Mariposa Battalion was a California State Militia unit formed in 1851 to fight the Yosemites and Chowchillas in the Mariposa War. After a force under Mariposa County Sheriff James Burney was found unequal to the task of defeating the Indians, Burney made an appeal to Governor John McDougal for help. This led to authorizing an organization of two hundred men into the Mariposa Battalion. A camp was established two and one-half miles from the town of Mariposa near Savage's Agua Fria trading post.