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THE WONDERS OF THE YOSEMITE VALLEY,
AND OF
CALIFORNIA.
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THE YOSEMITE VALLEY
Cl;              ~~~~~4~' fet h.iov  the Sea.
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THE WTONDERS
OF THE
YOSEMITE VALLEY,
AND OF
CALIFORNIA.
SAMUEL KNEELAND, A.M., M.D.,
PROFESSOR OF ZOOLOGY IN THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY.
WITH ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS,
BY JOHN P. SOULE.
BOSTON:
ALEXANDER  MOORE.
LEE & SHEPIARD.
NEW YORK: LEE, SHEPARD & DILLINGHAM.
1872.
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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year IS71, by ALEXANOER MOORE, in the Office of the
Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
Photographic Illustrations, entered according to Act of Congress, in the year iS7o, by JohN P. SO'iLE, in
the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at W'ashington, D. C.
CAMBRIDGE:
PRESSWORK BY JOHN WILSON AND SON.
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TO ALL LOVERS OF THE GRAND AND BEAUTIFUL IN NATURE, AND
ESPECIALLY OF
MOUNTAIN SCENERY,
UNPARALLELED IN THE WORLD, THIS VOLUME IS
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.
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PREFACE.
ORTH AMERICA is certainly a favored land in its magnificent scenery
in its White and Green Mountains, Adirondacks, Appalachians, Rock)
Mountains and Sierra Nevada; in its great lakes; in its mighty rivers - the Mississippi, Missouri, Colorado, and their tributaries; in its cataracts   Niagara,
Genesee, Trenton, Ithaca, Moutmorenci, Minneliaha, and the grand cascades
of the Yosemite Valley; in its boundless prairies, magnificent forests, and variety
of the aspects of nature firom the tropics to the arctic regions. If it be possible
for grandeur of natural scenery alone to elevate the mind, the Americans should
be a people of great ideas.
It is a fact of which comparatively few seem to be aware, that California, the
land of gold, is also the land of wonders in scenery and in natural productions.
To many of those who are cognizant of this fact, the distance from home, and
the consequent fatigue and inconvenience of travel, appear as insurmountable
obstacles. The first and the only difficulty in the journey to the Pacific is, to
get started; that accomplished, with the comfortable cars, good food, easy bed,
and other luxuries of the Pullman and Wagner palaces, the traveller of ordinary
endurance and common-sense has only to take his ease and enjoy himself; if, to
the above simple qualifications, he fortunately add a natural love of the picturesque, the grand, and the beautiful, I know of no journey on the face of the
earth in which so much enjoyment can be crowded into a month's time.
In the lover of mountain scenery -even in one familiar with the Alps - the
Rocky MIountains, and especially the Sierra Nevada, will excite a new and exquisite sensation. Such extent of grandeur is unparalleled in any mountains
explored in civilized regions.
It does not require strong nerves, firm determination, nor great physical endurance, to make the tr'ip to the Yosemite; and this magnificent scenery is
easily within the reach of the invalid, male or female, who is not so hopelessly
enfeebled as to forbid, under any circumstances, removal from home.
The beauties and wonders described in this book, however, are not presented
for the benefit of the sick, but to the crowd of pleasure-seekers who make their
annual visitations to Niagara, Newport, Saratoga, Cape May, and other centres
of fashion, frivolity, foppery and folly. With half the expenditure of money
and vital force thus thrown away, to the moral and physical deterioration of all
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concerned, the California trip, via the Pacific Railroad, may be thoroughly
enjoyed.  There is nothing in it to enfeeble, but everything to strengthen; the
exhilarating mountain air, by day or by night, makes the lungs tingle with a
sensation never experienced at the Eastern watering-places; the cool mountainstreams will prove a better tonic to the dyspeptic, than all the drugs he has
swallowed. The brain of the student and the overworked merchant can here
lie fallow amid scenes which, by their strange fascination, will drive from the
memory all thought of books and ledgers; even the love of dress, and the pursuit of fashions, leave their votaries, as they take their seat in the saddle for the
Valley or the Big Trees.
The absence of storms in the summer, the serenity of an unclouded sky, and
a deliciously cool air, permit one to climb the mountains without the risk of
getting wet, of being delayed by an avalanche, of falling into an ice-bound
crevice, or of being enveloped in a thick mist, at a point noted for fine scenery,
so provokingly common in Switzerland. Without dander, hardship, or even
discomfort, and with a certainty of'fine weather week after week, the California
mountains invite you to their magnificent scenery.
Without any pretension to original discovery, or to the loftiness of style befitting so grand a subject, this volume is issued in the hope that the scenes
recently visited by the writer may be more sought for by Eastern travellers;
and that the order followed by him, and sketched imperfectly here, may serve in
some measure as a useful guide to the grandeur of the Yosemite Valley, and to
the other wonders of California.
S. K.
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PI?EFACE. 
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~North Doine-WVash'ii Column-Royal Archs
From Merced Riv~r.    A;ea
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THE
WONDERS OF THE YOSEMITE VALLEY,
AND OF
CALIFORNIA.
OMAHA TO SALT LAKE.
N the east of the Rocky Mountains most of the great river sys  tenis descend very gradually, and pour their waters through the
Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico, viz.: the Red, Arkansas, Rio
Grande, Platte, and Missouri; while the Columbia and the Colorado
flow into the Pacific Ocean; the former water lands of great luxuriance,
and thickly populated;  the latter flow  through a sterile  region,
hardly fit for the abode of man, yet with very grand scenery.
The profile of the Pacific Railroad, from Omaha to Sacramento,
1,775 miles, has four principal summits.  1. At Sherman, where the
Rocky Mountains (or Black Hills, so called) are crossed, 550 miles
from Omaha, 8,235 feet above the level of the sea, the highest point
in the world crossed by a railroad. 2. Aspen Summit, 385 miles from
Sherman, or 935 from Omaha, 7,463 feet high; also in the Rocky
Mountains, and the dividing ridge or continental rocky back-bone.  3.
In the Humboldt range, near Pequop, 310 miles from Aspen, or 1,245
fiom Omaha, 6,076 feet high.  4. In the Sierra Nevada, at DonIner
Lake Pass, 425 miles from the Humboldt Summit, 1,670 froIn Omaha,
or 105 from Sacramento, 7,062 feet high; thence there is a descent
of 7,000 feet in 100 miles to Sacramento, very steep, and to the inexperienced traveller seemingly dangerous.  The road from Cheyenne,
520 miles from Omaha, for 500 miles on a stretch, to the Wahsatch
Rang,e in Utah, is more than 6,000 feet above the level of the sea;
from this to the Sierra crossing the average height is 5,000 feet, and
nowhere less thani 4,000; whence it would be naturally supposed that
the road would be liable to become blocked by snow; this, however,
is not the case, as the snow-sheds are a protection in the most exposed
regions of the Sierra Nevada. 
The mutddy Missouri River is crossed from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to
Omaha, Nebraska, and here the Union Pacific Railroad begins, 968
feet above the level of the sea, in the great valley drained by this
river and its tributaries.  The ascent is so gentle that you do not perceive it, and yet when you have reached Cheyenne, you are 6,000
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'4    THE WONDERS OF THE OSEMJTE VALLEr,
feet above the sea, ascending from 7 to 10 feet per mile.  For 290
miles the road is along the main stream of the Platte river; along its
banks are many fine farms and clumps of trees, and the sides of the
track are varieg-ted with beautiful flowers, among wllich are roses,
larkspurs, and a fine white thistle.  This was once a huntinog-ground
of the Indialns for bisonl and antelope; the former is now rarely seen,
but now and then an aintelope will scamper away from the track,
turiing, wheu at a safe distalce, to scrutinize the rushing train which
disturbed him.  This was also a portion of the road dangerous.from
Indianls, as here they were accustomed to cross the plains, naturally
hating the whites for expelling thlemselves and the game from their
favorite haunts.  Every station was once, of necessity, a fort; the frequent camps of mounted riflemen, and their presence as armed sentinels at the stations, showed that it was not yet considered safe to
leave the road at the mercy of the hostile tribes.
The Platte River, thlou'ghtl navigable, as the sayingr is, for nothing
larger than a shingle, on -account of its shallowness, saanld-bars, and
ever-shifting channel, drains an area of nearly 300,000 square miles;
larger thnll  all Now Englamln, New Yor'k, ancl Pennsylvanit.  It is,
however, nature's hilghway for a railroad, and probably but for it,
this Pacific Railroad mighlt never have bceu built.  The old emigrant
road was along this river, and it can now be tr.aced by the telegraph
poles, skulls and bones of cattle, and now and then a grave, bearing
testimony to the toil, privation, and death of the gold-seekers.
Columbus, 91 miles from Omaha, is, accordiing to George Francis
Train, the geographicatl centre of the United States, and, when he
becomes President, will be a candidate for the governient buildings.
Grand Island, in Platte River, is  l)bout 80 miles loIng, and 4 wide;
it is fertile, and well-wooded, and beloings to the United States.
From 150 to 350 miles from Omaha you are within the range of the
buffatlo, but will probably see none, not even a track; this region is
also infested by Indians, as shown by the fort-like and guarded stations; the cabins are low, covered withl mud and tutrf, to render harmless the blazing arrows of the savages, and withl loop-holes for defence.
Here and there a sullen-looking fellow, indifferently armed, scowls at
the passing or stopping train, but we saw no banlds.
About 290 miles from Omaha you come to the north and south
forks of the Platte River, and the railroad takes a westerly course
between them.  Soon Alkali is reached, in the alkali belt which extends for seventy or eighty miles westward; the soil and water are
strongly impregnated withl alkaline salts, the carbonates of the alkalies being so abundant that the earth may be used for iraising bread.
Here farmns cease, and the country is of use only for grazing.  Julesburg, 377 miles, was noted as a thieviing, ganblinmg place, as the termintis of the advancing road always was; shanities and tents were
built ini a night, and disappea'rcd as if by magic, leaving nothing behind but a bad reputation, ruined chimneys, old boots, tin cals, and
soiled cards.  Tlhese harpy communities, wheii too l)ad, were occasionally exterminated ly "Vigil'race Committees."  At Lodgepole, about
400 miles, the elevation is nearly 4,000 feet, and firom this you per
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THE WONDERS OF THE rOSEMITE VALLER,
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ceive that yon are ascending.  About thirty-five miles beyond this is
Prairie Dog City, so named because, for several hundred acres on
both sides of the track, the earth is raised into little hillocks by these
burrowing squirrel-like animals.  Each occupant of a burrow sits
erect on his hillock, scampering into his hole in the most ludicrous
manner at the approach of daniger; they are obliged to endure in
their villages the presence of the burrowing owl, which lives iu burrows deserted by, or forcibly taken from, the rodent by the lazy owl;
they do not live together in the same hole, as far as I could observe
or ascertain.  This is to be the great pasture-land of the Continent,
and was evidently once the bottom of a great lake or inland sea; the
region extends for 700 miles north and south,  on the east of the
Rocky Mountaints, and for 200 miles east and west, besides the innumerable valleys in the mountain ranges; there is an abundant supply
of water in the valleys, and the nutritious grasses, nine to twelve
inches high, are always green near the roots, however parched and
cured at the top; cattle require no housing, and need only be prevented from straying; in winter the snow is so dry that it rolls off
their backs, and does not chill them like our wet, clinging snows.
Now that the railroad is here to bring the products to the Eastern
markets, it is safe to say, that in a few years the untold wealth to be
derived from raising cattle and sheep will bring to this region a large
and vigorous population from the overcrowded Atlantic States.
At Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory, 51(- miles, you are nearly 6,000
feet high; here the engines are doubled, and in thirty-three miles you
ascend about 2,300 feet, or seventy feet in a mile.  This place, where
ill 1867 there was only one house, has now several thousand inhabitants,
and has the elements of a pernmanent increase, and will not fade away
like most of the other railroad creations. It has its newspapers, schools,
churches, mantifactories, and extensive system of inland transportation, especially in connection with the rapidly-increasing mining interests of Colorado on the south.  About fifteen miles firom Cheyenne
the grade becomes very steep, and you have fine views of the " Black
Hills," the most eastern ranges of the Rocky Mountains.  The scenery now becomes wild and rugged, and the masses of reddish felspathic rock are piled up in grand confision.  On  arriving at the
summit, at Sherman, named from the tallest general in our army, you
are 8,235 feet above the sea, the hilghest point crossed by any railroad.  The summit is bare, and the suirounding desolation grand and
awful; the rocks and the road-bed are of a reddish color, which gives
an unearthly aspect to the scenery.  The air, after you get a few inspirations, is singularly exhilarating(.  This is 550 miles distant from
Omaha, and affords a good view of Pik6's and Long's Peaks, and
other localities famous in the history of gold-seeking.  The many
cuts and snow fences show the physical and elemental difficulties
which were encountered here.
Three miles from Sherman you come to Dale Creek, which is
bridged by a framework structure 650 feet long, and 126 feet above
the stream; the wooden trestles are laced strongly together, and present, at a distance, a very light and gracefild structure.  When you
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get upon it you shudder as you look down and see the stream a miere
thread below, and feel the bridge quivering under the weight of the
train to such a degree that water is thrown from barrels, placed there
for putting out accidental fires; it is a relief to get upon terra firma,
when every one draws a fill breath, which is instinctively impossible
during the transit. I fear that a terrible accident will some day
occur here, as a fancied security from past immunity is apt to beget
carelessness, and the bridge itself does not seem to me sufficiently
strong for its peculiarly dangerous locality.
For more than twenty miles from Sherman the descent is so great
that no steam is required, and the brakes are constantly applied;
this distance brings us to Laramie Plain, the grade of which, however, is constantly changing.  You pass numerous ridges of reddish
sandstone, worn by the elements into the most fantastic shapes, as
castles, forts, churches, chimneys, pyramids, etc., looking like a city
changed  to stone by the enchanter's wand; the general  name  of
"buttes" is given to these, with a prefix according to the color or
shape, as red, black, church buttes, etc.; some of these singular formations are 1,000 feet high, and in the distance are very interesting
objects to the observant traveller.
The Laramie Plain has a fine grazing belt, sixty miles long by
twenty wide, one of the finest stock-raising, regions in the world, the
alkaline quality of the soil and water making the growth of very nutritious grasses most luxuriant; this was once a grazing place for the
buffalo, now rarely seen.  When there is too much alkali, of course
the soil is barren, and the water unfit for animals and man.  This
plain is 7,000 feet above the sea, and is mich broken by the ranges
of the Black Hills, which enclose, often, extensive and fine tablelands or "parks," sheltered from the wind, abundantly watered, with
excellent timber and grass, and much mineral wealth, which will one
day be a source of great prosperity. The distant peaks are here and
there crested with snow, but you see no glaciers and eternal sniows, as
in the Alps, coming down into the valleys; at the base is generally
nothing but a barren, treeless plain, plentifully stocked with the pale
aromatic wild sage, and the home of the wild rabbit and antelope.  It
affords a good example of hundreds of miles of country which apparently can never be brought under cultivation, nor become fit for the
residence of civilized man.
At Carbon, 656 -miles, there is good supply of tertiary coal, the
shaft being close to the track, the yield being 200 tons a day; the
forcewc ee e which uplifted this tle land broke up these coal-bearing strata,
fortunately placing them so that they are easily workable, and exceedingly valuable where wood is so scarce.
At Creston, 740 miles, 7,000 feet high, is the dividing line of the
continent, where streams flow easterly to the Gulf of Mexico, and
westerly to the Pacific.  Sage brush and alkali give the aspect of
desolation to this central point of the grandest of our mountain ranges.
Westward for thirty lmiles, the country is a barren alkaline desert,
with a reddish tint, from salts of iron.
Green River Station, 846 miles, is so named from theriver, which
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flows into the Colorado; the water has a greenish hue, from the minute particles of thle decomposed green slaty rocks which it washes;
it is a large, rapid stream, with good water, plentifully stocked with
trout.  This regionl was evidently once the bed of a large lake, or
very wide river, and affords a great many moss agates.  Here you
pass into Utah Territory.
Aspen, 940 miles, 7,463 feet high, the second highest point on the
Union Pacific Railroad, is so named from the tree of that name, which
grows onl the sides of the mountains, spurs of the Uintalh Ralnge.  It
will be noticed that there is an interval of abc)tlt 100 miles between
the stations here mentioned, which will indicate to the reader what a
dreary and uninteresting region this is as a whole, with  here and
there a place worthy of mention.
From Aspen the track descends through the cut made by the Weber
River through the Wahsatch Range, into Salt Lake Valley.  At Wahsatch, 968 miles, after at good breakfast (and it may be here stated,
once for all, that the meals all along the route are excellent, at moderate price, and with plenty of time to eat), you pluinge into the
famous Echo Caion, flanked by the most magnificent scenery. Here
comes in a merry conductor, fill of proverbs and wise sayings, ready
to do battle in words, (and for arught I know with fists,) for all sound
mnorality; he has a fair voice, and as he enters the car, preliminary to
taking the tickets, treats the passengers to a snatch of some  song,
sacred or proftine, which puts every body into good-humor, contrasting favorably with the boorishness so frequently met with in conductors who ride behind horse-flesh in our large cities.  He invites you
to go to the rear or observation car, olpen above and on the sides,
affording an unobstructed view on all sides.  The cars soon pass into
a tunnel, 770 feet long, approached by a long, and rather shaky trestlework; here the jolly conductor (not a Mormon, as you at first suppose) cautions young people, and especially any who may be on their
bridal tours, to be sure that they select the rig[it person before they
proceed to any little caresses suggested by the long, dark tunnel; according to his account, many ludicrous and provoking mistakes have
sometimes been revealed when the sudden darting, of the train into
the da'ylilght has shown the various attitudes of the passengers; fiom
failure to recognize the points of the compass in the light, moustaches
have been found under the wrong bonnets, and arms around the wrolng
waists.
No words can describe the wild and grand scenery of the Echo
Canon, at this pass narrowed to a mere chasm, between cliffs of reddish sandstone from 500 to 2,000 feet higl, almost overhainging the
road, and carved by the elements into the most fantastic forms, whose
names and resemblances are pointed out by the communicative conl
ductor.  Excellent photographs for stereoscopic use have rendered
these scenes familiar to many, and, though giving but little idea of the
real grandeur, serve well to fix in the memoiy of those who have seen
them the momentary glimpses so rapidly takeii front the rushing car.
The whistle of the locomotive starts a thousand echoes from the rocky
sides, chiefly on the right, the left slopinff away to grassy meadows.
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Here are seen the "Mormon Fortifications," 1,000 feet high, with the
massive rocks still in place destined to have been rolled upon the
United States troops sent in 1857 to attack this people; they were,
however, never used.   Echo Creek winds amolig the rocks, and is
crossed thirty times in twenty-five miles.  Occasionally is seen a
small Mormon settlement, of long one-storied houses, surrounded by
richly-cultivated fields; but the houses and fences are in bad repair,
with slouchy, bearded men hanging about, and the women sad-eyed,
homely, and poorly dressed- the tyranny of their creed impressing
itself even on their external appearance.
kSoon after leaving Echo City, you come to the "thousand mile tree,"
a vigorous evergreen, spared  to mark  the  thousandth  mile from
Omaha  -2,650 miles from good old Boston.  Then comes Weber
Canon, cut by the'river of that name, more beautiful, if possible, than
Echo Canon, though only three miles long (Echo being eighlt); it is
rendered more pleasingo by the river which rushes by the side of the
track, now a torrent, thenl a cascade, then a whirlpool, and then boiling rapids, according to the obstructions of its rocky bed and sides.
In this, as in Echo Canon, every secolndl brings into view some  new
wonder or beauty.   We call mention only two, both named from his
Satanic Majesty, who seems to claim most that is sublime and awful,
in the scenery west of the Rocky Mountains.  The first is the "Devil's
Slide," two vertical ridges of granite, on the left of the track, extending several hundred feet in height; the earth between the ridges,
which are several yards apart, is covered with grass and flowers, rendering by contrast the gray rocky  barriers very distinct.  Passingo
this and Weber Station you come to the second, the " Devil's Gate," a
narrow gorg,e tIhrough whichl the Weber River rushes, crossed by a
bridge abotut fifty feet above the raging, stream.   You have  no opportiunity for fright or pleasure, as you are whirled along by the iron
horse, which llas no eye for scenery, and regards only time and space.
After passing throughl these fine canons in the Wahsatch Range, you
are ii, the Great Salt Lake Valley, though still, at Uintah Station,
4,550 feet above the sea.  Eight miles more and you are in Ogden,
the texmiinus of the Union Pacific, 1,032 miles from Omaha.   This is
a strictly Mormon town; the houses are widely scattered, but with
fine gardeiis and orchards.  Near the depot is the usual assortment
of shanties, tents, and saloons.  On the platform you will probably
see Indiatns of thle Shoshone tribe, in costumes partly civilized and
partly s,tv:a-e; as a military hitt with fea,ther, panlts, and coat, with
dirty bl)tliket, moccasins, and daubed with paint - with the unmistakable odor of the red man, indicating, to more senses than the eye,
that frequent ablution is not one of his virtues.
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I AND OF CALIFORNIA.
SALT LAKE AND TIHE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD.
T Ogden the traveller takes the Utah Central Railroad, going
south, and after a two hours' ride, of thirty-five miles, arrives
in Salt Lake City, the temporal and spiritual heaLd-quarters of President Brigham Young.
Surrounded as is Salt Lake Valley by lofty mountains, and cut off
from civilization by a thousand miles of barren and almost impassable
deserts, it is certainly a very remarkable instance of human industry,
perseverance, and devotion to what they regarded as a divine precept,
that the Mormons should have established such a prosperous colnmunity in this unpromising region.  Salt Lake City was founded in 1847;
it is situated in latitude 40 dleg. 46 min. north, and longitude 112 deg.
6 min. west, at the base of the western slope of the Wahlsatch Mountains, which you pass lby the Echo and Weber Caiions.
The history of the rise and progress of this strainge sect cannot be
entered into here.  Suffice it to say that it was organized in 1830 by
Joseph Smith, in Ohio, under circumstances savoring strongly of
delusion and fanaticism, if not of deception; it afterward removed to
Jackson County, Missouri, and then to Natuvoo, Illinois, on the Mississippi.  Persecuted for obvious reasons in 1844-45, the Mormons
emigrated in 1846, under President Brigham Yotung, the successor of
Joseph Smith, who, with his brother IHyrum, was mur(lered by a mob
in 1844.  Persecution followed them through l\issouri and Iowa, and
they reached Great Salt Lake, after much ihardship, in the latter part
of July, 1847, passing up the left bank of the Platte River, crossingat
Fort Laramie, and over the mountains at the South Pass.   In 1850
Utah was admitted into the Union as a Territory, thouoh it applied
for admission as a State under the name of "Deseret."
Thle city is four miles long and three wide, the streets -it right
angles to each other, 132 feet wide, with sidewalks of twenty feet.
Each house is twenty feet from the line of the street, and is adorned
usually by shrubbery and trees; water is brought from the mountains,
and its fresh current runs freely through the gutters of the streets,
with a sound and sight very refreshli-g on a hot day, is you walk along
tinder the gratefiul shade, over the sidewalks.  Most of the houses are
of adobe, or sun-dried brick and wood, and a few of stone.  The
stores are well supplied with goods from the East, and with excellent
articles of home manufacture, which the saints are, in a measure,
forced to buy- the trade of the Gentiles beirng with each other alnd
with strangers, and not much with the Mormons.   The Mormon
stores, generally co-operative, are known by the sign, " Holiness to
the Lord."  Church and State are closely Lunited, the heads of the
church being also the high civil officers.  One-tenth of all a convert
has, lie pays, it is said, into the "Treasury of the Lord," and onetenth of his yearly profits, and devotes one-tenth of his time for pul)b
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20     THIE WIONDERS OF THE YOSEMITE VALLER,
lic works -  resembling the system of tithing of the ancient Israelites.
There is, besides, a tax on property for the revenue of the civil government.  Outward prosperity,  peace,  and contentment, seem to
reign; poverty is unknowll; crime is rare, and severely punished, and
the ordinary vices of our large cities are not seen, and most likely do
not extensively exist-the one great evil, as we deem it, polygamy,
swallows up all lesser vices by taking away one great incentive.
The Mormlons regard their prosperity as a sign of the favor of
heaven; but outsiders more truly ascribe it to their industry, discipline, and concentration of energies on one purpose.   Whatever  may
be thought of their religious views and consequent practices, they are
undoubtedly sincere.  The President is a man of remarkably clear
mind and sound sense, and with great executive ability, equal to his
responsible position; sincere and active in everything which he coInsiders goo(l fo)r the moral, intellectual, and material elevation of his
people, whose confidence he fully enjoys.  Ile is of  commanding
appearance, affaLl)le to strangers, and impresses you with the idea of
strengthl, firmness, and resolution, which indeed are required to keep
this anomalous comtmunity from falling, to pieces by the slow but colntinual sapping of its foundation-tenets by the encroachments of Eastern principles.
The "spiritual-wife" system, which now seems tottering to its fall,
was not an oriiinal tenet of the Mormon  creed, forming no part of
the teachiiins of its fi)undels; and probably would longr since have
met  the fate deserved by such an abomination, had it not  been
in great measure kept out of public sight by the remoteness and isolation of this people.  Even now, when pub)lic ildig,nation is aroused
for its extinction, the problem is a difficult one to solve in a way
which shall punish or restrain the guilty ones in high places, without
causing unmerited suffering to the deluded wives and innocent children.
I have before me the " Third Annual Catalogue" of the: University of Deseret," in Salt Lake City, for the years 1870-71.  It colntains the  names of 580 pupils: 286 males, and 294 females, with
those of 13 instructors.  The courses of instruction in the classics,
in the sciences, and iii the normal studies, will compare favorably
with those of our Eastern colleges, and seem admirably adapted to
prepare the way for a better state of. things, evidently now approachin( rapidly, and to develop the great natural resources of this country.  With a fertile soil, healthy climate, and inexhaustible mineral
wealth, thlis land of beauty ind gran(leur must soon be the pasture
and the mine, as it is the hilghway of the nation.  Time only can
solve the questions of statesmanship, civil polity, relig(ion, and
morality, presented l)y this singutlar community, whose centre is
at Salt Lake City.   When the iron will which 1rules  this people
ceases to exert its influence, the Mormon  system will doubtless
crumble  away  before  the  advancing  tide  of  Easterin  civilization, now'v so rapidly surroundinlg  aned  permeating   it by  means
of the Picific Railroad; yet, whether its life be long or short,
this sect has made a pathway and a stoppin^-uplace for the westward mairch of the nation, and thus, involuntarily, have  greatly
[ 
AND OF CALIFORNIA.                 21
advanced the progress of humanity.  The city is beautifully situated,
and, as seenl from the surrounding hills, its so-called "Valley of the
Jordan" is a perfect gardenl in the wilderness.  With and without
irrigation the crops are fine, and thle fruit is excellent; the grasshoppers are a great plague, and sometimes so utterly destroy a growing
crop as to require planting even a third time.  Camp Douglass overlooks the city, and, in case of need, could soonl shell out an enemy.
The valley was evidently once the bottom of an inland sea, as proved
by the terraces, which can b4 traced for miles along the sides of the
mountains, indicating former levels of the water; it contains over
1,100 square miles, with much fine grazing, as well as cultivated, land.
Mormon  industry has shown that reclaimed and irrigated sage plains
make very fertile soils; the disintegrated felspathlic and limestone
make a rich, porous, and absorbent earth, if well watered.   The MormonIs now manufacture almost cverything they use, even to articles
of silk; the precious metals, coal, iron, and I)uilding, stones are abundant, and the water-power for machinery is ample.
The Tabernacle will hold about 10,000 persons; it is the first object seen when approaching the city  its bell-shaped top looking like
a balloon rising above the trees; the building is oval, 250 by 150
feet, the roof supported by forty-six columnis of sandstone, from
which it springs in one unbroken arch, said to be the largest selfsustaining roof on the continent; the height on the inside is 65 feet.
It contains an organ, second in size only to the Boston organ, made
by a Mormon in Salt Lake City.   The seats are plain, those of the
men and womeni separate.  The foundations of the great temple are
laid iii granite, iand are now even with the ground, above which it is
doubtful if they rise  the buildingo was to cover about half an acre,
and to be one of the grandest churchl edifices in the country; the
main structure 100 feet high, with three towers on each end, the
central one 200 feet high.  The fine granite of which it was to be
built resemlbles the Quilcy sienite, but is much whiter; it is found in
abundance in the neighboring mountains.  The theatre, city hall, and
council house, are fine structures, and many of the stores compare
favorably, both inside and out, with our own.
Though Capt. Stansbury, in ] 850, mentions seeing myriads of wild
geese, ducks, and swans on the suirfice of the lake, I saw nothing
but a few ducks and snipes atround the edges, scarcely disturbed by
the noise of the train.  The shore is naked and bleak, and there are
none of the invigorating breezes of the ocCan coming from its vast
and motionless expanse.  Except the valleys at the southern  end of
the lake, the country seems very barren, without fresh water, and so
little elevated above the lake that a rise of a few feet in its waters
would flood an immense extent of coluntry-the onrly use of which
would seem to be, in the lanotguage of Capt. Stansbury, that, from
its extent and level surface, it is good for measuring a degree of the
meridian.  The lake is said to be rising annually, and the Salt Lake
problem may ere long be solved by geological agencies, the people
being actually drowned out.
The existence of a salt lake ini this region has been known  for
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nearly two centuries.  The water is so salt, that twelve hours' immersion will so far corn beef that it can be kept without further care,
even when constantly exposed to the sun; in a few days it may be
made perfect " salt junk";  if the meat were only there,  a " Salt
Lake Meat  Preserving Compainy" might profitably be established
near these waters.  There is no life inll the lake, and beat little in the
surrounding brackish waters, so that pelicans and gulls which breed
on the island.s must go at least twentky miles for fc)od for themselves
and young.  The water, from its density, is very Ibuoyant, as inll the
Dead Sea; it is easy I  float in it, but hard to swim, from the tendency of the legs to cbme up and the head to go  down; the brine
irritates the eyes, and almost chokes you if accidentally swallowed;
the most expert swimmer would soon perishl in its heavy waves.  It
contains more than twenty per cent. of pure salt, with very little impurities; if the people are not the "salt of the earth," the water is,
and probably ere many years this regionI will be the seat and the
source of a profitable and extensive industry firom its natural salt
works.
After leaving Ogden, and pursuing your vway westward  on the
Central Pacific Railroad, you pass thlrough a well-ctlltivated Mormon
country, getting fine views of the lake, near which the track passes
for miles.  In nine miles you arrive at Coriinne, a lively gentile
town, the centre of valuable mining interests in the neihlboring  territory of Montana on the north.  After crossing Blue Creek on a trestle bridge 300 feet long, over many sharp curves and thlrough deep
cuts, you come close to the graded bed of the old Central road, which
ended at Ogden and is now unused.  Here you begiii to rise till you
get to Promontory Point, one of the most difficult passes on the
road, and near where the trains from the east and the west met May
10, 1869, when the last tie was laid which bound the Atlantic to the
Pacific.  This wvas certainly one of the most remarkable events in the
history of travel; we all remember how the country rejoiced, some
cities quietly and economically, like Boston, others iioisily, and with
generous and hospitable exultation, like New York and Philadelphia,
when the message flashed over the wires on that (lay that tlhe last
spike was driven; the President of the road stood there in the wilderness holding in his lhand the silver hammer to whose handle was
attached the telegraph wire, and when he struck the golden spike
at noon, the joyful news went on ligyhtnin, winlgs to every city of the
land; the locomotives screamed and rubbed their sooty noses together, and the crowd huzzaed, shook hands, drank toasts, and exhibited the hilarious and almost frantic transpoirs peculiar to such
occasions outside of staid New England.  This point is fifty-thlree
miles from Ogden, 1,084 from Omaha, and 2,730 from Boston.
At 100 miles you are about in the middle of the  Great American
Desert," where the eye searches in vain for signs of animal or vegetable life; alkaline beds, sandy wastes, and rocky hills, constittite the
landscape; this desert was once evidently the bed of a great salt lake,
and such as would be presented were the present Utah and Great Salt
Lakes to be drained, and raised to the same level.
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AND OF CALIFOIRNIA.
In 150 miles you leave Utah, and enter Nevatda Territory, and at
Toano, 183 miles, you enter the Humboldt division of the road,
ascending the desert by the Cedar Pass to Humboldt Valley, at
Pequop, being on the third high point, 6,210 feet above the sea.
From this there is a gradual descent, along which you obtain fine distant views of the beautifill valleys in the range, well supplied with
lakes, and famous for their fine crops.  The celebrated Humboldt
Wells are 218 miles from Ogden; here the emigrant trains used to
stop after the hard journey across the desert; there are about twenty
wells, in a charming, valley, in which the water rises to the surface,
slightly brackish; they are exceedingly deep, and are evidently craters
of extinct volcanoes, whose existence is proved by the broken masses
of lava and granite all around. This valley, which seems like Eden
after crossing the dry and dreary desert, is named from the Humboldt
River, which, rising in the neighboring mrountains, runs through it;
the track follows the river for many miles. At Elko, 275 miles,
stages mnay be taken for the famous White Pine District; Treasure
City, 125 miles to the south, is the centre of extensive gold and silver
mining.  At Humboldt Cation, or the Palisades, about 300 miles, the
scenery is fine, much like that of the Echo and Weber Canons on the
Union Pacific Road, but more dismal from the greater bleakness and
bareness; it is gloomy antl grand fromn the furious river whlich rushes
along in the deep gorges.  A  peculiarity of the rivers here is that
they spread into shallow lakes, and in summer disappear in what are
called "sinks"; probably most of their water escapes by the great
evaporation, though there may be in some cases a sinking into a subterranean channel, or into the absorbent sand.
As the Truckee region is approached, fine growths of timber begin to
appear, clothlingy the slopes of the Sierra Nevada range, which you now
begin to ascend; the river is extremely pretty in its rocky bed, though
much of the beauty of the scenery is lost, uoiless the moon  be shining,
by passage ill the night and early morningl.  At Reno, 590 miles, you
may take the stages for Virginia City and Gold Hill, Nevada, where
are the famous Ophir and Comstock silver mines.  Soon after passing
Verdi, following along the numerous curves of the river, and crossing
several picturesque bridges, at 610 miles, you enter California. You
are now ascending all the time, amid grand scenlery, with mountains
on each side, timber-clothed ravines, and here and there a strip of
meadow,. At Truckee, 623 miles from Ogden, and 120 from Sacramento, youa5f above 5,900 feet aove  the sea; this is the centre of a grssit
trade in lumber, as the best of material is abundant and accessible,
and the water-power ample.  Here you may start for Lake Tahoe, a
beautifully clear sheet of water, very deep  (in some places 1,700
feet), twenty-two miles by ten; it is part in Nevada, and part in California; this is the lake which Mark Twain so extols above the Italian
lakes in the  Innocents Abroad," to which admirable bu lesque the
reader is referred for fulleer description.  Donner Lake, smaller, but as
beautiful, and seen fiom the track, has a melancholy interest, from the
domestic tragedy coninected with it; here, in the early times of immigration, a party from Illinois were hemmed in by the snow; most
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24  THE WONDERS OF TIHE 2OSEMITE VALLE r,
escaped, leaving a Mr. Donner, his wife, and a German; when a party
reached the place the followilig spring, Mr. Donner had died, and the
German is said to have been found eating a part of Mrs. Donner's
body, whom it is believed he murdered. Both these lakes are probably in craters of old volcanoes, closed by some geological convulsion
which has occurred in the Sierra.
The summit of the range is fourteen miles distant, and the doubling of the locomotives shows that work is to be done; up you go
constantly, getting glimpes of the lake and the mountains, till you
get to the provoking snow-sheds, which for forty miles protect the
road from avalanches of snow, but not of hard words from travellers, who are by them deprived of the magnificent views.   You cross
the range at Summit, 7,242 ft. high, 1,700 miles from Omaha, and
105 from Sacramento.  The peaks of the Sierra are far above the level
of the Donner Pass, and are here and there covered with snow.  The
Summit Tunnel, the longest of several, is 1,700 feet, nearly one-third
of a mile; the forty miles of snow-sheds, of solid timber, are said to
have cost $10,000 a mile. You are now descending all the time,
sometimes quite abruptly. Just after leaving Alta, sixty-two miles
from Sacramento, you enter the "Great American Canon," one of the
grandest in the Sierra, where the rocks, 2,000 feet high, give a nlarrow passage to a branch of Feather River; the scenery is very fine,
and there are no sheds to intercept the view. Here you come to a
succession of strange names, suggestive of the lively times of twenty
years ago,-such as Dutch Flat, Little York, You Bet, Red Dog,
Gold Run, Cape Horn.  This is the region of hydraulic mining, and
you see ditches and flumes, with rapid streams firom the mounitains
running for miles to various claims, and then directed through discharge pipes with great force against the gold-containinig bank, washilng away immense amounts of dirt into the long channels, where the
gold gradually settles from its greater weight.  Chinese miners and
their cabins firequently meet the eye.  Goiing rapidly down, almost on
the edge of a precipice 2,500 feet deep, you come to and double Cape
Horn, the road cut into the very side of the mountain by the Chinese
it makes one shudder to think of the consequences of the train getting
off the track tas it rushes with frequent screams down the steep and
narrow line, around the sharp curves, and over the apparently delicate
bridges; if quicker, it is perhaps more dangerous than doubling the
point of South America.  Let Ius hope that familiarity will not breed
contempt of danger, for inevitable destruction would be the result of
an accident here.
The fine fruit, bottles of wine, grapes, and grain fields show that
we are in one of the great valleys of California.   We soon rush into
Sacramento, only fifty-six feet above the sea, having descended over
seven thousand feet in one hundred miles.  Sacramento is the heart
of California, depending on its never-fifling agricultural and mineral
resources; while San Francisco is rather a great commercial market,
constantly fluctuating, and as much injured by the Pacific Railroad as
Sacramento, the capital, has been increased by it.  It has suffered
greatly fiom floo.ds, from the filling up of the river by the results of
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mining operations; but it is now raised fifteen feet above the highest
level of the river, and is now considered safe from floods.  Thence to
Sanl Francisco, via Stockton, over the Western Pacific Railroad, is
138 miles; thus, the distance from Boston to Sanl Francisco, nearly
3,600 miles, may be passed over, if necessary, ill seven days.
The Pacific Roadcl was in running order seven years before the limit
of the construction time, the track having been laid, and well laid, at
a rate before unparalleled.  In twenty-two hours, on the Union Pacific
Road, seven and a third miles were laid; and on the last day but one,
May 8, 18(69, the Chinese laid, on the Central Pacific road, ten miles of
track in twelve hours.  When we remember that thle great road from
Vienna to Trieste, over the Soemmering Pass, less than three hundred
miles, and with an elevation of only 4,400 feet, required fifteen years
for its construction by the Austrian Government, with all the advantages of a populous country, and then consider that our road, more
than six times as long, rising nearly twice as high, allnd built thlrough
a waterless, woodless desert, infested by hostile Indians, b)y private
enterprise was completed in seven years, it is truly marvellous, and a
convincing proof of the wonderfill energy and foresight of the American people.  The completion of this road not only unites the Atlantic
and Pacific, changing the course of commerce from the East Indies,
but opens vast resources of our coulitry's agricultural and mineral
wealth, and brings within the reach of travellers and invalids the
magnificent scenery and bracing air of the Rocky Mountains and
Sierra Nevada -  leading to the great natural wonders of the parks of
Colorado, the Salt Lake Valley, the Yosemite Valley, with its waterfalls and stupendous hleights, the giant trees, the splendid Pacific
shores, the beauty of the coast ranges, and the marvels of the Columbia River and the Cascade Mountains.
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AND OF CALIFORNIA.
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26    THE WONDERS OF THE YOSEMITE VALLEr.
YOSEMITE- HISTORICAL SKETCH.
EFORE   describing the Yosemite Valley, it may be of interest to
tlhe reader to know something more of the history of the discovery of this wonderful locality, within a few years knownl only to the
Indiani tribes.  The f(llowin(g historical sketch is condensed from the
Geological  Survey of California,"  published by authority of the
Leg,islature.
In the year 1864, Coingress  influenced by intelligent citizens of
California, passed the following Act:
" Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America, in Coglress assembled, That there shall
be, and is hereby, granted to the State of Califcrnia, the'Cleft' or
'Gorge' in the Granite Peak of the Sierra Nevada Mountain, situated
in the County of Mariposa, in the State aforesaid, and the head
waters of the Merced River, and known as the Yosemite Valley, with
its branches and spurs, in estimated length fifteen miles, and in average width one mile lback from the main edge of the precipice, on
each side of the Villev, with the stipulation, nevertheless, that the
said State shall accept this grant upon the express conditions that the
premises shall be held for public use, resort, and recreation; shlall be
inalienable for all time; but leases not exceeding ten years may be
granted' for portions of said premises.  All incomes derived  fiomt
leases of privileges to be expended in the preservation and improvement of the property, or the roads leading, thereto; the boundaries
to be established at the cost of said State by the United States Surveyor-General of California, whose official plat, when affirmed by the
Commissioner of the General Laend Office, shall constitute the cvidelce of the locus, extent, and limits of the said Cle't or Gorge;
the premises to be managed by the Governor of the State, with eight
other Commissioners, to be appointed by the Executive of California,
and who shall receive no compensation for their services.
"SECT. 2. And be it furthier enacted, That there shall likewise l)e,
and there is hlereby:granted to the said State of California, the tracts
embracing what is knlown as the'Mariposa Big Tree Grove,' not to
exceed the area of four sections, and to be taken in legal subdivisions
of one-quarter section each, with the like stipulations as expressed in
the first section of this Act as to the State's acceptance, with like
conditions as in the first section of this Act as to inalienability, yet
with the same lease privileges; the income to be expended in the
preservation, improvement, and protection of the  property, the
premises to be managed by legal subdivisions as aforesaid; and the
official plat of the United States Surveyor-General, when affirmed by
the Commissioner of the General Land Office, to be the evidence of
the locus of the said Mariposa Big Tree Grove."
.................... 
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EL CAPITAN.
I3icx) it abo-,e Valley,),fromn Merced River.
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AND OF CALIFORNIA.
This Act was approved by the President, June 30, 1864; and soon
after, Governor Lowv-, of Califbornia, issued a proclamation, taking
possession of thle tracts thus granted in behalf of the State, appointing, commissioners to managte them, and warning all persons against
trespassing or settliing there without authority, and forbidding the
cutting of timber, and other injurious acts.  The necessary surveys
were made, and the limits of the Valley and the Mariposa Grove
were established in the same year.
The grant by Congress had no validity until the State, by its Legislature, had solemnly promised to accept the trust, forever binding
when once accepted.
At the next session of the California Legisltture, an Act was passed
accepting the Valley and the Grove, on the conditions imposed by Congress, and containilg provisions for the punishment of persons committing. depredations on the premises, and appointing a guardian of
the grant.  Since the passage of this act, the valid~alism of those who
would have destroyed the grove, who would have cut downi a giant
tree to build their houses, has been in a great nmeastire arrested; visitors, however, may remember a hllge pine prostrate near the upper
hotel in the Valley, cut down it; the winter of 18(39-70 by persons
whom  Mr. Galen Clark, the guardian, had succeeded in placing in
the hands of justice.
The whites living on the streams near the Valley, as early as 1850,
had been greatly harassed by the scattered Indians in this region, and
finally formed a military company to expel them from the country.
As the Indians were ptrsued it became evident that they had a safe retreat high ulp in the mountains, and it was determined to trace them to,
their refitge; this was found to be the Yosemite Valley, which thlus
cane to be known to the whites.  In the spring of 1851 ati expeditio on,
under the command of Captain Boliug, started to explore this Valley
and to drive th e Indian s ollt of it; guided by ai old chief, Tenaya,
whose name is given to one of the caulons of the Merced River, they
reachted the valley, and drove                  the Iias fim their supposed impregnable retreat, killing a few, and mking a peace with the llrest -this, it
will be seen, was fourteen years before the Act of Co1ngres, ab)ove referred to.  The Indians agtain becoming, troublesome to the miners,
another expedition was fitted ont for the Valley in 1852, by the Mariposa
Battalion; soone of the Indians were killed, and the rest fled to the
Mono tribe, on the eastern side of the Sierra; hatviug stolen some
horses from their friends, the MoInoS pursued them back to the Valley,
whletr a bloody battle was foug,ht, resultingc int the almost entire extermillnation of the Yosemite tribe.
According to Dr. Bunnell, the Indians in aind arountd the Valley
were a mixed race, made up by refigees from many widely-scattered
tribes; ealch family is said to have ihad a tract set apart for its use,
which had its own  name; all we know of thueir langtage is preserve(l
ile the sonorous and often musical names given to the waterfalls andl
rocks, as elsewhere stated, whi, loweveri, hoee ave in lmost cases been
replaced by Spanish and English names.
Thre visit of the soldiers did very little toward openingl the Valley
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I28    THE WONDERS OF THE YOSEMITE VALLEr,
to public notice; their wonderful stories found their way into the
newspapers, but were passed over as the exaggerations so often published by travellers in distant regions, where there is no liability of contradiction )y eye-witnesses. - Mr. J. M. Hutchings, who has been long,
identified with the history of the Valley, and who now keeps a hotel
there, seems to have l)een the first, iin 1855, to collect a party of
tourists to visit the Yosemite for pleasure; in the same year, another, and a larger, party from Mariposa went into the Valley.  In
1856, the regular pleasure travel may be said to have commencedif it can be called pleasure to toil up and down steep ridges, dangerous on horseback, at that time, and very fatigling on foot.  The
trail from Clark and Moore's hotel is even now abominable, and Unnecessarily so; fallen trees might be removed, rolling stones picked
out, fords levelled, mud  holes made  safe, and projecting rocks
knocked off, at very little cost of time or money.  It seems unbecomiing in the State to allow such neglect of the trails, now that the
visitors number thousands, and many of them ladies, in the course
of the summer.   Mercy for the horse, as well as for the rider, demands more care to be devoted to these trails, which seem now as if
purposely made to wrench, torture, and fatigue the poor traveller,
and compel him to stop at the houses of entertainment along their
course.   Were the trails properly attended to, it would be easy
enough to go from Clark's into the Valley in a day; now it is very
bard to do this, and by the time they have gone twelve miles, most
travellers are we.ary enough to rest at the "Half-way House," and to
make the other twelve miles on the next day; like a Chicag,o train,
which generally contrives to get you in an hour too late to make
your Eastern or Western connection, thus compelling an unnecessary
expenditure there, this trail seems to be neglected intentionally for a
similar end.
The first house built in the Valley, in the autumn of 1856, opposite the Yosemite Fall, is still standing, and is occupied as a hotel.
In 1860, Mr. J. C. Lamon took up his residence in the Valley, where
he now lives, a lolnely bachelor, in a comfbrtal)le log house.  He has
trully made the wilderness to "lblossom like the rose," and has sueceeded in raisili-g excellent vegetables, and some exceedingly fine
l)erries, and other fruit; his garden is one of tlhe "sights" in the
Valley, IIand the visitor is always sure of a welcome reception; if the
proprietor be not at home to sell you his fruit, you are allowed to
pick and eat, but not to carry away, in his garden, depositing on his
window a quarter or half-dollar in silver.  He thinks that he has a
claim to the tract cultivated by himself, and considers himself a bona
fide settler; of course he has no legal cl,aimn, as the land was not
open to l)re-emnption, never having been surveyed and put into the
market.  Many summer residents have since put in their claims,
which are invalid under the United States laws, for the above reaison,
and also l)ecause they were not aceoiln)anied by permanent residence.
None of the claimants, it is h(ped, will be allowed to have their pretensions recognized by Congress, or ini any way sanctioned l)y public
opinion.  The gift of Congress is too precious to the State and to the
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AND OF CALIFORNIA.
country to be hampered by the restrictions which would inevitably be
imposed by the greed of individual owners or lessees, who would
surely manage it for private benefit, and not for public good.  In the
language of the "Survey," "As the tide of travel in the direction of
this wonderful and unique locality increases, so will the vexations,
restraints, and annoying (harges, which are so universal at all places
of great resort, be multiplied. The screws will be put on just as fast
as the public can be educated into bearing the pressure. Instead of
having every convenience fo)r circulation in and about the Valleyfree trails, roads, and bridges, with every facility offered for the enjoyment of Nature in the greatest of her works, unrestrained except
by the requirements of decency and order -the public will find, if
the ownership of the Valley passes into private hands, that opportunity will be taken to levy toll at every point of view, on every trail,
on every bridge, and at every turning, while there will be no inducement to do anything for the public accommodation, except that which
mnay be made immediately available as a new means of raising a tax
on the unfi)rtunate traveller.... The Yosemite Valley is an exceptional creation, and, as such, has been exceptionally provided for
jointly by the Nation and the State; it has been made a National
public park, and placed under the charge of the State of California.
Let Californians beware how they make the name of their State a
by-word and reproach for all time, by trying to throw off and repudiate a noble task which they undertook to perform- that of holding
the Yosemite Valley as a place of public use, resort, and recreation,
inalienable for all time! "
A few years since, some scientific men, familiar with California,
and especially with this Valley, undertook to obtain the signatures of
their fellows throughout the land, and of those connected with learned
societies, remonstrating against the enormity of permittilng the claims
of private individuals to stand in the way of the reservation of this
Valley as a public park forever. They were successful in obtaining
the approval of the great majority of American savants, scholars,
and eminent men; and it is to be hoped that Congress will never
recognize such claims. It would be better far to pay ten times their
estimate of alleged improvements, and to secure the right of the
nation to the full control of every portion of the Valley and its surroundings mentioned in the Act of Congress of 1864.
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30    TTHE WONDERS OF THE ROSEMITE VALLER,
YOSEMITE VALLEY.
TfI!S unique and wonderful locality, visited by the writer in July,
1870, was once the stronghold of the Yosemite tribe of Indians,
who were expelled from it in 1851, and exterminated in 1852, by the
whites, exasperated by their murderous attacks, and by the rival tribe
of Monos.  Before this time it was unknown tothe whites.   A few
of these Monos now live ill the valley, belonging to the so-called diggers, a miserable, drunken, and fast-disappearing, race, living chiefly
upon fish from the Merced River, acorns, and the seeds of a species
of pine, called the nut-pine.
The word Yosemite, meaning a large grizzly bear, was probably the
name of a chief, who gave his name to the tribe, and the valley is now
called by the Indians Ahwahnee, and not Yosemite; and even the latter is sometimes pronounced Yohemite by the Mexicans. It was first
visited for curiosity or pleasure in 1855, since which time the number
of visitors has annually increased, so that three hotels are now hardly
able to accommodate them.  It is a toilsome, fatiguing, and, in many
respects, a very disagreeable journey, but when  carriage-roads are
extended, railroads built, and the trails made decent for horse and
man, it may be undertaken by the most delicate and timid with safety
and delight.  It belongs to the State of California, granted l)y Congress, and accepted by the Legislature of the State, in 1864. There
are some who lay claim to a considerable part of the best portion of
the valley; and should they succeed il establishing their claims,
the fleecing system of Niagara would  be likely to prevail,  and
a price have to be paid for every trail, bridge, and advantageous
point of observation. It should be under the sole control and management of the State; and the sooner the State takes the roads and
trails in hand, the better for its own credit and  the comfort  of
travellers.
On account of the chilly winds rushing in from the  northwest
through the " Golden Gate" to supply the place of the heated current, which ascends along the coast ranige, the summer (July and August) is the coldest, dampest, foggiest, and most disagreeable partof the
year in San Francisco; so that, going eastward, you rise several thousand feet in all air actually warmer than on the coast, and on the highest part of the Yosemite range, 7,400 feet, it is even warm in midday
in summer.  At Clark's Hotel, outside the valley, and at the hotels in
the valley (each about 4,000 feet high), the thermometer illndicated
80 deg. for six hours every day, though the nights were  cool, bltt
indescribably clear and exhilarating. At this season the traveller is
sure of good weather, as rain is extremely rare, and clouds iuncommonl.  One is impressed with the subtropical character of the vegetation on the Pacific in latitudes where, onl the Atlantic, the flora of the
temperate zone prevails; in Stockton, figs grow luxuriantly in the open
air, and in one of the squares was a magnificent American aloe, at
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BRIDAL VEIL FAILL
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least forty feet high, whose beautiful yellow flowers were the priae of
the city; this in latitude 38 deg.  In San Francisco, in about the same
latitude, the climate is cooler; Stockton is on the east side of the
coast range, in the San Joaqutin Valley, but of about the same elevation, as well as latitude, as San Francisco.
Among, the health inducements for travel here are the invigorating
air, the pure cold water, and the exercise, which, though often severe,
cannot fail to strengthen an ordinary traveller, refreshed as he is, at
night, by excellent food and comfortable bed; when to these is added
the grand and beautiful scenery in this immense panorama of mountains, surely no further inducement is necessary for one to journey to
this valley, brought within a week's easy travel of the farthest Atlantic
seaport.  In the words of Prof. Whitney, "Nothing so refines the
ideas, purifies the heart, and exalts the imagination of the dweller on
the plains, as an occasional visit to the mountains. It is not good to
dwell always among them, for'familiarity breeds contempt.'  The
greatest peoples have not been those who lived on the mountains, but
near them.  One must carry something of culture to them, to receive
all the benefits they can bestow in return.  As a means of mental
development, there is nothing which will compare with the study of
Nature as manifested in her mountain handiwork."  Beside the grandeur of the mountains, and the stateliness of the trees, the most
beautiful feature is the system of waterfalls, fed by the snow, which
is seen glistening on the higher summits in midsummer; as the snow
gradually lessens with the advancing summer, the volume of water
diminishes, and, by July, some of the most beautiful, like the "Virgin's Tears," and the falls of the " Royal Arches," and the "Sentinel
Peak," are entirely dried up, and even the great Yosemite, the Bridal
Veil, the Vernal, and the Nevada Falls, are comparatively small by
the month of August.  The fact is simply alluded to here, as, in
another place, more space will be devoted to this topic.
The mountains, which look so massive and uniform in outline in
the distance, when approached, are found to be deeply cleft by valleys
and narrow canons.
This whole mountain system, called by Prof. Whitney the" Cordilleras," is between the Pacific Ocean and 105 deg. west longitude
including the Rocky Mountains proper on the east, and, as we proceed
westerly, the Sierra Nevada and the broken region between, and the
most westerly coast range.
Beginning on the Pacific, the coast ranges are geologically newer,
according to the California geologists, than the Sierra Nevada, and
have l)een subjected to great disturbances up to a comparatively recent
geological period; there are in them no rocks older than the cretaceous, this and the tertiary making up nearly their whole body, with
some masses of volcanic and granitic material, neither forming anything like a nucleus, or core. They have no lofty peaks in Central
California, Mt. Hamilton, near San Jose, being only 4,400 feet, and
Monte Diablo, so conspicuous from San Francisco, only 3,860.  The
scenery is picturesque, but not grand, and especially remarkable for
the beautifiul valleys, or parks, between the ridges, with magnificent
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THE WONDERS OF THE'OSEMITE VALLER,
forests of oaks and pines, the ridges being bare.  North and south of
the central region, the elevation is greater, even to eight thousand feet,
but yet not within six thousand feet of Mt. Shasta, of the Sierra Range.
The phenomena of erosion are well marked, it is said, and the atmosphere has the indescribable exhilarating property which so delights the
traveller and strengthens the invalid.
The Sierra Nevada, or the snowy range, forms the western edge of
the great continental upheaval, or plateau, on which the " Cordilleras"
(as just explained) are built up; the Rocky Mountains form the eastern edge of the same plateau, the width between the two, traversed
'by the Pacific Railroad, being about one thousand miles. In this
range the peaks are the highest, and the subordinate ranges the most
regular. The base of the Rocky Mountains is four thousand feet
above the sea level, with such a gentle ascent from the Missouri River
that you hardly perceive it as you speed along for six hundred miles;
but on the west side of the Sierra you descend very rapidly, and, in
many places, apparently dangerously, seven thousand feet in less than
a hundred miles to the level of the sea. The Sierra Nevada strictly
belongs to California, being called the Cascade Range to the north ill
Oregon and Washingtonl Territories, and to the south losing itself,
more or less, ill the coast ranges; from the Tejou Pass to Mt. Shasta
is 550 miles, the last one hundred being the Cascade Range-the
average width of the chain is eighty miles, taking in the lakes on the
east and the foot-hills onil the west. The western slope, in the centre
of the State, rises one hundred feet in a mile, or seven thousand feet
in a horizontal distance of seventy miles; in the southern passes the
slope is much steeper than this.  Donner Lake Pass, where the Central Pacific Railroad crosses the range, is about seven thousand feet
above the sea; the crest of the range is five hundred to a thousand
feet higher than the passes, or eight thousand feet high. The central
mass is chiefly granitic, flanked by metamorphic slates, and capped,
especially to the north, by volcanic materials; the activity of the subterranean forces is now indicated by occasional severe  earthquakes,
more severe and more dreaded than we in the east dream of, by hot
springs and geysers, and by the existence of many well-formed, but
extinct, craters.
The scenery of the " High Sierra," as you stand upon the " Sentinel
Dome," or " Glacier Point," is very different from that of the higher
Alps.  You see much less snow and ice, and no glaciers extendiong
into the valleys.  But the rocks, even to the edge of the Yosemite, are
grooved and polished, showing the former existence of an immense
sheet of ice.  You see no grassy slopes between the forest and the
snow, but the woods extend much higher up, and abruptly terminate
with the bare rock in summeri, and the snow line in winter; the trees
are large, but somnbre and monotonous, growing even at a height of
7,000 feet. Though there are many beautiful valleys along the
streams, and magnificent waterfalls, the character of the scenery is
rather grand, sublime, and awful, than beautifil or diversified; the
heights are bewildering, the distances overpower ing, the stillness
oppressive, and the utter barrenness and desolation indescribable.
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One of the most striking features of the scenery on the edge of the
valley, is the concentric structure of the granite in the so-called
"Domes," and " Royal Arches," of which more hereafter.  Suffice it
to say here, that the rounded, dome-shaped masses contrast remarkably with the sharp peaks above and beyond them; they rise front
three to five thousand feet above the valley, presenting toward it a
sheer precipice of nearly this height -domes of the most gracefil
curves, and on a stupendous scale.  This concentric structure, according to Whitney, is not the result of the original stratification of
the rock, and there are no evidences of antielinal or synclinal axes
or marks of irregular folding; the curves, arranged strictly with
reference to the surface of the masses of rock, show, according to
him, that they were produced by the contraction of the material while
cooling or solidifying, giving one the impression that he sees the
original shape of the surface.  The concentric granite plates overlap
each other, absolutely preventing ascent from the valley; as these
immense plates have fallen, some from a height of over 3,000 feet,
detached by the frost, and other agencies, they have left the enormouls cavities which have received the name of the "Royal Arches,"
and royal indeed they are.
All observers agree that the snow disappears from the highest summits rather by evaporation than by melting, and that the air there is
remarkably dry; and by this is explained the general absence of gla.iers on Mt. Shasta and similar elevations, where in the Alps glaciers
would exist; immense masses of snow, miles long and lhundreds of
feet thick, remain all summer, thawing and freezing on the surface,
gradually wasting away without becoming glacier ice, and yielding
comparatively small - streams of water. Still, at a comparatively recent geological period, immense glaciers existed in these mountains,
and the usual traces of scratched and polished surfaces are common
enough, and moraines of great extent are found -these evidences of
former glacial action, however, seem to be limited to the higher parts
of the range, and not to descend below 6,000 feet above the sea, except in a few exceptional cases, where the configuration of the upper
valleys was favorable to the accumulation of large masses of snow
this indicates at that period a considerably moister climate than now
exists there.  Glaciers extended from Mt. Dana (13,000 feet above
the sea) to a level of the upper border of the great Yosemite, or 7,000
feet above the sea, the bottom of the valley being 3,000 feet lower.
The weight of an ice sheet a mile in thickness, may have had something to do with the sudden subsidence which many geologists think
was in part the cause of the formation of this valley.  Marks of glacial action are mainifest on the "Sentinel Dome," and on "Glacier
Point," both groovings and polishings; this polishing extends far
down the smooth surface on the south side of the valley, near the
Illilouette Canon, a steep, gigantic slide for a thousand feet, of perfectly smooth rock, which makes one dizzy to look at from above or
below, ending, as it does, inl a vertical wall toward the valley.  There
are no signs, that I know of, of glacial action in the valley.  The
Little Yosemite Valley, 2,000 feet higher than the big Yosemite, but
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greatly resembling it, communicates with the latter by the Nevada
Fall, the main stream of tlhe Merced River running through both.
No doubt a glacier passed down the Illilouette Caiou from the Mt.
Starr Kiiong group to the edge of the valley; the land at the head of
the Merced River was not high enioutigh for the formation of a glacier
into the Yosemite Valley, and there is no evidence that it came beyond the edge, as above stated, though it doubtless filled the higher
Little Yosemite.
The famous valley is about 155 miles from San Francisco, a little
south of east, or 250 by the usual line of travel. It is best to stop,
when coming from the east, at Stockton, distant ninety miles from
San Francisco by rail.  I went by the Mariposa route, the longest,
with the most horseback-riding, l)tit leading near the Mariposa grove
of big trees, and affording, oni the whole, the grandest views.   We
took a private conveyance, three of us and a driver, at Stockton,
the usual  charge for which is $16.00 a day, including the food
and all expenses of driver and two horses; the stages are crowded
and uncomfortable, (though, fi-om experience, I think not more so
than the private carriage,) but are considerably cheaper and quicker,
as they travel day and night.  By this route you have about twentyfive miles to go on horseback, mostly tup and down steep and rough
trails, to reach the valley- this we did in one day; but it is better to
take two, as both horses and riders get greatly fatigued.
You cannot enter the valley without rising about 3,500 feet above the
point you wish to reach, viz.: the bottom of the valley- this is 4,000
feet above the sea, and so is the ranch of Mr. Clark, from which you
start; fiom this you ascend to 7,400 feet, and then descend about
3,500 into the valley.  This severe, but necessary, toil, is what, with
the dust and heat, makes the journey so fatiguillng.  You can do it all
on horseback, as Mark Twain's pilgrims did in the Holy Land; but
pity for the horse, and comfort, it not safety for the rider, impels
you often to dismount, exchanging the fatigue of climbing for the
weariness and soreness of the saddle (it is, for the first few days, a
sort of drawn battle between the abductor mnuscles of the thighs in
riding, and the muscles of the calves in ascending or descending
on foot).  The caiion of the Merced River, whose shallow and placid
stream runs throughl the valley, has such steep sides, that a trail there
is next to impossible for any one but an Indian or an Alpine climber;
and so the valley has to l)e entered firom the side, at the western
extremity, either by the Mariposa trail on the south, or the Coulterville trail on the north.
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YOSEMITE VALLEY.
THE   distance from Stockton to Mariposa is about ninety miles, and
from there to Clark's about twenty-five, or 115 miles by stage
or carriage, and then twenty-five more onl horseback to the hotels in
the valley -or 140 miles, carpet-ba,ggingZ from your base at Stocktoni, which, last year, was the nearest point by rail; though probably
even Mariposa will ere lollg be reached by rail, and a carriage-road
be made twelve miles beyond Clark's, reducing the terrible horseback ride to twelve or thirteen miles.  Rotiugh as it is, many ladies
accomplish it every year.  A  railroad has now been finished from
Stockton to Copperopolis, reducing the stage ride by Coulterville
about twenty-eighlt miles.
We left Stockton in a light carryall, with two horses, at six o'clock
in the morning,- iiitending to take our own time for the journey.  On
getting into the country, everything looked burnt (this was in the last
half of July); the clayey soil was cracked in all directions by the
heat, sometimes to a foot in depth, presenting very miuch the appearance of the geological mud-cracks so frequently seen iii the rocks filled
with a harder material.  The crops were all stacked in the fields, immense piles, no barns being necessary to protect the grain at this dry
season, and there they remain till the steam-thresher comes along,
and the threshed grain is placed in sacks, loaded into wagons, and
transported to the river or the cars. The scarcity of water at the
surface gives an indescribable parched appearance to the landscape;
yet there seems to lbe an ample  supply at a moderate depth, and
every farm has its wind-pump, raising water from a kind of Artesian
well, distributed by gutters over the fields and gardens.  The interminable barren plain. dotted with herds of cattle and horses driven
by their herdsmen, the long trains of grafin-laden, creaking wagonls,
drawn by mules, with the  numerous wind-pumps lazily and noisily
working, remind one of the Spanish landscape, and it would have
been entirely in keepingc, with the surroundings to have seeli Donl
Quixote and Sancho Panza ride forth from a court-yard.  The squirrels ran out from their burrows by the sides of the road, and scampered across the fields, and occasionally a long-eared, diminillutive,
half-starved-looking hare would be seen picking up a scanty meal
among the stubble.  As we got into the country, or rather desert,
for it was a hot, treeless, sandy plain, the squirrels became more numerous, apparently in inverse proportion to the amount of visible
food, accompanied by the grave-lookilgo burrowing owls which inflict
their presence, the other side of the Rocky Mountains, onl the prairie
dogs; horned lizards were not uncommon, lively and plump,  bit
what they found to eat I could not discover, as insect life seemed to
me decidedly scanty; they may find ants, as now and then their hills
were to be seen.  These plains are remarkable for their mirage, and
it is impossible at first to believe that the lake in advance, with its
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36     THE WONDERS OF TIHE rOSEMITE VALLER,
gratefil shade of trees, is nothing but deception and reflection from
the sand, with here and there a scraggy tree.  You meet no travellers
on foot except a few Chinese, dressed like ourselves, except the hat
and blouse, going to and from the miniing locations; and even they
frequently exchange money for time, and ride by stage.  Wherever a
clump of trees appears, the woodpeckers and magpies are numerous,
and the wild pigeons are hardly wilder than the  pigeons in our
streets.  The  oaks are beautifully fcstooned with a long, hanging
moss,,iving the same funereal look that a similar appenldage does to
the cypress swamps of the Southern States; unlike the latter in most
respects, it also prefers dry and sandy plains instead of moist places,
and is confined, as far as I saw, to the oaks.  The Stanislaus and
Tuolumne Rivers are crossed by ferries, moved by most primitive
hand-power; "pay or stay" is the word there, and a ferry-man is even
more imperturbable than the keeper of a turnpike; if travellers were
numerous, the delay and the changes would be a great nuisance, and
the only way to get over the difficulty would seem to bridge it.
The dust and the heat were overpowering; and, much as we suffered, the horses suffered more; but if a horse gives out there are
plenty of others, and in some of the corrals there were so many that
the owner did not positively know how many he had.  After dinner
one of the horses was used up, and with a fresh one we started again,
contrary to the advice of the driver, who was not sure of his way by
night, and rode consequently till midnight, having lost our way as far
as the path was concerned, but sure of coming out all rilght by keeping the pole star over our left shoulder, as you can ride anywhere on
this level plafin just as you can upon a prairie.  We arrived at Snelling's at midnight, and, after sleep rendered unrefieshing by public
snoring and foul air, with the additional discomfort of a very poor
breakfast, we began the second day, equally hot and even more dusty,
but more interesting as the region became hilly.  At noon wve had
reached Horiitos, well named, as it is truly a "little oven," and gave
us a good baking,; passing from this through Bear Valley, you traverse the famous Mariposa Estate, where fortunes have been lost and
won; the former rich gold placers have yielded up their wealth, and
the region is in a state of decay, givenil up principally to Jews and
publicans, and the Chinese; the latter patiently, and laboriously, and
successfully digging over the old sites, already dug over many times
before; yet with their sobriety, economy, and perseverance, picking
up many a,chispa" (or sparkling bit of gold) overlooked by the
more hasty American diggers.  There is, I believe, only one stamp
mill on this immense property, and that not doing much.  Deserted
huts, dilapidated flumes, broken mining apparatus, and desolate heaps
of stones, speak sadly of the crowds that have departed without the
treasure which they sought; in faict, the whole region, especially near
the watercourses, has been dug over, and looks like a violated graveyard, fit emblem of the bright hopes there buried. The only sign of
life is indicated by the turbid streams, often only a few inches deep
and wide, discolored by the washings of the indefatigable Chinese,
not far off:
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At Mariposa, which is situated in a charming valley, though at this
season very dry, hot, and dusty, we found anothqr relic of the olden
time in a double wheel of about twelve feet diameter, and two feet
wide, covered with lattice-work, set up in the back-yard of the principal hotel.  In this was gravely walking, as in a treadmill, a large
dog, turning the wheel slowly, thus acting upon a pump which supplied the water for household purposes - somewhat in the mannier
of the dog-turnspit of old.  The work seemed easy, and the dog was
sleek, and apparently contented to perform his welcome duty for the
house.
Here you start by stage or your own conveyance, for the higher
hills, for White and Hatch's, twelve miles distant, 3,000 feet above
the sea; after -a good meal and welcome rest there, you start again
for the mountain region, and very soon come among the tall pitch
pilles, with their grateful balsamic odor, and ascend nearly 3,000 feet
more inll about seven miles, and then rapidly descend in four or five
more, by a good but very zigzag road, 1,700 feet to Clark and
Moore's, the real starting-point for the valley and-for the Mariposa
Big-Tree Grove.  You generally arrive here in the evening, and the
coolness of the air and water are very grateful after the heat, and
dust, and jolting of the day; the house is kept by New  Eng,lalnd
people, and you are received in the most hospitable manner, and
nothing is wanting to make you comfortable.   Mr. Clark is the
guardian of the grove, appointed by the State. You here, if you
wish, mount your horse for the grove, about four miles distant; but
of this I may speak on another occasion; here also is the south fork
of the Merced River, inviting you to a bath in its clear cool water,
and very few, I think, decline the invitation to get rid of the accumulated dust of the journey from Stocktoll.  The hotel is about on the
same level as the Yosemite Valley, but many a weary mile and aching
muscle intervene, for here you take horse.   Leaving early next
morning, you cross the river, and in about four miles ascend 1,900
feet, where you cross Alder Creek, stopping to give yourself and
horse a drink.  You then ascend to Empire Camp, now used only as
the house of the tenders of the sheep here kept; we went through
one flock containing several thousand, and the dust they kicked up
was suffocating, as it was quite impossible to go on without trampling upon them in thl narrow path, until the flock had passed; the
grizzlies must have finle pickings among them.   We met, also, horses
by the score, runningi wild, turned out to recover from the fatigue of
carryingc, pilgrims like ourselves, and many very much heavier, lip
and down these terrible hills. You then, after about twelve miles,
arrive at the half-way house, or Perigo's, 3,100 feet above Clark's,
and 7,100 feet above the sea; here frost appears early in August,
preventing the production of any useful crops, but apparently admirably suited to the chipmunks, or striped squirrels, which run in
and out the sheds and houses like mice.  The guides and horses are
obliged to remain out of doors at night, the former consoling themselves by a large bonfire.   From this you may branch off to "Sen tinel Dome" and, Glacier Point," though it is better to make this
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38  THE WONDERS OF THE ROSEMITE VALLEr,
trip after you have seen the valley, as it is better enjoyed after you
know what you are looking at -it is like a review of a subject pre viously studied, the principal points of which cannot be understood
or appreciated tuntil you have personally examined the whole field of
observation.
Going forward, then, you enter Westfall's Meadow, a very danger ous place out of the path, even in the dryest time of the year, from
the liabilitv of miring or even drowning your horse, and perhaps
yourself- it lies ill a basiii between two high ridges, and is never
dry.  By day the wind blows up the mountains, anld by iight down;
you have the dust, therefore, always with you going up, and also
going down if any one be in advance of you; this dust is the greatest
annoyance of the trip.  When you have ascended 3,426 feet above
Clark's, or 7,400 feet above the sea, you come suddenly to what is
called "Inspilration Poinlt," and there the magnificent panorama of the
valley at once, and for the first tiime, bursts up)on the view; no language can describe its graudeur, and no painting can do it justice; the
best idea is giveln by the  excellent photographs which have been
taken from this point, butt even these are poor  in compaLrison to vision, and serve rather to recall features once seen than to depict the
great reality.  It is well called "Inspiration Point," for it is an inspiration even to those falmiliar with the grandest mnountain scenery; it
is probably the most mnaglnificenlt view to be had ill the world.   Havimg reached this point, where the exploration of the valley really beginls, what is seen ill the valley will better be described on another
occasion; and I will only add a few remarks, which may be interesting to those who intend or hope to visit it, comparing the advantatges
of the two principal routes, the Coutlterville and the Marip)osa.  By
the Coulterville route which elnters the valley from the north, you
have more and finer views.of the distant Sierra to the north and east,
and see the various points of beauty in succession; by the Mariposa
trail, you go near the big trees, and the whole granldeur of thle Yosemite is revealed at Inspiration Point; if you return by the Mariposa route you get a second view, or rather review, as a whole of
what you have visited in detail, and, besides, can easilv make the
grand trip to the Sentinel Dome and Glacier Point, the view from
which is nearly as grand, perhaps, as that from Inspiration Point.
If one prefeirs to try both, enter by all means by the Coulterville,
and leave by the Mariposa route.  As to public conveyances, you
leave Stockton at six A. M., and reach IHoritos about eight r. iM.;
starting next morning, you arrive at Mariposa at noon, and at Clark's
at night.  Thlere, next morning, you take horses for the valley, distant twenty-five miles, and do it in one or two days, according to the
tenderness of the parts of the body whilch  rub against the saddle,
and your experience as a horseman.  You spend three days, at least,
in the valley; then one to return to Westfall's, where the trail goes
off to the Sentinel Dome, which should not be onitted —one to
Clark's and the lbig trees - then two days by stage to Stockton anain
-in all eleven days.
If you go by private conveyance, it takes two days longer, witb
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~~~~(3S() ft. high) ~IidVERNAL Ca1) (I  FALL.  PA~~ 4
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much more expense (more than twice as much), and with no more
comfort than by the sttage-in fact, delay upon the road, ill the dust
of summer and heat of the day, is only a prolongation of misery.
which, at the best, is very hard to bear.  In fact, the knowledge obtained by experience, in the minds of some  travellers I  met,
is not worth the jolting, and jammilig, and bruising, andl soreness,
inevitable in this journey-in fact, one of them said that though, in
the words of Solomoll, if you bray a fool in a mortar with a pestle
yet will not his folly depart from him, the tumbles and bumps and
scrapes of the Yosemite trails will take the foolishness out of a maln,
and the poetry too.
But, with all its fatigue and discomforts, there is nothing in this
trip to alarm the most timnid person; there is no danger to the nervous system, but great fatigue to the muscles, whether riding or
walking.  Notwithstanding these drawbacks, I think no one who has
made the trip will ever regret it, though he may not, till railroads
are extended, be inclined to repeat it - when he remembers the
grandeur of the scenery, the magnificence of the forests, the extraordinary beauty of the waterfalls, and the uncommon purity of the air
and clearness of the sky in these elevated reg,iolis.
As the traveller is supposed to be left now at Inspiration Point,
gazing into the beautifil valley, it may be well to allude to the sublime views from Sentinel Dome and Glacier Point, both above and
on the edge of the valley.  The Sentinel Dome is a great rounded
smooth mass of granite, about five miles to the north-east of the
half-way house of Perigo's; there are upon it a few sttinted pines,
and one remarkabl)e one on the summit, a welcome support to cliig
to during the high winds which prevail there; you tmay ride to the
very top; but most prefer to walk, especially in descending, so slippery is the bare rock.  Looking north-east up the Tenaya Caion, in
which is one of the forks of the Merced River, and thebeautifuliI
"Mirror Lake," you have on the left, in the distance, the snow-covered
Mount Hoffmann, and almost under it the "North Dome," 3,568 feet
above the valley, the tipper portionl of the rounded, concentric-layered, granite mass before alluded to as the "Royal Arches," inaccessible from the valley, but easily ascended( by a ridge which runs to
the north; this magnificent dome is worthily supported by the Royal
Arches, by the side of which man's proudest architectural imonuments
are utterly iiisignificant.  On the right, or south border of the ca,ion,
is the "Half Dome," with its stupendous vertical face of 3,000 feet
from the summit, then a steep slope of about seventy degrees of 2,700
feet nmore, the top being absolutely inaccessible  beyond is the
Clouds' Rest, 700 feet higher, but belonging rather to the Higher
Sierra than to the Yosemite group; on the opposite side is Miount
Watkins, named from the emilnent photographer of this region, and
beyond this the distant Sierra.  The Sentinel Dome is 4,150 feet
above the valley, and the Half Dome is nearly 600 feet higher.  To
the east is seen the Nevada Fall, with Mount Broderick, or the Cap
of Liberty," to the left of it; in the far distance the Lyell group,
and  to the south-east the steep, inaccessible granite peak, named
after Starr King, belonging to the Merced group.
m~~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
39 
_____________
THE WONDERS OF THE rOSEMITE VALLE2
About half a mile north-east of the Sentinel Dome, and directly in
a line with the edge of the Half Dome, is Glacier Point, overhanging
the valley, and presenting a view which for beauty and grandeur is
by many regarded as the finest around the valley.  Both the Vernal
and the Nevada Falls are in sight to the east, separated from
each other about a mile, and the nearest one, the Vernal, a little more
than a mile from the spectator; the point is fringed almost to the
edge with Jeffrey's pine. The view of the Half Dome, only two
miles distant, and directly in line, is grand in the extreme.  To the
north is seen the Yosemite Fall, 2,600 feet high, and to the west, limiting the vision, is the massive El Capitan, a solid block of granite,
3,000 feet high, projecting squarely into the valley, with almost vertical sides.  Below you see the green of the valley contrasting beautifully with the cold gray of the bare rocks, the tall pines looking like
shrubs, and a man scarcely discernible.  The thread of the Merced
River sometimes glistens in the sun, and the garden of Mr. Lamon
formns a pleasing feature with its greenness and orderly arrangement.
Travellers who fail to visit this point, ill my judgment, lose one of
the finest views in the whole Yosemite.
40  
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I~ ~ ~~ADO  CALIF INIA                             I
THE CLIFFS AND FALLS OF THE YOSEMITE VALLEY.
HE  Yosemite Valley, according to the California geologists, is
nearly in the centre of the State north and south, and ini the
middle of the Sierra, which is here seventy miles wide.  It is nearly
level, about five miles long, one half to a mile wide, and sunk
nearly a mile perpendicular below the neighboring refgion.  It is an
irregular trough, with many projecting angles not corresponding
with recesses on the opposite side, an argument against its being a
geoiogical fissure.  At its eastern end it branches into three canons,
the Tenaya, little Yosemite, and Illilouette, down which flow three
main branches which form the Merced River in the valley; the last
two with fine falls, the first with - beautiful crystal lake.  At the
west end it is narrow and V-shaped. The walls are almost vertical,
and of great height, both absolutely and compared with the width
of the valley, and are remarkable for the small amount of debris-at
their base.  The most distinguishing characters are the domes and
the waterfalls. any one of which in Europe would be of world-wide
fame; there is nothing in the Old World to compare with either, and
of the latter many, far surpassing anything in the Alps, are not noticed, as there are so many fine ones demanding the traveller's attention.
Coming in from the Mariposa trail, as you descend from Inspiratioin
Point 3,000 feet, slowly and painfully to yourself, and with pity for
the horses, you come at every turn upon views of surpassing graindeur
and beauty.  On the left stands the massive  "El Capitau," an immense block of haie, smooth, light-colored granite, 3,300 feet high,
projecting squarely into the valley, and with almost vertical sides.
At first you cannot realize its stupendous bulk and height; there
is no standard to judge by where everything is on so griand a scale
nothing but climbing about, among them will open your eyes to the
amazing heights of the cliffs and fitlls.  Of El Capitan, Whitney
says'it seems as if hewed from the mountains on purpose to stand
as the type of eternal massiveness.  It is doubtffl if anywhere in
the world is presented so squarely cut, so lofty, and so imposing a
face of rock." In a recess in one corner is the "Virgin's Tears" fall,
1,000 feet high, rarely seen by travellers, as the creek which supplies it is dried up early in the season; it is superior, while it lasts,
to the famous Staubbach fall in Switzerlanid, the admiration of Alpine
tourists, and one of the finest in Europe. The Indian name of El
Caipitan is "Tutocanula," said to be an imitation of the cry of the
crimes, which in winter used to enter the valley over this rock.
Directly opposite is the beautiful "Bridal Veil" fall, about 700 feet
in perpendicular height, and 200 more of cascades as it rushes over
the debris at the bottom of " Cathedral Rock," over which it pours;
the creek which supplies this faill, you pass when going to "Sentinel
I
AND OF CALIFORz'vVA.
41 
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42    THE WONDERS OF THE rOSEMITE VALLE,
Dome," and the coolness of its clear water is sure to be tasted by the
traveller and his horse.  In the dialect of the Indians, this is "Pohono" -a blast of wind, or the nilght wind, fiom the chilliness of the
air experienced by cominig under the cliff, and perhaps from the
swaying of the sheet in the wind like a veil; others think Pohono
was all evil spirit, whose breath was a dangerous and deadly wind.
Whatever its derivation, the poetical name of the Indian is, here as
in other places in the valley, much superior to the English one. As
in all the falls, the amount of water varies greatly with the season, being greatest inl May and June; it is most beautiful later in the summer,
when the volume of water is smnall, as it then sways more gracefully
in the wind.
The "Cathedral Rocks," over which the "Bridal Veil" falls, are
neither so high nor so vertical as Et Capitan; though only about
2,600 feet highl, they are very grand whichever wvay you look at
them; from one point the pinnacles called the  " Spires" are so
squarely cut that they remind you of the towers of Notre Dame in
Paris.  These grand masses, amid so many grander, are hardly noticed by the tourist; what appear on the top like bushes are evergreens 125 to 150 feet high, as large as those which excite your
wonder in the valley.
On the opposite side is (a triple group of rocks, known as the
"Three Brothers," rising one behind the other, the highest beilngl
4,200 feet above the valley. The Indianl name is "Pompompasus,"
or "Leaping Frogs," from a fancied resemblance to three frogs with
their heads turned in one direction, the highest in the rear as if in
the act of leaping.
Nearly opposite the "Brothers," j ust in the rear of the first hotel,
or Leydig's, is "Loya," or "Sentinel Rock."  This is a slender peak
of granite, over 3,000 feet high, the upper third standing up like an
obelisk or signal tower; it is one of the grandest masses of rock in
the valley.  Behind it, and more than 1,000 feet higher, is the  Sentinel Dome," before described, not seen from the valley.  From
"Sentinel Rock" descends a small fall, 3,000 feet high, 400 feet
hi,gher than the Yosemite fall, but reduced in Julyv to a mere thread,
unperceived by most travellers; in early spring it is a very beautifiil
cascade.
The great feature iin'the valley to most perscns is the Yosemite
fall, just opposite, surpassing in hei(rght all others, here or elsewhere, having atn equal body of water.  The grandeur and beauty
of this fiall and its surroundings are, in a measure, familiar from excellent photographs, engraving,s and paintings.  The creek which
supplies the water is fed by the melting snowvs of the Mt. Hoffmani
group, tenl miles to the northeast; of courso thio voluime of waiter
varies greatly, l)eing very large in spring, l)ut in Atlligtlst reduced
two-thirds.  When generally seen, in June and Jtly, the stream It
the fall, according to Whitney, is twenty feet wide and two feet
deep. The height is 2,600 feet, half a nile; a vertical fall of 1,600
feet, swaying in the wind and broken into spray in a most beautiful
manner, and falling into a deep, rocky recess; then a descent, ia a
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II ~        ~           ND      O      CALIFORNIA...........................................................43t!t~
series of cascades, of 600 feet; and then a final plunge of 400 feet to
the bottom of the valley, falling upon a rough assemblage of rocks,
then flowing off to join the Merced River, being iguomIiniously made
to turn a saw-mill on its way.  All the falls you see well from " Sentinel Dome," opposite,- distant two and a half miles, and considerably above them.  It is impossible to imagine anything finer than
this scene under a full moon.
A mile or two above the Yosemite fall, the valley branches into
three canons, the middle one kept by the main Merced River, with
the " Vernal" and " Nevada" falls, the little Yosemite Vallev (a miniature copy of the greater), and the ascent to the Lyell group, where
the river heads; on the left hand is the Tenaya canon, and on the
right the Illilouette.  Just before these branches is the " Washington
Column,"  (" Shokoni,")  about  2,500 feet high, and the "Royal
Arches," (" Tocoya," or the "Basket,") supporting, as it were, the
"North Dome "; the last is about 3,700 feet high, made up of hurge
concentric plates of granite overlapping each other.  The "Half," or
South Dome,"  (" Tisayac,") opposite, about 6,000 feet high, is
another magnificent mass of smooth, rounded granite, looking as if
the western half had been split off and swallowed in an abyss-it is
truly a "wonder among wonders."
Following up the Tenaya caiion, over a very rough trail among
boulders and rolling and rough stones, you come to ~Mirror Lake"
("'Waiya"), so called fiom the reflection in its still, clear water of
the surrounding peakls, Mt. MWatkins  and others.  Farther  ulp is
"Cloud's Rest," nearly 7,000 feet high, connecting with the higher
Sierra, and frequently surrounded by clouds when the other peaks
are cleaao
Returning and going up the canon of the main Merced River, you
visit the''Vernal" and:~Nevada" falls, each the body of the main
river.  The trait is in many places difficult, but nowhere dangerols,
with ordinary ceare; you are almost constantly ascending, winding in
and out, lip and down, aloug the banks of the stream, which flows
with great rapidity and turbulence in its rocky bed, affording some
enchanting views of mountain and cascade scenery.  Here we met
Mr. ShapleigVh, al a rtist faom Boston, with whose ine sketches most
of our California tourists are now familiar.
After about a mile's climbing, you arrive in sight of the ternal
Fall" (JPiwyack, white water, or shower of diamonds), about 400
feet high.  The granite behind the sheet is square, and little, if any,
eroded by the falling water; so that it is hard to believe that this
caon ann d fall have been the reslt of any causes  now in action
there; there must have been a subsidence, as most observers think
was the case in the formation of the valley itself.  The trail up the
canon in its upper portion, aryound and along the steep side of the
mountainl, is slippery, and wet with the spray; you can ride by a
rough road to the top, but most persons prefer to walk, muddy and
moist though it be.   You can go no farther than the base of the
cliff bay the path, afmd you  vtillingly stop to rest and admire the
ever-changing rainbows over the water, and enjoy the refresilndg 
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AND OF CALIFORNIA.
43
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44 THE /WOND-ERS OF THE ROSEMITE VALLE R,
coolness and shade.   At this point  there is a spacious cavern,
formed ill the concentric layers of granite peculiar to this region;
this was once probably the lair of wild animals, and the still wilder
Indian, as it is nlow said to be of the rattlesnake.  The ascent is
now made by perpendicular and not very strolng ladders of wood,
making the nervous tremble lest their feet should slip, and anxious
lest they should meet a rattlesnake sunning himself on the landings
along the ascent.  These reptiles are numerous here, and are fre quently killed by the sticks with which cautious travellers arm
themselves; though we met none alive, the rattles exhibited, and the
dead ones hanging to the trees, show that they are too common for
comfort.  At the summit the view downv  the cation is indescribably
grand, and the more enjoyable as a parapet of granite runs along the
edge, just high enough to support you in safety almost onl the very
brink.
Going up the stream by a very rugged and often steep path, winding around immense boulders which have fallenl fi-om the heights on
each side -the beautiful Merced River foaming along in its rocky
bed, with rapids succeeding each other in endless variety, in one
place shooting like silver lace-work over a smooth surface into a pool
of emerald hue- crossing the main  and rushing stream onil a rude
bridge, and some of its torrents on trunks of trees, not altogether
safe because steep and slippery, you come, after a mile of hard
climbing, to the "Nevada" ftall (' Yowiye," slanting or twisted water).
This name is given because just below the edge is a projecting shelf,
which receives and throws to one side a great portion of the water;
this adds much to the picturesqueness of the fall, by its Unusual
shape.  It is the grandest in the valley, having a large body of wvater
of extreme purity, falling about 700 feet;  it is surrounded by
majestic mountains, the most noted of which is the "Cap of Liberty,"
or "Mt. Broderick" (Mah-ta), 4,600 feet high, and almost as grand
as the "Half Dome." The descent between the Nevada and the
Vernal falls is about 300 feet.  Retturning you  may look up  the
caion of the Illilouette, where in early spring is a fine fall of 600
feet, rarely visited, from the difficulty of the trail.
The Yosemite Valley is nearly level, sloping very gently to the
southwest, the sluggish Merced River, about  seventy feet wide,
flowing through it; it ends in a narrow canion to the west.  It is
4,000 feet above the sea, and contains some swampy meadows su,pporting alders; there are also the spruce and poplar, and in the
sandy parts the pitch pine, white cedar, firs and oaks.  The walls are
light gray, very bright in the sun, here and there discolored by organic matters in solution in the water; most paintings give the rocks
a golden haze which they do not possess.
The characteristics of this valley are, as far as I know, nowhere
else in the world combined on such a large scale. These are: grand
perspectives; stupendous perpendicular cliffs; vast domes; glistening ribbons of cascades coming apparently from the clouds; thundering falls like the Vernal and Nevada; frightful chasms; crystal
lakes; gigantic pines; and a beautiful river.  There is a painlful
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1.1.1.11 
NEVADA FALL.
70) feet high.
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AND OF CALIFORNIA.
lack of color arisingo from the union of cold gray granite and sombre evergreens; the valley is so narrow, and the walls so high, that
the sun practically sets early in the afternoon, adding a premature
dusk to the wild scenery.
In early spring, when the snow begins to mnelt on the mountains,
innumerable waterfalls appear, most of which are dried up before
travellers arrive.  Some prefer the grand volume of Niagara, others
the graceful height of the Yosemite; both are equally wonderful and
beautiful, but no more to be compared than the sturdy oak to the
clinging vine, or the vigor of manl to the beauty of woman.  As a
rule, I should say that the female sex prefer Niagara, while males
prefer Yosemite. from the natural love of their opposites.  The hiogh
waterfalls of Europe are not large; the highest (Gavarnie, in the
Pyrenees) is not half so high as the Yosemite, and is a mere trickling stream; the Staubbach, ill Switzerland, is about as high as the
"Bridal Veil" (900 feet), but has very little water; the Voring Foss,
in Norway, said to be the finest in Europe, is only 850 feet, and is
considered, by those who have seen both, far inferior to the California
falls.  Beautiful as they are in summer, these falls in winter, with
their frozen spray forming, domes more than 100 feet high, the drops
rebounding in the stiun like diamonds, must present a sight of surpassing beauty and grandeur.*
How was this grand and unique valley formed?
Nowhere is the tremendous erosive action of water more fullv exhibited than in the great cations and valleys of the Sierra Nevada; canons
2,000 feet deep have been worn in hard lava by the long-continued action of mountain torrents, and the rocks are everywhere channelled by
this cause; but these gorges do not have the vertical walls of the Yosemite, nor such perpendicular granite surfaces as "El Capitan," 3,000
feet high, meeting each other at right angles; the faces here are
turned down the valley, opposite to that in which erosion by water
could have acted.  The "Iilf Dome" rises vertically 2,000 feet
above the level walls of the valley, and the same distance above the
action of water, even had its torrent filled the whole valley. There
is no apparent source of supply for the water necessary to have produced such an erosion, even upon the wildest glacier theory; the
valley is too irregular and sharp upon its sides, and the caion of
exit too narrow to admit of this explanation.
The erosive action of ice cannot be reasonably advanced as the
cause; there is no evidence of ice-action in the valley, though there
is plenty of it on the sides above it, and to the very edge; moreover,
the work of ice, as seen in the Alps and elsewhere, is entirely unlike
what is seen in the Yosemite Valley.
It cannot be regarded as a geological fissure, for the walls are on an
average half a mile apart, and the same in depth; and they in no way
* We are informed by a traveller recently returned from the valley, that the Yosemite fall was entirely dry this year in the first week of September; travellers at this
season lost, therefore, perhaps the most beautiful feature of the valley, and the most
remarkable waterfall in the world.
mi
45 
— Il
46    THE WONDERS OF THE YOSEMITE VALLEr,
correspond on the two sides.  As it is transverse to the line of the
mountain upheaval, it cannot be the result of folding.
There remains the hypothesis of the California geologists, which
seems to me the true one, viz.: that during, or perhaps after, the up heaval of the Sierra, there was a subsidence — that the bottom of the
valley sank down to an unknown depth, the support underneath having been withdrawn during the convulsion.  This explains the absence of debris, which has gone down to fill the abyss. The valley
was undoubtedly once filled with water; the disappearance of the
glaciers, the gradual dessiccation of the country, and the filling up of
the abyss, have converted the lake into a valley with a river runlning
through it; the process of filling is continually going on from the action of the elements upon the surrounding rocks.
There are other examples of similar probable subsidences, as in
the little Yosemite and Hetch-Hetchy Valleys.  Lake Tahoe and its
valley are perhaps the result of a similar subsidence, the lake occupying the cup of a sunken crater.
The following, from, the Overland Monthjly, well describes the
sensations which arise on viewing the Yosemite Valley:
"Such ma(gnificence of rocks, such  stupendousness of cliffs, far
outstripped conception, and sta,ggered even perception itself. You
disbelieve your own eyes.  Judgument fails you.  You have to reconstruct it.  Comparison serves you little, for you have no adequate
standard with which to compare, or by which to estimate the rockmountains before you.  They are like nothing else but themselves.
Look at that tree: elsewhere you would call it lofty. It must be
a hundred and fifty feet high, and yet that wall of rock behind rises
straight up to twenty times its height above it.  Slowly you begin
to "even yourself" to the stupendous scale of the gigantic shapes
around, though yet trembling and staggering under the overwhelming immensity pouring in upon you from around and above.  A score
of cataracts in solid rock, Niagaras in stone pile upon each other and
pour over each other in absolutely painful tremendoutsness.  Solidified
vastness; infinity petrified; the very buttresses of eternity overpower the sight and benumb the brain. The works of God crush
out the words of man. We can only silently uncover and stand
speechless, with abated breath."
a~~~~m                                                                                       111LobAg!  TKISIis —l -mIllol
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THE SENTINEI,S
315 feet high, diam. 2) feet.
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AN  OF CAIFRIA  Il7ll[Ill
BIG TREES.
NOtraveller from the East should fail to visit one or the other of
the groves-of "Big Trees"; the principal ones are the Calaveras
and Mariposa, the property and the charge of the State of California,
to be held as public parks forever.  These trees are the highest and
largest of the vegetable kingdom, both dimensions considered; though
some of the eucalypti of Australia are 100 feet higher, and the baobab
of Africa is larger in diameter, the former is of comparatively small
diameter, and the latter of medium height. We are familiar here with
the wood and bark, and even the cones, seeds and foliage, from a large
specimen recently exhibited in the principal cities and towns, and
which, it is hoped, may ere long find a permanent resting-place in
Boston.
These huge trees are said to have been accidentally discovered in
1852 by a hunter employed by a mining and water company, whose
story was so little believed that he was obliged to lure the workmen
to see the trees, by leading them to a huge grizzly bear which he said
he had killed, and was unable to bring in alone.
The wonder soon got into the papers, and was quickly known all
over this country and Europe. Dr. Linldley, faililing to recognize its
genlus, named it "Wellingtonia gigantea," after the greatest modern
English military commander; it had already been called in America
Washingtonllia gigantea," in compliment to our noblest military hero.
Decaisne, a French botanist, discovered that it belonged to the same
genus as the California redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), and it is
now known in science as S. gigantea.
The genus was named in honor of Sequoyah, a Cherokee half-breed,
better known as "George Guess," who lived in the last quarter of the
18th, and the first third of the present century. He dwelt in the
north-east corner of Alabama, and invented for his tribe an alphabet
and written language; there were int it 86 characters, each representing a syllable. It was considerably used, and a paper was printed
partly in these characters.  The memory of this benefictor of his people will probably soon pass away with his nation, now driven beyond
the Mississippi, and rapidly becoming, exterminated.
The redwood, so called from the color of its wood, is limited to the
seaboard, seeming to require for its growth the salt mnists from the
ocean.  The "Big, Trees" are inland, and confined to limited ranges
in the Sierra; but both are Californian, and the latter entirely so.
The genus is also found fossil in the earlier " tertiary" of Greenland,
as high as la.t. 70 deg. N.; the study of these giants, therefore, is of
great interest to the paleontologist and geologist.
The redwood is found along the coast from 36 deg. to 42 deg. N.
Near San Francisco and the large towns they are all cut down;  but in
other places they constitute forests 100 miles lonl  and 10 to 15 wide.
I
AND OF CALIFORNIA.
47 
:
4S    THE WONDERS OF THE rOSEMJTE VALLE2,
They are almost as granld as the Big Trees themselves, being 50 to 70
feet in circumference, and 275 feet high; they form the entire forest
(the Big Trees occurring in groups or groves ainmolig other trees), prcsenting therefore a grander sight, with their straight trunks withoit
branches for 100 to 150 feet.  The contrast of the cinnamon-colored
trunks and the deep green foliage, shutting, out the sunlight above,
with the gloom.and absolute silence of these majestic groves, prepares
one to expect processions of ancient Druids emerging from these
stately avenues, and to come  upoin some  previouisly-uindiscovered
Stonehengl,e in these magnificent solitudes.
The groves of the "Big Trees" are found only between 36 deg. and
38l deg. N. lat., and between 5,000 and 7,000 feet iii vertical range.
Of the eight or nine groves, the most famous are the Calaveras and
Mariposa., the first the most northern of  41l.  The Calaveras grove is
the most accessible, and without horseback riding, and is distant only
74 miles from Stockton; of this distance, you may go nearly 30 by rail
to Copperopolis, and the remainder l)y stages, riding directly into the
grove, in which is situtated the hotel.  The grove is about the size of
Boston Common. beiing about half a mile long and one-eighth of a mile
wide, in a depression throughl which, in summer, runs a small brook.
There are over a hundred larg,e trees, 20 of which are more than 25
feet in diameter at the base, and many smaller, though very.larige
ones.  Some have fallen from age, and a few have been felled.   The
largest now stanlding, the "Motlher of the Forest," is 320 feet hilgh,
90 feet in circumference at the ground, and 61 feet in circumference
six feet from the ground; the bark was removed lip to a height of over
100 feet, and was exhibited in this country and in Eingland, and was
burned in the Sydenham Crystal Palace; there are pieces of it in this
city more than two feet thick.  The "Father of the Forest," prostrate on the ground, was  the largest in the grove, estimated to
have been 435 feet high, and 110 in circumference at the base;
this is much  larger tlhan any inow  standing.  One of the largest
was felled in 1853-5 men working 25 days with pump  augers
and wedges; it was 300 feet hiigh, and 96 feet in circumference
on the ground; it was 80 feet in circumference 6 feet from the
base, and large enlough to accommodate four sets of quadrilles on the
stump; and on its prostrate trunk, a house and double bowling-alley
80 feet long have beenl built.  It was a section of this tree, cut 40 feet
from the ground, that was exhibited in our Eastern cities last year;
I 
II
AND~~~~~~~~~~~~! OF CALIFORNIA....
this tree was prol)al)ly not less tihan 1,300 yea,rs old.  Another prostrate trunk, called the  Biurnt Tree," will admnit of a person  on horse
back riding, through its hollow for 60 feet, in at one knot-hole and out
at another.  The t'illest lnowv standiing is the  IKeystolne State," 325
feet high, but only 45 feet in circtinmference 6 feet from the grould;
there are several others from 300 to 230 feet high, and 25 to 30 in circutmference; and a large nuimber still smaller, but splendid and symmetrical trees.  The trees by which these are surrounded are so tall,
that it is difficult to appreciate the heighlt of these gianlts; when you
reflect that the largest trees here are more than 100 feet higher than
Bunlker Hill Monument, and the Father of tlhe Forest" nearly as large
at the base, you get some idea of their actual and relative size.  The
tops are almost always riugged and broken by the storms and winds,
so that, as a general rule, they impress more by their size than their
beauty and symmetry.   When you are surrounded by trees 250 feet
hi,gh, 50 feet more or less can hardly be appreciated by the eye.
Other names of celebrated trees in this grove are "Hercules," "Hermnit,"
"Old Bachelor,"'Old Maid,"" Siamese Twins," "Mother and Son,"
" Three Graces," " Gen. Jackson," "Daniel Webster," Clay," " Washington," "Uncle Tom's Cabin."
The "Sentinels," about 50 feet in circumference, anid 275 feat high,
stand guard at the entrance of the grove, like giants at the portal of
an enchanted palace; a:ndcl between them, with head uncovered, you
pass into this grand temple of nature.
The Mariposa Grove, about four miles southeast of Clark's Hotel,
is also in a depression, accessible at present only onl horseback or on
foot.  The grove is about two miles square, and its trees are more
numerous, less lofty, but larger, than those of the Calatveras Grove.
Many have names prominently affixed to them, taken chiefly from
Americans  famous in politics, science, literature,  and  especially
poetry.  Almost all are burned at the base, probably accidentally,
by the Indians, and many have large cavities thus made in their
standilg trunks, through which you ride on horseback, and in which
a large party c(ould be protected from a storm. Many little trees
4
:I
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AND OF CALIFORNIA.
49 
50    THE WONDERS OF THE ROSEMITE VALLEr,
are growing all around, from two to one hundred  feet high, and
there seems no immediate danger of the species becoming extinct,
especially as the groves are guoarded and protected with the most
jealous care by Mr.  GTalecn Cltrk, thle Stalte Guardian.  The  first
branches are given off at so great a lheilght that it is difficult to
obtain fresh specimens of the foliage; the cones are not more than
two inches long, while those of the sugatr pin(e, a lar,ge, but much
smaller tree, are one and a half to two feet in length; the seeds are
very small anld liht, a   germinate readily in the East, and in Northerm  Europe; many are growing in this city and vicinity from seeds
obtained and distributed by me last year; they grow with considerable rapidity, even two feet in a year, and forlm  beautiful and interesting parlor ornaments.  The foliage is somewhat like that of the
arbor-vitro; the I)ark smrooth, porous, lilght, and ciinnamon-colored;
the wood red, as in redwood, lilght, spongy, and of not much use in
carpentry.  The largest tree in this grove is thle " Grizzly Giant,"
ninety-tlhree feet in circumference at the l)ase, familiar to many l)y
excellent stereoscopic views; the top is broken off, and it is evidently
very old and declinit,ng.
TIE CONE, AND FOLIAGE OF THE MAMMOTH TREES-FULL SIZE.
There are several other s.maller groves, not generally visited b)y
travellers.   The species, therefore, can hardly be called a rare one, nor
I
li 
_I
AND OF CALIFORNIVA.
can it be said to be dying out.  Though less high by one hundred
feet thali some Australian trees, and less in diameter than the Africall Adansonia, yet, taken altogether, it must be regarded as the
grandest type of the vegetable world.
The white or bastard cedar (Libocedrus) resembles the big trees
very much in its bark, and general appearance of the trunk; but the
wood is white, and highly aromatic.  Beside the large pitch or yellow
pine (P. ponderosa), which here attainis a very large size, the traveller will chiefly admire the sugar pine (P. Lambertiana), which grows
to the height of three hundred feet, with a diameter of ten or twelve;
this receives its name fi'om a white mainna-like exudation fromn the bark,
whose sweet taste may tempt one to partake of it freely, to the great
and painful disturbance of the abdominal contents, as it is a powerful
purgative; the coiies, of great size, lhang like sugar-loaves from the
branches. The traveller by the Mariposa route is generally taken
to a large pine of this species, called the " Hermit's Cave," where an
eccentric person passed a large part of the year; there was in its
base, hollowed by fire, room enough for a bed of leaves, fire-place,
and closets; the smoke of his fire ascended through a long chimney
in the centre, the result of the natural decay of the tree.  The dead
branches of the pines are covered with beautiful bright yellow mosses
and lichens, and the oaks in the valleys near the sea-level are festooned with long folds of grayish moss, which, swvinging in the wind,
give a funereal aspect much like that produced by a similar growth in
the cypress swamps of the South.  The dead and dying oaks display
large mistletoes, three or four feet high, whose bright green forms a
singular contrast to the ashy hue of the limbs at whose expense the
parasite grows.  One other characteristic tree deserves mention -
the nut-pine (P. edlis), the seeds of which are largely eaten by the
Indians; the wood of this tree is in great request for all kinds of
structures under water; the wood is extremely crooked, and apt to
warp in the air to such an1 extent that it is jocularly said that a " stick
will crawl over a ten-acre lot in twenty-four hours."
l
51 
II
52     THIE WONDERS OF THE YOSEMITE VALLE r,
INDIAN TRIBES.
HE  Shoshones, Utes, and Pah-Utes are the principal Indian tribes
seen along the railroad from Salt Lake to Stockton.  In the Yosemite Valley there are the - Diggers," so called because, ill times of
scarcity, they subsist on acorns, roots, and insects and their grubs,
dug from the earth.  Though low in the scale of mall, they are not
the abject creatures gellerally represented; they are mild, harmless,
and singulariy honest.  Of their honesty you can have no doubt when
you see in the woods and valleys little storehouses, raised above inlindations, and made of bushes, grasses, and stakes, in which their
acorns and nuts are stored for the winter; they always respect each
other's property thus amranged, but these repositories have often been
broken into and robbed by mischievous and unscrupulous whites.  As
usual with the American aborigines, they are more  silnned against
than sinning.  They are very dark-colored, fond of gaudy beads and
colors, and expert hunters and fishermen; they will catch a string of
trout where the Eastern angler, with his flies and costly outfit, cannot get a bite.  They are addicted to intemperance, when they can
get fire-water; but for this, and the consequent poverty, misery,
and disease, the whites are accountable.
While we were in the Valley, there was a grand pow-wow one
night over the chief, who was supposed to be dying; all sorts of
howlings and incantations were practised by his women; but the
smell of his breath, his sudden revival at the mention of whiskey,
and the fact that he was out fishing, all next day, were sufficient
proofs that it was only a fit of delirium tremens.
Near Clark's hotel is an Indian sweat-house, which is anll object
of curiosity to travellers.  It consists of an oval depression in the
ground, about eight feet long and two feet deep; over this is a
heavily-thatched dome-shaped roof, plastered with mud and leaves;
on the mud floor is placed a circle of rounded stones, enclosing a bed
of twigs and leaves; a fire is made around the stones, upon which,
when highly heated, water is poured, at the same time extillnguLishing
the fire, but raising an abundance of very hot steam; the patient,
naked, then lies down npon the inner bed of leaves, and the entrance
is nearily closed; after sweating  sufficiently, ihe rushes out and
plunges into a branch of the Merced River near by- a primitive but
effectual Russian bath.
They possess the art of making baskets of straw which will hold
w     a      t      e      r, and they make a very ingenious  straw box for keeping their
worm bait alive; burying it in the earth, yet not allowing the worms
to                                     escape. The women are perfectly hideous,  as usual doing all the
d r u d g e ry, while the men hunt, fish, drink and smoke.  One fin   e  fellow at Mr. Clark's had charge of the train horses; he was good
II 
.1 1..,.:,
I.... 
A   L,,i 4  -,
MIRROR LARE ANI) Mr. WATKINS.
PAGE 4.
.i
*  -,
A ee
I.5 
.A
'D 
natured, strong, industrious, a fine rider, and skilled in all wooderaft.
It is averred by sundry persons not far from Cape Cod, that a
baked skiunk is a great luxury, and that, if properly killed and
dressed, the flesh is not tainted with the well-known perfume of this
animnal.  The Diggers are of the same opinion, and this dish with
them corresponds to roast turkey with us.  The following account
of the manner in which the animal is captured by them is taken from
a Western paper, and was written by an alleged eye-witness:
On my journey hither, I observed two Digger Indians in a ravine,
a little distance above the road, slowly and cautiously approaching
each other, with their eyes intently fastened on some animal which a
second glance discovered to be a well-developed specimen of the skunk.
The  Indian who  was behind it held out his hand, and moved it
slowvly round in a circle, and this seemed to distract the attention of
the animal, for he followed the motion closely with his eyes, and,
though he elevated his tail several times, as if about to fire, he never
executed his threat.  Slowly, slowly they approached, the other attracted its attention, and the auspicious moment arrived.  In the
twinkling of an eye, the Indian behind dashed upon it, snatched it
up by the extremity of its uplifted tail, and held it high aloft at arm's
length.  Then the other Indian ran up, flattened out his hand, and
struck it on the back of the neck as he would have done with a knife,
breaking that organ thereby, and the thing was accomplished.  The
animal seemed to feel itself so ignominiously disgraced and outraged,
and all the proprieties and amenities of civilized warfare so utterly disregarded, in bei)ng hoisted by the tip of the tail, that it abandoned its
usual means of defence in disgust.  The consequence was that the
entire operation was accomplished without the diffusion of the usual
odor, which appears to be the main point in the killiing."
The Mongolian origin of the American Indian has generally been
accepted by closet ethnologists; but any one who takes this California trip will be likely to have this opinion, if he entertain it, shaken.
Here you see the Indian and the Chinese side by side: except in the
general conltour of the face and the straight black hair, there is hardly
any resemblance in physical character, and their mental characteristics are entirely opposite. The Diggers, and other California Indians, are supposed by some to have come from the west by sea,
firom the Japanese or Malayan Islands, instead of from the northeast, l)y way of Greenland, like the Esquimaux.  Whatever their
origin, they are fast disappearing, as they cannot adopt the civilization of the white race; scorning agriculture and manual labor, they
are truly in the hunter state, and in their Stone Age, beyond which
they will never progress.
AND OF CALIFORNIA. 
j  [  [ ]  []  [[  [[                        I                                              I                                            I                   I                                                 i-                                                                                                                      
THE WONDERS OF THE YO2SEMITE VALLEr,
SAN FRANCISCO AND VICINITY.
N and near the city of San Francisco, the traveller will find many
fine scenes amid the Coast Range, even though fresh from the
grandeur of the Yosemite and the higher Sierra.  Within the city
limits, by ascending Telegraph or Russian Hill on a clear daly, you
have before you a magnaificent panorama;. the splendid bay, dotted by
sailing vessels and steamers from every clime, extending out to the vast
Pacific through the Golden Gate- golden in the hues of an autumlal
sun, and goldenl in the untold treasures to whichl it has afforded a pathway   the surrounding mountains, comingl down to the sea, with their
beautiful contrasts of reddish rock and green slopes, and their picturesque callons rich in the trees characteristic of California -Alcatraz
Island, with its fortifications, the more distant and lofty Angel Island
-on the eastern side of the bay, the floLurishing town of Oakland,
noted for its University, and its connected villages, with the Contra
Costa Range in the background, surmounted, though at,a considerable distance, by Monte Diablo; to the south, from a nleighboring
hill, one may look into the San Jos6 Valley, flmous for its mines of
quicksilver; and many othler objects crowd into the view, which the
eyes must ever delight to look upon.
Monte Diablo, about 3,850 feet high, is very conspicuous, being
quite isolated on the north, and its doublly-conical summit very graceful; it is distant from the city twenty-eight:miles in a N. N. E. direc
tion.  The ascent is made from Cl-Lyton, which may be reached by
land or by water; the distance to the top is only six miles, and may
be easily made, and back, onl foot or on horseback, in a day.  The view
from the summit is probably unsurpassed in extent, owing to the disposition of the mountains, and its position in the centre of a great
elliptic basin.  According to the geological survey of Californiat,  the
eye has full sweep over the slopes of the Sierra Nevada to its crest,
from Lassen's Peak on the north to Mt. Whitney on the south, a distance of fully 325 miles.  It is only in the clearest weather that the
details of the'Snowy Range' can be made out; but the nearer masses
of the Coast Rllanges, with their innumerable waves of mountains and
wavelets of spurs, are visible from Mt. Hamilton (15 miles east of
San Josej) and Mt. Oso on the south, to Mt. Ilelena oil  thle north.
The great interior valley of California - the plains of the Sacramento
and San Joaquin — are spread out under the observer's feet like a
map, and they seem illimitable in extent.  The whole area thus elmbraced within the field of vision, as limited by the extreme points in
the distance, is little less than 40,000 square miles, or almost as large
as the whole State of New York."  Extensive mines of bituminous
coal have been opened here, and yield a large supply for the city.
The report continues: "What gives its peculiar character to the
Coast Range scenery, is the delicate and beautiful carving of their
54 
I_                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ANI~~~~~~~........ OF CALFONI.L  55.!111 L
niasses by the aqueous erosion of the soft material of which they are
composed, and vwhlich is made conspicuous by the general absence of
fo)rest and shrubby vegetationl, except in the canons, and along the
crests of the raiges.  The bareness of the slopes gives  flll play to
the effects of lilght and shade caused by the varying and intricate contour of the surface.  In the early spring, these slopes are of the most
vivid green- the awakening to life of the vegetation of this region
beginning just when the hills and valleys of thte Eastern States are
most deeply covered by snow.  Spring here, iii fact, commences with
the end of summer; winter, there is none.  Sumnmer, blazing summer, tempered by the ocean fogs and ocean breezes, is followed by a
long and delightful six months' spring, which, in its turn, passes almost instantaneously away at the applroach of another slummer.  As
soon as the dry seasonl sets in, the herbage withers tunder the sunI's
rays, except in the deep caonsoil; the surface becomes first of a pale
green, then of a light straw yellow, and fina.lly of a rich russet-brown
color, against which the dark-green foliage of the oaks and pines, unchanging during thle summer, is deeply contrasted."
Among the many points of interest in the Coast Ranges, easily accessiblefrom San Frrancisco,,ire Clear, and Borax Lakes,about 65 miles
N. TW. from Suisun Bay, and 36 miles from  the coast.   Borax Lake
is a depression on the east side of the narrow arm of Clear Lake,
from which it is separated by a low ridge of loose volcanic materials,
consisting, of scoriae, obsidian and pumice.   It varies in size according
to thle time of the year, iand the comparative dryness of the season.
In September, in ordinary seasolns, the water occupies an area about
4,000 feet loing and 1,800 feet wide ill the widest part, irregularly oval,
its longest axis being abl)out cast and west, with aln average depth of 3
feet; it has l)been known to extendl over twvice this arei, and has been
at times entirely dry.  The water from the lake contains about 2,400
grains of solid matter to the gaillon, of which about one-fourth is
borax.  The borax, bein, the least soluble substance contailned ill the
water, has, in course of time, crystallized out to a considerable extent,
and now exists ill the bottom of the lake in the form of distinct crystals of all sizes, from microscopic dimensions up to two or three inches
in diameter.  These crystals form a layer immediately under the
water, mixed with blue ntmud of varyilng thickness.  It is believed by
those who have examined the bottoni of this lake that several million
pounds of borax may be obtained firom it by means of movalble coffer dams at a moderate expense.  According to the San Francisco papers,
during the year 1865 this lake supplied the local demand for borax to
the amount of 40 tons, and yielded 200 tons additional for shipment
to New York.  It is collected firom the mud at the bottom of the lake
during the dry season, at the rate of abount 2~ tons per day.   The
crude borax, thus obtained, is so pure, that the miint and assayers of
the city use it in preference to the refiled article brought froml abroad.
In regard to the minerals of California, Prof. W~hitney has reported
that of the 65 elementary substances found in nature, so far as known
to chemists, there are not 40 which have yet been proved to occur in
California in mineral combination, and more than 20 elements are
AN-L OF CALIFORNIA.
55 
[
THE WONDERS OF THE 2'OSEMITE VALLET,
wanting onl the Pacific coast.  Of these a few are extremely rare, but
the absence of some is surprising; fluorine, a substance of very gen eral distribution in its abundant source, fluor spar, seems to be want ilng in California, unless it exist in some of the micas.  Taking, the
whole Pacific coast, i'rom Alaska to Chili, the following facts appear:
The small nlumber of species, consideringo the extent of region as coinpared with other parts of the world; the remarkable absence of prominent silicates, especially the zeolites; the wide spread of the precious
metals; the abundance of copper ores, and comparative absence of tin
and lead; the similarity in the minierailized condition of the silver; the
absence of fluor spar as vein-stone; no) mineral species peculiar to
the coast.  Black oxide of manganese has recently been found in large
quantities in a mille in the Coast Rainge, not far fiomr the city of San
Joaquin.
The quicksilver mines at New Almaden, California, are in one of
the branch valleys of the San Jose6, about twelve miles from the town
of that name, and about sixty miles south of San Francisco.  The ore
is a sulphuLret of mercury, and is found  irregularly disseminated
among beds of clay, slates and silicious strata, supposed to belong to
the Silturianl age; thotughl rich specimens will yield sixty-seven per
sent. of mercury, the average is about thirty per cellt.  The Indians
had for.a long, timte used this cinnabar as at pigmeilt, and had excavated fifty or sixty feet into the mountain in search of it; in 1824 the
Spaniards attempted to work the ore for silver, and afterward, in
connection with the Mexicans and Englishl, worked it successfully for
quicksilver, the annual product being estimated at a million dollars.
In 1858 the United States took po)ssession, and the present, workings
are entered by an adit two hundred feet below the old excavations,
extending about 1,500 feet into the hill; side galleries extend firom
this in the line of the deposit.  This is a very interesting place to
visit, and you may be rapidly carried, doubled utip in a box, alolng a
tramway very far into the bowels of the earth; the pitchy darkness,
abominable smells and noises, tand rapid rate at which you are whirled
thlrotiL,gh passages, where a projecting, elbow or head would be attended
with daingerotis consequences, give a sufficiently vivid practical illustration of some parts of Dante's Inferno.  The simplicity and effectiveness of the smnelting operations, by which the volatilized mercury
is arrested, will excite the admiration of the visitor.  Though the
atmosphere of the mintes is not unusually unwholesone, the men and
the animals employed about the smelting works are sul)ject to salivation, skin diseases, and the other attendants of mercurial poisonlig.
Other productive mines,ire  ilso worked in this neighborhood.   The
product of California in quicksilver is annually niore than two million
pounds, against three and a half million at Almadetn, in Spain, and
one million at Idria, in Austria; most of the American quicksilver is
carried to China.
21
56 
J      _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _~~~~~~.fl
AND O  C.N  57
MINERAL SPRINGS AND GEYSERS.
TO one should leave California without visiting the mineral spriongs
of Calistoga, and the Geysers.  Calistoga is about sixty-four miles
from San Francisco, by steamer twenty-four miles to Vallejo, thence
by Napa Valley Railroad atbout forty more, via Napa, to the mineral
spriings, the most celebrated on the Pacific coast.  The chief medicinal constituents are iron, magnesia, and sulphur, the temperature
varying from boiling hot to icy cold.  The vapor baths envelop the
body like a hot robe, hence the name.   The situation is one of the
most charming ill this delightful valley, and is appreciated by crowds
of summer visitors, the greater part of whom pass onward to the
"Geysers," twenty-two miles farther.  The mildness of the climate
renders it especially suitable for the culture of fruit, and some of the
finest vineyards in this vicinity are in Napa Valley.  It is essentially
an agriculttural community, and thouglh there is a very extensive distillery for the manufacture of brandy, from  the pure juice of the
grape, in Calistoga, it is said that there is neither a policeman, doctor,
or lawyer a permanent resident of the place.  The fishing is fine, and
in the surrounding woods may be found a great variety of gamne, from
the plumed quail to the huge grizzly.  This favorite resort for health
and pleasure is within three and a half hours of San Francisco, and
may be reached twice daily.
About five miles from these springs, on at small elevation, is a petrified forest.  All along, the Central Pacific Railroad in the Sierrra
Nevada section, the traveller sees at the stations specimens, some
very large and beautiful, of agatized, or silicified, or petrified wood;
but here we find a forest, not buried in the ground, but exposed to
view on the surface, thoughl they are also met withl at various depths
in the soil.  Within a radius of a mile are more than thirty of these
fossil trees, the largest being twenty feet long and six feet in circumferenlce; this trunk is prostrate, the roots being still below the surface, and is broken squarely across, and into several pieces, evidently
silicified before it fell, the soil once surrounding it havin(g  been removed, probably by denudation from  geological causes, and at a
remote epoch; the hill upon which they are found is almost solid
rock, conclusively showing the action of powerful denuding, agencies.
The wood is so bard that it will scratch glass, and in it are occasionally seen beautiful opaline spots.  I do not know that the kind of
tree has been accurately determined, though it is probably of some
hard wood found now in this region.  I have heard of other localities,
near the line of railroad, both in California and Nevada, where similar petrified trees have been noticed.
The  "Geysers" are in Sonorna County, twenty-two miles from
Calistoga, by stage through NapaValley, and about nine hours' travel
from San Francisco.  They merit a visit not only for their medicinal
11
AND OF CALIFORNIA.
57 
I ____
58    THE WONDERS OF THE TOSEMITE VALLEr,
properties, equal to those of Saratoga or Baden-Baden, but for their
curious phenomena among the wildest and most picturesque scenery
of the Coast Range.  Along their course rilns the Plutton or Sulphur
Creek, stocked with fine trout, though in immediate proximiity to
troubled and diabolical looking waters.  The waters found in the
Geyser Caion are alkalinle, snulphurous, or acid, forming efficacious
remedies for various cutaneous,  rheumatic, and chronic diseases;
some are icy cold, others boiling hot.
From Lieut. Davidson's account, the reader may form a good idea
of the qualities of these waters.  About seventy-five feet below the
hotel, is the first spring of iron, sulphur and soda, with a temperature
of seventy-thlree degrees Fahr.; going up the Geyser gulch you come
to the tepicld allm and iron spring, with a temperature of ninety-seven
degrees, forming, in the course of twelve hours, a heavy iridescent
inertistation of iron; within twenty feet of this is a spring of a temperature of eighty-eight degrees, containing ammonoia, Epsom salts,
magnalesi;, sulphur, and iron, yielding crystals of Epsom salt two
inches long; higher uip is a I)oiling spring of alum and sulphur, with
a heat of 156 degiees, and near it, also, a hot black sulphur spring.
The following, paragraphs are taken from Lieut. Davidson's account
of these Geysers.
"As we wander over rock, heatedl ground, and thick deposits of
sulphur, salts, amimonia, tartaric acid, magnesia, etc., we try our
thermometer in the Geyser stream, a combination of every kind of
medicated water, and find it rises up to 102 decgress.  The'Witches'
Cauldron' is over seven feet in diameter, of unknown depth.  The
contents are thrown up about two or three feet high, in-a state of
great ebullition, semi-liquid, blacker than ink, and contrasting with
the volumes of vapor arising firom it; temperature, 195  degrees.
Opposite is a l)oiling alum spring, very strongly impregnated; temperature, 176 degrees.  Withlin twelve feet is an intermittent scalding spring,, from whichl issue streams and jets of boiling water.   We
have seen them ejected over fifteen feet.  But the glory of all is the
'Steamboat Geyser,' resounlding likle a high-pressure seven-boiler boat
blowing off steam, so heated as to be invisible until it is six feet from
the mouth.  Just above this the gulch divides; lip the left or western
one are many hot springs, lbut the' Scalding Steam Ironl Bath' is the
most important; temperature, 183 degrees.  One hundred and fifty
feet above all apparent action we found a smooth, tenacious, plastic,
beautiful clay; temperature 167 degrees.  From this point you stand
and overlook the ceaseless action, the roar, steam, groans, and bubbling of a hundred l)oiling medicated springs, while the steam ascends
one hundred feet above them all.  Following the usually-travelled
path, we pass over the'Mountain of Fire,' with its hundred orifices,
thence through the'Alkali Lake'; then we pass cauldrons of black,
sulphurous, boiling water, some moving and spluttering with violent
ebullition.  One white sulphur spring we found quite clear, and up to
the boiling point.
"On every foot of ground we had trodden the crystalline products
of this unceasing chemical action abounded.  Alum, magnesia, tar
n                              -------— ~~~ —
I
.4 
I          _________JI
AND~~~~~~~ OFiii CLFRI.         5il9I  I
taric acid, Epsom salts, ammonia, nitre, iron, and sulphur aboanded.
At thousands of orifices you-find hot, scalding steam escaping, and
forming beautiful deposits of arrowy sulphur crystals.  Our next
visit carried us up the Pluton, on the north bank, past the'Ovens,'
hot with escaping steam, to the'Eye-Water Boiling Spring,' celebrated for its remedial effects upon inflamed and weak eyes. Quite
close to it is a very concentrated alum spring; temperature, 73 degrees.  Hiigher up is a sweetish'Iron and Soda Spriug,' fifteen feet
by eight; and twelve feet above is the'Cold Soda and Iron Springs,'
incrusted with iron, with a deposit of soda; strong, tonic, and inviting; temperature, 5t( de(rees.  It is twelve feet by five, and affords a
large supply.  The Pluton, in the shade, was sixty-one degrees, with
many fine pools for bithing, and above for trout-fishing.
"The'Indian Springs'are nearly a mile down the canon.  The
boiling water comes out clear as ice. This is the old medicated
sprilig, where many a poor aborigine has been carried over the mountains to have the disease driven out of him by these powerful waters.
On its outer wall runs a cold stream of pure water; temperature,
66 degrees- and another water impregnated with iron and alum; temperature, 68 degrees.  It is beautifully and romantically situated.
,We have not mentioned a tithe of those you pass at every step in,
your explorations - nor one day nor one week will reveal them all to
the inquirer. Do not suppose that desolation, fire, and brimstone
reign supreme -  one of the wonders of the place is that grass, shrubs,
and huge trees should grow on its very edge, and even overhang, in
many places, the seething cauldrons below.  The most varied wood
abounds around you   oaks, pines, sycamore, willow, alder, laurel,
and madrone."
Bayard Taylor, describing his visit to the Geysers, says: "The
scenery is finer than that of the lower Alps,.and the place is a mine
of future wealth, and of thorough rejuvenation."   Of the Witches'
Cauldron he writes: "A  horrible mouth yawns in the black rock,
belchiing forth tremendous volumes of snlphurous vapor.  Approachicg as near as we dare, and looking in, we see the black waters boiling iii mad, pitiless fury, foremling around the sides of their prison.
its temperature, as approximately ascertained by Lient. Davidson, is
about five hundred degrees.  An egg, dipped in and taken out, is
boiled; and were a man to ftll in, he would be reduced to broth in
two minutes.  From a hundred vent-holes, about fifty feet above our
heads, the steam rushes in terrible jets.  I haive never beheld any
scece so entirelv infernal in its aippearance.   These tremendous
steam-escapes are the most strikingy feature of the place. The wild,
lonely grandeur of the valley, the contrast of its Eden slopes of turf
and forest, with those ravines of Tartarus, charmed me completely,
and I would willingly have passed weeks in exploring its recesses.
"A pure alum sp~ring, reminding me of the rock-alum spring iii
Virginia, is a great resort for dyspeptics.'~In fact, the properties of
all the flamous watering-places seem to be here combined, and invite
the sick to come and be healed."
Among the features of this region are the hills of crude sulphur for
F
I
AND OF CALIFORNIA.,
59 
1i
60     THE WONDERS OF THE 2'OSEMITE VALLET,
chemical matnufactures, as gunpowder, sulphuric acid, etc., of which'
it is said half a million tons are annually consumed.   The climate is
unsurpassed for its salubrity.  The Geysers may also be reached by
steamer to Petalutna, thence by stages in ten or eleven hours; this
route leads through Russian River Valley, and though longer and
more fatiguing than the other, is very pleasant; it is well to go by
Vallejo and return by Petaluma.
The religious spirit of the old Spanish Jesuits is perpetuated in the
names of saints'nd of holy things given to many prominent places;
such are Sau Francisco, Sanl Jose, San Mateo, San Pablo, S.n Diego,
San Joaquin, San Bernardino, San Antonio, Sanl Quentin, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, Los Angelos, etc.  As
these priests had a keen sense of the beautiful in nature, they selected
for their missions the most delightfill sites, which now afford to the
traveller some of the most chairming spots in California.  Prominent
among these is San Jose, well called " the Beautiful."  The valley is
very fertile, and the climate healthftl; and the pueblo of San Jos6,
with the mission of Santa Clara, a few miles beyond, grew to bh  t
very thriving place.  It has increased rapidly since the Americans
took possession, iand is now celebrated for its wealth and refinement,
for its excellent schools and fine public buildings.  Horse-cars rlm  in
the principal street - the Alameda - which is flanked on each side by
a fillne row of willows, planted by the priests more than seventy years
ago, now completely overshadowing the road to Sanlta Clara; three railroads now conlverge to this place, which is the centre of a large manufacturing, interest; thle populationi-is estimated at over ten thousand.
Santa Cruz, accessible by stage from Santa Clara, opposite Monterey,
is a popul-r resort for excursionists, and is noted for its delightful
climate.
California boasts, among other big things, that she has the largest
orchlard in the world.  An Einglish gentlemana  thus describes it.  lIe
says: A few days ago it was mry good fortune and pleasure to visit
an orchard located about two miles south ot Yub i City, in Sutter
County.  The proprietor is the owner of 42  ( a(res, mostly bottom
land, lying along the west bank of the Feather River.   The soil is
a rich, sandy loam, and composed of the yeally deposits of the river
many yealrs ago.  No better or richer lnde is to be fotind in the State.
Before reaching the orchard proper we rode through a field of 150
acres of eastor beans, growing in the most luxuriant manner-which
field is to give plice to a new orchard next year, the fruit-trees for
the sme  t present growin  in the nursery by the ocadpoeside of the fieldf
of castor l)eans,  nd conlitaning 25,000 one-yelr-old budded peachtrees, 13,000 plum-trees, 6,000 Eastern walnuts, 25,000 California
walnuts          -, 2,00  aple-toees,  500 Italian chestnut-trees, etc.   Passing alonga throgh this forest of young trees, we airived at the piesentl
peacht orchard, consistidng of 600 trees,  two years old, and some of
them bearing, this seso, 150 poundls of peaches.  These trees      hec  ave
made a remairkable growth, owing to the rich ground upon which they
are plainted, aud in another yeair will make a tremendous yield of fruit.
We next rode ilnto                                          the chey ochar, cotaiin  3,000  o the  st
I 
II_
AND QF CALIFORNIA.               ()I
thrifty young trees ever seen on any ground,   The different varieties,
fifteen in number, gave this orchard a variety of aspect, and- broke
up the usual monotony of the steeple-like tfirned cherry orchard.
These cherry-trees were all imported from Rochester, N. Y., about
three years ago.  Off to the south of this wonderful wilderness are
2,000 plum-trees, of twelve varieties, and 500 apple-trees, mostly
winter varieties. Passing the peach orchard we reached the apricots,
2,000 in number, whichl are also two years old, and have borne a fail'
crop the present season. This is really a California wonder.
AND  OF CALIFORNIA.
PI1 
62,    THE WONDERS OF THE YOSEMITE VALLEr,
HOMEWARD BOUND.
HE  traveller, having visited the above places in the vicinity of
San Francisco, will now think of turining his fitce eastward, if he
return overland(l, and of examining more closely some of the interesting, points which he hurried by in his eagerness to behold the wonders
of the Yosemite. The first place which will claim his attention is
Oakland, so called from its beautiful groves of oaks, opposite San
Francisco, and fronting the Golden Gate.   The shallowness of the
water in the l)ay has compelled the railroad company to build a wlharf
about two miles long into the bay, so that you seem to be going out
to sea in a railroad car; from the end of this wharf is established the
ferry to Sanl Francisco, being the terminus of the Western Pacific
Railroad.  Sometimes called the  "Park City," it bears somewhat the
same relation to Sail Francisco that Brooklyn does to New  York;
it is, par excellence, the cducational centre;of California; besides its
numerous public.and private schools for both sexes, l)eing the site
of the State University.  The drives along its macadamized streets,
with the fine view of the bay and the distant Pacific, and the beautiful gardens on every side, cannot be surpassed, if equalled, in any
city of the cOUnltry.
One of the miost interestiong cities which the Yosemite tourist is
sure to visit is Stockton, about ninety miles firom Sani Francisco by
railroad.  It was named in honor of Commodore Stockton, who took
an active part in the conquest of Califo)rnia, and was laid out by Capt.
Webber in 1849-50; it is also at the head of navigation onl the San
Joaquin River, distant by water 127 miles fiom  San F'rancisco, lund
accessible by large steamers and sailing vessels; the river is nlavigable for small steamers more than  100 miles farther up.  It is
estimated to contain about 12,000 inhabitants, and is a very busy and
thriving place.  The public and private buildings and stores, many
of which are built of brick, give it a decidedly Eastern look.  Near
the Yosemite hotel, the principal one, is the enclosure which contains
the State Asylum for the Insane. The country around Stockton is exceedingly fertile, and its agricultural resources are inexhaustible; its
mining facilities are also iimportant. - An artesian well, 1,000 feet deep,
supplies the city daily with 360,000 gallons of water;  though the
water rises eleven feet above the surface, it is raised by steam to a high
reservoir, whence the city is supplied.  It is in the centre of the vast
grain-producingl d(listrict of the San Joaquin Valley; and in harvest
time the roads are lined with the mule-drawn wvagons heavily laden
with the golden produce, which has been estimated at $3,000,000
annually.  The soil around the city is a black vegetablle mould, called
"adobe," soft and slippery in the rainy season, hard and deeply
cracked in the summer; about five miles beyond this begin the sandy
plains leading to the foot hills, described in a previous chapter.
I 
J                __        _      _      _     _      _     I
ANVD OF CALIFORNIA.
Stockton is well called the " Windmill City," as, by sinking a welltube ten to twenty feet, water is readily obtained.  Hence almost
every one culltivates the rich soil as a garden, watering, it by his windpump, which takes the place of the hanld-pumnp in almost every yard.
The gardens are very beautiful; and, such is the mildness of the
climate, figs, and other sub-tropical plants, flourish and ripen in the
open air. This is the centre of the stage lines for the Yosemite Valley,
and both the starting and return point for most travellers bound for that
region.  In the summer season, when the water is low, the sloughs
which penetrate the city in various directions have a green, stagnant,
and most unwholesome look; they receive much of the drainage of the
houses, and cannot fail, sooner or later, to form a suitalble receptacle
for the origin and spread of epidemic disease, when drought, heat,
and accumulation of filth shall unfortunately occur together.
Leaving San Francisco at 8 A. M., yotu reach, on your return-trip to
the east, at about 5 P. M., the pretty and flourishingi town of Colfix,
192 miles, named from Vice-President Colfax.  Here it is well for
those interested in mines to stop a day or two to pay a visit to Grass
Valley and Nevada, amongo the most important of the gold-producing
regions of California.  Grass Valley was one of the earliest stoppingplaces of the old "forty-niners," not only because there they found
excellent pastlurage for their animals, but on account of the profitable
"washings" firom the streams; the subsequent discovery of rich veins
of gold-b)earing quartz led to the buildi,ng tiJ of a town, numbering
now about five thousand inhabitants.  The fine orchards and gardens
around the miners' houses render this one of the prettiest of the
mining localities, and show that the thirst for gold does not necessarily interfere with the love of the ornamental and the beautiful.  Its
buildings, newspapers, schlools, and churches, distitnguish it as a centre of enterprise, intelligence, and wealth; there is pro(bably no place
in the State where mining improvements and machinery are better
appreciated, and more successfillly employed, than here.  It is thirteen miles northl of Colfax, and easily accessible by a line of stages.
Thotughl al)out 2,600 feet above the sea, it is so fiar below the snowline, that its temperature permits the ripening of semi-tropical fruits,
and its clitnate is very healthy.
Nevada,' four miles distant, the county seat, can also boast of very
fine builditngs, and a considerable population engaged in milling and
agriculture; it is rather irregularly laid out on both sides of Deer
Creek, which runs thlrough a part of the town.  After the washings
in the old river had ceased to be profitable, hydraulic mining was
introduced with great success; but now the principal mining operations are upon the quartz in the fine stamp mills.  It has been estimnated that over fifty million dollars' worth of gold has been taken
from this locality in twenty years.  Newspapers, banks, churches,
and schools indicate the prosperity of the place.   A foundry, flouring-mills, and distilleries, show that manufactories anld agriculture
mraybe profitably pursued in busy mining regions; the soil of the valley and surrounding hills is well adapted to the fruits and vegetables,
-                   m
63 
______
64    THE WONDERS OF THE YOSEMITE VALLEr,
which are the pride and boast of Calitfornia, and the delight of the
hungry traveller.
Passing eastward 65 miles from Colfax, you come  to Truckee, a
large, busy, aind muddy town, of over 4,000 inhabitants, chiefly engaged in the lumber business; it is situated in a heavily-timbered
region.  The traveller would make no stop here, were it not the starting-point for Lakes Tahoe and Donner, which are indeed the gems of
the Sierras. The Truckee River, which runs along the road for miles,
brawling in its rocky bed, has one source in each of the above lakes,
and empties its waters into Pyramid Lake to the north.
Lake Tahoe is 12 miles distant, and the road along the river bank
is delightful.  The dividing line between California and Nevada runs
through the lake, and its waters wash the shore of five counties; the
depth along this line is about 1,700 feet.  No words can do justice to
the beauties of this lake, before which those of Como  and Maggiore
are not to be mentioned; the crystal purity of the water, the mountain
slopes, the verdant meadows, the splendid trees, to say nothing of the
pleasures of sailing, fishing, and shooting in its invigorating air,
excuse the raptures into which every appreciative traveller involuntarily falls.
Donner Lake, much smaller and deeper, and equally beautiful, and
always memorable from the terrible event which has given it its name,
is only two and a half miles north-west of Truckee.  Both these lakes
are noted for their silver trout, which attain the weight of 20 pounds,
miand test the skill of the angler to the utmost.
This brings us to the confines of California, to go beyond which is
foreign to the purpose of these pages; the most noteworthy points oil
the return east are the famous Comstock and other silver lodes, at
Virginia City, Nevada, whose wealth is almost incalculable, and the
Shoshone Falls, in Idaho, over 200 feet high, and said to exceed Niagara in the grandeur and wildness of the surrounding scenery, though
with much less volume of water.
Then you may leave the Pacific road at Cheyenne, and go south to
Denver, and from that point spend a few weeks most profitably in ex
ploring the magnificent scenery of the parks of Colorado.
Some travellers, having a love of the ocean, and plenty of time at
their disposal, may prefer, as I did, to return once by sea from San
Francisco, via Panama and Aspinwall; for what may be enjoyed on
this trip, the reader is referred to the next chapter.
__Il~l      I   ll ~......Illlll               I~llI I        I         Il I~~IUI
I 
___                          __________
AND OF CALIFORNIA.
SAN FRANCISCO TO BOSTON.
N   taking  the  ferry-boat  at  Oakland  to  make  the  six or
eight miles' transit across the bay to San Francisco, I was
surprised to find the ladies  dressed in furs, and the gentlemen
with winter overcoats;  the air was damp  and chilly, very much
like a Boston east wind in March.  From  April to November,
the ascent of the heated air firom the valley of the Sacramento along
the Coast Mountains to the east causes the cold north-west winds to
rush in from the Pacific through the Golden Gate, ladell with moisture, whose condensation envelops the city in the morning and eveniigi in dense fogs, with many clouds, which never at this season yield
any rain.  The hot sun at mid-day dispels the mists, and straw hats
and thin garments are worn at noon of a day whose morning temperature was disagreeably cold. This seasol) is admitted to be the most
uncomfortable in the whole year, and the most trying to invalids.
The same wind which blows up the clouds of sand in the streets,
roughens the waters of the bay, and makes the passage in or out
rather cold and dismal.  Soon after gettingo out of the Golden Gate
and on to the Pacific, the wind dies away and the sea becomes smoother,
but the clouds without rain, and the cold fogs, accomplnmy you for hundreds of miles.at this season (August).   The rocky islands and headlands give shelter to innumerable sea-birds, especially guillemots
(U)'ia), whose large and irregul!rly blotched ecggs are sold by the
hundred for food in the San Francisco markets; thlere are also many
large seals, or so-called sea-lions (Pioca jubata), about the same rocks.
This cold, damp, and foggy air does not go very far inland; and in
the foot-hills, and  higher mountains, the sky is cloudless, the nig,hts
without dew, and the stars as bright as on a frosty night with us; the
air is so dry that there isno 110 dainger of taking cold in cilmping out, even
at an elevation of five thousand feet; and travellers not unfrequcntly
place their cot-b)eds on the outside and uncovered piazza, sure of a
pure, dry air, with lno danger of raini; it is this rest you get at night,
which enal)les you to rise refreshed.lfter the heat, dryness, and dustiness of the day's travel.
One of the striking characteristics of the Pacific steamers is, that
the crew are all Chinameni; and any one who has experienced the disorder, the dirtiness, the unnlecessary iloise, scoldings, swearings, and
often intoxication, attendant on the sailingi of ships from Atlantic
ports, must be dtelighted witl-h these Chinese sailors; they are neat,
orderly, quiet- ii)t usilig oaths, tobacco, nor whiskey- obedient,
respectfuil, strong, and in every way goodl sailors.
The coast, seen at a distance of about three miles, is high, rocky or
sandy, but indescribably barren.and inhospitable looking.  The  sea,
for the whole voyagze  of two weeks, was remarkably smooth, welt
justifying the term Pacific to any one who has been tossed about  on
the Atlantic;  except in crossing the gulf of California, there was no
more roughness, exclusive of the long and gentle tidal swell of the
ocean, than an hour's east wind would create in our bay.  In fact this
-
65 
_____________
66'TIHE WONDERS OF THE rOSEMITE VALLEr,
now rarely undertaken Pacific voyage is, at this season, very delight ful, with its beauty, and quiet, and absolute repose of body and of mind,
fully realizing the dreamy dolce far niente of the Italian imagination.
Larg,e petrels (Pufflnus cinereus -  Gmel.) began to appear and fol low us on the second day out.   On alighting in the water, which they
often do, they put forward their webbed feet, checking their headway
inl this manner, backing water as it were, with the wings spread, be fore settling, on the surface.  They came around and near the steamer
in considerable numbers, but never alighted on it, as the booby of the
Atlantic does.  On account of the great length of their wings, and the
shortness of their legs, they cannot rise, like the gulls, directly from
the water, but are obliged to run along the surface, like the smaller
petrels, beating( the water with their feet, until sufficiently elevated to
use their wings.
Flying fish also began to appear, but neither so numerous, nor so
large, as ill the Southern Atlantic.   The ventrals were expanded just
like the pectorals in the act of flight, the former  being much the
smaller.. They rose out of a perfectly smooth sea, showing that they
are not mere skippers fiom the top of one wave to another; they
could be seen to change their course, as well as to risc and fall, not
uiifrequeiitly touching the longer lower lobe of the tail to the surfatce,
and agaIin rising( as if they used the tail as a powerful sprilig.  While
the ventrals may act chiefly as a p)arachute, it seemrs as if the pectorals
performed, by their almost imperceptible but rapid vibrations, the
function of true flilght.  Another reason which leads me to think they
perform a true flight, is the way in which they reenter the water.
After reaching the end of their aetrial course, they drop into the water
with a splash, instead of makingo a gentle and gr'dual descent, like
the flying squirrel, flying dragon, and other vertelbrates with membranes acting as parachutes.  The diying of the flying meml)rane in
the air would prevent the small but numerous and rapid motions necessary foi true flilght, and the animal therefore suddenly drops when
the membrane l)ecomes stiff.  I do not see how the drying of the
pectorals would affect their (action as parachutes.   The temperature
of the air was 70 deg. Fah.
At the same time there were seen small Portu(yuese men-of-war
(Phiysalia), no larger than an olive, and without the purple reflections of the larger ones so often met in the Atlantic.  Whether these
were the youngr or full-grown individuatls I do not know; I saw none
larger than these,.and they were not numerous.
As we  atpproached the coast of the gulf of California the petrels
left us, and were replaced in an hour or two by white gulls about the
size of Boniaparte's gtill, but either entirely wlite, or with a very
slight l1avender-blue tinge on thle back alld writgs.  These had an entirely different way of alighting, and rising fromn  the water; they did
not put forward their feet to arlrest their cojrse, but circled round
like pigeons until their heatdway was stopped, and then quietly settled upon the water, immediately folding their wings.  They also
rose directly fr'om the surface, without running along as the largerwinged petrels did.  75 deg. I'ah.
I 
II
AND OF CALIFORNIA.
The next day, August 7, the temperature was 80 deg. Fah.  Land
was in sight all day. The California coast, for hundreds of miles, is
most forbidding, rocky to the ocean, with highl mountains in the
background, entirely parched and barren at this season, and having
that greenish-red tinge suggestive of mineral contents, especially
copper.  The shore is entirely uninhabited even to beyond the mountains, and shipwrecked persons there would perish of starvation if
they depended on what the country afforded.  Indeed a part of the
coast near which the "Golden Citv" went ashore in 1869, is called
"Starvation Point"; her numerous passengelrs, among whom  were
many women and children, had to walk more than twenty miles to
reach a headland, where their signals of distress were fortunately
seen by a passenger on one of the Pacific steamers bound in the opposite direction, who was trying his opera-glass very early on that
morning.  There is now little commerce in these waters, and we did
not see a sail for days onl this part of the coast; all the trade is done
by a few small coasting schooners, which keep near the shore.  The
coasts of Mexico, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, onl the contrary, are
beautifully green.
After passing Cape St. Lucas, August 8, we were in the mouth of
the Gulf of California, where it ascends many nunudred miles to the
north, parallel to the coast, leaving the long, comparatively narrow,
barren and uninhabited region, along which we had sailed for the past
two days.  The weather now became hot -85 deg. Fahli. at noon, and
so remaining day and night to Panama, once going up to 88 deg., and
occasionally descending to 84 deg.  Point Conception, in latitude
34 deg. 50 minin., corresponds very nearly to Cape Hatteras on the Atlantic coast; at this point, the coast, instead of continuing to follow
the mountains from north-west to south-east, becomes nearly east and
west, and the cold north-west winds from San Francisco are suddenly exchang(ed for the warm southerly vwinds of the  tropics, and
off goes the pea-jacket, and on goes the thin coat and light hat. For
two or three nights, the nearly full mnoonl shining upon the glassy sea
wvas very beautiful; l)ltt with the moon, as with the sunrise and sunset, I finld that we have far m'ore beautiful colors and contrasts at
homc; it seems as if the land and sea must be both before the sight
to give the full effect, which a dreary waste of water alone cannot give.
The water here was very phosphorescent. I obtained a bottleful
inl about latitude 19 deg., which has been unopened since August 9.
It may be inlteresting to see if it contains more salt than the water of
the Northern and the Atlantic Oceans, as is alleged -if there be in it
any remains of diatoms, or of anlimal forms, or of any kind of organic or nitrogenous matter which may serve as nutriment for protozoa, or any dilute protoplasm diffused through the waters of the
ocean which could be directly absorbed by these lowest or,ganisms.
The Mexican shore here cane in sight, strikingly contrasting with
the Californian, being green, with a luxuriant vegetation, and very
pleasant looking; the shore high, with elevated mountains in the distance, and here and there a beach lined with  coral reefs against
which the surf could be seen breaking.   We could see the rain-clouds
[l
— I -------
67 
II_
68     THE WONDElRS OF THE YOSEMITE VALLE,
in the mountains, and the lilghtilng, and hear  thle thullder; while
where we were- three miles from the shore- all was brighlt sunshinie,
with no sign of rain.  On the ninth, ill about 18 dleg., we stopped in
the land-locked harbor of Manzanillo, the mountains risilig steeply
from the water's edge, more than one thousand feet high, clothed with
vegetation to the very top.  For the last day, after leaving the California gulf, no birds were seen; first we had the large petrels, then
the smaller white gulls; these soon disappeared, h:Lving limits beyond
which they did not pass; the reason was not evident to our senses,
as the climate, and the shore, and the sea,  appeared to us the same;
)llt the birds knew the difference.
On the eleventh we reached Acapulco, Mexico, in about 17 deog.
north, where we stopped half a day, goiing on slhore to purchase shells
and corals, and the luscious fruits of the place, and to witness the
strangeness of an old Mexican city, with its Spanish decay softened
by tropical indolence, its curious mixture of natives, negroes, alld
Mexicans, the peculiar customs of the market-place, and the heterogeneous articles exposed for sale; the stock of,a hundr ed women,
and nearly as many men, was not greater than the contents of a single
stall ill one of our markets, the trade being of the most petty description, and seemingly like that of children playingc buying and( selling
merely to pass away the time.  I obtained here a few shells, especially
murices, and some natural and artificially-colored corals.   The harlbor
is very beautifiil, entirely land-locked, surrounded by high hills covered with bushes to the top; here and there could be seen the palmleaf huts of the natives, with patches of bananas and groves of oranges;
the beachIi was lined with palml-trees, and everythling had the peacefill,
lazy, dreamy look pectiliar to tlhe tropics; the buildings of the town
are of storae, with tile roofs, and generally of one story; the old
chlurch in the plaza was built by the Spaniards, and is now used ias a
prison, as its grated windows indicated.  The watcr was beautifully
clear, and swarmed with bright-colore(l fish, and it is said with sharks;
I saw none of the latter, and the profbssional divers near the lanfling
apparently had little fear of them, as they (lived for the pieces of
money thrown to them by the passengers.
Wlhen the coasts of Southern MexicO an)d Guatemlila are reached, alld
especially ablout latitude  11 de(-. 30 mni., white-rtmped  Mother
Carey's chickliens came around us; they looked just like the common
Atlantic species, and, as Baird does nlot describe Such a bird on the
Pacific  in vol. ix. of the Pacific Railroad RIeports, I suppose the
species must have atppeared since then, either from Southl America, or
having crossed the isthnmus.  Now and then a marine tutrtle would be
seen lazily rolling, at the surface.
The lowest latitude reached, is about 7 deg. north.  We arrived at
Panama Aug. 17 (a fortnight friom  San Francisco), where  we remained two days, giving'ample time to examine this quaint old Spanish town.  In the spacious and fine harbor were many hooded gulls,
brown pelicans, and frigate pelicans, while  numerous turkey buzzards
ran along the beach with the same tameness and voracity as in our
Southern and Gulf States; the water abounds in catfish and sharks,
[
I 
-I
AND OF CALIFORNIA. 
thotugh I saw none of thle latter caught by the numerous fishermen.
Pau-tina is built along, thle bay, which is surrounded by high hills and
mnountains, covered  with tropical verdure; many  of the smaller
islands show columns of basalt with precipitous sides, and there have
been several noted subsidences of the land.  Though hot in miid-day,
the temperature at nighlt was  deliyhltfull; and this in the middle of
August.   The place has the typical appeariance of a dirty Spanish
town.
We  left Panama, Aug. 19, to cross  the Isthmus to Aspinwall, a
distance of forty-seven miles, occtupying three hours in the passage,
iii very dirty and uncomfortable cars, steerage mingiled with cabin p:tssengers, as both classes pay the same falre, viz., twenty dollars in gold.
The route runs for nearly half the distance along the Chagres River, a
narrow, muddy stream, with banks of reddish clay which tingles the
water to the color of that of the Missollri River; the road has some
sharp curves, and a few cuts, and presents only one engineering notability, where it crosses the river on a substantial iron l)ridge.  The
land is mostly low, and the vegetation most luxuriant;  water seems
abundant, bItt of a repulsive look and stagnant character, which, with
the marshy effluvia, fully explains the death of thousandIs from mnalarious disease duiniigi thile construction of the road; it is familiarly
said that a life was lost for every sleeper laid, so unhealthy was the
region for Northern workm(,en.  The natives, however, seemed vigo(rous and well developed, and every hut swarmed with children, the
amount of clothing onl which, especially onl boys to the age of seven
01 eight years, vwonld not materially draw lupon the contents of a dry
goods store.   Many negroes were seen, and they fraternize fully with
the Indian natives; thle latter are nearly as dark as negroes, but have
finer forms, more regular features, and  straight black  hair.   The
marshes and thle mud are occasionally relieved by masses of very dark
volcanic looking rock, through which several cuts have been made;
the gracefuil palms, and the beautiful flowers, could not fail to attract
the attention of the most unobservant; the only birds seeil were snall
black anis (UC'otophaya ani.  L.), a scansorial bilrd of the cuckoo family, whiellch hlopped and flew about like blackbirds with us.
The town of Aspinwall is small, low, on the margiu of a swamp,
recalling to the mind the ideal of the marshes of the carboniferous
period, and suggesting the formationl of coal from the luxuriant vegetation; thoulgh, near the sea, the water is salt, instead of the fresh
water supposed to be necessary to the formation of coal.
There was nlothingf noteworthy in the nine days' passage to New
York, except the much greater heat in tlie Caribbeanl Sea, than in
similar latitudes on the Pa(ific; probably  fi'omi its conmparatively
small size, and being land-locked.  No whales were secen in the Pacific,
and none in the Atlantic, till latitude 37 deg., off Delaware Bay, when
a school of about twenty finbacks, some of them forty to fifty feet
long, came quite near the steamer;  I was interested to notice that
their blowing projected into the air simply a fine vapor, and not a jet
of water, as is usually believed; that cetaceans do, however, sometimes eject water in this way, I know, as I have, on many occasions,
1I
69 
ml
70  THE WONDERS OF THE rOSEMITE VALLER, ETC.
at night, heard the puff soon followed by the swash of the descending,
water.
The whole trip firom San Francisco to New York takes about twenty-three days, at a cost of $100 in gold; in the cars you caln make
the passage in one-third the time (seven days) at a cost of about $180
-by the cars, two weeks shorter and about $60 dearer -if one has
plenty of time, it is far pleasanter by sea, as you are brought into
contact with new aspects of nature, tropical scenery and fruits, and
are free from dust, change of bars, anxiety about baggage atnd sleeping facilities, and from the inevitable rush of the dining saloons and
railway stations.
In these short sketches I have endeavored to express what especially interested me in the California trip; others will take note of
different things, each according, to his taste and education; but every
one will, I think, admit that this journey will bring him into contact
with some of the sublimest of scenery.
As to the causes which have produced this remarkable Valley, there
are three principal theories: the subsidence theory, the ice theory,
and the water theory. From what I have seen, and have been able
to ascertain, it seems to me that there was a great subsidence, as
claimed by Prof. Whlitney, and that subsequently an immense glacier
extended to the edge of the Valley, even entering the easterly end
of it by the numerous canons there, as proved by the glacial scratches
and moraines, and giving rise, by its melting, to a great lake, which
gradually disappeared. That the Half Dome, El Capitan, and other
masses in the Valley, were produced, or essentially modified by ice or
water, I am not, with the present evidence, prepared to believe.
As a means of restoring impaired health, and of invigoratingo the
feeble and nervous of b)oth sexes, it is to be highly recommendedits bracing air, pure water, delightful tramps, and awe-inspiring sceniery, are a thousand times more to be desired by persons of sense and
culture, than the inanities of Saratoga, the fashion of Newport, the
pomposity of Long Branch, the petty swindling of Niagara, or the
discomforts of the White Mountains.
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II ~       AN  OF IA           I       IIN' — 7
THE YOSEMITE IN I872.
HOSE  who visited the ftlmouLs Valley ill 1869, 1870, and even
1871, will find that much of the fatigue, dust, vexatious delays,
and the cuticular abrasions incidental to prolonged saddle excursions,
may be avoided by the improved facilities fi-)r travel in 1872.  In
facit, it may almost be asserted that the only horseback riding lieceessary now, is the descent of the mountains directly into the Valley, a distance of only three miles, and occupying not more than two
hours of time.   Indeed the speed and comparative comfort of the trip
now rob it, in my opinion, of much of the chai-m ard delicghtfll feeling of freedom which attach to equestrian exercise amonog imagncificent
mountain scenery, even though the airi-passages be clloked  with dulst,
and the )bones ache fiom riding.   On your horse you are free to stop
and admire when you please; in the stige you have  s mnuchl dust and
as much fatigue, though of a different kindc, crowded into fewer hours,
with the,tddlitional discomforts of cramped positio, inability to see,
and dis,agreeable joltings, agliust which you cannot guatrd.
By  consultilg the maps,  the reader  will be able to trace the
different routes to the Valley, and to locate iii advwnce the most
remarkal)le cliffs and waterfills descrilbe)d in thle previous pages.
It is estlumated that in 1869, aboult 1,100 Visitors entered theValley;
this numbler, in 1870, was increased to 1,700, and in 1871 to 2,300; in
1872, it is safe to lpredict that at le'tst 3,000 persons will behold its
beauties.  Judging from the expressed inteuntions one hears around,
many hundred persons fr'om this vicinity will substitute this for their
summer trip to Europe aind the ftishionatble wa,teringl,-places.
It is understood that the "Ameiricanm Association for the Advancemeut of Science " has this year been invited to meet in San Francisco.
C,lifornian genierosity and hlospittlity ire proverbial; Ian-li the treasure
whichl she lavished on the "Sanitary Commission," wvill not be stinted
in furnishing facilities for the " Scientific Biotlherhool,-' who are lookimg with longigl eyes to the Pacific shore.  Her fertile plains, her
magnoificent forests, her inexhaustible?old fields, her immense orchards and vineyards, her salubrious climate, make her the envy of
the more sterile Eastern States.  No  doubt she will extend suchl  a
welcome, that the scientists fromn everly Stat  will find it in their
power to cross the continent by the Pacific Railroad.   This  will
probably lead to the Yo()semite many a geologist, to speculate uponr
the minghty agenicies of convulsions, ice,.tand water,  vlwhich have combined iil the fotrmation of the great Valley; mtany ai botnllist, to revel
in the gorgeous floral richness.and in the unparalleled forest growth of
the mountain meadows and,oig'es; many at true lover of nature, to
appreciate and extol the sublimity amd beauty of the Sierra Nevada,
withi its cliffs and fills.  So may it be!
Even Californians do not seemi to be aware what a 1magnificent trust
the United States have committed to thleir care.  It is tunderstood
that parties who think they hive a claim to portions of the Valley,
from squatting upon, and, ill their idea, improving the land therein
-.
AND OF CALIFO.RNIA.
7.3 
ml
74     THE WONDERS OF THE ROSEMITE VALLEr,
(tlhough having inone, as the region had not been surveyed), have
l)een l)llsy the past winter in endeavors to have their titles legalized.
If these persons have made what they regard as improvements, let
them be paid amply therefor; build a golden bridge for them to pass
over, and let them carry at once and forever by this pathway, cheap
at any price, all supposed claims to this part of the national domain.
True, it has no gold, nor fertile land, nor available forests, to tempt
the cupidity of individuals, or in any way to increase pecuniarily the
value of the State; but it has that which no money can purchase-the
sublime and beautiful in nature- -what will render the State  more
flmous than her mines and her grains, aind will do more than her institutions of learning,, no1101)le as  they are, to elevate and cultivate her
people.  Every lover of his coventry, and of her grand scenery, is
interested to prevent the acknowledgment of all claims, under whatever pretence advocated, of private individuals, or of corporate
bodies, to any part of the Yosemite Valley and its surroundings, as
fixed by the Act of Congress alluded to in the prece(ding( pages.
Let the "Amnerican- Association " speak the united demand of the
sciences they represent, at the meetingc of 1872, and put a stop forever to the vandalism which has assumed such thlreatenitng proportionis.  Let the State assume the responsibility of the roads, the new
trails, the bridges; let her forbid the erection of any more shingle
houses for trading, or drinkiing purposes, and level with the earth
many now existingo, the continued building of which will make the
Valley look like the clothl-covered shanty villages which appear and
disappear as a new railroad  progresses on the plaiiis- a sort of
house-calcer, which follows the avenues of travel, carrying in its
course g.Lnll)ling, whiskey, and riot, and  remnediable only  by the
stranigi llatiiig surgerv of " Vigilance Committees."
Let the cutting down of trees be stopped by more stringent measures, the present law not beiiig strictly enforced.   Let no man  fence
tip meadows belongiong to the State, and charg-e travellers paLsturage
for their horses on tl-le public domain.  The  beautiful wild flowers
and thickets, classed by the soulless improvers as useless chlapparal,
are trampled by cattle and destroyed by the plough.  But fortunately,
in the language of one who knows wvhereof he speaks, and is filled to
overflowing with the beauty of Californian nature, " By ftlr the greater
portion of Yosemite is unimprovable; her trees and her flowvers will
melt like the snlow, but her domes and her falls are everlasti,ng,."
Let not the Golden State permit her own and her sister populations
to regard the Valley of the "Great Grisly Bear" (Yosemite) rather
as the valley of the " Golden Fleece."
Every traveller, coming fromn thle East, should stop  at Stockton,
California, and make  thlat city; the point firom which to start on tlhe
tour of the Calaveras Grove, Yosemite Valley,  alld the Mariposa
Grove, all of which, if times permits, should  be included in the trip.
Presuming that the traveller wishes to avoid, as much  as possible,
horseback riding, and avail himself of railways  and stages  where
practicable, Stockton is the proper base of departure.  Various routes
are open to the traveller, and very eloquent and pertinacious advocates
— I
16 
AND OF CALIFORNIA.
will soon beset him, assuring him positively that speed, comfort,
safety, and moderate chargies can be  secured only oil the rouite for
which he is employed as ruiner; as all are made out equally advisable, each ill tiurn, the traveller will naturally and properly decline
to believe all that is told him by the rival advocates.  All the routes
have their advantages, and all their disadvainttgecs, and, after all,
there is not mutich to choose; yout will be surely disappointed in some
things, while others will surpass your expectations.   Tllaking things
easy, and making the best of what offers, and not expecting, in this
new and rough country, the punctuality and the little comforts he
has become familiar with in the palace cars, are whlt make the philosophic traveller enjoy himself in spite of minor incolvenieinces,
while the male fuss-bti  and the female fidget aire disgusted with
everything, iand pronounce the Yosemite trip a humbuio and a bore.
HIeavy trtiuliks should be left at Stockton, as you will suirely return
thither, whether yout approach the Valley fromi  the east or the west;
they will lbe unnecessary and a nuisance, difficult to carry by stage
and impossible by horses, and, if carried from Stockton and left,
nlecessitating return by the same route, which is not advisable if you
wish to see the most you can in a short time.  A valise that can be
carried by hand, or easily packed on a horse, is enough for a fortnight's trip, and few make one more than ten days' long; for genltlemen, are desirable a broad-rimimed li,ght hat, strong boots, serviceable
but not too nice clothes, with flainnel shirts; for ladies, flounces,
trains, highi-heeled boots,  and  fashionable  hats are quite out of
character; the clothing should be about what would be worn here in
the latter part of spring; the heat may be ninety degrees  Fah. at
nloon, in the Valley, while the nights and morniings are cool; umbrellas are useless impediments.
In my judgment, the best route to follow, if you are not in a great
hurry, and wish to visit the Calaveras grove of trees, is this: takilg
the railroad at Stockton you go to Milton or Copperopolis, a distance
of twenty-eilght or thirty miles; there you tiake stage for Murphy's,
a distance of thiirty-seveiI miles; seventeen miles farther by stage will
bring you to the Calaveras grove of big trees, occupying ten hlours.
Remnainingi   one  dclay  in  the  grove,  previolisly  described,  you
start inll the mo rning  for Murphy's  again; dine  at Sonora,  and
take supper at Chinese Campi, going on to Garrote, which yout reach
at nine P.i., there  patssing the night; on this day you have ridden
about sixty-seveil  miles by stage, the distance from  Murphy's to
Gatirote being fifty miles; the roads are better  thail on the old Mariposai route, the hotels are comfortable, and the fare good.  Next day,
before lighit, you start tagain, reaching, at noon, Crane's Flat, a dist'Lnce of thirty milcs; abl)out half-past one you leave algain, and by
the middle of the afternoon arrive at " Prospect Rock," the end of
the stage route; here you get the first glimpse of the Valley, though
not so good as the on2e fioml ~Inspiration Point," on the Mariposa
route.  You then mount your horse, descend the mountain about
three miles, and reach the hotels in the Valley about eight P. M.
I 11-1-1 m
75 
A~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
76     THE WONDERS OF THE ROSEMITE VALLEr,
having ridden seventeenl miles from Crane's Flat without any great
fatigue.
Then making the tour of the Valley by stage, and onl horseback,
you visit the various points of interest, noted on the aiccomlpanyilig
map, and previously described, spendingo not less than three days.
If you ascend the high Sierra, toward the upper Yosemite fall, or go
to Cathedral Peak, which is strongly advised to all good climbers,
for the purpose of seeingr the polishing of the rocks - ill the vicinity
of the beautiful lake Tenaya, especially -the work of the ancient
glacier whichl once ploughed its wvay, miles in length and widcth, and
thousands of feet in thickness, along the top of the Sierra, filling up
the Yosemite Valley, and extending twenty miles or more along the
plain of the Merced River-you must stay half, or, better still, a
whole week longer.  Nowhere can be seen better evidence of the
immense power of ice in shaping the hardest rocks, than in the easily
accessible heights on the north side of the Valley.
It will be well to return to Stockton lby the Mariposa trail, as by
that yout visit Sentinel Dome, the Mariposa trees, and pass  through
the interesting gold diggings of MariposaL and Bear Creek.  It is
longer and more fatiguing, iand witlh  more horseback riding thani the
Coulterville route.   These routes can be well understood from the
accomnpainying excellent map of the region, kindly furnished by F.
IKnowland, Esq., General Agent of the U-nion and Central Pacific
Railroads.  In Sllimnmer, tourists will be able to descend from Sentinel
Dome as well as lby the Mariposa trail on the south side, and by Indian
Canon, as well as the Cotliterville route, on the north side; but it is
best for most travellers, especially fo)r ladies, to make the descent
by the oldest l'd best trails; by all the routes you can go by stage
almost to the edge of the Valley.
Going out, then, by the Mariposa trail, you ride by sttagce (or on
horseback, if you prefer it) to the  vesternl end of the Valley, along,
but not crossing, the placidcl Merced River, passing near the Bridal
Veil fall.
AMounting yotir h orse, you  ascend a steep and winding  path, often
casting a fond, lingering look behind at the beautifuil Valley, till it is
lost from sight; you arrive in about an holur at' Inspiration Point,"
from which, coming from the other direction, you obtain the first
glimpse of Yosemite, and probably the granldest view in the country,
if not in the world.  Lingering here as long,s youi can, you b)rallech
off to Sentinel Dome and Glacier Point, from which the view of the
distant Sierra, emnbracingf the Olbelisk, Mount Lycll, and Mount Dana
groups of mountains, is indeed magniific(ent.  T'lence to Westfall's
meadow, and to Clark and Moore's, 25 miles from the Vallev, vlwhere a
genuine New Einglanld welcome awaits you.
Distant firom their hotel about five miles is the Mariposa grove of big
trees, where the t Grisly Giant" stands erect, about 300 feet high and
90 feet in circumference at the base -with sCo)rCs of smaller giants,
male and female, married and single, as indicated by their names.
Returning to the hotel you take stage for Mariposa[ over a very
good road, with an oLsis in the desert called "White and Haltch's,"
I 
-'
AND OF CALIFORNI'A.
where a second Newi England welcome and home-like table will refresh both mind and body.  From Mariposa you go by stage through
the decayed mining region of that name, where a few Chinese still
search for gold successfully in the deserted diggings.  The end of
your dusty ride soonl ends, as you strike the Visalia division of the
Central Pacific Railroad at Modesto, 20 miles from Lathrop  on the
main railroad; thence to Stockton 10 miles, after a stage ride of
about 90 miles.
By this route you pass through Calaveras, Tuolumne, Mariposa,
Merced, and Stanislaus counties, and get an excellent idea of the
Sierra and the foot-hills.  If the Calaveras grove be omitted, the
tourist should by all mneans enter the Valley by the Mariposa route,
for the sake of Sentinel Dome and Inspiration Point, and go out by
the Coulterville trail.; then, on reaching Chinese Camp, should the
appetite grow by what it feeds on, and time allow, it is easy to go up
to the Calaveras grove  or the traveller may return by KKnight's
Ferry to Modesto, or whatever may then be the terminus of the Visalia branch to Stockton.  Should the railroad be finished to Bear
Creek or Merced, the stage route by way of Mariposa will be shortened some 30 miles, and will be anl additional inducement to enter the
Valley by this route, returning by Modesto.
Time from Stockton back again, including three days in the Valley,
the Calaveras circuit, Sentinel Dome, and the Mariposa grove-ten to
twelve days.  Fare from Boston to San Francisco, $142 -time to
Stockton, 7 days, for which $5 to $6 a day should be allowed for
sleeping-cars and meals; the Yosemite trip will cost from $125 to
$150, according to the manner of conveyance, and the number of the
party: the total necessary expense per ihdividual, with a few days in
San Francisco, is not more than $600.  Beyond Utah, greenbacks
should be exchanged for gold and silver.
_~~-r                                                                               -l-| -                          m|1|r_~~~"~[ 
..I,....
77 
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THE WONDERS OF THE rOSEMJIITE VALLEr.
THE RECENT EARTHQUAKE IN YOSEMITE.
Readers of the preceding pages will remember the many proofs of
old and existing, volcanic eruptions  in the region of the Sierras;
and recently there has beenl in this region some severe earthquake disturbances.  The earth has been rent in long and dceepl, but narrow,
fissures; rocks, trees, animals and dwellings have beeni swallowed lip
or destroyed, and great destruction of property, tantd not a little terror, lhave been the result of these tremiblings, which even  now have
not ceased.
Confininig ourselves here to the Valley, the followillng information
has been communicated to a friend by a gentlemana who has passed
the winter there: On  the twenty-sixthll of March, 1872, at aboLut
2~ A.M., the first shock occurred, shaking, people out of bed, lasting
about three minutes, with undiminished energy, antl with considerable
movement of the surface.  At first nothing was heard but an unuLstial
agitation of the trees, but after about at minute a tremendous  crash
was heard on the southl side of the Valley, opposite Yosemite Falls;
EaIgle Rock had fallen from a height of 2,000 feet, and was pouring
an avatlanche of l)oulders over precipices, and thlrou,gh the forests of
firs and sprunces, filling the Valley withl dust,tnd with countless reverberations.  The sky was clear and the moon bright, so tlhat everything
could be plainly seen; the trees were  stranigely agitated, anid the
croaking of the frogs iii the meadows, for a time, silenced.  The river
soon after was found to be muddy, from portions of its -banks having
been shaken into it, but otherwise showed no signs of the agit,attion to
which it must have been subjected.
This shock was followed, at intervals of a few minutes, by sharp
concussions, each attended by gentle undulations and deep  rumbling
sounds.  A second well-defined shock, about an hour after the first,
was followed by another avalanche of rocks from the region of Eagle
Rock.  A third severe shock occurred soon after sunrise, of less violence than the preceding.
Rocks of small size, up to those 30 feet in diam.eter, formed, from
this cause, a long rough slope at the foot of the vertical walls; many
trees were destroyed, some four feet in diameter, cut and bruised, and
thrown about like straws; some had their tops cuts off 100 feet from
the ground by the flying, rocks.  Other avalanches occurred iii Indian
and Illilouette canons, and on the west side of the Cap of Liberty.
Innumerable shocks occurred on the following( day, and all were observed to p)rogress from the north to the south, with a few from the
east.  The walls of the Valley are not disfigltired(l, the only noticeable
changes being some patches of fresh rock surface, and some new spires
alnd fironts where Eagle Rock fell.  The shocks were noticed till late
in April, and perhaps later, and their consequences cannot fail to add
a new interest to the sights in the Valley for the visitors of 1872.
- —                                       1- —-, —-.-     -.-, —-.-      -— "-, —- — - ---......
78
I#,
.::..::   1.
I.: -.-'.: 
-~_______ _ 
INDEX.                    79
INDEX.
PAGE
13
19
26
.30
35
41
47
52
54
~57
62
~ 65
73
78
OMAHA TO SALT LAKE....
SALT LAKE AND THE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD
YOSEMITE VALLEY —HISTORICAL SKETCH.
YOSEMITE VALLEY- GENERAL DESCRIPTION.
YOSEMITE VALLEY.......
THE CLIFFS AND FALLS....
THE BIG TREES.....
INDIAN TRIBES....
SAN FRANCISCO AND VICINITY...
[NIINERAL SPRINGS AND GEYSERS.
HOMEWARD BOUND.....
SAN FRANCISCO TO NEW YORK..
THE YOSEMITE IN 1872.. 
RECENT EARTHQUAlKES....
PHOTOGRAPHIC VIEWS.
THE YOSEMITE VALLEY.
NORTH DOME, WASHINGTON COLUMN AND ROYAL ARCHES.
HALF OR SOUTH DOME.
EL CAPITAN FROM THE MERCED RIVER.
BRIDAL VEIL FALLS.
YOSEMITE FALLS.
MIRROR LAKE AND MOUNT WATKINS.
VERNAL FALLS AND CAP OF LIBERTY.
NEVADA FALLS.
THE SENTINELS, CALAVERAS GROVE.
MAPS.
YOSEMITE VALLEY..
RAIL AND STAGE ROUTES.
INDEX.
79
I
41
73 
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