The Eastern Sierra region's first human inhabitants were the paiute (or "pah-ute" as they were first known) indian tribes. These tribes' customs and languages did not resemble those of most California Indians: rather, they were more related to those of the Great Basin tribes to the East, in the areas now known as Nevada and Utah. However, the tribes of the Mono Basin and Owens Valley were unique and somewhat isolated. They had very little contact with early explorers and settlers to the Far West, because the Sierra Nevada in its central section presented a major obstacle. Travel and migration routes were some distance to the north or south of the Mono Basin and Owens Valleys.
In 1826, Jedediah Strong Smith crossed the Sierra, most likely near Ebbett's Pass . Then in May and June of 1827 he returned eastward, in a quest to find a route from California to the Great Salt Lake region. His journal and map were never found, but it is believed that he crossed through the area of the Walker River drainage, and south of Walker Lake into Nevada.
In 1833, Joseph R. Walker passed through the Mono Basin area, on his way to Monterey. There is no record, however, of his having seen Mono Lake. The following year he returned across the Sierra to the south, through the pass that is now named after him. Walker continued north through the Owens Valley, and in 1834 he led several wagon trains back westward by using this route which leads to the Central Valley of California via the Kern River region.
By the early 1840's, Sonora Pass was being used by emigrants to the fabled rich farmlands of Central California. This difficult route was pioneered by the Bartleson-Bidwell party in 1841.
In January of 1844, John C. Fremont came through Nevada, and proceeded to explore up and down both sides of the Sierra Nevada Range. He and his fellow travelers discovered several rivers flowing eastward. The first, now known as the Truckee river, was originally named Salmon Trout River by Fremont. To the south, he named the next river after one of his guides, Kit Carson, who in 1830 had explored the streams and rivers of the western side for fur-trapping prospects. Continuing further south, the next river he named after his other guide, Joe Walker. During that year, the Fremont expedition, including Carson, Walker, Richard Owens and Ed Kern, mapped and named many geographical features and places in the Eastern Sierra.
Many wagon trains were passing through on their way to the fertile fields nearer the West Coast. The region can be unforgiving and the journey was difficult for many, including the famous Donner Party in 1846, and the Bennett and Manley parties who were marooned in Death Valley in 1849. Still, the paiutes who lived in the region, who were peaceable people, remained relatively undisturbed as California reached statehood in 1850.
In 1852, an Army patrol was chasing Indians out of Yosemite Valley.
A battle ensued in a canyon above Mono Lake, along the path that had been
a trade route between the Yosemite Indians and the Mono (Kuzedika) Paiutes.
Today, this canyon is known as Bloody Canyon, and it was also at this time
that Mono Lake was finally "discovered" and named. Gold flakes were
also discovered by some of the men, and soon, life in the tranquil Eastern
Sierra region would be changed forever.