The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1884-10-08
VALLEY OF THE YOSEMITE.
APLAcE WHERE N NATURES GRAND
Est SCENES ARE UNvEILED.
Guarded by Lofty Granite walls and
Gemmed with Sparkling water
faIIs-A Californian y paradkse.

Guarded by Lofty Granite walls and
Gemmed with Sparkling water
faIIs-A Californian Paradise.
When Doctor johnson wrote Of that
Happy Valley of Amhara, in which Ras-
selas, the Prince of Abyssinia and his
sister Nellayah "'lived only to know the
soft vicissitudes of pleasure and repose,
he must have been granted mental Wis
ion Of the great Yosemite of California.
The pellucid lake. teeming with aquatic
life, and the silvery stream which
coursed through the valley, could not
have been more enchanting than the
watery mirror which mingles the res
fected pictures of the tleecy clouds
floating above and the towering rocky
domes about which they hover, OF the
dashing Merced, bearing to the ocean
the icy waters from the eternal glaciers
of the mountain SUBMITS; nor did they,
in their efforts to escape from this pleas
ure prison to search the world for the
true source of happiness, encounter more
unscaleable cliffs or loftier walls of rock
than those which encircle this valley in
the heart of the Sierras. The Indians,
whose depredations upon the miners in
1860 led to the discovery of the valley,
whittier they had fled from the wrath
of the avenging Americans, called them
selves "Yo-Semite, and this name was
bestowed upon the valley, though it was
afterward learned that the proper In
dian name was "Ah-wa-ne. As the
natives speak the word it is "Yo-ham-i-
te," but the accepted pronunciation
among the people of California is Yo-
Semitic"
The Yosemite Valley lies on the head
waters of the MERGED river, in the very
heart of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
1t is eight miles long, and varies from
one half to mile in width, containing
about 8, 4S0 acres of ground. 1t is 3, $50
feet above the level of the sea, and is
surrounded by an almost unbroken wall
of granite rock rising above it to height
varying from $500 to $500 feet, and
overlooked by mountain peaks which
pierce the clouds 10000 feet above the
sea level. The scene which opens out
before the travellers eye at many points,
while descending the tortuous trail, i!
one whose reflection can never grow din
on the glass of memory. Though not az
grand a view as is offered from many
points in the valley itself, yet being the
irst revelation of the wonders Nature
has hidden in those mountain wilds, the
impression made is the most vivid anC
enduring. In one sweep the eye encom
passes a large portion of the valley
taking in the lofty granite walls, tn,
guardian domes of rock, and the numer
Gus waterfalls pouring over the canyon'
edge and plunging down hundreds, anC
even thousands, of feet to form the Mer
ced river, the crystal stream which mean
aers so peacefully through its entir
length. There are many scenes of beaut,
and objects of wonder in Yosemite
enough to require a week of diligent ex
ertion to see them properly, while ever
months could be spent there with pleas
ure to the mind and profit to the body
There are waterfalls to visit and many
dome and spire to ascend before the val
! ley has been seen in all its varied as
poets; and when the visitor has accom-
pllshed all the feats of climbing required
and seen everything that challenges hi
admiration, he can depart with the quie
satisfaction of having beheld more grant
and beautiful sights than can be founC
; associated together in any other spo
in the universe. From the Portland (Or.
West Shore