Yosem'ité Valley is a cleft in the west slope of the Sierra Nevada, about the centre of California, and 140 miles E. of San Francisco. The name Yosemite is an Indian word which signifies 'large grizzly bear.' This celebrated valley, noted for the sublimity and beauty of its scenery, is about 6 miles long and from to nearly 2 miles in breadth, and is traversed by the Merced River. The visitor is awed and impressed by the massiveness of its mountain elevations, the nearly perpendicular granite walls, from 3000 to 6000 feet high, by which it is shut in throughout its entire length, and the grandeur of its waterfalls, which are in some respects the most remarkable in the world. At the lower end of the valley stands the striking cliff known as El Capitan, 3300 feet high, while from near its lower corner the Virgin's Tears Fall descends 1000 feet. But the eye turns from it to the remarkable fall opposite, happily named the Bridal Veil, which leaps from the brow of a cliff 900 feet high, and descends in a broad sheet of spray and finally mist, swaying in the wind and constantly changing its form of fleecy beauty. Farther up the valley are Cathedral Rock (2660 feet), the Three Brothers (3830), Sentinel Rock (3043), and directly opposite it the grand Yosemite Falls; here the stream, 25 feet wide at the crest, takes a first leap of 1500 feet, then rushes 626 feet down in a series of cascades, and finally plunges 400 feet to the bottom. Above the falls are the North Dome (3568) and the vast Hall's Dome, nearly a mile (4737) high, whose summit can now be reached by a long climb. Two miles above the great falls the stream enters the main valley in two arms, coming out of two cañons. In that of the south fork is the Illilouet Fall, some 600 feet high; in the main cañon are Vernal Fall (400) and Nevada Fall (600), the latter one of the finest in the world. It is only, however, during the season of rains and melting snows that the valley can be seen at its best; in August and September the Virgin's Tears Fall disappears, the Bridal Veil shrinks almost to nothing, and even the Yosemite is reduced to comparative insignifi- cance. The valley was discovered in 1851 by soldiers who pursued some predatory Indians to their fastness here; its fame quickly spread, and congress wisely took steps to preserve its beauties, and in 1864 handed it over to the state, along with the Mariposa grove of big trees (see SEQUOIA), to be held as inalienable for all time 'for public use, resort and recreation.' The State Park, consisting of the valley itself and a territory of two miles round it on all sides, is managed by a governor and state commissioners. The State Park is enclosed by the Yosemite National Park, which includes the basin of the river and all its tributaries. A dozen or so of the original inhabitants, the Digger or Shoshone Indians, still survive; they are about the least noble type of red man. There are hotels, a post-office, and a church in the valley, besides the houses of the guardian and the rangers and keepers under him.
See The Yosemite Guide-book (official); Bunnell, Discovery of the Yosemite (1893); William and Sara Wiley, The Yosemite, Alaska, and the Yellowstone (1893); and the reports on the national parks.