ORDERS ' \ ND O \LIFORNI lip? #%.-?.%: m -. , . University of California Berkeley GIFT OF FRANCIS P. FAROUHAF &s* THE WONDERS OF THE YOSEMITE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 4060 feet above the Sea. G Q THE WONDERS YOSEMITE YALLEY, CALIFORNIA. SAMUEL KNEELAND, A.M., M.D., PROFESSOR OF ZOOLOGY IN THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. WITH ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS, BY JOHN P. SOULE. THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED. BOSTON : ALEXANDER MOORE. LEE & SHEPARD. NEW YORK: LEE, SHEPARD & DILLINGHAM. 1*72. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871. by ALEXANDER MOORE, in the Ottice 01 tne .Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. I 'holographic Illustrations, entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by JOHN P. SOULS, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. CAMBRIDGE: PRESSWORK BY JOJJN WILSON AND SON. A Hesitation. TO ALL LOVERS OF THE GRAND AND BEAUTIFUL IN NATURE, AND ESPECIALLY OF MOUNTAIN SCENERY, UNPARALLELED IN THE WORLD, THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. KV PREFACE. "XTORTH 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 Mis sissippi, Missouri, Colorado, and their tributaries ; in its cataracts Niagara, Genesee, Trenton, Ithaca, Montmorenct, Minnehaha, and the grand cascades of the Yosemite Valley ; in its boundless prairies, magnificent forests, and variety of the aspects of nature from 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 laud 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 pic- uresque, 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 Mountains, and especially the Sierra Nevada, will excite a new and ex quisite 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 en durance, to make the trip 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 (xi) xii PREFACE. 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 mountain- streams 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 pur suit 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, aud a deliciously cool air, permit one to climb the mountains without the risk of getting wet, of being delayed by au avalanche, of falling iuto an ice-bouud crevice, or of being enveloped in a thick mist, at a point noted for fine scenery, so provokingly common iu Switzerland. Without danger, 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 be- fitting 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. North Dome VVash'n Column Royal Arches. THE WONDERS OF THE Y08EMITE VALLEY, AND OF CALIFORNIA. OMAHA TO SALT LAKE. ON the east of the Rocky Mountains most of the great river sys tems 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. o o v In the Humboldt range, nearPequop, 310 miles from Aspen, or 1,245 from Omaha, 6,076 feet high. 4. In the Sierra Nevada, at Donner Lake Pass, 425 miles from the Humboldt Summit, 1,670 from 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 inex perienced traveller seemingly dangerous. The road from Cheyenne, 520 miles from Omaha, for 500 miles on a stretch, to the Wahsatch Range 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 than 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 muddy 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 per ceive it, and yet when you have reached Cheyenne, you are 6,000 (13) I A THE WONDERS OF THE TO SEMITE VALLET, 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 variegated with beautiful flowers, among which are roses, larkspurs, and a fine white thistle. This was once a hunting-ground of the Indians for bison and antelope ; the former is now rarely seen, but now and then an antelope will scamper away from the track, turning, when at a safe distance, to scrutinize the rushing train which disturbed him. This was also a portion of the road dangerous from Indians, as here they were accustomed to cross the plains, naturally hating the whites for expelling themselves and the game from their favorite haunts. Every station was once, of necessity, a fort; the fre quent camps of mounted riflemen, and their presence as armed sen tinels 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, though navigable, as the saying is, for nothing larger than a shingle, on account of its shallowness, sand-bars, and ever-shifting channel, drains an area of nearly 300,000 square miles ; larger than all New England, New York, and Pennsylvania. It is, however, nature's highway for a railroad, and probably but for it, this Pacific Railroad might nsver have been built. The old emigrant road was along this river, and it can now be traced 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, according to George Francis Train, the geographical centre of the United States, and, when he becomes President, will be a candidate for the government buildings. Grand Island, in Platte River, is about 80 miles long, and 4 wide ; it is fertile, and well-wooded, and belongs to the United States. From 150 to 3,50 miles from Omaha you are within the range of the buffalo, but will probably see none, not even a track ; this region is also infested by Indians, as shown by the fort-like and guarded sta tions ; the cabins are low, covered with mud and turf, to render harm less the blazing arrows of the savages, and with loop-holes for defence. Here and there a sullen-looking fellow, indifferently armed, scowls at the passing or stopping train, but we saw no bands. 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 ex tends for seventy or eighty miles westward ; the soil and water are strongly impregnated with alkaline salts, the carbonates of the al kalies being so abundant that the earth may be used for raising bread. Here farms cease, and the country is of use only for grazing. Jules- burg, 377 miles, was noted as a thieving, gambling place, as the ter minus of the advancing road always was ; shanties and tents were built in a night, and disappeared as if by magic, leaving nothing be hind but a bad reputation, ruined chimneys, old boots, tin cans, and soiled cards. These harpy communities, when too bad, were occasion ally exterminated by "Vigilance Committees." At Lodgepole, about 400 miles, the elevation is nearly 4,000 feet, and from this you per- AND OF CALIFORNIA. ceive that you 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 danger; they are obliged to endure in their villages the presence of the burrowing owl, Avhich lives in bur rows 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 Mountains, and for 200 miles east and west, besides the innu merable 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 pre vented 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, 516 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 in 1867 there was only one house, has now several thousand inhabitants, and has the elements of a permanent increase, and will not fade away like most of the other railroad creations. It has its newspapers, schools, churches, manufactories, and extensive system of inland transpor tation, especially in connection with the rapidly-increasing mining in terests of Colorado on the south. About fifteen miles from Cheyenne the grade becomes very steep, and you have fine views of the "Black Hills," the most eastern ranges of the Rocky Mountains. The scen ery now becomes wild and rugged, and the masses of reddish fels- pathic rock are piled up in grand confusion. On arriving at the summit, at Sherman, named from the tallest general in our army, you are 8,235 feet above the sea, the highest point crossed by any rail road. The summit is bare, and the surrounding 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 in spirations, is singularly exhilarating. This is 550 miles distant from Omaha, and affords a good view of Pike'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 pre sent, at a distance, a very light and graceful structure. When you !6 THE WONDERS OF THE TO SEMITE VALLET, get upon it you shudder as you look down and see the stream a mere 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 Jirtna, when every one draws a full 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, how ever, 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 for mations 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 nu tritious 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 much broken by the ranges of the Black Hills, which enclose, often, extensive and fine table lands 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 snows, 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 appar ently 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 clay ; the force which uplifted this table land broke up these coal-bearing strata, fortunately placing them so that they are easily workable, and exceed ingly 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 miles, the country is a barren alkaline desert, with a reddish tint, from salts of iron. Green River Station, 846 miles, is so named from the river, which AND OF CALIFORNIA. flows into the Colorado ; the water has a greenish hue, from the mi nute particles of the decomposed green slaty rocks which it washes ; it is a large, rapid stream, with good water, plentifully stocked with trout. This region was evidently once the bed of a large lake, or very wide river, and aifords 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 on the sides of the mountains, spurs of the Uintah Range. It will be noticed that there is an interval of about 100 miles between the stations here mentioned, which will indicate to the reader Avhat 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 Wah- satch, 968 miles, after a good breakfast (and it may be here stated, once for all, that the meals all along the route are excellent, at mod erate price, and with plenty of time to eat), you plunge into the famous Echo Canon, flanked by the most magnificent scenery. Here comes in a merry conductor, full of proverbs and wise sayings, ready to do battle in words, (and for aught I know with fists,) for all sound morality ; 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 profane, which puts every body into good-humor, contrast ing favorably with the boorishness so frequently met with in conduct ors who ride behind horse-flesh in our large cities. He invites you to go to the rear or observation car, open 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 trestle- work; here the jolly conductor (not a Mormon, as you at first sup pose) cautious young people, and especially any who may be on their bridal tours, to be sure that they select the right person before they proceed to any little caresses suggested by the long, dark tunnel ; ac cording to his account, many ludicrous and provoking mistakes have sometimes been revealed when the sudden darting of the train into the daylight has shown the various attitudes of the passengers ; from failure to recognize the points of the compass in the light, moustaches have been found under the wrong bonnets, and arms around the wrong 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 red dish sandstone from 500 to 2,000 feet high, almost overhanging the road, and carved by the elements into the most fantastic" forms, whose names and resemblances are pointed out by the communicative con 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 memory of those who have seen thorn the momentary glimpses so rapidly taken from the rushing car. The whistle of the locomotive starts a thousand echoes from the rocky sides, chiefly on the right, the left sloping away to grassy meadows. iS THE WONDERS OF THE YO SEMITE VALLET, 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 among 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. Soon 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 eight) ; it is rendered more pleasing by the river which rushes by the side of the track, now a torrent, then a cascade, then a whirlpool, and then boil ing rapids, according to the obstructions of its rocky bed and sides. In this, as in Echo Canon, every second brings into view some ne\y wonder or beauty. We can 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, extend ing several hundred feet in height ; the earth between the ridges, which are several yards apart, is covered with grass and flowers, ren dering by contrast the gray rocky barriers very distinct. Passing this and Weber Station you come to the second, the "Devil's Gate," a narrow gorge through which the Weber River rushes, crossed by a bridge about fifty feet above the raging stream. You have no op portunity for fright or pleasure, as you are whirled along by the iron horse, which has no eye for scenery, and regards only time and space. After passing through these fine canons in the Wahsatch Range, you are in the Great Salt Lake Valley, though still, at Uintah Station, 4,550 feet above the sea. Eight miles more and you are in Ogclen, the terminus of the Union Pacific, 1 ,032 miles from Omaha. This is a strictly Mormon town ; the houses are widely scattered, but with fine gardens and orchards. Near the depot is the usual assortment of shanties, tents, and saloons. On the platform you will probably see Indians of the Shoshone tribe, in costumes partly civilized and partly savage; as a military hat with feather, pants, and coat, with dirty blanket, moccasins, and daubed with paint with the unmis takable odor of the red man, indicating, to more senses than the eye, that frequent ablution is not one of his virtues. HALF, OR SOUTH DOME. (i% Mile high.) AND OF CALIFORNIA. SALT LAKE AND THE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD. AT Ogdeu 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 head-quarters of Pres ident 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 commu nity in this unpromising region. Salt Lake City was founded in 1847 ; it is situated in latitude 40 deg. 46 min. north, and longitude 112 deg. 6 min. west, at the base of the western slope of the Wahsatch Moun tains, which you pass by the Echo and Weber Canons. The history of the rise and progress of this strange 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 Nauvoo, Illinois, on the Mis sissippi. Persecuted for obvious reasons in 1844-45, the Mormons emigrated in 1846, under President Brigham Young, the successor of Joseph Smith, who, with his brother Hyruin, was murdered by a mob in 1844. Persecution followed fftem through Missouri and Iowa, and they reached Great Salt Lake, after much hardship, in the latter part of July, 1847, passing up the left bank of the Platte River, crossing at Fort Laramie, and over the mountains at the South Pass. In 1850 Utah was admitted into the Union as a Territory, though it applied for admission as a State under the name of "Deseret." The city is four miles long and three wide, the streets at 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 refreshing on a hot day, as you walk along under the grateful 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 being with each other and 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 united, the heads of the church being also the high civil officers. One-tenth of all a convert has, he pays, it is said, into the "Treasury of the Lord," and one- tenth of his yearly profits, and devotes one-tenth of his time for pub- 20 THE WONDERS OF THE TOSEMITE VALLET, lie works resembling the system of tithing of the ancient Israelites. There is, besides, a tax on property for the revenue of the civil gov ernment. Outward prosperity, peace, and contentment, seem to reign ; poverty is unknown ; 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 Mormons regard their prosperity as a sign of the favor of heaven ; but outsiders more truly ascribe it to their industry, discip line, 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 con siders good for the moral, intellectual, and material elevation of his people, whose confidence he fully enjoys. He is of commanding appearance, affable to strangers, and impresses you with the idea of strength, firmness, and resolution, which indeed are required to keep this anomalous community from falling to pieces by the slow but con tinual sapping of its foundation-tenets by the encroachments of East ern principles. The "spiritual-wife" system, which now seems tottering to its fall, was not an original tenet of the Mormon creed, forming no part of the teachings of its founders ; and probably would long 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 iso lation of this people. Even now, w'nen public indignation 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 " Univer sity of Deseret," in Salt Lake City, for the years 1870-71. It con tains 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 in 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 approach ing rapidly, and to develop the great natural resources of this coun try. With a fertile soil, healthy climate, and inexhaustible mineral wealth, this land of beauty and grandeur must soon be the pasture and the mine, as it is the highway of the nation. Time only can solve the questions of statesmanship, civil polity, religion, and moralitj', presented by this singular community, whose centre is at Salt Lake City. When the iron will which rules this people ceases to exert its influence, the Mormon system will doubtless crumble away before the advancing tide of Eastern civiliza tion, now so rapidly surrounding and permeating it by means of the Pacific Railroad ; yet, whether its life be long or short, this sect has made a pathway and a stopping-place for the west ward inarch of the nation, and thus, involuntarily, have greatly AND OF CALIFORNIA. 21 advanced the progress of humanity. The city is beautifully situated, and, as seen from the surrounding hills, its so-called "Valley of the Jordan " is a perfect garden in the wilderness. With and without irrigation the crops are fine, and the fruit is excellent ; the grasshop pers are a great plague, and sometimes so utterly destroy a growing crop as to require planting even a third time. Camp Douglass over looks the city, and, in case of need, could soon shell out au enemy. The valley was evidently once the bottom of an inland sea, as proved by the terraces, which can be 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 felspathic and limestone make a rich, porous, and absorbent earth, if well watered. The Mor mons now manufacture almost everything they use, even to articles of silk; the precious metals, coal, iron, and building stones are abun dant, and the water-power for machinery is ample. The Tabernacle will hold about 10,000 persons; it is the first ob ject 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 columns of sandstone, from which it springs in one unbroken arch, said' to be the largest self- sustaining 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 women separate. The foundations of the great temple are laid in- granite, and are now even with the ground, above which it is doubtful if they rise ; the building was to cover about half an acre, and to be one of the grandest church edifices in the country ; the main structure 100 feet high, with three towers on each eud, the central one 200 feet high. The fine granite of which it was to be built resembles the Quincy 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 1 850, mentions seeing myriads of wild geese, ducks, and swans on the surface of the lake, I saw nothing but a few ducks and snipes around 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 ocean 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 country the only use of which would seem to be, in the language 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 in this region has been known for 23 THE WONDERS OF THE TO SEMITE VALLET, nearly two centuries. The water is so salt, that twelve hours' immer sion will so far com beef that it can be kept without further care, even when constantly exposed to the sun ; in a few days it may bo made perfect " salt junk"; if the meat were only there, a "Salt Lake Meat Preserving Company" might profitably be established near these waters. There is no life in the lake, and but little in the surrounding brackish waters, so that pelicans and gulls which breed on the islands must go at least twenty miles for food for themselves and young. The water, from its density, is veiy buoyant, as in the Dead Sea; it is easy t" float in it, but hard to swim, from the ten dency of the legs to come 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 perish in its heavy waves. It contains more than twenty per cent, of pure salt, with very little im purities; if the people are not tho "salt of the earth," the water is, and probably ere many years this region will be the seat and the source of a profitable and extensive industry from its natural salt works. After leaving Ogden, and pursuing your way westward on the Central Pacific Railroad, you pass through a well-cultivated Mormon country, getting fine views of the lake, near which the track passes for miles. In nine miles you arrive at Corinne, a lively gentile town, the centre of valuable mining interests in the neighboring ter ritory of Montana on the north. After crossing Blue Creek on a tres tle bridge 300 feet long, over many sharp curves and through deep cuts, you come close to the graded bed of the old Central road, which ended at Ogden and is now unused. Here you begin 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 was certainly one of the most remarkable events in tho history of travel ; we all remember how the country rejoiced, some cities quietly and economically, like Boston, others noisily, and with generous and hospitable exultation, like New York and Philadelphia, when the message flashed over the wires on that day that the last spike was driven ; the President of the road stood there in tho wil derness holding in his hand 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 lightning wings to every city of the land ; the locomotives screamed and rubbed their sooty noses to gether, and the crowd huzzaed, shook hands, drank toasts, and ex hibited the hilarious and almost frantic transports peculiar to such occasions outside of staid New England. This point is fifty-three miles from Ogdeu, 1,084 from Omaha, and 2,730 from Boston. At 100 miles you are about in the middle of tho " Great American Desert," where the eye searches in vain for signs of animal or vege table life ; alkaline beds, sandy wastes, and rocky hills, constitute 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. AND OF CALIFORNIA. 23 In 150 miles you leave Utah, and enter Nevada Territory, and at Toano, 183 miles, you enter the Humboldt division of the road, ascending the desert by the Cedar Pass to Hnmboldt 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 dis tant views of the beautiful 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 nre 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 Hiver, which, rising in the neighboring mountains, runs through it ; the track follows the river for many miles. At Elko, 275 miles, stages may 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 Canon, 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 and grand, from the furious river which 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 sub terranean channel, or into the absorbent sand. As the Truckee region is approached, fine growths of timber begin to appear, clothing 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, unless the moon be shining, by passage in the night and early morning. 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 scenery, 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 Sacra mento, you are 5,900 feet above the sea ; this is the centre of a grout 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 Cal ifornia ; this is the lake which Mark Twain so extols above the Italian lakes in the "Innocents Abroad," to which admirable burlesque the reader is referred for fuller description. Donner Lake, smaller, but as beautiful, and seen from the track, has a melancholy interest, from the domestic tragedy connected with it ; here, in the early times of immi gration, a party from Illinois were hemmed in by the snow ; most 2 4 THE WONDERS OF THE YO SEMITE VALLEY, escaped, leaving a Mr. Donner, his wife, and a German ; when a party reached the place the following spring, Mr. Donner had died, and the German is said to have been found eating a part of Mrs. Douner's body, whom it is believed he murdered. Both these lakes are prob ably in craters of old volcanoes, closed by some geological convulsion Avhich has occurred in the Sierra. The summit of the range is fourteen miles distant, and the doub ling 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 travel lers, 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 abrnptty. 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 nar row 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 from the mountains running for miles to various claims, and then directed through dis charge pipes with great force against the gold-containing bank, wash ing away immense amounts of dirt into the long channels, where the gold gradually settles from its greater weight. Chinese miners and their cabins frequently meet the eye. Going 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 as 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 us 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-failing 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 from floods, from the filling up of the river by the results of AND OF CALIFORNIA. 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 San Francisco, ma Stockton, over the Western Pacific Railroad, is 138 miles ; thus, the distance from Boston to San Francisco, nearly 3,600 miles, may be passed over, if necessary, in seven days. The Pacific Road 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, 18G9, the Chinese laid, on the Central Pacific road, ten miles of track in twelve hours. When we remember that the 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 advan tages of a populous country, and then consider that our road, more than six times as long, rising nearly twice as high, and built through a waterless, woodless desert, infested by hostile Indians, by private enterprise was completed in seven years, it is truly marvellous, and a convincing proof of the wonderful energy and foresight of the Amer ican 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 country'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 water falls and stupendous heights, the giant trees, the splendid Pacific shores, the beauty of the coast ranges, and the marvels of the Colum bia River and the Cascade Mountains. 3 6 THE WONDERS OF THE TOSEMITE VALLET, YOSEMITE HISTORICAL SKETCH. BEFORE describing the Yosemite Valley, it may be of interest to the reader to know something more of the history of the discov ery of this wonderful locality, within a few years known only to the Indian tribes. The following historical sketch is condensed from the "Geological Survey of California," published by authority of the Legislature. In the year 1864, Congress, 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 Congress assembled, That there shall be, and is hereby, granted to the State of California, 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 aver age width one mile back from the main edge of the precipice, on each side of the Valley, 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 ; shall be inalienable for all time ; but leases not exceeding ten years may be granted for portions of said premises. All incomes derived from leases of privileges to be expended in the preservation and improve ment of the property, or the roads leading thereto ; the boundaries to be established at the cost of said State by the United States Sur veyor-General of California, whose official plat, when affirmed by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, shall constitute the evi dence of the locus, extent, and limits of the said Cleft 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 further enacted, That there shall likewise be, and there is hereby granted to the said State of California, the tracts embracing what is known 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." EL CAPITAN. (3100 ft. above Valley,; from Merced River. T3- AND OF CALIFORNIA. 27 This Act was approved by the President, June 30, 1864 ; and soon after, Governor Low, of California, issued a proclamation, taking possession of the tracts thus granted in behalf of the State, appoint ing commissioners to manage them, and warning all persons against trespassing or settling 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 Legis lature, had solemnly promised to accept the trust, forever binding when once accepted. At the next session of the California Legislature, an Act was passed accepting the Valley and the Grove, on the conditions imposed by Con gress, and containing provisions for the punishment of persons com mitting depredations on the premises, and appointing a guardian of the grant. Since the passage of this act, the vandalism of those who would have destroyed the grove, who would have cut down a giant tree to build their houses, has been in a great measure arrested; vis itors, however, may remember a huge pine prostrate near the upper hotel in the Valley, cut down in the winter of 1869-70 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 pursued it became evident that they had a safe re treat high up in the mountains, and it was determined to trace them to their refuge ; this was found to be the Yosemite Valley, which thus came to be known to the whites. In the spring of 1851 an expedition, under the command of Captain Boling, started to explore this Valley and to drive the Indians out of it ; guided by an old chief, Tenaya, whose name is given to one of the canons of the Merced River, they reached the valley, and drove the Indians from their supposed impreg nable retreat, killing a few, and making a peace Avith the rest this, it will be seen, was fourteen years before the Act of Cougres, above re ferred to. The Indians again becoming troublesome to the miners, another expedition was fitted out for the Valley in 1852, by the Mariposa Battalion ; some of the Indians were killed, and the rest fled to the Mono tribe, on the eastern side of the Sierra ; having stolen some horses from their friends, the Monos pursued them back to the Valley, where a bloody battle was fought, resulting in the almost entire ex termination of the Yosemite tribe. According to Dr. Bunucll, the Indians in and around the Valley were a mixed race, made up by refugees from many widely-scattered tribes ; each family is said to have had a tract set apart for its use, which had its own name ; all we know of their language is preserved in the sonorous and often musical names given to the waterfalls and rocks, as elsewhere stated, which, however, have in most cases been replaced by Spanish and English names. The visit of the soldiers did very little toward opening the Valley 2 S THE WONDERS OF THE YO SEMITE VALLET, to public notice ; their wonderful stories found their way into the newspapers, but were passed over as the exaggerations so often pub lished by travellers in distant regions, where there is no liability of con tradiction by 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 been the first, in 1855, to collect a party of tourists to visit the Yosemite for pleasure ; in the same year, an other, and a larger, party from Mariposa went into the Valley. In 1856, the regular pleasure travel may be said to have commenced if it can be called pleasure to toil up and down steep ridges, danger ous on horseback, at that time, and very fatiguing on foot. The trail from Clark and Moore's hotel is even now abominable, and un necessarily 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 unbe coming 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, de mands 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 hard to do this, and by the time they have gone twelve miles, most travellers are weary enough to rest at the "Half-way House," and to make the other twelve miles on the next day; like a Chicago 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 fora similar end. The first house built in the Valley, in the autumn of 1856, oppo site the Yosemite Fall, is still standing, and is occupied as a hotel. In I860, Mr. J. C. Lamon took up his residence in the Valley, where he now lives, a lonely bachelor, in a comfortable log house. He has truly made the wilderness to "blossom like the rose," and has suc ceeded in raising excellent vegetables, and some exceedingly fine berries, and other fruit; his garden is one of the "sights "in the Valley, and 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 claim, as the land was not open to pre-emption, 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 reason, and also because they were not accompanied by permanent residence. None of the claimants, it is hoped, will be allowed to have their pre tensions recognized by Congress, or in any way sanctioned by public opinion. The gift of Congress is too preeious to the State and to the CLOUDS' REST. From Lake at foot of South Dome. TJ AND OF CALIFORNIA. 29 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 charges, 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 for circulation in and about the Valley free trails, roads, and bridges, with every facility offered for the en joyment 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 oppor tunity 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 induce ment to do anything for the public accommodation, except that which may be made immediately available as a new means of raising a tax on the unfortunate traveller. . . . The Yosemite Valley is an ex ceptional 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 repudi ate 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 permitting 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 sur roundings mentioned in the Act of Congress of 1864. THE WONDERS OF THE TOSEMITE VALLET, YOSEMITE VALLEY. THIS 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 Mouos. Before this time it was unknown to the whites. A few of these Monos now live in the valley, belonging to the so-called dig gers, 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 lat ter 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 by Con gress, 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; arid should they succeed in 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 man agement 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 cur rent, which ascends along the coast range, the summer (July and Au gust) is the coldest, dampest, foggiest, and most disagreeable part of the year in San Francisco ; so that, going eastward, you rise several thou sand feet in an air actually warmer than on the coast, and on the high est 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 indicated 80 deg. for six hours every day, though the nights were cool, but indescribably clear and exhilarating. At this season the traveller is sure of good weather, as rain is extremely rare, and clouds uncom mon. One is impressed with the subtropical character of the vegeta tion on the Pacific in latitudes where, on 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 BRIDAL VEIL FALL. 940 feet high. AND OF CALIFORNIA. least forty feet high, whose beautiful yellow flowers were the pride 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 Joaquiu Valley, but of about the same eleva tion, as well as latitude, as Sau 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 moun tains, 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 gran deur 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 "Vir gin's Tears," and the falls of the "Royal Arches," and the "Sentinel Peak," are entirely dried up, and even the great Yosernite, 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" Cordil leras," 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 rau4 THE WONDERS OF THE TO SEMITE VALLET, which are the pride and boast of California, and the delight of the hungry traveller. Passing eastward 65 miles from Colfax, you come to Truckee, a large, busy, and muddy town, of over 4,000 inhabitants, chiefly en gaged in the lumber business ; it is situated in a heavily-timbered region. The traveller would make no stop here, were it not the start ing-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 rockj r 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 involunta rily falls. Donuer 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, and 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 on' 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 Ni agara in the grandeur and wildncss 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 ploriug 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 Aspiuwall ; for what may be enjoyed on this trip, the reader is referred to the next chapter. ON THE MERCED RIVER. Near El Capitan. " Q AND OF CALIFORNIA. 65 SAN FRANCISCO TO BOSTON. ON 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 from 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, laden With mois ture, whose condensation envelops the city in the morning and eve ning 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 temper ature was disagreeably cold. This season 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 getting 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, accompany you for hun dreds of miles at this season (August) . The rocky islands and head lands give shelter to innumerable sea-birds, especially guillemots (Urici), whose large and irregularly blotched eggs are sold by the hundred for food in the San Francisco markets ; there are also many large seals, or so-called sea-lions (Phoca 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 nights without dew, and the stars as bright as on a frosty night with us ; the air is so dry that there is no danger of taking cold in camping out, even at an elevation of five thousand feet ; and travellers not unfrequently place their cot-beds on the outside and uncovered piazza, sure of a pure, dry air, with no danger of rain ; it is this rest you get at night, which enables you to rise refreshed after the heat, dryness, and dusti- ness of the day's travel. One of the striking characteristics of the Pacific steamers is, that the crew are all Chinamen ; and any one who has experienced the dis order, the dirtiness, the unnecessary noise, scoldings, swearings, and often intoxication, attendant on the sailing of ships from Atlantic ports, must be delighted with these Chinese sailors ; they are neat, orderly, quiet not using oaths, tobacco, nor whiskey obedient, respectful, strong, and in every way good 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 voyage of two weeks, was remarkably smooth, well 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 66 THE WONDERS OF THE TO SEMITE VALLET t 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. Large petrels (Puffinus 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 in 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 in 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 from the top of one wave to another; they could be seen to change their course, as well as to rise and fall, not uufrequently touching the longer lower lobe of the tail to the surface, and again rising as if they used the tail as a powerful spring. While the ventrals may act chiefty as a parachute, it seems as if the pectorals performed, by their almost imperceptible but rapid vibrations, the function of true flight. 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 aerial course, they drop into the water with a splash, instead of making a gentle and gradual descent, like the flying squirrel, flying dragon, and other vertebrates with mem branes acting as parachutes. The drying of the flying membrane in the air would prevent the small but numerous and rapid motions nec essary for true flight, and the animal therefore suddenly drops when the membrane becomes 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 Portuguese men-of-war (Physalia), no larger than an olive, and without the purple reflec tions of the larger ones so often met in the Atlantic. Whether these were the young or full-grown individuals I do not know ; I saw none larger than these, and they were not numerous. As we approached 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 Bonaparte's gull, but either entirely white, or with a very slight lavender-blue tinge on the back and wings. These had an en tirely different way of alighting, and rising from the water ; they did not put forward their feet to arrest their course, but circled round like pigeons until their headway was stopped, and then quietly set tled upon the water, immediately folding their wings. They also rose directly from the surface, without running along as the larger- winged petrels did. 75 deg. Fah. AND OF CALIFORNIA. 67 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 high 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 moun tains, 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 City" went ashore in 1869, is called "Starvation Point"; her numerous passengers, 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 op posite 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 on 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, on 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 Hundred 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. Fah. 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 cleg. 50 min., corresponds very nearly to Cape Hatteras on the At lantic 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 sud denly exchanged for the warm southerly winds 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 moon shining upon the glassy sea was very beautiful ; but with the moon, as with the sunrise and sun set, I find that we have far more beautiful colors and contrasts at home ; 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 in about latitude 10 deg., which has been unopened since August 9. It may be interesting 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 animal forms, or of any kind of or ganic or nitrogenous matter which may serve as nutriment for pro tozoa, or any dilute protoplasm diffused through the waters of the ocean which could bo directly absorbed by these lowest organisms. The Mexican shore here came in sight, strikingly contrasting with the California!!, being green, with a luxuriant vegetation, and very pleasant looking ; the shore high, with elevated mountains in the dis tance, and here and thei'6 a beach lined with coral reefs against which the surf could be seen breaking. We could see the rain-clouds 68 THE WONDERS OF THE TO SEMITE VALLET, in the mountains, and the lightning, and hear the thunder ; while where we were three miles from the shore all was bright sunshine, with no sign of rain. On the ninth, in about 18 deg., we stopped in the land-locked harbor of Manzanillo, the mountains rising 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 Cal ifornia gulf, no birds were seen ; first we had the large petrels, then the smaller white gulls ; these soon disappeared, having 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 ; l >ut the birds knew the difference. On the eleventh we reached Acapulco, Mexico, in about 17 deg. north, where we stopped half a day, going on shore 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, and Mexicans, the peculiar customs of the market-place, and the heter ogeneous articles exposed for sale ; the stock of a hundred women, and nearly as many men, was not greater than the contents of a single stall in one of our markets, the trade being of the most petty descrip tion, and seemingly like that of children playing 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 harbor is very beautiful, entirely land-locked, surrounded by high hills cov ered with bushes to the top ; here and there could be seen the palm- leaf huts of the natives, with patches of bananas and groves of oranges ; the beach was lined with palm-trees, and everything had the peaceful, lazy, dreamy look peculiar to the tropics ; the buildings of the town are of stone, with tile roofs, and generally of one story ; the old church in the plaza was built by the Spaniards, and is now used as a prison, as its grated windows indicated. The water was beautifully clear, and swarmed with bright-colored fish, and it is said with sharks ; I saw none of the latter, and the professional divers near the landing apparently had little fear of them, as they dived for the pieces of money thrown to them by the passengers. When the coasts of Southern Mexico and Guatemala are reached, and especially about latitude 11 deg. 30 min., white-romped Mother Carey's chickens came around us ; they looked just like the common Atlantic species, and, as Baird does not describe such a bird on the Pacific in vol. ix. of the Pacific Railroad Reports, I suppose the species must have appeared since then, either from South America, or having crossed the isthmus. Now and then a marine turtle 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 from San Francisco), where we re mained two days, giving ample time to examine this quaint old Span ish 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 tamencss and voracity as in our Southern and Gulf States; the water abounds in catfish and sharks, -.-'-II* Q DISTANT VIEWS OF THE SIERRA NEVADAS. From South Dome. AND OF CALIFORNIA. 69 though I saw none of the latter caught by the numerous fishermen. Panama is built along the bay, which is surrounded by high hills and mountains, 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 mid-day, the temperature at night was delightful ; and this in the middle of August. The place has the typical appearance of a dirty Spanish town. We left Panama, Aug. 19, to cross the Isthmus to Aspinwall, a distance of forty-seven miles, occupying three hours in the passage, in very dirty and uncomfortable cars, steerage mingled with cabin pas sengers, as both classes pay the same fare, viz., twenty dollars in gold. The route runs for nearly half the distance along the Chagres Kiver, a narrow, muddy stream, with banks of reddish clay which tinges the water to the color of that of the Missouri River ; the road has some sharp curves, and a few cuts, and presents only one engineering nota bility, where it crosses the river on a substantial iron bridge. The land is mostly low, and the vegetation most luxuriant ; water seems abundant, but of a repulsive look and stagnant character, which, with the marshy effluvia, fully explains the death of thousands from mala rious disease during the construction of the road ; it is familiarly said that a life was lost for every sleeper laid, so unhealthy was the region for Northern workmen. The natives, however, seemed vigor ous and well developed, and every hut swarmed with children, the amount of clothing on which, especially on boys to the age of seven or eight years, would not materially draw upon the contents of a dry goods store. Many negroes were seen, and they fraternize fully with the Indian natives ; the latter are nearly as dark as negroes, but have finer forms, more regular features, and straight black hair. The marshes and the mud are occasionally relieved by masses of very dark volcanic looking rock, through which several cuts have been made ; the graceful palms, and the beautiful flowers, could not fail to attract the attention of the most unobservant ; the only birds seen were small black anis (Crotophaga ani. L.), a scansorial bird of the cuckoo fam ily, which hopped and flew about like blackbirds with us. The town of Aspinwall is small, low, on the margin of a swamp, recalling to the mind the ideal of the marshes of the carboniferous period, and suggesting the formation of coal from the luxuriant veg etation; though, near the sea, the water is salt, instead of the fresh water supposed to be necessary to the formation of coal. There was nothing noteworthy in the nine days' passage to New York, except the much greater heat in the Caribbean Sea, than in similar latitudes on the Pacific ; probably from its comparatively small size, and being land-locked. No whales were seen 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, some times eject water in this way, I know, as I have, on many occasions, JTQ THE WONDERS OF THE TO SEMITE VALLET, ETC. at night, heard the puff soon followed by the swash of the descending water. The whole trip from San Francisco to New York takes about twen ty-three days, at a cost of $100 in gold ; in the cars you can 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 cars, anxiety about baggage and sleep ing facilities, and from the inevitable rush of the dining saloons and railway stations. In these short sketches I have endeavored to express what espec ially 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. Whitney, 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 invigorating the feeble and nervous of both sexes, it is to be highly recommended its bracing air, pure water, delightful tramps, and awe-inspiring scen ery, 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. AND OF CALIFORNIA. THE YOSEMITE IN 1872. THOSE who visited the famous Valley in 1869, 1870, ^ind 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 for travel in 1872. In fact, it may almost be asserted that the only horseback riding nec essary now, is the descent of the mountains directly into the Val ley, 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 charm and delightful feel ing of freedom which attach to equestrian exercise among magnificent mountain scenery, even though the air-passages be choked with dust, and the bones ache from riding. On your horse you are free to stop and admire when you please ; in the stage you have as much dust and as much fatigue, though of a different kind, crowded into fewer hours, with the additional discomforts of cramped position, inability to see, and disagreeable joltings, against which you cannot guard. By consulting the maps, the reader will be able to trace the different routes to the Valley, and to locate in advance the most remarkable cliffs and waterfalls described in the previous pages. It is estimated that in 1869, about 1,100 visitors entered the Valley ; this number, in 1870, was increased to 1,700, and in 1871 to 2,300 ; in 1872, it is safe to predict that at least 3,000 persons will behold its beauties. Judging from the expressed intentions one hears around, many hundred persons from this vicinity will substitute this for their summer trip to Europe and the fashionable watering-places. It is understood that the " American Association for the Advance ment of Science " will next year be invited to meet in San Fraucisco. California!! generosity and hospitality are proverbial ; and the treasure which she lavished on the " Sanitary Commission," will not be stinted in furnishing facilities for the " Scientific Brotherhood," who are look ing with longing eyes to the Pacific shore. Her fertile plains, her magnificent forests, her inexhaustible gold fields, her immense or chards and vineyards, her salubrious climate, make her the envy of the more sterile Eastern States. No doubt she will extend such a welcome, that the scientists from every State will find it in their power to cross the continent by the Pacific Railroad. This will probably lead to the Yosemite many a geologist, to speculate upon the mighty agencies of convulsions, ice, and water, which have com bined in the formation of the great Valley ; many a botanist, to revel in the gorgeous floral richness and in the unparalleled forest growth of the mountain meadows and gorges ; many a true lover of nature, to appreciate and extol the sublimity and beauty of the Sierra Nevada, with its cliffs and falls. So may it be ! Even Californians do not seem to be aware what a magnificent trust the United States have committed to their care. It is understood that parties who think they have a claim to portions of the Valley, from squatting upon, and, in their idea, improving the land therein 74 THE WONDERS OF THE TO SEMITE VALLET, (though having none, as the region had not been surveyed), hare been busy 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 famous than her mines and her grains, and will do more than her in stitutions of learning, noble as they are, to elevate and cultivate her people. Every lover of his country, and of her grand scenery, is interested to prevent the acknowledgment of all claims, under what ever 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 preceding pages. Let the " American Association " speak the united demand of the sciences they represent, at the meeting of 1873, and put a stop for ever to the vandalism which has assumed such threatening propor tions. 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 drinking purposes, and level with the earth many now existing, the continued building of which will make the Valley look like the cloth-covered shanty villages which appear and disappear as a new railroad progresses on the plains a sort of house-cancer, which follows the avenues of travel, carrying in its course gambling, whiskey, and riot, and remediable only by the strangulating surgery of "Vigilance Committees." Let the cutting down of trees be stopped by more stringent meas ures, the present law not being strictly enforced. Let no man fence up meadows belonging to the State, and charge travellers pasturage for their horses on the public domain. The beautiful wild flowers and thickets, classed by the soulless improvers as useless chapparal, are trampled by cattle and destroyed by the plough. But fortunately, in the language of one who knows whereof he speaks, and is filled to overflowing with the beauty of Californian nature, " By far the greater portion of Yosemite is unimprovable ; her trees and her flowers will melt like the snow, but her domes and her falls are everlasting." 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 from the East, should stop at Stockton, California, and make that city the point from which to start on the tour of the Calaveras Grove, Yosemite Valley, and the Mariposa Grove, all of which, if time 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 propar base of departure. Various routes are open to the traveller, and very eloquent and pertinacious advocates O? FOOT-BRIDGE LEADING TO NEVADA FALL, ffo: After a Snow Storm in July. '13 C AND OF CALIFORNIA. 75 will soon beset him, assuring him positively that speed, comfort, safety, and moderate charges can be secured only on the route for which he is employed as rir.mer ; as all are made out equally advis able, each in turn, 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 disadvantages, and, after all, there is not much to choose ; you will be surely disappointed in some things, while others will surpass your expectations. Taking 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 what make the phil osophic traveller enjoy himself in spite of minor inconveniences, while the male fuss-bug and the female fidget are disgusted with everything, and pronounce the Yosemite trip a humbug and a bore. Heavy trunks should be left at Stockton, as you will surely return thither, whether you approach the Valley from the east or the west; they will be unnecessary and a nuisance, difficult to carry by stage and impossible by horses, and, if carried from Stockton and left, necessitating 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 fort night's trip, and few make one more than ten days' long; for gentle men, are desirable a broad-rimmed light hat, strong boots, serviceable but not too nice clothes, Avith flannel shirts ; for ladies, flounces, trains, high-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 maybe ninety degrees Fah. at noon, in the Valley, while the nights and mornings are cool ; umbrel las 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 : taking the railroad at Stockton you go to Milton or Copperopolis, a distance of twenty-eight or thirty miles ; there you take stage for Murphy's, a distance of thirty-seven miles ; seventeen miles farther by stage will bring you to the Calaveras grove of big trees, occupying ten hours. Kemaining one clay in the grove, previously described, you start in the morning for Murphy's again ; dine at Sonora, and take supper at Chinese Camp, going on to Garrote, which you reach at nine P.M., there passing the night; on this day you have ridden about sixty-seven miles by stage, the distance from Murphy's to Garrote being fifty miles ; the roads are better than on the old Mar- iposa route, the hotels arc comfortable, and the fare good. Next day, before light, you start again, reaching, at noon, Crane's Flat, a dis tance of thirty miles; about half-past one you leave again, and by the middle of the afternoon arrive at " Prospect Kock," the end of the stage route ; here you get the first glimpse of the Valley, though not so good as the one from rt 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. y6 THE WONDERS OF THE YO SEMITE VALLET, having ridden seventeen miles from Crane's Flat without any great fatigue. Then making the tour of the Valley by stage, and on horseback, you visit the various points of interest, noted on the accompanying imp, and previously described, spending 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 seeing the polishing of the rocks in the vicinity of the beautiful lake Tenaya, especially the work of the ancient glacier which once ploughed its way, miles in length and width, 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 by the Mariposa trail, as by that you visit Sentinel Dome, the Mariposa trees, and pass through the interesting gold diggings of Mariposa- and Bear Creek. It is longer and more fatiguing, and with more horseback riding than the Coulterville route. These routes can be well understood from the accompanying excellent map of the region, kindly furnished by F. Knowland, Esq., General Agent of the Union and Central Pacific Railroads. In summer, tourists will be able to descend from Sentinel Dome as well as by the Mariposa trail on the south side, and by Indian Canon, as well as the Coulterville route, on the north side ; but it is best for most travellers, especially for ladies, to make the descent by the oldest and 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 stage (or on horseback, if you prefer it) to the western end of the Valley, along, but not crossing, the placid Merced River, passing near the Bridal Veil fall. Mounting your horse, you ascend a steep and winding path, often casting a fond, lingering look behind at the beautiful Valley, till it is lost from sight; you arrive iu about an hour at "Inspiration Point," from which, coming from the other direction, you obtain the first glimpse of Yosemite, and probably the grandest view in the country, if not in the world. Lingering here as long as you can, you branch off to Sentinel Dome and Glacier Point, from which the view of the distant Sierra, embracing the Obelisk, Mount Lyell, and Mount Dana groups of mountains, is indeed magnificent. Thence to Wcstfall's meadow, and to Clark and Moore's, 25 miles from the Valley, where a genuine New England welcome awaits you. Distant from their hotel about five miles is the Mariposa grove of big trees, where the "Grisly Giant" stands erect, about 300 feet high and 90 feet in circumference at the base with scores 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 oasis in the desert called "White and Hatch's," MIRROR LAKE AND Mr. WATKINS. AND OF CALIFORNIA. 77 where a second New 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 soon ends, as you strike theVisalia 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 means enter the Valley b}' 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 appe tite grow by what it feeds on, and time allow, it is easy to go up to the Cnlaveras grove or the traveller may return by Knight's Ferry to Modesto, or whatever may be the terminus of the Visalia branch to Stockton. As the railroad is finished to Bear Creek and Merced, the stage route by way of Mariposa is shortened some 30 miles, which will be an additional inducement to enter the Valley by this route. 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 $1 25 to $150, according to the manner of conveyance, and the number of the party ; the total necessary expense per individual, with a few days in San Francisco, need not be more than $600. Beyond Utah, greenbacks should be exchanged for gold and silver. On a second trip to California, in 1872, I was impressed, especially on the eastern portion of the Union Pacific Railroad, with the greater number and better style of the houses, and the more numerous stores ; among the latter still predominate, in various combinations of wood and cloth, the eating and drinking saloons, which, without their large- lettered signs, could readily be distinguished by the crowd of rosy- visaged idlers around the doors. As their spasmodic growth ceased with the advance of the railroad, the towns settled down to a much smaller and permanent basis, and agriculture took the place of specu lation, as shown by the cultivated fields and herds of cattle. The fields hi June, along the Platte Valley, were uniformly green, and dotted with countless beautiful, but scentless flowers. The ride of the first afternoon from Omaha was very soothing to our spirits, provoked almost beyond endurance by the rough manner in which the " baggage smashers " at the Omaha station handled our trunks. This was more marked on our return in September, and, get ting worse instead of better, is a nuisance which should at once be stopped. I saw several trunks and chests split by being thrown, or allowed to fall, a distance often of two or three feet. One gentleman I heard remonstrating against such reckless conduct, but he was met only by jeers and insolence of the brutes employed behind their safety- chains. The damage is so great, and so entirely unnecessary, that pa- 78 THE WONDERS OF THE YO SEMITE VALLEY, tience ceases to be a virtue under such circumstances. We trust that the Union Pacific Company, who at least have control of the platform in Omaha, will immediately remedy this evil, and thus add another claim to the gratitude due them for their admirably managed road. We stopped again at Salt Lake, and paid our respects to Brigham Young, whom we found sadly changed and evidently suffering both in body and mind ; the events of the last year have left their mark upon his iron constitution and determined face. "Justice must be done though the heavens fall," and he has seen and no doubt has rightly interpreted the "writing on the wall"; he must feel that the days of Mormonism cannot long outnumber his own years of life. Large accessions now and then apparently infuse a new vitalizing blood into the decaying system ; in fact, we met two long special trains filled with converts, of all ages and both sexes, whose flaxen locks indicated their origin in Northern Europe, going to Salt Lake ; but these, were they a hundredfold more numerous, cannot prevent the speedy downfall of a creed repugnant to the moral, intellectual, and political instincts of the latter half of the nineteenth century. One morning, at 6 o'clock, we stopped at Truckee, and there took the stage for Lake Tahoe, about twelve miles distant. The trip takes three hours, as the road is in many places steep and rough ; in spite of the dust it is pleasant, as you wind along the beautiful Truckee River, with fine and ever-changing views always before you. One of the sights on the road is a fish-breeding establishment, where you can follow the growth of the trout from the whitish pellucid egg, about one-fifth of an inch in diameter, to the recently-hatched fish a transparent creature three-fourths of an inch long, with black eye-specks, and a bright orange yolk-bag underneath, which supplies its nutriment for three or four weeks. The eggs are placed, when a week old, in shallow tanks, with gravelly bottom, and protected from light, through which pure water from the mountains is constantly flowing. The young are hatched in four or five weeks, and in as many more become about two and a half inches long, when, the yolk-bag is absorbed ; they are then transferred to open ponds, and fed ; separate ponds are provided for the different ages or years. The ponds do not communicate, though all are supplied from the same source ; a food well suited for them is the liver and lungs of sheep, chopped fine, according to the size of the fish. The largest fish we saw were four years old, and weighed as many pounds ; they are considered the best a half-pound less than this, and many of this size are sent to San Francisco. On the payment of fifty cents, you are allowed to fish in the larger ponds, an additional dollar being demanded for every trout caught. As soon as the bait touches the water, a score of fish dart at it ; as it is impossible not to hook one instantly, there is no sport in the arrangement, though it is profitable, as it ought to be, to the pro prietor. It was surprising to find in the wilds of California this branch of industry, which in the East is very rare, though the facilities foi- its easy and profitable prosecution are there ample. Lake Tahoe is so large that the eye cannot take in its expanse at once; it should be seen piecemeal, and the best way to do this is to AND OF CALIFORNIA. 79 row out Haifa mile here and there, and look landward upon its beau tiful mountain-surrounded bays. There is little beauty along its rough and bare shores, and hence those who see it only from the land, regard it as inferior to the Swiss and Irish lakes, and our own Lake George. In the deep and clear water, trout of large size can be plainly seen, and with proper tackle can be easily caught. We tried it with the lines of the resident fishermen, but without much success, which will not be wondered at when it is known that they use a cod line, big hook, and heavy sinker, rendering it almost impossible to hook a fish or feel a bite, even if the timid trout ventured to come near such a formid able apparatus. If you go toLakeTahoe to fish, take along your own light but strong tackle, or you will have no sport. The existence of such a large and deep lake, 6,000 feet above the sea, can onty be ex plained by its occupying the crater of an extinct volcano. The water is so pure, that it has been proposed to convey it, over 100 miles, to San Francisco, and it is reported that engineers have made estimates of the cost of this difficult and expensive undertaking; should it ever be done, and it seems impracticable, even in these days of daring en gineering, the supply would be inexhaustible, and of the purest quality. On our second visit we took the so-called Coulterville route (though you do not of necessity go to Coulterville), as sketched on page 75 ; this, on the whole, I consider the easiest and the best, as, among other advantages, it takes you near the Calaveras grove, and through the Tuolumne grove of big trees. As our party consisted of six, including two young ladies, almost a stage-load, we did not dare to trust ourselves to the uncertainty of a public conveyance, and therefore hired at Stockton an easy, three- seated, covered wagon, with four horses and experienced driver, to take us to and from the Valley, the price, including tolls and care and food of horses and driver, being $25 a day. We went by rail to Milton, about 30 miles, starting at noon, and arriving at half-past 1 P.M. Our W 7 agon was there waiting for us, having left Stockton the evening before. After partaking of the most greasy, abominable, and ill-served dinner we met with in California, we packed our valises under the seats, and started for Murphy's, via Gibson's, Altaville, and Angels, 26 miles, arriving at 8 P.M. "What little dust there was the wind blew behind us, permitting us to thoroughly enjoy the fine woodland scenery, here and there varied by the dismal surroundings of old and new mines. Travellers now escape the tedious and dusty day's ride from Stockton by stage, which, on our first visit, was a source of great discomfort. Early next morning we started for the Calaveras grove, distant 17 miles, As the route is mostly up hill, the journey requires four hours. The road skirts along a mountain stream, and is very romantic and beautiful, with, however, the occasional ugly diggings, flumes, etc., of deserted and working mines. After lunch we visited the grove, a great charm of which is that the trees are in so small a O ' O compass that you can thoroughly examine it on foot in a few hours. This grove, unlike the Mariposa, is private property ; it has been sufficiently described on pages 48 and 49. The handsomest and 8o THE WONDERS OF THE TOSEMITE VALLET, most symmetrical tree, though not the largest, in the grove, is named "Abraham Lincoln," formerly called the "Hermit"; it is sound from root to top. From "Hercules," blown over a few years ago, a section of wood has been removed, from which are man ufactured the various articles for sale at the hotel. The South Park Grove, 6 miles distant, easily accessible on horse back, contains nearly 1,400 big trees, many of them very large ; one, still standing and vigorous, has its interior burned out to an extent large enough to contain sixteen persons on horseback. We returned to Murphy's the same day, in two and a half hours. Next day, at 7 A.M., we left Murphy's, and, passing through the rich mining regions of Vallecito and Columbia (where the Stanislaus river is crossed by ferry-boat, propelled along a wire by the force of the current), arrived at Sonora at noon, to dinner. This is a very bustling and thriving town, and the centre of an extensive trade with the mining locations. In the afternoon we crossed the Tuolimine river, at Jacksonville, on a similar ferry. This is an important mining district, and its characteristic scenery is well shown in the opposite photograph. All travellers will remember, to their sorrow, the long three-mile hill before reaching Big Oak Flat, where all that can are expected to get out and walk np the toilsome ascent, for which, however, they are well repaid by the magnificent views of the Tuolumne Valley, as fine as that of the American River Valley on the Sierra Nevada, obtained from Cape Horn. We arrived at Garrote about 9 P.M., and had a good supper, in company with a legion of flies, in a rather rickety hotel, made tolerable only by the pleasant reception by the landlord. Next day being the glorious Fourth, we decorated our horses and Avagon with flags, and made the mountains echo, the pigs, chickens, and cattle scamper, and the miners and Chinamen stare, by the toot ing of a discordant fish-horn by a vigorous pair of lunijs. Starting O ^ <3 1 ~ at 8 A.M., we took along a necessary lunch to eat at Harden's. We passed through Garrote No. 2, Sprague's Ranch, Little Gap, etc., over a dusty and hilly road, and reached Harden's in time to assist at the celebration of the day with an excited individual, who loaded and fired a large anvil in place of a cannon. We arrived at Hodgdon's at 4 P.M., and, after washing off the red dust, and getting an excellent supper, duly observed the day by sending up rockets, burning blue lights, exploding crackers, and astonishing the pigs by pelting them with torpedoes ; our p} r rotechnic material we purchased at Sonora. An expert climber attached our flag to a lofty pine, where it doubt less still remains. The night was so cool that a fire was comfortable. At half-past eight, A.M., next day, we started for the Valley, by way of Crane Flat, Tuolumne Grove, and Tamarack Flat, to Gen try's, where we arrived at half-past eleven A.M., and, after lunch, mounted our horses for the descent of 4,000 feet into the Valley ; here we left our wagon, horses, and driver to await our return. I have been thus particular about the route, as there were in our party two young ladies, wholly inexperienced in riding either in a hard wagon or on horseback, and to show that the journey can easily 2 Q MINING FOR GOLD AT JACKSONVILLE, On the road to the Yosemite Valley. AND OF CALIFORNIA. 81 be endured by any lady of ordinary strength. Gentry's is within half a mile of the edge of the Valley ; hence by this route there is the least amount of horseback riding, and no more by stage than by other routes. You also pass through the Tuolumne Grove, affording a view of eight or ten big trees, some of great size and symmetry, which would be regarded as wonderful had the traveller not visited the Calaveras Grove. Two, called the "Siamese Twins," growing from the same root, measure 114 feet in circumference, and are high in proportion. The descent very soon begins, and it is very steep, in some places apparently dangerous, and unnecessarily and provokingly filled with rolling stones, projecting rocks, stumps, and overhanging boughs, which a few hours' work a month with a hoe and shovel would in great measure remove, to the great relief of horses and riders. For a first lesson in riding horseback, this is a very hard one ; to get through it comfortably and without risk, I earnestly advise ladies to wear bloomer suits, and to ride man-fashion ; the side saddle is much harder for the horse, and more dangerous to the rider, as the weight is not equally distributed on the two sides ; in riding astride, a fashion which is coming into general use in mountain climbing, in spite of Eastern prudery, and which I found almost universally adopted in the longer and more difficult journeys among the vol canoes of the Sandwich Islands, the sense of security enables the rider to relax her convulsive grasp of the pommel of the saddle, raise her eyes from the imaginary dangers of the path before her, and enjoy the grand mountain, forest, and waterfall scenery constantly presenting itself, which she has come perhaps over 3,000 miles to see. This route has no "Inspiration Point," but it has the not inferior w Stand Point of Silence " on the opposite rim of the Valley, and a succession of views of great beauty. It takes you very near the Merced River ; the stupendous El Capitan towers directly over your head; and the "Three Brothers," oif the north side, and "Cathedral Rocks," and "Spires," on the south, are both much better seen than from the Mariposa trail. The amount of snow which fell last winter was uncommonly large, and great masses remained in the higher val leys ; the falls were consequently very full, more grand than usual, though perhaps not more beautiful. The "Bridal Veil" was magnifi cent ; and on the west side of El Capitan the " Virgin's Tears " cas cade, usually dried up early in June, fell in considerable volume, from a height of about 2,000 feet. One must get close to El Cap itan, as this trail leads, in order to appreciate the size and height of this grandest of rock-masses on this continent, if not in the world. On completing the toilsome and dusty descent of four miles, in about two hours, you can, if so disposed, get into a carriage and bo driven to the hotels, for a dollar ; but most persons, emboldened by their triumphant descent, and desirous of trying a gallop on a level road, as a preparation for the work of the days to come, prefer to ride their horses to the hotels, which, on crossing the river on a toll- bridge, may be reached in an hour's easy riding. On the sand near 6 82 THE WONDERS OF THE TOSEMITE VALLET, the river, our guide killed a rattlesnake, which was sunning himself in the path ; he tore off the tail, which bore eight rattles. These rep tiles are so sluggish, and give such timely warning, that they are easily avoided or easily killed. We saw two others during our stay iu the Valley. Ou going to the Vernal and Nevada falls the next day, we rested, as usual, at Register Rock, and made a visit to "Lady Franklin Point," close by, from which the best view of the Vernal fall is ob tained. Instead of crawling along the slippery, muddy, and mist- covered side of the mountain, and ascending the old ladders to reach the top of the Vernal fall, you can now ride up, for a consideration, over a very steep and rough trail. It is well to return by the ladders, protecting ygurself by rubber coverings, obtained at the hotel above, from the driving spray, which otherwise may wet you thoroughly. On reaching the top, you come in sight of the "Emerald Pool" and the "Silver Chute"; you soon cross a rude bridge, under which the river rushes with fearful velocity, between narrow, rocky sides, by which it is transformed into a snow-white surging spray, flashing in the sun like a cascade of diamond drops ; this is the most beautiful ot the cascades between the two falls, and is one of the most enchanting scenes iu the Valley. Near the base of the Nevada fall is a hotel kept by a Mr. Snow, which gives a double significance to the name of his house, the "Casa Nevada " a grim attempt at a pun, hardly to be expected in a region where men undertake to " fix " the Nevada fall by damming up some beautiful lateral cascades, judged by some soulless authority to be running to waste, and to force them into the main stream the price of this piece of vandalism to be $500. Here the rocks bore ample testimony of the force of the earthquake which shook the Valley some months before (see chapter on), in the immense piles of debris, the large areas of newly exposed surfaces, and the overhanging loosened masses, some of which fall almost every week. The Nevada fall was so full, that the peculiar twist of the water near the top was imperceptible ; the rocket forms of the water were singu larly marked and beautiful. A new and excellent trail has this year been opened, from the Val ley to Glaciers Point and Sentinel Dome, which allows those who have entered by the northern route to visit these remarkable points, obtain the fine views of the Valley and the surrounding mountains, and return the same day. It is a fatiguing ride, and the turns are so abrupt, and often so near the edge of fearful precipices, that timid and nervous persons are sometimes considerably frightened, and get off and walk, especially if their mules, as ours did, have a trick of thrusting their heads over the brink, to watch the movements of their companions below. It is, however, perfectly safe, and by far the best trail in the Valley. We found considerable snow on the top of the Dome, and had a lively game of snowball there, on July 7th, the thermometer in the Valley being over 80 deg. Fahr. A lonely man, whose fire is seen glowing at night, resides near the top, to col lect toll from travellers. Those who wish to pass from the Valley, by AND OF CALIFORNIA. 83 the southern route, to Clark's and the Mariposa grove, now take this trail, instead of the old and longer one by "Inspiration Point. " The finest of all the trips, possible this year for the first time to everybody, is to " Cloud's Kest," mentioned on page 39 ; this is the highest point easily accessible, and affords a grand and very extensive view of the Valley, domes, waterfalls, and distant Sierra. The easi est way to make this trip, which takes at least two days, is to go to Snow's at the Nevada fall, starting after noon, there passing the night ; next day on horseback to Cloud's Rest, returning to Snow's for the night, and back to the Valley the next morning. The trip is not diffi cult in July, and you ride nearly to the summit through woods ; it has been made early in the season, but is dangerous, on account of the ice, except for experienced climbers. A more difficult way, but more enjoyable, is to go to the top of the Nevada fall the first day, and camp for the night in the little Yosemite Valley ; then to the summit, and back the next day. One lady made the former trip twice this year, and was not unusually fatigued by it ; it should be taken by all who wish to obtain the best view of the Valley and its surroundings. For strong and expert climbers, it is recommended to go up Indian Canon, on the north side of the Valley, ford the Yosemite Creek as near the brink as is safe, and go along the edge of the Valley by Eagle Rock to El Capitan, and thence to Gentry's. This is a hard day's work, but has been done even by ladies. Of course, to make these trips you must have an experienced guide ; such a one is Mr. John Muir, who has resided several years in the Valley, knows every trail, rock, fall, and summit, and is, in fact, the presiding genius of the Valley, the high priest of this great temple of nature, filled to overflowing with a love and appreciation of its beauty and grandeur, with which he never fails to inspire those who are so fortunate as to form his acquaintance and se cure his companionship. The Yosemite fall, of which a good view is obtained from the upper two hotels, was uncommonly full for the season, and never more beautiful, as it darted its watery rockets, and swayed its feathery whiteness or misty veil, according to the direction and force of the wind. The Illilouette fall was also of very grand dimensions. We left the Valley by the same trail that we entered it, and found the ascent more toilsome than the descent. Arriving at Gentry's at 4 P.M., we found our wagon waiting for us, and proceeded at once to Crane Flat, where we found an excellent supper, beefsteak cooked on a gridiron instead of in a frying pan, and comfortable beds ; near this place the Coulterville route proper branches off from Hardeu's. Next day, at 7 A.M., we started, arriving at Bovver's Cave at 10 ; we spent an hour here at lunch and in the insignificant cave, and reached Coulterville at 2 P.M. The road was very rough in some places, as well as steep and dangerously narrow, but for the most part through pleasant woods ; the town was the most forlorn one, I think, that we passed through. Finding that the usual route by Sne 11 ing's and Merced to the branch of the Central Pacific road took us far out of our way, to the south, we started at 4 A.M, for Oakdale, nearly west, where we arrived, via 84 THE WONDERS OF THE YO SEMITE VALLEY, Lebright's, Lagrange, Roberts's, and Martin's at 1 1-2 P.M. After dinner we took the cars at 2-10 on the Visalia branch road, and reached Stockton at 4-15 P.M passing through a region rich in large fields of golden wheat, which the machines were cutting wherever we looked. Next day we started for San Francisco, distant 91 miles. WINTER IN THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. Most persons naturally suppose that the residents of the Valley in the winter are cut off from all communication with the outside world, and must suffer greatly from cold, if not from hunger. We now know, from the experience of Mr. John Muir, that there is not only no hard ship in passing a winter there, but positive enjoyment for anyone who can appreciate beauty in nature. As the number of visitors annually increases, and better accommodations are provided, no doubt some will be induced to spend a winter in the Valley ; in 1870, the visitors numbered 1,700; in 1871, 2,150; in 1872, at least 2,700; but all leave by the middle of November, for fear of being snowed in. In the winter of 1871 '72, 26 persons remained in the Valley, of whom two were women, and six children ; there were also two Digger In dians. The employments are getting out lumber, and building ; the amusements, petty quarrels by day, whiskey, card and story telling sociables by night. After the last travellers left, the weather was very fine, the ther mometer ranging to 70 degrees Fahrenheit at noon, though the nights were frosty. The first snow storm was on November 24th, followed by a three days' rain ; the rain and melting snow gave rise to innumerable cascades, many of them equalling the summer falls, and of course the great falls were very much increased. At this season immense masses of rock, disintegrated by the slow and silent action of the summer, loosened by the first rains, descend with a noise like thunder into the Valley, crushing trees to splinters, and masking for the time the roaring of the cataracts. A foot of snow often falls in a night, and the beauty which is thus given to the rocks and domes, trees and bushes, can be imagined from the common snow scenery of our Northern winters. Splendid avalanches from the surrounding peaks greet the eye ; the highest coming from Cloud's Rest, with an unbroken fall of 5,000 feet. From Mr. Muir's observations last winter, we know that for the month ending December 25, 1871, the highest morning temperature was 42 degrees Fahrenheit the lowest 13 degrees, the average 33 degrees ; the highest noon temperature 55 degrees, the lowest 34 de grees, the average 39 degrees ; the snow-fall for the period being 41 inches, and the rain-fall 21 inches. From January 1 to 24, 1872, the average sunrise temperature was 32 degrees, the highest being 36 de grees, the lowest 22 degrees ; the average noon temperature was 40 degrees, the highest 52 degrees, the lowest 32 degrees. During this period there were many of what Mr. Muir calls " wind cataracts," so powerful as on one occasion to arrest the flow of the Yosemite Fall at SENTINEL ROCK. 3270 feet high. Q AND OF CALIFORNIA. 85 one-half its height for three minutes, the water apparently suspended in mid-air by a violent horizontal current, driving the water away from the eye of the observer. From February 1 to 14, the average sunrise temperature was 29 de grees, the highest 37 degrees, the lowest 23 degrees; the average noon temperature 40 degeess, the highest 49 degrees, the lowest 34 degrees. The snow-fall was 3 inches, the rain-fall 2.37 inches ; three days were rainy, three cloudy, two snowy, the rest fine and sunny. Frogs croaked every night in the meadows ; upon the warm slopes of the northern wall young grasses were an inch high, the cedars shed ding their pollen, the early willows pushing out their catkins, and azalea buds opening ; flies and moths were dancing in the sun, and the ants and their enemies busy and this when the south side of the Valley was covered with snow, and bleak New England with not a sign of spring. From February 14 to March 14, the average sunrise temperature was 30 degrees, the highest 46 degrees, the lowest 15 degrees ; the average noon temperature 46 degrees, the highest 62 degrees, the lowest 36 degrees ; the snow-fall was 14^ inches, the rain-fall 3 inches. The lowest observed temperature of last winter, 9 degrees Fahren heit ; the sunrise temperature of the northern, does not vary much from that of the southern side ; but the noon temperature of the northern, in clear sunny weather, is 20 degrees higher than that of the southern. Owing to different heights and angles of various parts of the Valley walls, and the irregular form of the bottom, both sides have several well-marked climates ; the delta at the base of Indian Canon is the warmest, both in winter and in summer. In the middle of March, 1872, the weather was delightful ; the willows were in full bloom, and the manzauita bells purple, and almost ripe ; the sedges along some of the meadows were six or eight inches high ; flies, bugs, and three species of butterflies were active, and many robins, sparrows, jays, woodpeckers and kingfishers were busily engaged in searching for their favorite food. In the bottom of the Valley were numerous lakelets and shallow ponds, small and irregular, whose surface reflected, as in a mirror, the rocks, and peaks, and falls, making it difficult to distin guish the lower and the mock Yosemite from the upper and real one. These observations on the weather were taken by Mr. Muir, at Black's Hotel, in the Valley. It is not difficult to get into and out of the Valley in winter, nor to make excursions about it ; Indian women, with children on their backs, go in and out of the Valley in every winter month. The hardships of winter life here are purely imaginary ; school children in New Eng land are more exposed in an ordinary snow-storm. For the last three winters the snow has never been more than two feet deep, and on an average not more than eight inches ; the ground is often bare every month on the north side, though on the mountains and around the top of the Valley, it may be 10 feet deep. It would be as easy to keep open a sleigh road by Hardeu's and Big Oak Flat, over an extent of 15 miles, as in Northern New Hampshire or Vermont; by the river 86 THE WONDERS OF THE YO SEMITE VALLEY, trail the suovv-belt is not more than 6 miles long, and is easily passed on foot. The ice scenery about falls with which we are familiar at Niagara at the base of the upper Yosemite, is singularly beautiful. Mr. Muir describes an ice cone, on the last of January, which was about 200 feet high, with a diameter of 600 feet at the base; it was truncated, and the side next the rock wall deeply flattened ; into a tolerably regular mouth poured the whole water column of the fall, escaping by sev eral jagged openings at the bottom, which, meeting again about 150 yards down the canon, continued as splendid cascades to the lower fall. This ice cone he attempted to scale a perilous adventure which he was prevented from accomplishing only by the fragile char acter of the ice, and the occurrence of strong wind blasts. This experienced mountain climber finds the winter the most beau tiful and most enjoyable period of the year. He glories in such ex ploits as ascending the Glacier Canon in mid-winter. On one occasion, having safely passed through the dangers of falling rocks, avalanches, and icicles, he found himself near the top of the canon, at a point where ten minutes in summer would have enabled him to reach the summit ; but he could get no higher by wading, or swimming, in the mealy snow, which was like a quicksand under him ; and, night com ing on, he was forced to return, but by a kind of locomotion best described in his own words: "Hawthorne speaks of the railroad as a spiritualize!' of travel ; but, despite the springs and cushions that are slipped between our bodies and the iron wheels, modern travel is anything but spiritual ; and since my Yosemite locomotion in the meal of Glacier Canon, even the flapping progress of the birds seems coarse. I cast myself upon my back, feet foremost, and moved away through space, softly as a cloud. The snow gave no sound from pressure, and on I sailed, noiseless and effortless, over logs, and rocks, and woven chapparal, as unbruised and unjolted as a full- grown thistle-seed in a sunny wind. Let Hawthornes choose for spiritual travel their wheels, and cushions, and wheezing steam ; my choice shall always be a slant of mountain snow." He gained the top on another trial, a week afterward, and beheld a scene of winter mountain magnificence rarely seen by mortal eyes. Another giory of the Yosemite in winter is the singularly bright white light emitted by the crystals of snow, as they eddy about the rocks and trees. Writes Mr. Muir: "A tall fir, arrow-like and snow- laden, clearly set forth against the blue sky, would suddenly burst into white tire, so dense, so pure, so intense, that the whole tree seemed to have changed to molten silver, in trunk and branches. Sometimes the brightness would begin at the centre, deepening like a slow pulsation, and, dissipating in crystal dust, strangely leave the tree dark and unchanged in its old terrestrial body." Christmas holidays arc generally but little observed in the Valley ; last winter the children weiv presented with a few trinkets from Santa Clans, and crusted cakes were mysteriously dropped in bachelors' cabins ; but, " upon the whole," writes our friend, "our holidays were sorry, unhilarious, whiskified affairs. A grand intercampul Christmas AND OF CALIFORNIA. 87 dinner was devised, on a scale and style becoming our peerless Valley. Heaps of solemn substantiate were to be lighted and broidered with cookies, and banked by countless cakes as big as boulders ; and a craggy, trough-shaped pie was planned, the chief ornament of the feast, which was to have formed a rough model of Yoseinite, with domes of duff and foils of gravy. It was all very well conceived, but alas ! like all other lady less feasts, it was a failure." 88 THE WONDERS OF THE TOSEMITE VALLET. 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 been in this region some severe earthquake dis turbance. The earth has been rent in long and deep, but narrow, fissures ; rocks, trees, animals and dwellings have been swallowed up or destroyed, and great destruction of property, and not a little ter ror, have been the result of these tremblings, which even now have not ceased. Confining ourselves here to the Valley, the following information has been communicated to a friend by a gentleman who has passed the winter there : On the twenty-sixth of March, 1872, at about 2$ A.M., the first shock occurred, shaking people out of bed, lasting about three minutes, with undiminished energy, and with considerable movement of the surface. At first nothing was heard but an unusual agitation of the trees, but after about a minute a tremendous crash was heard on the south side of the Valley, opposite Yosemite Falls ; Eagle Rock had fallen from a height of 2,000 feet, and was pouring an avalanche of boulders over precipices, and through the forests of firs and spruces, filling the Valley with dust and with countless rever berations. The sky was clear and the moon bright, so that everything could be plainly seen; the trees were strangely agitated, and the croaking of the frogs in 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 agitation 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 vio lence than the preceding. Rocks of small size, up to those 30 feet in diameter, 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 in Indian and Illilouette canons, and on the west side of the Cap of Liberty. Innumerable shocks occurred on the following day, and all were ob served to progress from the north to the south, with a few from the east. The walls of the Valley are not disfigured, the only noticeable changes being some patches of fresh rock surface, and some new spires and fronts 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. LITTLE YOSEMITE VALLEY. '|*J}v '*-- " r v AND OF CALIFORNIA. 89 THE YOSEMITE GLACIERS. THEEE have lately come to my knowledge some interesting, and I think, conclusive observations as to the former great extent of the glacier system of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, in the neighborhood of the Yosemite Valley. They seem to throw light upon the causes which formed the Valley, or rather, by way of exclusion, upon the forces which did not form it. Before giving these observations, which have recently been made by Mr. John Muir, a gentleman who has made the region of Yosemite his study for years, and who records thus his personal examinations, it may be well to say a few words on the physical configuration of the region, that the force of his remarks may be better appreciated. In all this immense region, with a radius of fifteen miles at least, there are now no proper glaciers, though there are large accumula tions of snow upon the higher crests, and in their valleys, whose melt ing in the summer gives rise to the magnificent cataracts of the Yosemite Valley. The rocks, as every traveller there knows, are smoothed and polished to the very edge of the Valley, showing the former existence of an immense sheet of ice. What ordinary travel lers saw on a limited scale, Mr. Muir has examined on a very large scale, having traversed the upper Sierra in all directions, and ascer tained the existence of a glacier system, frequently alluded to in the "Geology of California" published by the State, whose size and di rection had previously been rather guessed at than determined. That there are no glaciers there, as in the Alps, and comparatively little snow remaining till summer, is accounted for by its rapid evaporation in the very dry air of these high ranges. Not only are grooved pol- ishings found, but well-marked moraines in the higher part of the range ; but they do not exist to any great extent in the Valley proper, though they are traced far down the three great canons at the eastern end, the Tenaya, Merced or Nevada, and Illilouette or South Canons. There is a well-marked median moraine from the union of the Nevada and Tenaya glaciers, on the north side of the Merced river, near the hotels well rounded, and now overgrown with large trees. The markings indicate a former glacier extending from Mt. Dana and Mt. Lyell, 13,000 feet high, fifteen miles in length, and more than a mile thick to the edge of the Valley ; these marks are plain on the Sentinel dome, 4,150 feet above the Valley, and there is in the cabinet of the Boston Society of Natural History, a slab from Tenaya Canon polished by the ice, brought home by Mr. Waterston. This glacier filled the upper or little Yosemite Valley, a counterpart of the larger one, but 2,000 feet higher, communicating with it above the Nevada fall, the main stream of the Merced river flowing through both. Also, a glacier passed down the Illilouette Canon from the Obelisk group to the edge of the great Valley. It has been generally assumed that the land at po THE WONDERS OF THE TOSEMITE VALLEY, the head of the Merced river was not high enough for the formation of a glacier into the Valley. Now comes the question, which Mr. Muir discusses : Was the Valley once occupied by a glacier? The following are Mr. Muir's observations, almost in his own words, in a recent letter : " I have been over my glacial territory, and am surprised to find that it is so small and fragmentary. The work of ancient ice, which we proposed to christen ' glacial system of the Merced,' is only a fe\v tiny topmost branches of one tree in a vast glacial forest. The Merced ice basin was bounded by the summits of the main range, and by the spurs which once reached to the summits, viz., the Hoff man and Obelisk ranges. In this basin not one island existed, for all of its highest peaks were overflowed by the ice, Mt. Starr King, South Dome, and all. Vast ice currents broke over into the Merced basin from the Tuolumne, and most of this Tuolumne ice had to cross the Tuolumne Canon. "It is only the vastness of the glacial pathways of this region, that prevents their being seen and comprehended at once. A scholar might be puzzled with the English alphabet, if it were written large enough, and if each Tetter were made up of smaller ones. " The beds of these vast ice-rivers are veiled with forests, and a network of small water channels. Yosemite was completely over whelmed with glaciers, and they did not come down gropingly to the main valley of the Merced by the narrow, angular, tortuous canons of Tenaya, Nevada and Illilouette, but they flowed grandly and directly above all of its highest domes, like a steady stream, while their lower currents went mazing down in the crooked and dome-blocked chan nels of canons. "Glaciers have made every mountain form of this whole region; even the summit mountains are only fragments of their pre-glacial selves. The summits enclosing the basins of the glaciers are steeper on the north than on the south side, on account of the greater depth and duration of the ice sheltered from the sun ; and this difference in steepness between the north and south sides of summits is greater in the lower, as those of the Obelisk group. Such mountains as Starr King, Cloud's Rest, Cathedral Peak, etc., do not come under this general law, as their contours were determined by the ice which flowed about and above them ; but even among these inter-basin mountains we frequently find a marked difference in steepness be tween their north and south sides, because many of the higher of these, and crests extending east and west, continued to shelter and to nourish fragmentary small glaciers long after the disappearance of the main stream to which they belonged. " In ascending any of the principal streams of this region, lakes in all stages of decay are found in great abundance, gradually becoming smaller and more recent until we reach the almost countless ones of the summits. Upon the main Merced and its branches there are not less than a hundred of these lakes, from a mile to a hundred yards in diameter, with many more of much smaller size. Both Yosemite and AND OF CALIFORNIA. Hetch-Hetchy valleys are lake basiiis filled with sand, and the matter of moraines abundantly and rapidly supplied by their swift descend ing rivers from upper moraines. '' The mountains above Yosemite have scarcely been touched by any other denudation than that of ice ; perhaps all of the post-glacial denudation of every kind would not average an inch in thickness for the whole region. I am surprised to find that water has had so little to do with mountain structure in this region. None of the upper Merced streams give record of floods greater than those of to-day. A cross section of the glacial and water basin of the Nevada branch of the Merced, a few miles above the little Yosemite, shows glacial striae, clear and unwashed, with undisturbed glacial drift nearly to the water channel of the river, whose perpendicular walls are about two feet deep ; this stream even in flood was never more than five feet in depth, showing a water area, as compared with the ice stream, utterly insignificant." With the light of Mr. Muir's observations, it seems to me that the formation of this valley could not have been due to the action of water or of ice. The characteristic feature of this valley is the concentric structure of the granite, as seen in the " Domes " and " Arches." The views of Prof. Whitney, who has given this region more study than any other geologist, have already been given on page 33. That the peculiar ap pearance of these dome-like structures, very general in this portion of the Sierra, is not the result of ice or water action, is shown by the overlapping of these concentric granite plates overhanging the valley, and causing the enormous cavities or "Arches," left by the fall of the masses from the action of the frost and the elements, at the present time high above the reach of ice or water. According to Mr. Muir, as taken from his published and unpub lished letters to newspapers and friends, there were in the Merced basin, bounded by the ridge extending from Mt. Lyell, northwest erly to the Cathedral Peak and to Mt. Hoffman ; by a shorter parallel ridge about eight miles to the westward, running also northwesterly to Mt. Clark, of the Obelisk group ; and a connecting ridge running a little east of north to Mt. Lyell, this last being the divide between the tributaries of the Merced river on the north, and the San Joaquin on the south, an area ten miles square on each side of the middle or Nevada Canon of the Yosemite Valley there were three great cen tral glaciers, named respectively from the south northward: 1. The Nevada, coming clown the cation of that name, through the little or upper Yosemite Valley, in which now flows the main stream of the Merced with the Nevada and the Vernal falls, flowing in a generally west direction from the Lyell group, and about twelve miles long. 2. The Tenaya, in the canon of that name, coming down by Cloud's llest, and leaving as its most beautiful traces the Tenaya and Mirror lakes flowing in a southwesterly direction from the Cathedral Peak and the neighboring summits, of about the same size at the Nevada glacier. 3. The Hoffman glacier, from the easterly slope of the mountain of that name, coming into the Valley by Indian Caiion, the 9 2 THE WONDERS OF THE TO SEMITE VALLET, North Dome, and the Glacier Canon. The marks left by these glaciers, miles in length and width, and thousands of feet in thick ness, are now the polished surfaces, the smoothed domes, the exten sive moraines, the beautiful lakes, and the green meadows the striae and grooves are mostly obliterated by the frosts and the rains and the streams of centuries, except in a few protected, small, and hardly accessible places. The fourth great ice stream which flowed to the Yosemite Valley, was the glacier which filled the basin of the Yosemite Creek on the north side of the Valley, from which now descends on the edge the beautiful Yosemite Fall, 2,000 feet high. This basin has been thor oughly examined by Mr. Muir, who estimates its glacier as having been fifteen miles long, five wide in the middle, and in many places 1,000 feet deep uniting with the central glacier in the Valley by a mouth extending from the east side of El Capitan to Yosemite Point, east of the falls, a distance about four miles ; on the north flowed by the great Tuolumne glacier from Mt. Dana and its range, the mightiest of these ice-rivers. It came from the western and south western slopes of Mt. Hoffman, and the main stream flowed nearly south ; it had several branch basins among the higher spurs of this range, flowing to the east, now abounding in small clear lakes, set in the solid granite, without the usual terminal moraine clam. The north sides of these, and most of the spurs and ranges in this portion of the Sierra, as long since noticed by Prof. Whitney, are very steep compared with the southern, and as the spurs here mainly run east and west, their glaciers were deeper, more sheltered from the sun, and therefore longer lived than the main stream ; the result is small glacier action, little detritus, and a quiet melting into clear lakes, with comparatively small borders of the meadows so characteristic of the disappearance of the lower glaciers. Though the declivity and rate of progress of some of the tributaries were great, the main stream, according to Mr. Muir, was rather level, and in one part of its course compelled to make a considerable ascent ; to this fact of levelness, width at mouth, and overwhelming power of the concen trated central glaciers, he attributes in great measure the present height of the Yosemite Falls. The main stream of the Merced river, flowing through a narrow and deep canon, has in its course the thun dering Nevada and Vernal falls ; while the wide and gently sloping Yosemite basin conducts its stream almost noiselessly and with com parative smoothness till it makes its final and only feathery plunge of half a mile vertical descent into the Valley. Looking into the Yosemite glacier basin from any of its surround ing domes, you see many small patches of dark forests, apparently in close contact with bare rock, which mark the places of the fragment ary moraines of the basin, as later eroding agents have not had time to form a soil thick enough for the general growth seen in the Valley itself. Wherever, says Mr. Muir, a deep tributary was laid against a narrow ridge, sheltered from the sun by surrounding rocks, there are invariably found one or more small terminal moraines ; melted off from the main trunk, with an independent and longer duration, their AND OF CALIFORNIA. 93 moraines are left entire, because the water basins above them do not furnish streams large enough to wash them away, as is the case in the moraines of the canons and deeper water-courses. In the basins of exposed tributaries there are no terminal moraines, as their gla ciers disappeared with the main stream. He says, "Medial and lat eral moraines are common upon all the outside slopes, some of them nearly perfect in form ; but down in the main basin there is not left one unaltered moraine of any kind, immense floods having washed down and levelled them into border meadows for the present stream, and into sandy flower-beds and fields for forests." Between the three upper tributaries of the Yosemite basin glacier, he found well-defined medial moraines, these having been preserved from levelling floods by their position on the higher slopes, with only small water collections behind them. Down at their junction, where they were swept round by the main stream, is a large level field of moraine matter, which, like all the drift fields of this basin, is cov ered with a dense forest of pines and firs, the summit forests being composed almost entirely of a thickly-growing and pitch-covered pine. The domes of this upper basin present the same concentric structure and perpendicular cleavage already alluded to in the North and the Half-Dome of the Valley. Next west of the Yosemite basin, on the north side of the Valley, is the Ribbon stream basin, in which now runs the stream flowing into the Valley west of El Capitan by the Virgin's Tears Fall, dried up so early in the summer that it is rarely seen by travellers. This basin, Mr. Muir found, was occu pied by a glacier, flowing nearly south, about four miles long and three wide, joining the central glacier west of El Capitan. He spent two days in this basin, whose glacier was one of the smallest which entered the Valley, the most of whose ice was derived from a south-west spur of the Hoffman group. The slope of its bed is steep and regular, and its ice must have moved with considerable velocity ; exposed to the southern sun, it must have disappeared among the first, leaving a comparatively long period for the obliteration of the striated surfaces by the storms and the various disintegrating agencies of the weather ; as in the Yosemite basin, the unprotected rock is disintegrated four inches deep, and no ice marks could we expect to find except upon hard quartz, or under a protecting boulder. Though he has not yet found the glacial striae, the fact of its exist ence is fully proved by the moraines, and meadows, and valley grooves, characteristic of glacial action here ; its smooth and lake- like basin has fine forests of firs, growing upon moraines levelled by overflowing waters. Next west of this, on the north side, he explored the Cascade basin, and in it he soon found a large patch of the old glacier bed, polished and striated, with the direction of the flow clearly indicated as south 40 deg. west. At the head of the Cascade meadows he discovered a well-defined terminal moraine, and the ends of both ridges which formed the banks of the ice are broken and precipitous, indicating great pressure. Following up one of the tributaries some miles, he found, throughout the entire length, many polished surfaces, moraines, 94 THE WONDERS OF THE YO SEMITE VALLEY, and striae, giving as clear and unmistakable evidence of glacial action as can be found anywhere in the Alps. Still farther to the west is the Tamarack basin, which had its gla cier opening into the canon of the Merced below the Yosemite Valley, and still others for more than twenty miles west of the Valley proper, which he intends to explore hereafter. On the south side of the Valley was also a glacier of immense extent and thickness, coming down from the Obelisk or Mt. Clark group, overtopping Mt. Starr King, the main stream flowing in a westerly and northerly direction entering the Valley of the Illilou- ette or South Canon, one of its great sheets scoring and polishing the Sentinel Dome and Glacier Point. Farther to the west, on the south side, was also the Pohono glacier, in the basin where now flows the stream of that name, pouring into the Valley under the name of the "Bridal Veil" Fall, nine hundred feet in height. "While the Sentinel Rock and the Cathedral Rocks on the south side were fashioned by glaciers, so the Washington Column, North Dome, and the Three Brothers mark the action of the ice stream on the north side ; the depressions between these peaks being so many glacier grooves or valleys, modifications, doubtless, of previously ex isting canons or gorges. Judging from what has already been discovered, it is altogether probable that future investigation will demonstrate the former exist ence of an immense glacier in this portion of the Sierra Nevada, larger even than Mr. Muir supposes, extending quite to the foot hills of the range, causing by its gradual decay and tremendous force the present configuration of the country, with its streams, fertile meadows, and forests, covering the Mariposa region, and carrying in its detritus the auriferous sand, so profitably worked in the beds of its rivers extending over the present valleys of the Merced and Tuolumne rivers, even into the plains of the San Joaquiu river and the Stockton valley, Mr. Muir's researches have, I think, shown that all of the higher basins were filled with ice, with a sheet so deep and universal, that only a few of the highest crests of the Sierra were large enough to separate it into individual glaciers many of the highest and the great domes having been flowed over and polished and rounded, like the boulders in a river. The enormous thickness and weight of this universal glacier will explain the marks of pressure above alluded to in the Cascade glacier; this, with the glaciers filling the valley, was but an insignificant fragment of the great whole. Glaciers poured into the valley by all its deeply covered canons, and the great de pression of the valley, we now behold with wonder and admiration, was hardly more than a deep rut in the grand pathway of this mag nificent ice stream, so high did its thickness rise above the walls of the valley. All the rocks, and mountains, and domes, and mead ows of the upper Merced, we can now readily believe, received their peculiar forms and distribution through the agency of ice, and not of water ; and that the domes and canons and walls of the great valley itself have been fashioned by the same ice-action the ice stream AND OF CALIFORNIA. 95 finding the valley previously existing, modifying, but not producing it, through the grand combination of its forces acting in a long-con tinued, uniform direction upon granite of the peculiar concentric structure above alluded to. Among the most characteristic proofs of the existence of former glaciers here, are the innumerable lakes and meadows of the Sierra. The glacier receives boulders, and transports sand and dust from its polishing of the surrounding rocks, and on retreating builds up a ter minal moraine, which forms a dam for the waters which are derived from the melting ice, at the same time by its irresistible grinding hollowing out a lake basin more or less deep. Gradually retiring, and finding a long period of rest under protecting rocks, it forms another moraine and clam like the first, but higher up, scooping out another basin and forming another lake. If the glacier then formed disappears, two lakes are thus formed, one above the other, as are frequently found ; if there are more numerous periods of rest, there will be a chain of lakes in proportion to this number. At first pure, and filled with floating ice, in course of time the streams from the higher crests and the melting snows carry their detritus to these rock-rimmed lakes ; then the lake becomes fringed with a border of yellowish and brown sedges, deriving their lowly sustenance chiefly from their water-absorbing leaves ; then, as the soil increases in thickness, come other rush-like plants and mosses in the swampy edges, exactly defining the limits of the water; then the grasses, and the flowers, and the shrubs, and the forests, as the meadow becomes more solid and extended. In the spring of the year, these high meadows are flooded with water from the ridges on each side, and are at all times to be traversed cautiously by the trav eller, a wandering from the path being attended with the danger of sinking inextricably into the springy and treacherous peat-like bog. With these facts before us, it seems to me evident that the forma tion of the Yosemite Valley is not due to water. The erosive action of water, the tremendous power of which the Niagara gorge amply proves, is well seen in the Sierras, but not remarkably in this portion of it; its action does not, produce such vertical walls as those of this valley, nor such perpendicular surfaces in granite as the sides of El Capitan, more than three thousand feet high, meeting each other almost at a right angle, and with faces turned down the valley in a direction opposite to that in which water must have acted. There is no source for water of depth sufficient to have filled this valley ; and the Half-Dome rises two thousand feet above the top of the valley, and the same above the action of water had it filled the whole valley this is five miles in length, one-half to a mile wide, with very irreg ular sides, and a narrow outlet at its western extremity. It should be remembered that the material to be worn by water here is granite, comparatively indestructible by agents which might readily wear away and undermine the shales aud limestone at Niag ara. The granite behind the Vernal fall is hardly at all worn by water, and even most of this possible erosion may be more reasonably attributed to ice. The insignificance of the water area compared to 96 THE WONDERS OF THE ro SEMITE VALLET, the ice area iu the canons here has been shown by Mr. Muir in the Nevada glacier basin, and the fact that floods have never risen, and do not now rise high enough to change perceptibly the proportion of these areas. Floods now arise from rains and melting snows in all probability as great as ever occurred from the melting of the glaciers, and yet their action upon the walls of the canons and the contour of the valley is not perceptible. Such a flood occurred in the latter part of December of last year 1871, as witnessed by Mr. Muir, and de scribed in a letter from him, in which he writes that more than one hundred cataracts were then pouring into the valley, and forty in sight at one time, each one with more water than flows over the Nevada or Vernal falls in midsummer. We cannot believe, therefore that any causes now in action there, have had much to do with the formation of the canons and the valley. Has ice, then, made this valley? After Mr. Muir's observations, there can be no doubt that ice once filled this valley, and overwhelmed it at least one thousand feet deep, making a total thickness, supposing the valley to have antedated the glacial period, of more than three thousand feet of ice. From the sketch as given by him, it will be seen that, while the upper layers of the ice stream moved with irresistible force and considerable velocity, as shown by the polishings aud the inclination of the surfaces, the comparatively insignificant portion of the glacier in the valley, from the narrowness of the canon of exit on the west, could not have moved much, but must have slowly wasted away, remaining long after the main glacier had disappeared, leaving a lake of gradually decreasing depth, and at last a wide valley, with the narrow aud shallow Merced river in it, fed by the snows of the upper ridges. Was the valley formed by ice? The Hetch-Hetchy valley, an almost exact counterpart of the Yoscmite, but smaller, and about sixteen miles farther north, through which flows the Tuolumnc river, as the Merced flows through the Yosemite, throws light on this ques tion. The Tuoluuine glacier, the largest in this region, flowed across this valley and across a canon three thousand feet deep, on its way to join the great glacier of the Merced basin below Yosemite ; the course of the former across the latter is shown by the grooving of the rocks, and yet the Hetch-Hetchy valley and its canon above show groovings in their own axis, about east to west, the great glacier mov ing more nearly south-west. The united Tuolumne and Merced glaciers, below Yosemite, moved very nearly west, across the nu merous angles of the crooked canon of the Merced. These two valleys and their ca ous, though half a mile deep, and each with their local glaciers, were so small in comparison to the great ice sheet, that this flowed over them without being influenced by them ; the form of the valleys and canon was doubtless modified by the ice, which, had it produced them, would have greatly multiplied them, and have made these singular depressions the rule, and not the exception ; and more over the valleys would have borne in size a closer relation and pro portion to the immense force that was at work over them. There seems no hypothesis left except the one given by Prof. Whitney, AND OF CALIFORNIA. 97 in the Geology of California, a hypothesis which his and all subse quent investigations seem to me to strengthen, viz. : that durinjr or after the upheaval of the Sierra, there was a subsidence, the bottom of these valleys sinking down to an unknown depth, the debris going to fill the abyss. During the glacial period they were filled with ice, which, gradually melting, formed great lakes, imprisoned by moraines at the lower part ; these have gradually been washed away by the floods, and scattered over the plains of the Merced, Tuolomne and San Joaquin meadows ; now only a small stream flowing along the bottom, which is slowly filling up, the small and comparatively undis turbed last terminal moraine extending across the valley about oppo site El Capitan, the force of the diminished flood being enough to cut a passage for the Merced river without disturbing the glacial deposits above its highest level. Evidence of tremendous volcanic agency is not wanting in this re gion. Some of the high peaks are found capped with lava; Mt. Dana, perhaps the highest, has its granite nucleus flanked with rneta- morphic slates. This agency is even now active, as is shown by the hot springs and geysers which abound, and by the many severe shocks of earthquakes near the coast, of the extent and severity of the last of which, a few years ago, not the half of the truth has ever reached the public. On page 88 will be found a description of the earthquake of 1872. The general absence of debris on the sides the splitting of the Half Dome, with its perpendicular face of nearly half a mile above the edge of the valley and facing it such immense vertical masses as El Capitan can hardly be explained by any theory except that of subsidence. This is an exceptional theory, perhaps, but the phe nomena are also exceptional. INDEX. INDEX. PAGE OMAHA TO SALT LAKE . . . . . . . . . 13 SALT LAKE AND THE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD . . . . 1!) YOSEMITK VALLEY HISTORICAL SKETCH ...... ~l(\ YOSEMITE VALLEY GENERAL DESCRIPTION ..... 30 YOSEMITE VALLEY .......... 35 THE CLIFFS AND FALLS ...... 41 THE BIG TREES .... .... 47 INDIAN TRIBES ........... 52 SAN FRANCISCO AND VICINITY ....... 51 MINERAL SPRINGS AND GEYSERS . ..... 57 HOMEWARD BOUND .......... li ft AN FRANCISCO TO BOSTON . . . . . . , . 05 THE YOSEMITE IN 1872 ......... 73 WINTER IN THE YOSEMITE VALLEY ....... 84 RECENT EARTHQUAKES ......... 88 YOSEMITE GLACIERS . 80 PHOTOGRAPHIC VIEWS. THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. NORTH DOME, WASHINGTON COLUMN, AND ROYAL ARCHES. HALF OR SOUTH DOMIC. EL CAPITAN FROM THE MERCED RIVER. CLOUDS' REST. BRIDAL VEIL FALLS. YOSEMITE FALLS. VERNAL FALLS AND CAP OF LIBERTY. NEVADA FALL-. THE SENTINKLS, CALAVERAS GROVE. GRIZZLY GIANT. FORT POINT AND GOLDEX GATE. CATHEDRAL SPIRES. ON THE MERCED RIVER. DISTANT VIEW OF THE SIERRA NEVADAS. FOOT BRIDGE LEADING TO NEVADA FALLS. MIRROR LAKE AND MT. WATKINS. MINING FOR GOLD AT JACKSONVILLE. SENTINEL ROCK. LITTLE YOSKMITI: V ALLEY. MAPS. YOSKMITI: VALLEY .......... 4 1 RAIL AND STACK ROUTES 73 A