History of the Yosemite area drainages of two river watersheds. Preservation of watersheds was very important to Muir, who said "you cannot save Yosemite Valley without saving its Sierran fountains." The State of California retained control of Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees. Muir and 181 others founded the Sierra Club in 1892, in part to lobby for the transfer of the valley and the grove into the national park. Like Yellowstone National Park before it, Yosemite National Park was at first administered by various units of the United States Army. Captain Abram Wood led the 4th Cavalry Regiment into the new
Little Yosemite Valley their leeward side. Half Dome is a granite dome in Yosemite National Park located at the northwestern end of Little Yosemite Valley at — possibly Yosemite's most familiar rock formation. The granite crest rises more than above the Yosemite Valley floor at Tenaya Canyon and above the floor of Little Yosemite Valley. The trail to Half Dome branches to the north from the main Little Yosemite Valley trail near the ranger station, out houses and campground. Moraine Dome is a granite dome in Yosemite National Park along the northern margin of Little Yosemite Valley at which rises to an elevation