Yosemite Bed and Breakfast

Mariposa County Fair

by jstark

Held on Labor Day weekend every year! This is so much fun if you are able to vacation around this time of year! All of the locals and and animals and just a plain "Good Ol' Time". There is a destruction derby ,which we compete in, a horse show and of coarse a rodeo! Many exihibits with local veggie growers and photographers! Jr. Livestock Auction! and much much more.

The Spanish Word for Butterfly

by riorich55

"Where Should We Stay When We Visit Yosemite"

Getting prepared for a vacation has always been a lot of fun for me. Since I was about 10 years old, I've always enjoyed the logistics planning when it comes to family vacations. Although some people might find this a bit strange it puts an image in my mind what I think I'll be seeing on the trip, so that when I get to a destination it's a little bit like I've been there before.

When deciding on where we should stay in the Yosemite area, I first started out with the facilities inside the National Park. After computing the cost of a 3 day stay, I quickly ruled that out. I next ventured just my search to about a 45 minute driving radius outside of any of the entrances and happened upon Mariposa.

"A Little History"

The following is taken from The Butterfly Cafe's website where we had dinner our first night in town.

"Mariposa is said to have been named by a Spanish Priest and a 25 man troop led by Gabriel Moraga in 1806. When he and his expedition came across creek laden with thousands of yellow butterflies, they named the area “Mariposa” which was the Spanish word for butterflies.

The dogface butterfly is California’s official state insect. The dogface is also endangered and indigenous to this area.

This area was once home to the famous Mexican Bandito Joaquim Murietta. Murrietta led a band of outlaws between 1850 and 1853 and were accredited with stealing over $100,000 in gold, over 100 horses, killing 19 people, and murdering 3 lawmen. He did this while out running 3 posses."

Basaic Mariposa Page

by Basaic

"Mariposa"

Mariposa is a very nice little town in a scenic part of Central California. It is located at the intersection of California Highways 49 and 140 a short distance Southwest of Yosemite National Park. Mariposa has a population of around 1500 and is the county seat of Mariposa County. While you are here, check out the California State Mining and Mineral Museum.

Mariposa

by WulfstanTraveller

Mariposa is the seat of Mariposa County and a major Gold Rush site. It was founded in the early 1850s by famed explorer/soldier John C. Fremont, it was for some time one of the leading early gold-mining centers, and it and played a prominent role in the early gold/mineral rights history of the US, with some important legal decisions being made in its courthouse.

The courthouse (see my tip on it) was built by Fremont in 1854 and still is the county courthouse.

"Mother of Counties"

Mariposa County itself was originally the largest county in the state in 1850, covering a huge area down to Los Angeles in the south and Monterey in the west. Over the years, portions of the county separated from it, either to join other counties, including Los Angeles or San Benito, which is near San Jose and Monterey, or to form entire new counties such as Merced and Madera. For a demonstration and map, see the Mariposa County court website:http://mariposacourt.org/HistoryMother.htm .

"Mariposa Today"

Mariposa today is a small unincorporated "town" mostly surviving on tourism. The Gold Rush history and wilderness, including nearby Yosemite park, are the major reasons people come to visit the area. Many of the newcomers include retirees and there are practically no jobs in the region.

Mariposa

by Yaqui

"Lovely folks!"

Unfortunatley, I didn't take hardly any pictures. I did manage to collect postcards along the way on our adventure with a baby in tow. We stayed here for the evening since it's not far from Yosemite National Park. We just strolled along the historic street checking out all the lovely shops. We stopped into one of the local stores and bought some river sandals. We wanted to be comfortal, cool and have something sturdy on our soles. We bought some really nice ones that allowed us to hike through rivers and on rocks without our feet hurting one bit. We used these sandals through out the whole trip. We stayed at the Mariposa Lodge and it was very comfortable. I cannot remember where we ate though.....lol! I guess my number one need was to take care of our little Nick at the time.

Established in 1850 due to the Gold Rush days, Mariposa was one of the largest counties in California. It's name Mariposa derives from Spanish, "Butterfly!". In 1907 railroad track was laid in and it brought miners, supplies, logs, and supplies that passed through to Yosemite Valley to Mariposa. Once the need was filled until 1945, the train helped ultilize in bringing in tourist.