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The canyon is known by the Miwok as leehameti meaning “mock orange place” for its Mock Orange (Philadelphus lewisii) bushes they use to make arrows. Two of Ahwahneechee Chief Tenaya’s three sons ran up this canyon to escape their captors, the Mariposa Battalion whose mission in 1851 was to clear the Yosemite Valley of Native Americans to make way for the gold rush. The third son was shot dead trying to escape. This escape is how the canyon got its US name.