Humans may have visited the Yosemite area as long as 8,000 to 10,000 years ago.[1] By the time people started to settle Yosemite Valley 3,000 years ago, vegetation and game in the region was similar to that present today; the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada had acorns, deer, and salmon, while the eastern Sierra had pinyon nuts and obsidian.[2] Native American groups traveled between these two regions to trade and raid.