History
The name "Hetch Hetchy" comes from the Native American Sierra Miwok language and refers to a grass with edible seeds that grows in the valley. It was first used by Joseph Screech, who in 1850 became the first non-Native American to enter the valley. Screech noted that Paiutes had formerly inhabited Hetch Hetchy and still gathered seeds, roots and acorns in and around the valley. Acorns are available in the valley, but are rare elsewhere in the high country.
In 1867 Charles F. Hoffmann of the California Geological Survey conducted the first survey of the valley.
Read more about this topic: Hetch Hetchy Valley
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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