June 30, 2015 - On June 30th, 1864, President Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant Act which assigned Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Tree Grove to the protection of the State of California.
This historic legislation was not only the beginning of the California State Park System, but the seed of the National Park idea we know and love today.
Senator John Conness, who introduced the bill and for whom Mount Conness is named, famously stated that the grant areas would be, "for all public purposes worthless, but … constitute, perhaps, some of the greatest wonders of the world. The object and purpose is ... that the property shall be inalienable forever, and preserved and improved as a place of public resort."
Source: Yosemite National Park