalion to California historian Carl Parcher Russel.
In 1932 the Wawona Basin and 8,785 acres is added to the National Park. San Francisco lawyer and climber Dick Leonard organizes the Sierra Club Rock-Climbing Section.
In 1934 Hetch Hetchy clean drinking water flows into San Francisco. It was never meant to supply clean water to other counties as it does today. One of the reason the City calls itself the City and County of San Francisco.
In 1938 President Franklin D. Roosevelt accompanied by the all Black Buffalo Soldiers visits Yosemite and Mariposa Grove. The President also visits the Presidio of San Francisco.
In 1942 U.S. Army Signal Corps used National Park Service facilities at Wawona and Badger Pass as special training schools. Total of armed forces men who visit Yosemite are 23,272.
In 1943 the Ahwahnee Hotel is converted to a hospital for the United States Navy.
In 1949 the first helicopter rescue is carried on from Benson Lake and an injured boy flown out.
In 1951 the first airplane planting of trout in Yosemite Lakes takes place.
1954 over 1 million people visit Yosemite Valley.
In 1961 Pioneer Yosemite History Center at Wawona opens to the public.
In 1966 the new Yosemite Valley Visitor Center is built.
In 1967 over two million people visit the Yosemite National Park.
In 1969 fire destroys Mountain House and Glacier Point Hotel. The Wawona Tunnel Tree topples due to winter snow load.
In 1970 the free shuttle bus begins at Yosemite Valley.
In 1971 Mirror Lake is dredged for the first time. Yosemite Institute an environmental education organization is founded. Prescribed burning of selected forest undergrowth begins.
1972 wilderness permits are required for backcountry hikers and campers.
1974 hang gliders are allowed to take off from Glacier Point. 170 flights are recorded.
1977 trailhead quota system launched to control backcountry use.
1980 the Yosemite General Management Plant addressing over use and best to preserve and protect Yosemite ValleyÕs environment is completed and approved.
1981 Peregrine Falcon chicks born in captivity are successfully reared in a nest on El Capitan.
1983 record snow year. First prescribed burn occurs in Mariposa Grove of Big Trees. Tioga Road opens on June 30, the latest recorded opening.
1984 Yosemite Valley is named to the World Heritage List. The California Wilderness Bill declares 89% of Yosemite National Park as wilderness.
1986 a herd of California bighorn sheep are reintroduced into the Yosemite Valley near Lee Vining Canyon. In 1987 3 million people visit Yosemite National Park.
In 1990 Yosemite National Park celebrates its centennial. Thousands of park acres burn.
From 1991 to date a number of important events continue to happen at Yosemite National Park.
Johnson the last Miwok and Native American who worked for the Yosemite National Park retired in 1997.
Barbara Jo Johnson wasted money building some facilities forcing the Sierra Club to challenge the National Park Service and expose the waste of money.
There were a couple of big fires and a couple of floods during the last 10 years.
The National Park Service keeps debating about the Brown Bears and how to keep them away from the tourist - the love the snacks and the beer.
Larry Yepez an American Indian who served our Nation and has won a Purple Heart cannot get a permanent job at the Yosemite National Park because on the inherent discrimination against people of color.
Millions visit Yosemite National Park and most of the tourists come to see the beauty that is and admire the creation of the Great Spirit.
Missing in the equation the Miwoks and the indigenous tribes who were driven from the land. Missing from the equation the daily discrimination the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission condones. Native Americans, Blacks, other people of color have to tolerate the anger and bias of the rednecks that bound in plenty in and around Yosemite National Park.
Hetch Hetchy operation continues to defy logic. All of the clean drinking water was meant to support the needs of San Franciscans. Today millions from the neighboring counties use and abuse the clean drinking water. The pay some but get more for the bargain.
The hydra-electric energy was created to serve the needs of San Franciscans but today serve the need of the people of Tulare and others who never ever paid for the construction. The Raiker Act has been shoved under the bushel and crooks use every trick from the book of corruption.
Soon the $3.6 billion construction to revamp and repair the whole Hetch Hetchy system will begin. It would be nice if the discriminators make up for the years they have been harsh to the Native Americans and employ those who are qualified and skilled.
Towards this end Mayor Gavin Newsom, the new anointed Director Susan Leal, Harlan Kelly, others should accommodate the indigenous people whose land and valley was stolen. The First People need jobs and have the ability to deliver.
The National Park Service at Yosemite gets a lot of money to monitor the clean water stored in the many dams and lakes. The NPS has fostered the Whip Cream mentality - favoring Whites and shunning others especially people of color. They are no different from the SFPUC and the discriminatory practices - nooses and all.
Very few of these buffoons know that the all Black Buffalo Soldiers looked after much of what is Yosemite Valley today and protected the environs at great risk. The Buffalo Soldiers built the first trails and wrote the first Standard Operation Procedures way before the White National Park Service was put in place in 1916.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission does not have in place an organization to monitor and make our present sewer system work safely without causing health and safety problems.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission continues to allow thousands of housing units to be built assuring crooks and developers free access to Hetch Hetchy clean water. It is a mockery when clean good water from Hetch Hetchy is used to flush toilets. This should not be the case. The same for energy which uses fossil fuel.
Every day over 180 million gallons of secondary effluents are flushed by Pier 80 that is not right. Much of it half treated. The right place is the Pacific Ocean but where is the Cross Town Tunnel. A city proposition approved it but the SFPUC did not implement the peopleÕs plan. The SFPUC talks the talks but does not walk the walk.
Hetch Hetchy electric power has been allowed to be controlled by Pacific Gas and Electric and they have on their side the very corrupt Senator Dianne Feinstein and her rich husband Richard Blum. Others like Don Fisher and Walter Shorestein.
The present San Francisco Public Utilities Commission lacks vision and is constantly trying to hood wink the people. The SFPUC has no vision and has abused the power vested in them. Only an act of God will help them and rescue them from the perils they have brought upon themselves.
From time to time I go before the SFPUC and cannot imagine how these fools conduct themselves. Many of the data reflected in the published material and the San Francisco Water web site is wrong. The over 2000 employees fail to deliver and the Hetch Hetchy side of the operation is the worst. Over 95% of the employees are white and this Whip Cream crap must come to an end.
Many SFPUC employees do not live in San Francisco and make over $100,000. There is no Accountability and Transparency. No one can trust them. The latest rate hike says it all.
In San Francisco many of us have been patient but the SFPUC must realize that the patience of the people is running out. The SFPUC better get their act together of forever hold their peace.

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