Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-03-09
YOSEMITE FALLS.
The stsry of the Discovery of the Won
derful Valley.


derful Valley.
A correspondent writing from Andover
Mass. to the Boston Post, tells the fol.
lowing story of the discovery of the Yose-
mite Falls:
1t is not recorded in any work that am
aware of, who the parties were that dis
covered the Yosemite. The recent geo.
graphies, cyclOp9dias, and books of his
tOrical record, which give brief notice of
that wonder Of creation are silent as to
the men who first penetrated the val
ley and gaZed with astOnished eyes upon
the world-renOwned wonder of nature,
and merely mention the fact that the dis
cOvery was made by party "in pursuit
of a band of Indians who had made them
selves troublesome to the whites,
and who were understood to have
a stronghold in the mountains where
they imagined they were safe from any
attack. and in which they sought refuge
when obliged to retreat from the neigh
borbOOd Of the settlement" The main fact
is as stated. The discovery was by a
small party who were in pursuit of the
Indians. | happened to know the princi-
pal actors in that affair, and, being a
lover Of historical accuracy, even in small
matters, beg leave to recall few incl
dents by way of "Reminiscences of by-gOne
days-the good old days of 40. Wintered
in 40 on the TuOlumnes river, and will
so far digress as to say it was the
severest winter l ever passed in
California, although my experience
extended to nearly twenty years
subsequent residence, all of which
was passed in the mountain regions of
country, extending from Puget Sound to
the Tulare Lakes. In the spring of that
year, as soon as travelling became practi-
cable, my partner, AlOnZO Ridley, and
myself packed a mule and started on a
prospecting tour towards the Mercedes
river. and reached a small stream, tri-
butary of that river, where we located a
trading post. The stream was called
MatselPs creek, since and now named
Coulteryille.
A few miles below the mouth of the
brook, on the main river Mercedes, dis
tant about ten miles, was a beautiful lit
tie valley known as Happy Valley" the
abiding-pIace of a numerous tribe of In
dams. A white man had come among
them about the time of the discovery of
gold and gained the confidence of the
tribe, and, at the time / knew him, exer-
cised supreme control. The tribe cor
sisted of about 800 men and women,
or. as they were more commonly
called, "bucks and squaws." They
mined and worked for him, and all the
gold flowed into his treasury. BY obtain
ing constant supply of Indian goods and
trnkets, which he did by running a large
pack train to the coast, he kept them
contented and reaped the benefit Of their
labor. How he obtained such supremacy
over not only that tribe, but all the
Indians with whom be came in contact,
was and is a mystery to me. There was
nothing imposing personal appearance,
on the contrary he was small IN stature,
but active, quick in motion, and fearless.
have known many men who had great
sway and control over the Indians, but
never one like him. James Savage, Mai.
Savage, or Jim Savage as he was more
commonly called. was the man. The
amount of gold that he collected was i'm
mense, and when he went below to the
coast it was scattered with a prOfuse
hand, as though he knew where to find
more, which he certainly did. He was
finally killed in a personal difficulty" on
Kings river, by white man, con-
cerning a disputed land claim. In 1851
all the Indians in Southern California
living IN the mountain regions seemed
possessed of the war split. Whatever
may have been the originating cause of
this feeling the fact exists that all that
region of country in the MaripOsa and
Mercedes was in a state of war excite
ment, and in all camps there was the
greatest vigilance and every man on the
alert. and a general warfare was carried
on for some time. 1t was literally "War
to the knife and the knife to the hilt."
II was after a raid by a wild band,
which had attacked and committed depre-
datiOns on a mining camp, that a small
party of whites under the direction and
command of James Savage and my part
ner, AlORzO Ridley, followed up and pene-
trated the Yosemite valley, which eXpe-
ditiOn resulted in their coming upon the
great natural wonder the Yosemite Falls.
This was in the early part of 1851. On
the return of the party ] had the account
of the discovery from Ridley himself, who
was an enthusiastic admirer of the noun
tain life which he had adopted, and to-
gether we passed through many adj
VenturOus scenes, both by ''flOOd
and field" sSayage was a West
ern man, and, as / have stated
was afteTward killed. Ridley was from
Maine; a Drawer, truer heart never beat
Independent of thought, conscientious in
his convictions, infeXible of Will, and
although a Northern man. when the war
of the rebellion broke out he went where
the conviction of duty led him and fought
in the Southern army against home and
kindred and yielded up his life in their
cause. When those officers on the
Pacific coast resigned and joined the
Southern army, Ridley raised company
and escorted them across the country,
being himself killed in one Of the great
battles of the war.
The reader Will pardon an alIusion to
myself He went one way and l went an
other; my duty called me to the army OF
the Union, but | honor the man who, re-
CARELESS of the worlds OblOquy and scOrn,
can stand to his conviction, and 1t was
AlonzO Ridley, one Of the discoveries OF
Yosemite Falls, my Old-time friend OF
other days, who bravely fought for his
convictions. l pay this tribute to his
memory.