This idyllic setting at Stoneman Bridge was not always this way.  In the summers of 1968 and the following year, occurred the momentous Stoneman Meadow riots. According to the Ahwahnee Hotel website dedication and the Fresno Daily Republican report the following incident occurred:Over-crowding of more than one-million visitors lead to urban confrontations between anti-Viet Nam War demonstrators, and Park Rangers. Out-numbered twenty-to-one, Rangers on horse-back were forcibly dragged off the mounts. The Mariposa Sheriff arrived, but the mob rolled his car over on its top in mid-span of the Stoneman Bridge. The officer inside hastily crawled out and retreated for cover in the woods. His 38 cal. service revolver fell into the hands of his pursuers who fired it several times into the air in the direction of Glacier Point overlook. Yosemite was under siege. In a way, it still is. Those ugly confrontations shocked the American psyche and fostered significant NPS policies limiting access to Yosemite, and initiation of urban police training requirements for Rangers and Naturalists.   Park planners then took steps to implement a Yosemite master plan that would eventually remove many structures from Yosemite Valley. This plan is still under review.