Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/823

 YOSEMITE 793 ft. above the valley, which commands a fine view of the Yosemite fall. On the left side of the valley, opposite the Bridal Veil fall, is the Yosemite Fall. Virgin's Tears fall, where the creek of that name leaps over the wall more than 1,000 ft. Just ahove is El Capitan, an immense hlock of granite projecting into the valley and present- ing an almost vertical edge 3,300 ft. high. Fur- ther up, and nearly opposite Sentinel rock, are the Three Brothers, a group of rocks rising one behind another, the highest being 3,830 ft., and from its summit affording a splendid view of the valley and surroundings. Above the Three Brothers is the principal fall, the Yosemite, formed by a creek of the same name. The ver- tical height of the lip of the fall is about 2,600 ft. There is first a vertical descent of 1,500 ft., when the water strikes a shelf or recess, whence it makes in a series of cascades a fall equal to 626 ft. perpendicular, and then gives a final plunge of about 400 ft. The different parts of the fall being nearly in one vertical plane, the effect is described as being almost as grand as, and per- haps more picturesque than, if the water made but a single leap from the top of the cliff to the level of the valley. A striking feature of the Yosemite fall, believed to be peculiar to it and the Bridal Veil fall, is the vibratory mo- tion of the upper portion under the varying pressure of the wind. The stream at the sum- mit, at a medium stage of water, is estimated to be 20 ft. wide and 2 ft. in average depth. The Yosemite fall is believed to sur- pass in vertical height all others hav- ing nearly the same body of water. A little E. of it the cliff rises in a bold peak 3,030 ft. above the valley. About 2 m. above the fall the valley branches into three canons, formed by the Merced river in the centre, the Tenaya fork on the left or N. W., and the Illi- louette or South fork on the right or S. W. (not to be confounded with the main South fork of the Merced, which is below the Yosemite valley). N. of the Tenaya fork, near where it enters the main stream, are an immense arched cavity called the Royal Arches, and a rounded columnar mass of rock called the Washington column, and back of these the North dome, a dome- shaped mass of granite attaining an elevation of 3,568 ft. above the valley. Between the Tenaya and the Merced is the Half Dome, an apparently inac- cessible crest of granite rising4,73T ft. above the valley, in which it is one of the most imposing objects. Mirror lake, an expansion of the Tenaya fork, is a beautiful sheet of water. In the canon of the Merced are two falls, the lower, called the Vernal fall, with a perpendicular descent of about 400 ft., and the upper, called the Nevada fall, not quite perpendicular, with a height of about 600 ft. N. of the river near the Nevada fall is an immense mass of rock, isolated and nearly perpen- dicular on all sides, called the Cap of Liberty, which rises some 2,000 ft. above its base. In the Illilouette there is a fall esti- mated to be 600 ft. high. Only two of the principal falls, the Vernal and Nevada, con- tinue in existence throughout the season; the Yosemite and Bridal Veil almost disappear by August or September. The most favorable months for visiting the valley are May, June, and July, before the creeks are dried up. On the Merced above the Nevada fall is the Little Yosemite valley, about 4 m. long and from m. to 1 m. wide, 2,130 ft. above the Yosemite valley proper, of which it may be regarded as a continuation. The high Sierra adjacent to the valley abounds in points of interest. About 16 m. S. is the Mariposa grove of big trees, and about 18 m. N. by W. the Hetch-Hetchy val- ley on the Tuolumne river, smaller than the Yosemite, but similar to it in character. The Yosemite valley was first entered by white men in 1851, when an expedition was organ- ized to drive out the Indians who made it their stronghold. It was first visited by tourists in 1855. The first house was built in 1856. In 1864 an act of congress was passed granting the valley to the state of California, upon con-