Discovery of the Yosemite - Chapters XIX-XXI



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CHAPTER XIX.
Engineering and History--Speculation and Discouragement--A New Deal--Wall 
Street--A Primitive Bridge--First Woman in the Yosemite--Lady Visitors 
from Mariposa and Lady Teachers from San Francisco--Measurements of 
Heights--First Houses, and their Occupants--A Gay Party and a Glorious 
Feast.

ALTHOUGH no visits were made during the year 1854 to the Yosemite Valley, 
it was at this time that the existence of such a locality began to be 
generally known outside of the limits of Mariposa county. Many of the 
inhabitants of that county, however, were still incredulous of its being 
any more remarkable than some other localities among the Sierras. As a 
matter of early history, I will give a few details of occurrences 
indirectly connected with the bringing of this valley to the attention of 
the public as a wonderful natural curiosity.

During the year 1854 an effort was made by a party of engineers from 
Tuolumne county, to explore a route by which water could be brought from 
the South Fork of the Merced river into the "dry diggings." After a 
reconnoissance, the route was pronounced too expensive to be profitable, 
as the supply of water would be insufficient, unless the ditch should be 
extended to the main river, which was not considered practicable.

Notwithstanding this adverse report, the Mariposa "Chronicle" continued to 
advocate the practicability of the proposed plan, and made some effort to 
induce capitalists to take an interest in the enterprise, claiming that 
like 

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investments had proved profitable in the northern mines. To test the 
feasibility of such a project, Colonel Caruthers and Angevine Reynolds, 
then of Stockton, came up to explore and run a line of levels over the 
route. They brought with them, as engineer, Capt. Kiel, a practical 
surveyor, and a most accomplished mathematician. Captain Boling, having 
referred these gentlemen to me as one most likely to aid in their 
undertaking, and practically familiar with that part of the country, I 
joined them in their enterprise. We started our survey at the "Snow Creek" 
divide. Col. Caruthers was enthusiastic over the prospect of success, as 
we advanced, but after rounding the point at "Devil's Gulch," and while 
Mr. Reynolds and myself were establishing a flag station on the opposite 
side, the Colonel collapsed and ordered a discontinuance of the survey.

Not feeling satisfied with this decision, Mr. Reynolds and myself, 
mutually agreed to complete the survey. Reynolds was a man of energy and 
indomitable perseverance. He was the first to establish an express to the 
Southern mines, and afterwards was for fourteen years successively elected 
to responsible offices in Mariposa county. I handled the instrument, and 
Mr. Reynolds acted as rodman. We continued the line up, passed all real 
obstacles, and then Captain Kiel, who was quite an old gentleman, 
completed the survey and mapped out the route. During this survey, Mr. 
Reynolds and myself crossed the South Fork and explored along the divide. 
We were within six or seven miles of the Yosemite, but did not go to it. 
This was the only year since its discovery, that it was not visited by 
white men. No Indians were seen by our party, during the time of this 
survey.

The next season, 1855, the survey began by Caruthers, Reynolds and myself, 
was pushed with vigor, and although the subject matter of extending the 
ditch to the main 

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stream was freely discussed and advocated by the Chronicle, no action was 
taken. Up to this time, the Yosemite was scarcely thought of by the 
generality of gold hunters and denizens of Mariposa county; that is, in 
connexion with its stupendous cliffs and wonderful scenery. The solemn 
grandeur of the locality, and the immensity of the rocks which formed the 
sides of its inclosing walls, as well as its lofty water-falls, were but 
barely noticed by Lt. Moore in his report, to which allusion has been made 
in a previous chapter.

Lt. Moore made no measurements, nor attempted to give any specific 
descriptions. He only stated unadorned facts and practical impressions. 
These, however, had in 1854 gone out into the world, and the wonders of 
the place were more generally known and appreciated by the literary and 
scientific, than by those in its more immediate vicinity. During the 
summer of 1855, Mr. J. M. Hutchings, editor and publisher of "Hutchings' 
California Magazine," conceived the idea of visiting the Calaveras "Big 
Trees" and the Yosemite Valley. As a literary man he was aware that these 
objects of wonder and curiosity would provide many interesting articles 
for his periodical. He engaged the services of a well-known artist of San 
Francisco, Mr. Thomas Ayres, to provide sketches for his descriptive 
articles. He first visited "The Big Trees" of Calaveras; at Coultersville 
and Horse Shoe Bend, Mr. Alex. Stair and Wesley Millard joined his party. 
Mr. Hutchings' announcement at Mariposa that he was on his way to visit " 
their wonderful valley," was considered as an indifferent joke by some; 
others, who had heard of it in connection with the "Indian war," asked him 
if he was not afraid of the Indians; if it was worth the risk to go there. 
Mr. Hutchings failed to get much information from those of whom he made 
inquiries at Mariposa. He finally interviewed Captain Boling, who told him 
where he could procure a guide.

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In anticipation of meeting with numerous difficulties on the way, or for 
other reasons, he hired two guides and started for the valley. The 
difficulties of the journey vanished as he approached. The excitement of 
the trip made the party forgetful of the fatigue and roughness of the 
mountain journey.

I met Stair and Millard, --who were especial friends of mine, --not long 
after their return from this trip. They were very enthusiastic on the 
subject of the Yosemite. The enthusiastic descriptions given by the 
Hutchings party, on its return, aroused the curiosity of the people, 
staggered the skeptics, and silenced the croakers. Not long afterwards, 
two parties visited it; one from Sherlocks and the other from Mariposa. 
With the party from Sherlocks, were the Mann brothers, who afterwards 
built a trail from Mariposa to the valley. They commenced it in the fall 
of that year, 1855. Mr. Hutchings' publications and lithographic 
illustration of the Yosemite, or highest fall, served to advertise the 
attractions. From this period may be dated the commencement of the visits 
of tourists. His influence has aided materially in affording improved 
facilities of access to it, and in providing for the comfort of visitors. 
The interest growing out of Mr. Hutchings' visit to the Yosemite, together 
with the rumored prospect that Fremont & Co. were about to do something 
with the "Mariposa Estate," aroused the energy of local capitalists, and 
encouraged the advent of settlers and miners. Another company was 
organized to bring water from the foot of the valley into the "dry 
diggings." The limited supply from the South Fork, it was thought, would 
be insufficient for the prospective demand. Sufficient inducements having 
been offered to warrant the undertaking, Mr. George K. Peterson, an 
engineer by profession, and myself, joined in making the necessary survey. 
We leveled two lines down through the canyon, 

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below the Yosemite, on to the divide of the South Fork. To cross the South 
Fork without expending too much altitude, we found a long tunnel would be 
required, besides a suspension of over 800 feet.

This, for a time, discouraged a continuance of the survey. We returned to 
Mariposa and frankly reported the results of our work and explained the 
difficulties of the route to those who were most interested in the 
project. For certain reasons it was deemed advisable to complete the 
survey between the branches of the river; when it was thought that some 
equitable arrangement could be made with the South Fork Company for a 
union of interests in case of sale. The Yosemite Company proposed to 
convey water over or near the same route as the other, and also to supply 
water to the miners on the north side of the Merced. By this stroke of 
policy, it was supposed that a legal division of water could be obtained, 
that the New Yorkers (Fremont & Co.) would only be too glad to pay for. I 
did not feel sanguine in the success of this scheme, and so expressed 
myself. My experience in the canyon with Peterson taught me that an 
equivalent in cash, which was offered for my services (and which I 
accepted), was better than any speculative interest in Spain, or even New 
York. The survey was accordingly recommenced. Four of the company put up 
the body of a house in the valley. This was the first house ever erected 
there. It was of white cedar "puncheons," plank split out of logs. The 
builders of it supposed that a claim in the valley would doubly secure the 
water privileges. We made this building our headquarters; covering the 
roof with our tents. We continued work on this survey until late in 
November; and until the falling snow rendered the hillside work most 
difficult; we then returned to Mariposa.

During this survey, while exploring the dividing ridges of 

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the Merced river and the South Fork, our party ran on to an encampment of 
the wretched Yosemites; mostly old men and women. They had gone out on the 
extreme south-western point of the divide on the slope of the South Fork.

As Peterson planted his instrument for an observation, the Indians cried 
out in alarm, thinking no doubt that he was aiming some infernal machine 
to destroy them. I approached to see if I could recognize any of them as 
those who had visited our store, before the murders of our men. I also 
scrutinized their clothing; but their ragged garments would not admit of 
even a surmise as to their quality or pattern.

Although I failed to recognize our visitors among these miserable people; 
it was quite evident that I was known to them. I asked "who it was that 
had killed the men at our store?" They at first pretended not to 
understand me; but seeing that they were not believed, one came forward, 
and in a mixture of Spanish and Indian informed me that it was the Tuolume 
Indians that were the criminals; while they themselves (if not the 
cleanest) were certainly the best Indians in the mountains. Upon being 
asked why they were camped in such a place--without water, they said they 
were at first afraid of our party and the glistening instrument that had 
been aimed at them; but, that when they saw we were measuring the ground, 
and marking the trees, they were no longer alarmed, but were afraid of the 
Monos, whom they said were still angry with them. I told them that it was 
because of their treachery and dishonesty that they had been made to 
suffer, and then left them in their wretchedness.

Quite early in the next year (1856), the survey for the water supply was 
recommenced under instructions from Colonel Fremont, and, under direction 
of his chief engineer, Mr. J. E. Clayton, Mr. Peterson was placed in 
charge of the 

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field-work. This work was executed with great care, as on its accuracy the 
estimates depended. They were to be made by a very eminent engineer of the 
Erie Canal, upon whose report, it was supposed, Wall street would be 
governed. Peterson engaged me as his assistant in this survey. During this 
season the Mann Brothers finished their trail to the Yosemite, so that it 
was used by visitors. Hearing that they had felled some immense trees and 
bridged the South Fork, Mr. Peterson had hopes to reach the valley earlier 
in the season by crossing the river at that place.

On reaching the South Fork, where we supposed the bridge to be, we found 
that a large tree had been felled across the stream with the design of 
forming the foundation of a bridge, but it had fallen so low, or so near 
the water on the opposite side, that a flood would be likely to sweep it 
away, and it had, therefore, been abandoned. This was a great 
disappointment to Mr. Peterson. As we could not ford the stream, we would 
have to go into camp or wait for the water to fall or go back, for the 
snow-clad ridges were impassable. While Peterson was considering the 
matter, I took an axe and sloped and notched the butt of the tree so that 
I was able to get my horse, an intelligent animal, to clamber up on the 
prostrate trunk; when, without difficulty, I led him safely across and 
landed him on the other side of the stream. We had two mules, whose 
natural timidity caused them to hesitate before attempting to climb the 
log, but their attachment for the horse, which they had seen safely cross, 
with some persuasion effected with a stout cudgel counteracted their 
fears, and they too were safely led over.

The tree was about six feet in diameter. Its cork-like bark afforded sure 
footing for the animals. Peterson--very much pleased--pronounced this the 
most primitive bridge ever crossed by a pack-train, and declared that it 
should be recorded as an original engineering feat.

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While we were re-loading our animals the Mann Brothers came down to us, as 
they said to learn how we had crossed the rushing torrent; and were 
surprised to hear that we had utilized the tree abandoned by them. They 
informed us that they were constructing a bridge further up the stream, 
which would be ready for crossing in a week or two. We found no further 
difficulty in reaching the valley. Not long after we had gone into camp, 
and commenced our survey again, visitors began to come into the valley. 
Several gentlemen from San Francisco visited our camp, one of whom I 
remember was the Rev. Doctor Spier, of the Chinese Mission, in San 
Francisco. Mr. Peterson had, upon my solicitation, "roded up" to the level 
of the Pohona Fall, and made as accurate an estimate of the probable 
height of El Capitan as could be done without the aid of his transit. Mr. 
Peterson was therefore able to enlighten some of the gentlemen from "the 
Bay," as to the approximate height of El Capitan and other prominent 
objects. Mr. Peterson afterwards made more accurate measurements of 
heights.

I have no doubt that the four gentlemen referred to as living in the 
valley, noticed in the note on page 18, in "Whitney's Yosemite Guide
Book," were of our party, who had notified the public of their claim and 
intention to make that their residence. The house erected, however, was 
never honored with a roof, and the material of which it was composed, soon 
disappeared, after we ceased to occupy it. The difficulties developed by 
our survey, disheartened the claimants. The claim rights, as well as the 
claim shanty were alike abandoned.

The first white woman that ever visited the Yosemite was a Madame Gautier, 
the housekeeper at the Franklin House, Mariposa. A few days afterwards 
Mrs. Johnny Neil, of Mariposa, and Mrs. Thompson, of Sherlocks, came 

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up. Their courage and endurance should certainly be made a matter of 
record. The next ladies to visit the place were of the party with Mr. 
Denman, of "Denman's High School," in San Francisco. After this it ceased 
to be a novelty to see ladies in the Yosemite. Mr. Denman published an 
account of his trip. His communication was a well written and instructive 
article. It was the first description that gave the public any definite 
idea of the magnitude of the scenery, or any accuracy of measurements of 
the heights of the cliffs and water-falls. I was present when Mr. Peterson 
gave to Mr. Denman the results of his observations, and consequent 
estimate of heights. I was amused at Mr. Denman's expressions of surprise, 
and his anxious but polite inquiries of Mr. Peterson if he was sure his 
angles had been correctly marked. Peterson colored slightly at the doubt 
implied of his professional skill, but with unusual politeness and 
apparent cheerfulness offered to make a re-survey of El Capitan or any 
other prominent cliff that Mr. Denman would select for measurement.

The offer was quickly accepted, and a new determination of several points 
of interest were made.

From the notes taken, each of the gentlemen computed the heights.

Mr. Peterson soon figured up the result of his work, and patiently awaited 
the result of Mr. Denman's, before he announced his own.

After figuring for sometime, Mr. Denman expressed a belief that he had 
made a grand mistake somewhere in his calculations, for he had made the 
result more than the previous estimates and above all seeming 
probabilities. They then compared figures and found but little difference 
in their heights. Mr. Denman again worked up the notes, and was convinced 
of their correctness and reported his conclusions in his descriptions. The 
first house erected in the 

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valley for the accommodation of visitors was commenced in 1856, by Mr. 
Walworth and Mr. Hite. It was made of "boards" rived out of pine logs. The 
site was that of our old camp-ground of 1851, or a little above it, and 
nearly opposite the Yosemite Fall.

The next season a blue canvas-covered building was put up just above. In 
1858, Mr. Beardsley joined with Mr. Hite, and erected a wooden house. This 
was afterwards kept by Mr. Peck, Mr. Longhurst, and after 1864, by Mr. 
Hutchings. Other accommodations for the public were also opened, a popular 
one of which was a house kept by G. F. Leidig, known to tourists as 
Leidig's Hotel." The first permanent resident, was J. C. Lamon, who made a 
claim in the upper part of the valley in 1860, and who occupied it both 
summer and winter for many years. The other residents in the valley only 
remaining during the season of tourists visits. Before hotel 
accommodations were provided for the public, visitors to the valley 
carried with them camp equipage and supplies according to the necessities 
and inclinations of the parties interested.

In order to dispense with a retinue of camp followers, and the expense of 
numerous employees, the duties of camp life were ordinarily divided among 
the party, without regard to wealth, rank, or station in life. It was 
usually made a point of honor, to at least try to share in the necessary 
laborious requirements of their associates; although the various duties 
were not always assigned to the capacity of the individual, or to his 
adaptation to the position. The blunders were as often sources of 
amusement, as serious inconveniences. As illustration, I will narrate an 
incident with a party of excursionists in those early days.

By invitation, I met and accompanied a party from San Francisco on a visit 
to the Yosemite. The gentlemen composing the party, were Mr. Thomas Ayers, 
Mr. Forbes, of 

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the firm of Forbes & Babcock agents of Pacific Mail S.S. Co.; Mr. 
Holladay, of same company; Mr. Easton, of San Francisco, and Col. Riply, 
of the Commodore Perry expedition, who, I believe, afterwards became 
General Riply, Chief of Ordinance, U.S.A. Mr. Ayers was the artist who 
accompanied Mr. Hutchings on his first visit to the valley. He was the 
first to sketch any of the scenery of the Yosemite. He was afterwards 
employed in sketching by the Harpers, of New York. While so employed, he 
was lost off the Farrilones Islands by the capsizing of the schooner 
"Laura Beven." Mr. Ayers was a gentleman in feeling and manners. His 
ingenuity and adaptability to circumstances, with his uniform kindness and 
good nature, made him the very soul of the party.

This party spent several days in the valley. On the last day, it was 
proposed to have a grand dinner. To make the event a memorable one, it was 
decided that each one should have a representative dish of his own 
individual preparation. We had a plentiful supply of canned meats, fruits, 
etc., but it was proposed that our bill of fare should consist of game and 
fish. Trout, grouse and quail, were then tolerably abundant. To guard 
against a possibility of failure to supply a full variety, Colonel Riply 
volunteered to provide a dish of beans of his own cooking, which he 
thought he was prepared to furnish. The cooking of beans was theoretically 
familiar to him, the Colonel said, from having frequently observed the 
process among his soldiers. He admitted that, practically, he had never 
tested the theory, but he felt confident that he would not disgrace his 
position as a soldier in the cooking of such a prominent army dish. From 
my knowledge of their haunts, it was assigned to me to provide the game, 
while Messrs. Easton, Ayers and Holladay, engaged to supply the spread 
with trout. Mr. Forbes engaged to perform the duty of supplying wood and 
water, 

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--a very important office, he claimed, the very foundation of all our 
endeavors. I left the Colonel busy on his part of the programme, and soon 
acquired a liberal supply of grouse and quail.

As I came into camp from my hunt, my nostrils were saluted with the smell 
of burnt beans. Mr. Forbes had supplied the fire most liberally, and was 
resting from his labors to the windward. I removed the kettle and inquired 
for the Colonel. Mr. Forbes replied that "Col. Riply went down where the 
fishermen are engaged, and has been gone an hour or more; no doubt he has 
forgotten his beans." I hastened to repair damages as far as I was able by 
removing those not scorched from off the burnt ones. After scouring the 
kettle with sand, I succeeded in getting them over a slow fire before Col. 
Riply returned. He soon came hurriedly into camp, and after taking a look 
at his cookery, pronounced them all right, but said he had almost 
forgotten that he was on duty as cook.

Observing that he was about to charge the kettle with an undue proportion 
of salt pork, I again saved the beans, this time from petrifaction, by 
remarking that their delicacy would be enhanced by parboiling the pork.

With my guardianship, the Colonel's dish was brought on to the board in a 
very good condition for eating, and all united in bestowing upon him 
unstinted praise for providing so palatable an addition to our feast. Col. 
Riply regretted that he had not provided more, but explained by saying 
that he had supposed they would swell more while cooking.

The secret of the burnt beans, was known to all the others, but was kept 
inviolate from the Colonel. He was unconscious of the joke, and bestowed 
more attention on this standard New England dish than he did upon the 
delicious trout and game. Our dinner was finished in bumpers to Colonel 
Riply as chef de cuisine.

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During the survey of the year, in addition to measurements, we gave some 
attention to the geological features of the country we were passing over. 
We found that the canyon below the Yosemite is about six miles long, and 
so filled with vast granite bowlders and talus, that it is impossible for 
any but the agile and sure-footed to pass safely through. The river has to 
be crossed and recrossed so many times, by jumping from bowlder to 
bowlder, where the water goes whirling and dashing between--that if the 
rocks be moss-grown or slimy, as they may be outside of continuous 
current--one's life is endangered. During our survey through this canyon, 
in the month of November, 1855, we failed to get through in one day on our 
preliminary survey, and were compelled to camp without food or blankets, 
only sheltered from a storm--half snow, half rain--by an overhanging rock. 
The pelting mountain storm put out our fires, as it swept down the canyon, 
and baffled all our attempts to kindle a new flame.

The fall through the canyon is so great, that none but the largest 
bowlders remain in the current. Some of these immense rocks are so piled, 
one upon another, as to make falls of nearly one hundred feet. The fall 
for the entire distance is about fifteen hundred feet. Notwithstanding the 
fall is so great in so short a distance, advantage may be taken of the 
configuration of the walls on either side to construct a railroad up 
through the canyon into the valley, upon a grade and trestle, that may be 
made practicable. This will, of course, cost money, but it will probably 
be done. By tunneling the divide and spanning the South Fork with a 
bridge, a narrow-gauge road could very readily be built that would avoid 
the necessity of going entirely through the canyon. This could be 
accomplished most economically by trestling over the talus--at a favorable 
point--high enough to obtain and preserve a suitable grade, until the 

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sloping mountains below can be reached, when the line can be run without 
difficulty to the most favorable point of crossing the divide and the 
South Fork.

The obstructions from snow, encountered in a winter trip to the valley, 
would by this route, be entirely avoided. Beside, the distance would be 
somewhat lessened. By rail and stage it is now about 225 miles from San 
Francisco.

After emerging from the canyon, with its precipitous granite cliffs and 
water falls, the entire character of the river's bed and banks are 
changed. The cliffs have now all disappeared with the granite, and 
although the steep high mountain divides encroach hard upon the river; 
high bars or low flats continue on down to the mouth of the South Fork on 
one side or the other, and then the flats rise higher to the plains.

The fall of the Merced river from the foot of the canyon to the valley of 
the San Joaquin, averages about thirty-five feet to the mile as estimated 
by Mr. Peterson.

The outcroppings from the rocky divides below the canyon, are porphyritic, 
metamorphic, and trappean rocks, silicious limestone, gneiss, green stone, 
quartz and several varieties of slate. At a point on the left bank of the 
Merced, near the plain, there is an outcropping of very good limestone, 
and it is also found, at one point in the Yosemite.

The quartz lodes drained by the Merced river, especially those of Marble 
Springs, Gentry's gulch and Maxwells creek, bore a good reputation in 
early days; and as the drainage may be made complete, no difficulty in 
working them need be encountered. In some cases, the more prominent lodes, 
maintain their general direction and thickness (seldom richness) on both 
sides of the Merced; as, for instance, the celebrated Carson vein. This 
vein outcrops at the Pen˜a Blanca, near Coultersville, and again south of 
the Merced river, on a spur running down from Mount Bullion. Here 

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the vein is known as the Johnson Lode, and is divided into the Pine Tree 
and Josephine sections. These were made famous as the subject of a legal 
dispute, and were occupied by opposing and armed forces in the interest of 
"The Merced Mining Company," on the one side, and Col. Fremont and his 
associates on the other.

This lode was discovered in the winter of 1850-'51, by a progressive 
Virginia liberal, named B. F. Johnson, familiarly known as "Quartz 
Johnson."

His discoveries led to the investment of millions of capital in mining 
enterprises, and if the share-holders of Mariposa Stock have not yet 
realized upon their investments, it cannot be for want of material; but, I 
must return to my subject. After having completed the survey of this year, 
1856, and having interests at Marble Springs, I joined with George W. 
Coulter, of Coultersville, and other citizens in constructing what became 
known as "The Coultersville Free Trail." We thought the scheme advisable, 
but the "general public" thought the trail a little too progressive for 
the wants of Coultersville, and the burden of construction was left to be 
borne by a few. I never realized any return from this investment. This 
trail was well located, and considering the amount expended, a 
comparatively easy one, for the trip to and from the valley was made with 
comfortable ease.

The trail completed this year by the Mann brothers required greater labor, 
and was not as good a route, but the views of the Yosemite from their 
trail, were the best. The Mann brothers did not find theirs a paying 
investment. They never realized their expenditures, and eventually sold 
the trail at a loss.

In locating the Coultersville trail, little or no aid was afforded me by 
the Indian trails that existed at that time; for horses had not seemingly 
been taken into the valley on the north side, and the foot trails used by 
the Indians left 

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no traces in the loose granite soil of the higher ridges, but what were 
soon obliterated by the wash from the melting snow. Where trails were 
found, they had been purposely run over ground impassable to horses, and 
they were, consequently, unavailable for our use. Through liberal aid from 
the "Empire State Mining Company," located at their quartz lode near the 
Marble Springs, Mr. Barton and myself had built a wagon road from 
Coultersville to Bull Creek. This road afforded a good commencement for 
the Yosemite trail.

The first encampment reached after leaving Bull creek, was "Deer Flat," so 
named by us from having startled a small drove, as we went into camp here. 
One of the deer was shot, and afforded an addition to our camp supplies.

The next camp named was "Hazel Green," from the number of hazel bushes 
growing near a beautiful little meadow.

Our next move was to "Crane Flat." This name was suggested by the shrill 
and startling cry of some sand-hill cranes we surprised as they were 
resting on this elevated table. Going from this camp, we came to what I 
finally called "Tamarack Flat," although the appealing looks of the 
grizzlies we met on their way through this pass to the Tuolumne, caused me 
to hesitate before deciding upon the final baptism; the Grizzlies did not 
stay to urge any claim, and being affectionately drawn to the trees, we 
named the camp "Tamarack Flat." From this flat I blazed out two trails, 
the lower one for early, the upper for later use; as from this point the 
snow remains upon the upper trail until quite late; and although much 
nearer, the snow renders it difficult to travel in the early part of the 
season. From "Tamarack Flat" to the edge of the valley is but little more 
than three miles. The whole distance from Coultersville being 41 1/2 miles 
as stated by Prof. Whitney.

With but little fatigue to one accustomed to the saddle, the trip down to 
Coultersville or to Mariposa was made in a day.

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The wagon roads now opened, are calculated to avoid the deep snow that 
delays the use of higher trails, or roads, until later in the season; but 
one traveling by these routes, loses some of the grandest views to be had 
of the High Sierras and western ranges of hills and mountains; on the old 
Coultersville Trail, or by way of the old Mariposa Trail. In winter or 
early spring, in order to avoid the snow, visitors are compelled to take 
the route of the lowest altitude. The route by Hite's cove is called but 
thirty-two miles from Mariposa to the valley; while that by Clark's, on 
the South Fork, has been usually rated at about forty-two miles. Where the 
time can be spared, I would suggest that what is called "the round trip" 
be made; that is, go by one route and return by another; and a "Grand 
Round" trip will include a visit to the "High Sierra:" going by one divide 
and returning by another.

As to guides and accommodating hosts, there will always be found a 
sufficient number to meet the increasing wants of the public, and the 
enterprise of these gentlemen will suggest a ready means of becoming 
acquainted with their visitors. Soon, no doubt, a railroad will be laid 
into the valley, and when the "iron horse" shall have ridden over all 
present obstacles, a new starting point for summer tourists will be built 
up in the Yosemite; that the robust lovers of nature may view the divine 
creations that will have been lost to view in a Pullman. The exercise 
incident to a summer lounge in the "High Sierras," will restore one's 
vigor, and present new views to the eyes of the curious; while those with 
less time or strength at their disposal, will content themselves with the 
beauties and pleasures of the valley.

The passes and peaks named in Prof. Whitney's guide-book are only the more 
prominent ones; for turn the eyes along the course of the Sierra Nevada in 
a northerly or 

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southerly direction at the head of Tuolumne, Merced, San Joaquin, King's, 
Kah-we-ah or Kern rivers, and almost countless peaks will be seen, little 
inferior in altitude to those noted in his table.

The highest of these peaks, Mount Whitney, is, according to Prof. Whitney, 
at least 200 feet higher than any measured in the Rocky Mountains by the 
topographers of the Hayden survey. A writer in the Virginia (Nevada) 
Enterprise says: "Whitney stands a lordly creation amid a rugged and grand 
company of companion peaks, for his nearest neighbor, Mount Tyndall, rises 
14,386 feet, and Mount Kah-we-ah, but a few miles off, is 14,000 feet." 
Whitney affords "the widest horizon in America; a dome of blue, 
immeasurable, vast sweeps of desert lowlands, range on range of mighty 
mountains, grand and eloquent; grace, strength, expansion, depth, breadth, 
height, all blended in one grand and awful picture. And as the eye takes 
in these features, a sense of soaring fills the mind, and one seems a part 
of the very heavens whose lofty places he pierces. The breadth and compass 
of the world grows upon the mind as the mighty distances flow in upon the 
view like waves of the sea. **** The best that can be said or written but 
suggests; the eye alone can lead the mind up to a true conception of so 
mighty and marvelous a group of wonders."

It is true that one standing upon the dividing ridges of the Rio Grande, 
Arkansas, Colorado or Platte, is charmed by the views presented of far 
reaching plains and noble mountains, but it is doubtful if any one view 
can be found in North America so grand and thrillingly sublime as may be 
seen in the Sierra Nevadas. The scenery of the Yellow Stone and of the 
Colorado canyon have characteristic wonders that are sui generis; but 
those localities are not desirable for continuous occupation.



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CHAPTER XX.
Golden Theories and Glaciers.

The many inquiries that the author has received concerning his views upon 
the gold deposits of California, has induced him to add this chapter to 
his work.

It has been said by an earnest and astute observer, that "The cooled earth 
permits us no longer to comprehend the phenomena of the primitive 
creation, because the fire which pervaded it is extinguished," and again 
that "There is no great foundation (of truth), which does not repose upon 
a legend." There has been a tradition among the California Indians, that 
the Golden Gate was opened by an earthquake, and that the waters that once 
covered the great plain of the Sacramento and San Joaquin basins were thus 
emptied into the ocean. This legendary geology of the Indians is about as 
good and instructive as some that has been taught by professors of the 
science, and as scarcely any two professors of geology agree in their 
theories of the origin and distribution of the gold in California, I have 
thought it probable that a few unscientific views upon the subject will 
interest my readers.

The origin of the gold found in California seems to me to have been 
clearly volcanic. The varying conditions under which it is found may be 
accounted for by the varying heat and force of the upheaval, the different 
qualities of the matrix or quartz that carried the gold and filled the 

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fissures of the veins or lodes, the influence that resistance of the 
inclosing walls may have exerted when it was slight or very great, and 
finally the disintegrating influences of air, water, frost and attrition 
of the glaciers, and the deposition in water.

The theories of aqueous deposit (in the lodes) and of electrical action, 
do not satisfy my understanding, and I go back in thought to the ten years 
of observation and practical experience in the gold mines, and to the 
problems that were then but partially solved. Looking at California as it 
is to-day, it will be conceded that its territory has been subjected to 
distinct geological periods, and those periods greatly varying in their 
force in different parts of the State. Within the principal gold-bearing 
region of California, and especially along the line of or near the Carson 
vein or lode, coarse gold has been found, and in such large masses, free 
of quartz, as to force the conviction upon the mind that the gold so found 
had been thrown out through and beyond its matrix into a bed of volcanic 
ashes, very nearly assuming the appearance that lead might assume when 
melted and thrown in bulk upon an ash heap. Where the resistance was 
great, as when thrown through wall rocks of gneiss, or green stone, the 
liquefaction of the quartz seems to have been more complete, and the 
specific gravity of the gold being so much greater than that of the 
quartz, its momentum, when in large quantities, carried it out beyond its 
matrix, leaving the more diffused particles to be held suspended in the 
fast cooling quartz, or to settle into "pockets," or small fissures.

Prof. Le Conte says: "The invariable association of metaliferous veins 
with metamorphism demonstrates the agency of heat." Experiments of Daubre 
and others prove that water at 750° Fahr. reduces to a pasty condition 
nearly all rocks. Deposits of silica in a gelatinous form, that 

Page 321

hardens on cooling, may be seen at some of the geysers of the Yellowstone; 
the heat, no doubt, being at a great depth. Quartz, like glass and lava, 
cools rapidly externally when exposed to air, or a cool surface, and would 
very readily hold suspended any substance volatilized, or crudely mixed 
into its substance. Its difficult secondary fusion is no obstacle to a 
belief in the capacity of heat under great pressure, to account for the 
phenomena that may be observed in the gold mines. Ashes derived from lavas 
have been found rich in crystalline substances. Crystals and microliths, 
and pyrites in cubes are, no doubt, of volcanic origin. The eruptions of 
moderate character seem to be the result of igneous fusion, while those of 
an explosive type are probably aquæ-igneous.

It is altogether probable from experiments tried by Stanislas Muenier and 
others, that the sudden removal of pressure is a sufficient cause of 
superheated water and mineral substances flashing into steam and lava. The 
geysers are evidently formed by varying temperature and interruption of 
flow by removal of pressure. Mr. Fanques, in an article in the Popular 
Science Monthly for August, 1880, says: "Discovery of microliths enclosed 
in volcanic rocks is a proof of immediate formation of crystals."

The phenomena attending the recent eruptions in Java demonstrate the 
incredible force and chemical effects of superheated steam. Modern 
researches and experiments in mechanical and chemical forces have greatly 
modified the views once entertained by geologists, and I think that it 
will now be conceded that repeated volcanic disturbances, taken in 
connection with the action of glaciers, will account for most, if not all, 
the phenomena discoverable in the gold fields and mountains of California. 
As a rule, gold-bearing veins in clay or talcose slates have the gold more 
evenly diffused than those found in the harder rocks, where 

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pockets of crystals, pyrites and gold will most likely be found. If gold 
is found in seams or masses it will be very free from impurities, and the 
quartz itself will be most likely white and vitreous. When gold is found 
in or near to a lode that has been decomposed, it will be found porous and 
ragged, but if it has been deposited some distance from its source it will 
be more or less rounded and swedged by contact with the stones and gravel 
that were carried with it by the stream of water or ice that conveyed it 
to its placer. In the beds of the ancient and more modern rivers the gold 
is much more worn than that found in the ravines or gulches, and the 
coarser gold will be found at the bottom, the scale gold in the gravel 
above, and the fine or flour gold in the mixture of clay, gravel and sand 
nearer the surface. The scale gold, no doubt, has been beaten by repeated 
blows of stones brought in contact with it while moving in the bed of the 
stream, and the flour gold is that reduced by the continual attrition of 
the moving mass upon the gold.

Prof. Le Conte says: "There are in many parts of California two systems of 
river beds--an old and a new. *** The old, or dead, river system runs 
across the present drainage system in a direction far more southerly; this 
is especially true of northern members of the system. Farther south the 
two systems are more nearly parallel, showing less movement in that 
region. These old river beds are filled with drift gravel, and often 
covered with lava." The lava referred to is relatively of modern origin, 
and the molten streams have in many instances covered the ancient streams, 
and in others cut them in twain. The "Blue Lead" is a very old river bed 
that has been the principal source of supply of the placer gold of the 
northern mines, and it must have existed as a river long anterior to the 
more modern upheavals that disturbed its course by forming 

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mountain torrents to rend its barriers and cut across its channel. That 
channel crosses some of the present tributaries of the Sacramento and San 
Joaquin and contains fossil remains of trees, plants and fruits not now 
indigenous to California.

The well rounded boulders and pebbles found in the beds of these ancient 
rivers render it probable that they were of considerable length, and that 
they may have been the channels of very ancient glaciers. It is also 
probable that the region covered by glaciers at different epochs is much 
more extensive than has been generally supposed. To me it appears 
probable, that during some of the eras of formation, they may have 
stretched across the entire continent. I have not space to give in detail 
the evidences of glacial action, but will simply state that remains of 
glaciers may be seen by an observing eye at intervals from the Atlantic to 
the Pacific; in Minnesota and in the Rocky Mountains, they are especially 
abundant. Prof. Le Conte says: "The region now occupied by the Sierra 
range was a marginal sea bottom, receiving abundant sediments from a 
continent to the east. At the end of the Jurassic, this line of enormously 
thick off-shore deposits yielded to horizontal thrust, was crushed 
together and swollen up into the Sierra range. All the ridges, peaks and 
canyons, all that constitutes the grand scenery of these mountains are the 
result of an almost inconceivable subsequent erosion."

I have no doubt of the truth of this theory of formation as it relates to 
the Sierra Nevada ranges as they exist today, for the intrusion of the 
granite into the slate formations suggests a force far greater than can be 
ascribed to volcanic action alone. The previous condition of the 
"continental mass" can not be so well imagined; yet reasoning from what we 
know of the present condition of the Sierras we may with propriety assume 
that great changes had occurred 

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in the territory embracing the Sierras Nevada long prior to their 
upheaval. The changes that have occurred since are too abundant and 
enduring to require more than a reference to the localities. The "glacier 
pavements" of the Sierras are so conspicuous that, as Mr. John Muir says: 
"Even dogs and horses gaze wonderingly at the strange brightness of the 
ground, and smell it, and place their feet cautiously upon it, as if 
afraid of falling or sinking." These glacier-smoothed rocks "are simply 
flat or gently undulating areas of solid granite which present the 
unchanged surface upon which the ancient glaciers flowed, and are found in 
the most perfect condition in the sub-alpine region, at an elevation of 
from 8,000 to 9,000 feet. Some are miles in extent, only interrupted by 
spots that have given way to the weather, while the best preserved 
portions are bright and stainless as the sky, reflecting the sunbeams like 
glass, and shining as if polished every day, notwithstanding they have 
been exposed to corroding rains, dew, frost and snow for thousands of 
years."

This statement of Mr. Muir will especially apply to the "glistening rocks" 
at the sources of the Merced and Tuolumne rivers, in view on this trail 
through the Mono Pass. The evidences of past glacial action in polishing 
the domes, mountains and valleys above the Yosemite valley, are too 
undeniable for controversy, but how much of the Yosemite itself may have 
been produced by glacial action will probably always remain a theme for 
discussion among geologists.

Prof. Samuel Kneeland, the well known author of "Wonders of the Yosemite," 
in a letter to me upon the subject, says: "I think there can be no doubt 
that the valley was filled, and 1,000 feet above, by ice--that while the 
mass above, moved, that in the valley, conforming to its configuration, 
was comparatively stationary, lasting much longer 

Page 325

than the first, gradually melting to a lake, now represented by the Merced 
river.

"I agree with Prof. Whitney that the valley was the result of a 
subsidence, long anterior to the glacial epoch, and that the valley 
itself, except upon its edges and upper sides, has not been materially 
modified by the glacier movement." Prof. J. D. Whitney, in his geological 
report says: "The Yosemite valley is a unique and wonderful locality; it 
is an exceptional creation; *** cliffs absolutely vertical, like the upper 
portions of the Half Dome and El Capitan, and of such immense height as 
these, are, so far as we know, to be seen nowhere else. *** How has this 
unique valley been formed, and what are the geological causes which have 
produced its wonderful cliffs, and all the other features which combine to 
make this locality so remarkable? These questions we will endeavor to 
answer, as well as our ability to pry into what went on in the deep-seated 
regions of the earth in former geological ages will permit." Mr. Whitney 
explicitly states his belief that most of the great canyons and valleys 
have resulted from aqueous denudation and erosion and cites the cutting 
through the lava of Table Mountain at Abbey's Ferry on the Stanislaus 
river as proof, and, continuing, to the exception, says: "It is sufficient 
to look for a moment at the vertical faces of El Capitan and the Bridal 
Veil Rock turned down the valley, or away from the direction in which the 
eroding forces must have acted, to be able to say that aqueous erosion 
could not have been the agent employed to do any such work. ** Much less 
can it be supposed that the peculiar form of the Yosemite is due to the 
erosive action of ice. ** Besides, there is no reason to suppose, or at 
least no proof, that glaciers have ever occupied the valley, or any 
portion of it. ** So that this theory, based on entire ignorance of the 
whole subject, may be dropped without wasting any more time upon it.

Page 326

"The theory of erosion not being admissible to account for the formation 
of the Yosemite valley, we have to fall back on some one of those 
movements of the earth's crust to which the primal forms of mountain 
valleys are due. The forces which have acted to produce valleys are 
complex in their nature, and it is not easy to classify the forms, which 
have resulted from them, in a satisfactory manner." After describing the 
generally received theories of mountain and valley formations, Mr. Whitney 
says: "We conceive that, during the process of upheaval of the Sierra, or 
possibly at some time after that had taken place, there was at the 
Yosemite a subsidence of a limited area, marked by lines of 'fault' or 
fissure crossing each other somewhat nearly at right angles. In other and 
more simple language, the bottom of the valley sank down to an unknown 
depth, owing to its support being withdrawn from underneath, during some 
of those convulsive movements which must have attended the upheaval of so 
extensive and elevated a chain, no matter how slow we may imagine the 
process to have been. Subsidence over extensive areas of portions of the 
earth's crust is not at all a new idea in geology, and there is nothing in 
this peculiar application of it which need excite surprise. It is the 
great amount of vertical displacement for the small area implicated which 
makes this a peculiar case; but it would not be easy to give any good 
reason why such an exceptionable result should not be brought about amid 
the complicated play of forces which the elevation of a great mountain 
chain must set in motion. By the adoption of the subsidence theory for the 
formation of the Yosemite, we are able to get over one difficulty which 
appears insurmountable to any other. This is the very small amount of 
debris at the base of the cliffs, and, even at a few points, its entire 
absence." In the space allotted to this chapter, I am able only to quote a 
few passages from Prof. 

Page 327

Whitney, but refer the curious to his recent work, "Climatic Changes of 
Later Geological Times."

In contrast to the conclusions arrived at by Prof. Whitney, I extract from 
Prof. Le Conte's Elements of Geology, pages 526 and 527, the following: 
"1st. During the epoch spoken of (the glacial) a great glacier, receiving 
its tributaries from Mount Hoffman, Cathedral Peaks, Mount Lyell and Mount 
Clark groups, filled Yosemite valley, and passed down Merced canyon. The 
evidences are clear everywhere, but especially in the upper valleys, where 
the ice action lingered longest. 2nd. At the same time tributaries from 
Mount Dana, Mono Pass, and Mount Lyell met at the Tuolumne meadows to form 
an immense glacier which, overflowing its bounds a little below Soda 
springs, sent a branch down the Ten-ie-ya canyon to join the Yosemite 
glacier, while the main current flowed down the Tuolumne canyon and 
through the Hetch-Hetchy valley. Knobs of granite 500 to 800 feet high, 
standing in its pathway, were enveloped and swept over, and are now left 
round and polished and scored in the most perfect manner. This glacier was 
at least 40 miles long and 1,000 feet thick, for its stranded lateral-
moraines may be traced so high along the slopes of the bounding 
mountains." In an article by John Muir, published in the New York Tribune, 
and kindly furnished me by Prof. Kneeland, will be seen views differing 
from those of Prof. Whitney, but Mr. Muir has spent long years of study 
upon the glacial summits of the Sierras, and if an enthusiast, is 
certainly a close student of nature. The paper was written to his friend 
Prof. Kunkle, of Boston, who had views similar to his own. Mr. Muir says: 
"I have been over my glacial territory, and am surprised to find it so 
small and fragmentary. The work of ancient ice which you and I explored, 
and which we were going to christen 'Glacial System of the Merced' 

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is only a few tiny topmost branches of one tree, in a vast glacial forest.

"All of the magnificent mountain truths that we read together last Autumn 
are only beginning sentences in the grand Sierra Nevada volume. 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 Hoffman and Obelisk ranges. 
In this basin not one island existed; all of its highest peaks were washed 
and overflowed by the ice--Starr King, South Dome and all. Vast ice 
currents broke over into the Merced basin, and most of the Tuolumne ice 
had to cross the great Tuolumne canyon.

"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 was written large enough, and, if 
each letter was made up of many smaller ones. The beds of those vast ice 
rivers are veiled with forests and a network of tiny water channels. You 
will see by the above sketch that Yosemite was completely overwhelmed with 
glaciers, and they did not come squeezing, groping down to the main valley 
by the narrow, angular, tortuous canyons of the Ten-ie-ya, Nevada or South 
canyons, but they flowed grandly and directly above all of its highest 
domes, like a steady wind, while their lower currents went mazing and 
swedging down in the crooking and dome-blocked channels of canyons.

"Glaciers have made every mountain form of this whole region; even the 
summit mountains are only fragments of their pre-glacial selves.

"Every summit wherein are laid the wombs of glaciers is steeper on its 
north than its south side, because of the depth and duration of sheltered 
glaciers, above those exposed to the sun, and this steepness between the 
north and south sides of summits is greater in the lower summits, as 

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those of the Obelisk group. This tells us a word of glacial climate. Such 
mountains as Starr King, Cloud's Rest, and Cathedral Peak do not come 
under this general law because their contours were determined by the ice 
which flowed about and above them, but even among these inter-basin 
heights we frequently find marked difference of steepness between their 
north and south sides, because many of the higher of these mountains and 
crests extending east and west, continued to shelter and nourish 
fragmentary glacierets long after the death of the main trunk 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 younger 
until we reach the almost countless gems of the summits with basins bright 
as their crystal waters. Upon the Nevada and its branches, there are not 
fewer than a hundred of these lakes, from a mile to a hundred yards in 
diameter, with countless glistening pondlets about the size of moons. Both 
the Yosemite and the Hetch-Hetchy valleys are lake basins filled with sand 
and the matter of morains easily and rapidly supplied by their swift 
descending rivers from upper morains. The mountains above Yosemite have 
scarce been touched by any other denudation but that of ice. Perhaps all 
of the post glacial denudation of every kind would not average an inch in 
depth for the whole region.

"I am surprised to find that water has had so little to do with the 
mountain structure of this region. None of the upper Merced streams give 
record of floods greater than those of to-day. The small water channel, 
with perpendicular walls, is about two feet in depth a few miles above the 
Little Yosemite. The Nevada here, even in flood, never was more than four 
or five feet in depth. Glacial striæ and glacial drift, undisturbed on 
banks of streams but little 

Page 330

above the present line of high water mark, is sufficient proof."

The views entertained by Mr. Muir are, for the most part, in consonance 
with my own. That the valley was originally formed as supposed by Prof. 
Whitney I do not doubt, but to suppose that the vast bodies of ice, stated 
by Mr. Whitney to have existed at the sources of the Merced river, could 
have halted in their glacial flow down the steep declivities of its 
canyons, seems as absurd as to suppose one entertaining opposite views 
"ignorant of the whole subject." As a matter susceptible of eternal proof, 
I will state that in the canyon below the Yosemite there are existing to-
day, large, well rounded bowlders that I think a geologist would say had 
been brought from above the valley; and if so, water alone could scarcely 
have brought them over the sunken bed of the valley, or if filled to its 
present level of about thirty-five feet descent to the mile, the laws that 
govern aqueous deposits would have left those huge masses of rock far 
above their present location in the canyon. Some of the bowlders referred 
to will weigh twenty tons or more, and, in connection with flat or 
partially rounded rocks fallen, probably, from the adjacent cliff, form 
waterfalls in the middle of the canyon, of from fifty to one hundred feet 
of perpendicular height. The fall through the canyon averages over two 
hundred feet to the mile. Well rounded bowlders of granite and other hard 
stones may be seen for long distances below the Yosemite, on hillsides and 
flats far above the present bed of the river, and, in some instances, 
deposited with those bowlders, have been found well rounded and swedged 
masses of gold. The experiments and observations of Agassiz, Forbes and 
others, render it probable that the valley of the Yosemite was filled with 
ice, but that the upper surface moved more rapidly, carrying down most of 
the material brought from mountains 

Page 331

above the valley. The observations of Prof. Tyndall render it almost 
certain that a glacier does not move as a rigid mass or on its bed, but as 
a plastic substance, as asphalt for instance.

Partial liquefaction by pressure would enable a glacier in the Yosemite to 
conform to the inequalities of its configuration, and regelation would 
perhaps retard its flow sufficiently to enable the more rapid moving 
surface and center of the glacier to carry its burden on from above 
without marking the lower portion of the inclosing walls, as for instance, 
may be seen at Glacier Point. It has been suggested that "the immense 
weight of ice that once filled the Yosemite had an important part in the 
formation of it." This idea is untenable, because the valley must have 
already been formed, in order for space to have exist d for "the immense 
weight of ice;" and unless the earth's crust under the valley was 
previously broken as suggested in the able theory of Prof. Whitney, no 
possible weight of any kind could exert a depressing influence upon the 
surface.

If it were possible, for the reconciliation of geologists, to believe that 
the subsidence in the valley occurred at about the close of the glacial 
flow, thereby changing the appearace of the inclosing walls, yet still 
leaving material to fill the chasm, a great part of the mystery that will 
always remain as one of the "Wonders of the Yosemite," would then 
disappear. As it is, we are compelled to believe, not in miracles, but 
that the glacier that flowed over the Yosemite was so great in depth as to 
leave, like some deep sea or ocean, its bottom undisturbed by the 
tumultuous aeriel strife upon its surface.

Now, those glacial heights have, at times, a solitude unutterly profound! 
Not a bird or beast to break the stillness, nor disturb the solemn charm. 
Nor does the Indian, even, loiter on his way, but hastens on down to his 

Page 332

mountain meadows or wooded valleys. There, if anywhere, the poet's idea 
can be realized, that: 

"Silence is the heart of all things; sound the fluttering of its pulse,
Which the fever and the spasm of the universe convulse.
Every sound that breaks the silence only makes it more profound,
Like a crash of deafening thunder in the sweet, blue stillness drowned
Let thy soul walk softly in thee, as a saint in heaven unshod,
For to be alone with silence, is to be alone with God."

[image caption: BIG TREE (Height, 325 feet; circumference, 100 feet.]



Page 333

CHAPTER XXI.
Big Trees of California or Sequoia Gigantea--Their Discovery and 
Classification.

IN speaking of the discovery of the "Big Trees" of Calavaras, Mr. 
Hutchings, in his "Scenes of Wonder and Curiosity," says that: "In the 
spring of 1852 Mr. A. T. Doud, a hunter, was employed by the Union Water 
Company of Murphy's camp, Calavaras county, to supply the workmen with 
fresh meat from the large quantity of game running wild on the upper 
portion of their works. Having wounded a bear, and while industriously 
following in pursuit, he suddenly came upon one of those immense trees 
that have since become so justly celebrated throughout the civilized world.

"So incredulous were Doud's employers and companions, when told of his 
discovery, that a ruse had to be resorted to, to get men to go and view 
the trees."

Big trees in Mariposa county, were first discovered by Maj. Burney, of 
North Carolina, first sheriff of Mariposa county (after its organization), 
John Macauly of Defiance, Ohio, and two others, whose names I have now 
forgotten. The discovery was made in the latter part of October, 1849, 
while in pursuit of some animals stolen by the Indians.

The trees seen and described by Major Burney and his party, were only a 
few scattering ones on the Fresno and South Fork divide. The major spoke 
of the trees as a new 

Page 334

variety of cedar, and when he gave the measurements that he claimed the 
party had made with their picket-ropes tied together, his auditors thought 
he was endeavoring to match some "big yarns" told around our camp fire at 
the mouth of the Merced river. Afterwards, while sheriff, the Major 
indicated the locality and size of the trees, in reply to some one's 
description of the big yellow pine that lay prostrate on what became the 
Yosemite trail, and when rallied a little for his extravagance of 
statement, declared that though true, he should not speak of the big trees 
again, for it was unpleasant to be considered an habitual joker, or 
something worse.

I asked the major, seriously, about the trees he had described, and he as 
seriously replied that he measured the trees as stated, but did not regard 
them as very remarkable, for he had seen accounts of even taller ones, if 
not larger, that were growing in Oregon.(*) In referring to these large 
trees, they were spoken of as being on the ridge known to us afterwards as 
the Black Ridge. The big trees of the Kah-we-ah and Tu-le river regions, 
were first noticed by a party of miners returning from the "White River" 
excitement of 1854, but as these men were uncultured, and the Calavaras 
grove was already known, no notice was taken by "The Press" of the reports 
of these miners, who were regarded by their friends as entirely truthful.

It has been thought strange that no member of the "Mariposa battalion" 
should have discovered any of the big trees, but they did not.

Among forests of such very large pines, cedar and fir trees, as grow 
adjacent to and among the sequoia, an unusually large tree would not 
probably have attracted much attention. Had a grove of them, however, been 
discovered, the fact would have been spoken of in the battalion. As the 
species was not known to any of us at the time, even had any been 

(* See Gen. John Bidwell's account in Century magazine for Nov. 1890.)

Page 335

seen, and even the pendant character of their branches noticed, doubtless 
they would have been classed and spoken of as "cedar." I do not believe, 
however, that any of the battalion ever noticed these trees, for the 
reason that strict orders were given against straggling, and our 
explorations were, for the most part, in the mountains above the line of 
growth of the sequoia. While hunting for game, during our first 
expeditions, the depth of snow forced the hunt below.

A few of the Mariposa big trees were first brought into notice by the 
discoveries of Mr. Hogg in the summer of 1855. The year previous, Mr. Hogg 
was in the employ of Reynolds, Caruthers and myself, and proving an able 
assistant and expert hunter, he was employed by our successors, the "South 
Fork Ditch Company," to supply them with game. During one of his hunting 
expeditions, Mr. Hogg discovered some sequoia on a branch of "Big Creek," 
and relating his discoveries to Mr. Galen Clark, Mr. Mann and others, the 
exact locality was indicated, and became known. During the autumn of this 
year (1855), other trees were discovered by Mr. J. E. Clayton, while 
exploring and testing, by barometrical measurements, the practicability of 
bringing water from the branches of the San Joaquin to increase the supply 
from the South Fork of the Merced. Upon Mr. Clayton's second visit, a few 
days later, I accompanied him, and was shown his discoveries.

About the first of June, 1856, Galen Clark and Milton Mann discovered what 
has now become famous as the "Mariposa Grove." The next season Mr. Clark 
came upon two smaller groves of sequoia in the near vicinity of the big 
grove. Not long after, he discovered quite a large collection at the head 
of the Fresno. This grove was visited two days after its discovery by L. 
A. Holmes, of the "Mariposa Gazette," and Judge Fitzhugh, while hunting; 
and 

Page 336

afterwards by Mr. Hutchings in 1859, accompanied by the discoverer, Mr. 
Clark.

The groves of big trees on the North and South Tule rivers, said to 
contain thousands, were discovered in 1867, by Mr. D'Henreuse, of the 
State Geological Survey. From the foregoing statement concerning the 
Sequoia, or Big Trees, and the well known fact of their easy propagation 
and distribution over the whole civilized world, it is no longer feared 
that the species is in any immediate danger of becoming extinct.

Upon the tributaries of the Kah-we-ah river, these trees are converted by 
the mills into lumber, which is sold about as cheap as pine. The lumber is 
much like the famous red-wood of California, and is equally durable, 
though perhaps not so easily worked. Although of the same genus as the red-
wood, the species is distinct, the "Big Trees" being known as the Sequoia 
Gigantea, while the California red-wood is known as the Sequoia 
Sempervirens. This statement may seem unnecessary to the botanist, but the 
two species are so frequently confounded in respectable eastern 
periodicals, that the statement here is deemed proper. Besides this, 
absurd fears have been expressed by those uninformed of the facility with 
which these trees have been cultivated in Europe and in this country, that 
the species will soon become extinct.(*) Professor Whitney says: "It is 
astonishing how little that is really reliable is to be found in all that 
has been published about big trees. No correct statement of their 
distribution or dimensions has appeared in print; and if their age has 
been correctly stated in one or two scientific journals, no such 
information ever finds its way into the popular descriptions of this tree, 
which are repeated over and over again in contributions to newspapers and 
in books of travel. ***** No other plant ever attracted so much attention 
or attained such a celebrity 

(* Most of the Big Trees of Tulare County are within the new "Sequoia 
Park.") 

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within so short a period. ***** Seed were first sent to Europe and to the 
Eastern States in 1853, and since that time immense numbers have found 
their way to market. They germinate readily, and it is probable that 
hundreds of thousands of the trees (millions it is said) are growing in 
different parts of the world from seed planted. They flourish with 
peculiar luxuriance in Great Britain, and grow with extraordinary 
rapidity. ***** The genus were named in honor of Sequoia or Sequoyah, a 
Cherokee Indian of mixed blood, better known as George Guess, who is 
supposed to have been born about 1770, and who lived in Wills Valley, in 
the extreme northeastern part of Alabama, among the Cherokees. He became 
known to the world by his invention of an alphabet and written language 
for his tribe. *****

The big tree is extremely limited in its range, even more so than its twin 
brother, the red-wood. The latter is strictly a coast-range or sea-board 
tree; the other, inland or exclusively limited to the Sierra. Both trees 
are also peculiarly Californian. A very few of the red-wood may be found 
just across the border in Oregon, but the big tree has never been found 
outside of California, and probably never will be." In a note Prof. 
Whitney says:

"There are several fossil species of the genus sequoia." Also, "that the 
Calavaras Grove contains, as will be seen in the table on page 125 
(Whitney's Yosemite Guide Book), four trees over 300 feet high, the 
highest one measured in the Mariposa Grove being 272 feet. The published 
statements of the heights of these trees are considerably exaggerated, as 
will be noticed, but our measurements can be relied on as being correct. 
The Keystone State has the honor of standing at the head, with 325 feet as 
its elevation, and this is the tallest tree yet measured on this 
continent, so far as our information goes."

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"When we observe how regularly and gradually the trees diminish in size 
from the highest down, it will be evident that the stories told of trees 
having once stood in this grove over 400 feet in height, are not entitled 
to credence. It is not at all likely that any one tree should have 
overtopped all the others by seventy-five feet or more. The same condition 
of general average elevation and absence of trees very much taller than 
any of the rest in the grove will be noticed among the trees on the 
Mariposa grant, where, however, there is no one as high as 300 feet."

The average height of the Mariposa trees is less than that of the 
Calavaras Grove, while the circumference of the largest is greater. Prof. 
Whitney measured the annual growths of one of the largest of the Calavaras 
group that had been felled, which he made out to be only about 1,300 years 
old. The Professor says:

"The age of the big trees is not so great as that assigned by the highest 
authorities to some of the English yews. Neither is its height as great, 
by far, as that of an Australian species, the eucalyptus amygdalina, many 
of which have, on the authority of Dr. Muller, the eminent government 
botanist, been found to measure over 400 feet; one, indeed, reaches the 
enormous elevation of 480 feet, thus overtopping the tallest sequoia by 
155 feet.

"There are also trees which exceed the big trees in diameter, as, for 
instance, the baobab (adansonia digitata), but this species is always 
comparatively low, not exceeding sixty or seventy feet in height, and much 
swollen at the base."

Mr. Whitney concludes his chapter on the sequoia by saying:

"On the whole, it may be stated, that there is no known tree which 
approaches the sequoia in grandeur; thickness and height being both taken 
into consideration, unless it be 

[image caption: RIDING THROUGH THE TREE TRUNK.]

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the eucalyptus. The largest Australian tree yet reported, is said to be 
eighty-one feet in circumference at four feet from the ground. This is 
nearly, but not quite, as large as some of the largest of the big trees of 
California."

Prof. Whitney gives the measurement of the largest tree in the Mariposa 
Grove as ninety-three feet seven inches, at the ground, and sixty-four 
feet three inches at eleven feet above. This tree is known as the "Grizzly 
Giant;" its two diameters were, at the base, as near as could be measured, 
thirty and thirty-one feet. This tree has been very much injured by fire, 
no allowance for which was made. It is probable that could the tree--and 
others like it--have escaped the fires set by the Indians, to facilitate 
the gathering of their annual supplies and the pursuit of game, exact 
measurements would show a circumference of over 100 feet. But, even as 
large as it is, its size does not at once impress itself upon the 
understanding.

There are nine or ten separate groves of "Big Trees," in California, and 
all lie upon the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada at an altitude of 
from five to seven thousand feet above the sea. Mr. A. B. Whitehall has 
given a very interesting account of these in the Chicago Tribune, from 
which I extract such portions as will best serve to interest my readers.

"The wood is soft, light, elastic, straight grained, and looks like cedar. 
The bark is deeply corrugated, longitudinally, and so spongy as to be used 
for pin cushious. The branches seldom appear below 100 feet from the 
ground, and shoot out in every direction from the trunk. The leaves are of 
two kinds--those of the younger trees and the lower branches of the larger 
set in pairs opposite each other on little stems, and those growing on 
branches which have flowered, triangular in shape, and lying close down to 
the stem. The cones are remarkable for their diminutive size, 

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being not much larger than a hen's egg, while the cones of much smaller 
conifers are larger than pine-apples. The seeds are short and thin as 
paper. *** The magnificent proportions of the trees and the awful solitude 
of the forest gives an almost sublime grandeur to this part of the Sierra. 
The Tuolumne grove is situated almost due north of the Merced, and is on 
the Big Oak Flat trail to the Yosemite. There are about thirty trees in 
the group, and they are excellent representatives of the sequoia family. 
The Siamese Twins, growing from the same root and uniting a few feet above 
the base, are thirty-eight feet in diameter and 114 feet in circumference 
at the base. A unique piece of road making is here seen. In the 
construction of the highway for coaches and wagons to the Yosemite, the 
engineers suddenly found themselves face to face with one of these monster 
trees, and not choosing to build around it, they cut through it, thus 
forming a tunnel, the like of which can only be found in the Mariposa 
grove. The diameter of the tree being over thirty feet, there remained an 
abundance of material on each side of the cut to retain the tree in a 
standing position, and the hole ten feet high and twelve feet wide is 
sufficiently large to allow the passage of any coach or team."

"In the South Park and Calaveras groves there are some remarkable trees. 
One tree in the South Park grove will hold forty persons in the hollow of 
its trunk; another has sheltered sixteen horses. The four highest trees in 
the Calaveras grove, are the Keystone State, 325 feet high, Gen. Jackson, 
319 feet, Mother of the Forest, 315 feet, and the Daniel Webster of 307 
feet high. The Husband and Wife are a pair of trees gracefully leaning 
against each other, 250 feet high, and each sixty feet in circumference. 
The Hermit is a solitary specimen of great proportions; the Old Maid, a 
disconsolate looking spinster, fifty-nine 

[image caption: THE TUNNELLED TREE.]

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feet around, and the Old Bachelor, a rough, unkempt old fellow nearly 300 
feet in height. The Father of the Forest is prostrate, hollow, limbless 
and without bark; yet across the roots the distance is twenty-eight feet. 
** Into the tree a tourist can ride ninety feet on horseback. One of the 
largest trees of the Calaveras grove was bored down with pump augurs, and 
the stump smoothed off and converted into a floor of a dancing hall. 
Thirty-two persons, or four quadrille sets, have ample room to dance at 
one time, and yet leave room for musicians and spectators."

I can give my readers no better idea of the solemn immensity of the trees, 
than by again quoting Mr. Whitehall. He says in conclusion: "Although it 
was then June, yet the eternal snows of the mountains were everywhere 
around us, and, as the huge banks and drifts stretched away off in the 
distance, the melting power of heat and the elements was on every side 
defied. Not a weed or blade of grass relieved the monotony of the view; 
not the chirping of an insect or the twittering of a bird was heard. The 
solemn stillness of the night added a weird grandeur to the scene. Now and 
then a breath of wind stirred the topmost branches of the pines and 
cedars, and as they swayed to and fro in the air the music was like that 
of Ossian, 'pleasant but mournful to the soul.' There were sequoias on 
every side almost twice as high as the falls of Niagara; there were pines 
rivaling the dome of the capitol at Washington in grandeur; there were 
cedars to whose tops the monument of Bunker Hill would not have reached. 
There were trees which were in the full vigor of manhood before America 
itself was discovered; there were others which were yet old before 
Charlemagne was born; there were others still growing when the Savior 
himself was on the earth. There were trees which had witnessed the winds 
and storms of twenty centuries; there were others which would endure long 
after 

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countless generations of the future would be numbered with the past. There 
were trees crooked and short and massive; there were others straight and 
tall and slender. There were pines whose limbs were as evenly proportioned 
as those of the Apollo Belvedere; there were cedars whose beauty was not 
surpassed in their counterparts in Lebanon; there were firs whose graceful 
foliage was like the fabled locks of the gods of ancient story. It was a 
picture in nature which captivated the sense at once by its grandeur and 
extent; and, as we drove back to Clark's through six miles of this forest 
luxuriance, with the darkness falling about us like a black curtain from 
the heavens, and the mighty canyons of the Sierra sinking away from our 
pathway like the openings to another world, then it was not power, but 
majesty, not beauty but sublimity, not the natural but the supernatural, 
which seemed above us and before us."



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CHAPTER XXII.
Statistics--Roads and Accommodations--Chapel and Sunday School--Big Farms 
and Great Resources--A Variety of Products--Long Hoped for Results

Records of the numbers of visitors to the Yosemite down to and inclusive 
of 1875, show that in 1852 Rose and Shurban were murdered by the savages, 
while their companion, Tudor, though wounded, escaped. The next year, 
1853, eight men from the North Fork of the Merced, visited the valley, 
returning unharmed. Owing to murders of Starkey, Sevil and Smith, in the 
winter of 1853-'4, as it was believed, by the Yosemites, no visitors 
entered the valley during the summer of 1854. In 1855 Messrs. Hutchings, 
Ayers, Stair and Milliard, visited it without being disturbed by the sight 
of any of the original proprietors, either Indians or grizzlies. Mr. 
Hutchings, on his return to San Francisco, began to draw the attention of 
the public to the Yosemite, through his magazine and otherwise. 
Notwithstanding the ample means afforded by his magazine, and his 
facilities as a writer, Mr. Hutchings found it difficult to bring the 
valley into prominent and profitable notice, and few Californians 

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could be induced to make it a visit. A peculiarity of those days was a 
doubt of the marvelous, and a fear of being "sold." Any statements of 
travelers or of the press, that appeared exaggerated, were received by the 
public with extreme caution. Not more than twenty-five or thirty entered 
during that year, though Mr. Hutchings' efforts were seconded by reports 
of other visitors.

The following season, 1856, it was visited by ladies from Mariposa and San 
Francisco, who safely enjoyed the pleasures and inconveniences of the 
trip; aroused and excited to the venture, no doubt, by their traditional 
curiosity. The fact being published that ladies could safely enter the 
valley, lessened the dread of Indians and grizzlies, and after a few brave 
reports had been published, this fear seemed to die away completely.

From this time on to 1864, a few entered every season; but during these 
times California had a wonder and interest in its population and their 
enterprises, greater than in any of its remarkable scenery. Everything was 
at high pressure, and the affairs of business and the war for the Union 
were all that could excite the common interest. In 1864, there were only 
147 visitors, including men, women and children. The action of Congress 
this year, in setting the Yosemite and big trees apart from the public 
domain as national parks, attracted attention to them. The publicity given 
to the valley by this act, was world-wide, and since 1864 the number 
visiting it has steadily increased.

According to the Mariposa Gazette, an authentic record shows that in the 
season of 1865 the number was 276, in 1866, 382, in 1867, 435, in 1868, 
627, and increasing rapidly; in 1875 the number for that year had reached 
about 3,000. The figures are deemed reliable, as they were obtained from 
the records of toll-roads and hotels. They are believed to be very nearly 
correct.

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The Gazette "estimates the proportion of eastern and European in the total 
number to be at least nine-tenths," and says: "It is safe to place the 
Atlantic and European visitors for the next ten years at 2,000 per annum."

I have no doubt the number has been greater even than was estimated, for 
improved facilities for entering the valley have since been established. 
Seven principal routes have been opened, and a post-office, telegraph and 
express offices located. A large hotel has been built by the State, the 
trails have been purchased and made free, and the management is now said 
by travelers to be quite good. There is no reason why still further 
improvements should not be made. A branch railroad from the San Joaquin 
Valley could enter the Yosemite by way of the South Fork, or by the Valley 
of the Merced river. Mineral ores and valuable lumber outside and below 
the valley and grant, would pay the cost of construction, and no 
defacement of the grand old park or its additions would be required, nor 
should be allowed.

With cars entering the valley, thousands of tourists of moderate wealth 
would visit it; and then on foot, from the hotels, be able to see most of 
the sublime scenery of the mountains.

If horses or carriages should be desired, for the more distant points of 
interest, they may readily be obtained in the valley at reasonable rates. 
At present, the expense of travel by stage, carriage and horseback, is 
considerable, and many visiting California, do not feel able to incur the 
extra expense of a visit to the Yosemite.

Visitors intending to see both the big trees and the Yosemite Valley, 
should visit the trees first, as otherwise the forest monarchs will have 
lost a large share of their interest and novelty

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The hotel charges are not much higher than elsewhere in the State, and the 
fare is as good as the average in cities. If extras are required, payment 
will be expected as in all localities. There is more water falling in the 
spring months, but the water-falls are but fractions of the interest that 
att ches to the region. Yosemite is always grandly beautiful; even in 
winter it has attractions for the robust, but invalids had better visit it 
only after the snow has disappeared from the lower levels, generally, from 
about the first of May to the middle of June.

From that date on to about the first of November, the valley will be found 
a most delightful summer resort, with abundant fruits and vegetables of 
perfect growth and richest flavor.

All modern conveniences and many luxuries of enlightened people are now to 
be found, gathered in full view of the great fall and its supporting 
scenery. The hotels, telegraph, express and post offices are there, and a 
Union Chapel dedicated at a grand gathering of the National Sunday School 
Union, held during the summer of 1879, is regularly used for religious 
services. Those who may wish to commune with Nature's God alone while in 
the Yosemite, will be in the very innermost sanctuary of all that is 
Divine in material creation for the valley is a holy Temple, and if their 
hearts are attuned to the harmony surrounding them, "the testimony of the 
Rocks" will bring conviction to their souls.

The unique character of Mirror Lake will leave its indelible impressions 
upon the tourist's mind, and residents of the Yosemite will gladly inform 
him of the varying proper time in the morning when its calm stillness will 
enable one to witness its greatest charm, the "Double Sunrise." That 
phenomena may be ascribed to the lake's 

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sheltered closeness to the perpendicular wall of the Half Dome (nearly 5,
000 feet high), and the window-like spaces between the peaks East and 
South, looked through by the sun in his upward, westward flight.

As a matter of fact, differing according to the seasons of the year, 
"sunrise on the lake" may be seen in its reflections two or more times in 
the same morning, and, if the visitor be at the lake when the breeze first 
comes up on its daily appearance from the plains, shattering the lake 
mirror into fragments, innumerable suns will appear to dazzle and bewilder 
the beholder.

The wonderful scenery and resources of California are becoming known and 
appreciated. A large addition has been made to, and surrounding the 
Yosemite and Big Tree Parks, which in time may become one (see map); and 
another very large National Park has been established in Tulare County, to 
be known as the Sequoia Park, which includes most of the Big Trees of that 
entire region; but it is not so generally known in the Eastern States that 
there are such vast landed estates, such princely realms of unbroken 
virgin soil awaiting the developments of industry. Official reports of the 
California State Board of Equalization show that there are 122 farms of 20,
000 acres each and over. Of these there are 67 averaging 70,000 acres 
each, and several exceed 100,000 acres.

These figures are published as official, and were well calculated to make 
the small farmers of the east open their eyes; they will yet open the eyes 
of the land owners themselves to the importance of bringing their estates 
under successful and remunerative cultivation. This will have to be done 
in order that these acres may be made to pay a just taxation. Thousands of 
acres that are of little use to the owners or the public--of no value to 
the state--can, by the 

Page 348

judicious introduction of water, be made to pay well for the investment. 
Irrigating ditches or canals from the Merced, one on the north side and 
the other on the south, a short distance above Snelling, in Merced county, 
were located by the writer, and soon after completion, the arid and dusty 
land was transformed into blooming gardens and fertile vineyards. These 
were the first irrigating ditches of any considerable magnitude, 
constructed in Mariposa or Merced counties, though irrigation was common 
enough in other parts of the state. The advance that has since been made 
in California agriculture is wonderful. New methods adapted to the 
peculiarities of soil and climate have been introduced, and new machinery 
invented and applied that cheapen the cost of production and lessen manual 
labor to a surprising degree: for instance, machinery that threshes and 
cleans ready for the market, over 5,000 bushels of wheat to the machine 
per day. Capital is still being largely invested in railroads, and in 
reclaiming the Tule (Bull Rush) lands.

These lands are among the richest in the world. They grow cotton, tobacco, 
rice and other southern staples, equal to the best of the Southern States, 
with much less danger from malaria. The valleys of the San Joaquin and 
Sacramento, which are simply local divisions of the same great valley, 
produce according to altitude, moisture and location, all the cereals, 
fruits and vegetables of a temperate clime, as well as those of semi-
tropical character; even the poorest hill-side lands grow the richest wine 
and raisin grapes. The yield is so astonishing, as to appear incredible.

The raisins grown and cured in California are said to be equal to the best 
Malaga; while the oranges, lemons, olives, figs, almonds, filberts and 
English walnuts, command the highest prices in the market. Peaches, pears, 
grapes and honey, are already large items in her trade; and her wheat 

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crops now reach a bulk that is simply enormous.

The grade of horses, cattle, swine, sheep and wool, are being brought to a 
high degree of perfection; for the climate is most salubrious and 
invigorating. Her gifts of nature are most bountiful and perfect. No 
wonder, then, that the Californian is enthusiastic when speaking of his 
sublime scenery, salubrious climate and surprising products.

But I must no longer dwell upon my theme, nor tell of the fruitful Fresno 
lands, redeemed from savage barbarity. Those scenes of beauteous 
enchantment I leave to those who may remain to enjoy them. And yet-- 

El Capitan, I turn to gaze upon thy lofty brow,
With reverent yearnings to thy Maker bow.
But now farewell, Yosemite;
If thou appearest not again in sight,
Thou'lt come, I know, in life's extremity
While passing into realms of light.