The Potwisha people, a band of Monache (also known as Western Mono), originally lived here. When the first white settler, Hale Tharp, arrived in 1858, this site was home to about 500 villagers and had been inhabited for five centuries. Pictographs (rock paintings) and grinding holes used by tribeswomen to make acorn meal can still be seen at the picnic area, about 5 miles northeast of the visitor center.
In the 1860s, diseases introduced by white settlers from Three Rivers quickly killed many of the Native Americans, and within a decade the village had been abandoned.
In 1873 pioneer Alfred Everton injured his leg by getting it caught in his own bear trap. He lay down here to recuperate from his injury, hence the rock’s name.
