Mariposa Battalion

Instead, James D. Savage was chosen as major, primarily due to his scouting abilities.

Other officers elected included M. B. Lewis as Adjutant, A. Brunson as surgeon and Vincent Hailor as guide.

[4] A camp was established two and a half miles (four kilometers) from the town of Mariposa near Savage's Agua Fria trading post.

As part of the Mariposa War, the battalion entered the Yosemite Valley and burned Native American villages and food supplies and forcibly relocated people from their homes in the valley.

[5][2][6][7] To Tu Ya "Maria" Lebrado Ydrte was one of the survivors and later retold the story of the massacre.