Studying the Yosemite Problem 



137 



distinguished last summer's work from the earlier investiga- 

 tions was its exceedingly detailed nature. For the most part 

 it was restricted to a small area — the Yosemite region prop- 

 erly speaking — and it was extended to outlying districts in 

 the High Sierra only in so far as the character of the Yosemite 

 problem necessitated. 



But why, the reader may ask, was this research into the 

 Yosemite problem undertaken at this particular time? Much 

 has been written, as we all know, upon the subject of the 

 probable origin of the Yosemite Valley. The different views 

 advanced, however, are so widely at variance with each other, 

 that the intelligently interested layman who would endeavor 

 to inform himself as to the real nature of his cherished Yo- 

 semite is apt to give up the attempt in despair. If anything, 

 the situation is worse to-day than it ever was. Formerly one 

 had the choice of only two explanations and could with some 

 readiness ''choose sides." In fact, it was quite the fashion then 

 to do so. One was either a Whitney-man, committed to the 

 dropped-block hypothesis, or else one was a firm believer in 

 the potency of ice erosion. But the advent of successive new 

 explanations, of late years, has greatly complicated things, so 

 that now the layman, thoroughly bewildered, scarcely knows 

 to which authority he had best pin his faith. In the mean- 

 time the different guide books on the market, with the best 

 intentions in the world, are each espousing a different cause, 

 and thus keep the pot of confusion boiling. 



Surely it will be agreed that the time has come to ameliorate 

 this state of things. This is what was thought and said in 

 Washington last spring. In the end, does not the Government 

 owe it to the intelligent citizens of this country to make an 

 effort to enlighten them in a matter of this sort, to furnish 

 them with reliable authoritative information? The year of 

 the San Francisco exposition, which doubtless will see an un- 

 precedented influx of tourists into Yosemite Valley, natur- 

 ally suggested itself as a particularly opportune time to ef- 

 fectively disseminate information among the public; and ac- 

 cordingly it was decided to dispatch the field parties at once 

 in order that the necessary data might be collected and worked 

 up in ample time. 



