FROM A WATER COLOR PAINTING
CATHEDRAL SPIRES, YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK
THE YOSEMITE VALLEY
The Story of the Valley
ONE
It was once said that “a man has to be an awful liar to tell the truth about California”; and this applies especially to the wonderful Yosemite (yo-sem´-it-ee) Valley. The name Yosemite means “full grown grizzly bear.” The Valley lies on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada range, and is washed by the Merced River.
There is no record of the early Spanish settlers of California ever having known the Yosemite. It was always a stronghold for the mountain tribes of Indians, and descendants of the Yosemite Indians still live there.
During the gold rush to California, in 1849, a prospector wandering on a trail up the Merced River was the first white man to view this beautiful region. Two years later a band of soldiers came upon the Valley suddenly while pursuing marauding Indians. The discovery came about in this way:
For some time previous to 1851 the Yosemite Indians, believing themselves secure in their mountain stronghold, had given a great deal of trouble to the military authorities of the United States by their defiant plundering. Major Savage, in command of the Mariposa Battalion of United States forces, at first tried to treat peaceably with them. The Yosemites, however, suspicious that Major Savage was merely attempting to get the tribe into his power, would not accept his offers. Then Major Savage went out after them. This was in the winter, and they had to break a trail through the snow. Suddenly they came in sight of a most wonderful valley. They went into camp on the bank of the Merced River, opposite the peak which is now known as El Capitan.