REVELATIONS OF THE YO SEMITE VALLEY 69 



GENESIS AND REVELATIONS OF THE YOSEMITE VALLEY 



By HAROLD FRENCH 



OAKLAND, CALIF. 



THE marvelous structure and sculpture of the Yosemite Valley 

 kindles the imagination of every visitor to this great natural 

 wonder and causes scientist and layman alike to evince the most intense 

 interest in the origin of this mile-deep trough amid the granite waves 

 of the High Sierra. Each pilgrim to this Mountain-Mecca endeavors 

 to satisfy his mind as to the causes of its carving. Every one who 

 wanders there wonders and guesses at its genesis; but the revelations 

 of its geomorphogeny are far from being satisfactory or complete. 

 Scientists have come and savants have gone, but few have agreed in their 

 conclusions. The scenic grandeur of the Yosemite has sunk deep in the 

 souls of poets and painters, artists and literateurs; and to the most 

 practical of men, engineers and miners, do its unique features equally 

 appeal. Awe-inspiring evidences of colossal dynamic agencies, such as 

 the undermining and subsidence of vast areas, or the tremendous up- 

 heaval of sky-piercing peaks and ridges, the quarrying and ground- 

 sluicing of Brobdignagian blocks of granite, are all of deep significance 

 and extreme interest to the mind of the miner. Over all this weird 

 wonderland broods the spell of an enigmatic Sphinx. To this day, the 

 Yosemite is, of a verity, the Valley of Mystery. 



General Geological Features 



Before discussing the conflicting theories conjectured about the 

 origin of the Yosemite Valley, it will be proper to present the salient 

 features of its surroundings. Trite, but essential to clearer under- 

 standing, is the statement that the valley is approximately eight miles 

 long and nearly a mile in extreme width and depth. Its floor averages 

 3,960 feet above sea level. At first glance, it will impress the miner 

 as being a great open cut quarried through blocks of more or less 

 resistant granite. And to many it will appear to be a great basin, the 

 bottom of which had sunk to unfathomed depths. Whatever forces 

 may have quarried this great open cut — if open cut it may be truly 

 called — the accumulation of the tailings down stream from this titanic 

 denudation is conspicuous by its absence. Therefore, the secret of the 

 transportation of these billions of tons of tailings is one of the 

 mysteries of the geological history of the Yosemite yet to be unfolded. 



Looking up the valley from its lower portal, two striking differences 

 in the structure of its walls are seen in bold contrast to each other. 



