28 OUE NATIONAL PARKS. 



The world-famous Yosemite Valley was discovered in 1851 by 

 mounted volunteers pursuing Indians into their fastnesses. Because 

 of its extraordinary character and quite exceptional beauty it quickly 

 became celebrated; but it was not until 1874 that a road was built 

 into it. Until then it was approached only by trail. 



THE VALLEY AND ITS WATEHFALLS 



No matter what their expectation, most visitors are delightfully 

 astonished upon entering the Yosemite Valley. The sheer immensity 

 of the precipices on either side of the valley's peaceful floor; the lofti- 

 ness and the romantic suggestion of the numerous waterfalls; the 

 majesty of the granite walls; and the unreal, almost fairy quality of 

 the ever-varying whole, can not be successfully foretold. 



This valley was once a tortuous river canyon. So rapidly was it 

 cut by the Merced that the tributary valleys soon remained hanging 

 high on either side. Then the canyon became the bed of a great 

 glacier. It was widened as well as deepened, and as a consequence 

 the hanging character of the side valleys was accentuated. 



There were hundreds, thousands, of other ice-filled canyons in the 

 Sierra; but in none did the glaciers accomplish as much as they did 

 in the Yosemite Valley. Why ? Because there the Sierra granites, as 

 a rule solid and exceptionally resistant, were traversed by thou- 

 sands of fissures and therefore readily scooped out. 



The Yosemite Falls, for instance, drops 1,430 feet in one sheer fall, 

 a height equal to nine Niagara Falls piled one on top of the other. 

 The Lower Yosemite Fall, immediately below, has a drop of 320 feet, 

 or two Niagaras more. Vernal Falls has the same height, while 

 Illilouette Falls is 40 feet higher. The Nevada Falls drops 600 feet 

 sheer; the celebrated Bridal Veil Fall 620 feet, while the Ribbon 

 Falls, highest of all, drops 1,612 feet sheer, a straight fall ten times 

 as great as Niagara. Nowhere else in the world may be had a water 

 spectacle such as this. 



Similarly the sheer summits. Cathedral Rocks rise 2,500 feet 

 perpendicular from the valley; El Capitan, 3,600 feet; Sentinel 

 Dome, 4,100 feet; Half Dome, 4,900 feet; Cloud's Rest, 6,000 feet. 



Among these monsters the Merced sings its winding way. 



The falls are at their best in May and June while the winter snows 

 are melting. They are still fine in July but after that decrease 

 rapidly in volume. 



THE BEAUTIFUL TUOLUMNE VALLEY 



The Yosemite Valley, extraordinary though it is from both the 

 scenic and the scientific points of view, is an exceedingly small part 

 of the Yosemite National Park; but until the summer of 1915, when 



