|
YOSEMITE , a famous valley on the W. slope of the Sierra See also:Nevada of See also:California, about 150 M. E. of See also:San Francisco and 4000 ft. above the See also:sea. It is 7 M. See also:long, See also:half a mile to a mile wide, and nearly a mile deep, eroded out of hard massive See also:granite by glacial See also:action. Its precipitous walls See also:present a See also:great variety of forms, and the bottom, a filled-up See also:lake See also:basin, is level and See also:park-like. The most notable of the See also:wall rocks are: El Capitan, 3300 ft. high, a sheer, See also:plain See also:mass of granite; the Three See also:Brothers, See also:North See also:Dome, See also:Glacier Point, the See also:Sentinel, See also:Cathedral, Sentinel Dome and See also:Cloud's See also:Rest, from 2800 to nearly 6000 ft. high; and Half Dome, the noblest of all, which rises at the See also:head of the valley to the height of 4740 ft. These rocks illustrate on a See also:grand See also:scale the action of See also:ice in See also:mountain See also:sculpture. For here five large glaciers See also:united to See also:form the grand See also:trunk glacier that eroded the valley and occupied • it as its channel. Its moraines, though mostly obscured by vegetation and weathering, may still be traced; while on the snowy peaks at the headwaters of the Merced a considerable number of small glaciers, once tributary to the See also:main Yosemite glacier, still exist. The Bridal See also:Veil Fall, 900 ft. high, is one of the most interesting features of the See also:lower end of the valley. Towards the upper end the great Yosemite Fall pours from a height of 2600 ft. The valley divides at the head into three branches, the Tenaya, Merced and See also:South See also:Fork canyons. In the main (Merced) See also:branch are the Vernal and Nevada Falls, 400 and 600 ft. high. The Nevada is usually ranked next to the Yosemite among the five main falls of the valley, and is the whitest of all the falls. The Vernal, about half a mile below the Nevada, is famous for its afternoon rainbows, At See also:flood-See also:- TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
- TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
- TIME, STANDARD
time it is a nearly See also:regular See also:sheet about 8o ft. wide, changing as it descends from See also:green to purplish-See also:grey and See also:- WHITE
- WHITE, ANDREW DICKSON (1832– )
- WHITE, GILBERT (1720–1793)
- WHITE, HENRY KIRKE (1785-1806)
- WHITE, HUGH LAWSON (1773-1840)
- WHITE, JOSEPH BLANCO (1775-1841)
- WHITE, RICHARD GRANT (1822-1885)
- WHITE, ROBERT (1645-1704)
- WHITE, SIR GEORGE STUART (1835– )
- WHITE, SIR THOMAS (1492-1567)
- WHITE, SIR WILLIAM ARTHUR (1824--1891)
- WHITE, SIR WILLIAM HENRY (1845– )
- WHITE, THOMAS (1628-1698)
- WHITE, THOMAS (c. 1550-1624)
white. In the S. branch, a mile from the head of the main valley, is the Illilouette Fall, 600 ft. high, one of the most beautiful of the Yosemite See also:choir.
Considering the great height of the snowy mountains about the valley, the See also:climate of the Yosemite is remarkably mild. The vegetation is See also:rich and luxuriant. The tallest pines are over 200 ft. high; the trunks of some of the oaks are from 6 to 8 ft. in See also:diameter; violets, lilies, See also:golden-rods, See also:ceanothus, manzanita, See also:wild See also:rose and See also:azalea make broad beds and See also:banks of See also:bloom in the See also:spring; and on the warmest parts of the walls See also:flowers blossom in every See also:month of the See also:year.
The valley was discovered in 1851 by a military See also:company in pursuit of marauding See also:Indians; regular tourist travel began in 1856. The first permanent settler in the valley was Mr J. C. Lamon, who built a See also:cabin in the upper end of it in 186o and planted gardens and orchards. In 1864 the valley was granted to the See also:state of California by See also:act of See also:Congress on See also:condition that it should be held as a See also:place of public use, resort and recreation inalienable for all time, was re-ceded to the United States by California on the 3rd of See also:March 1905, and is now included in the Yosemite See also:National Park.
In the number and height of its See also:vertical falls and in the massive grandeur of El Capitan and Half Dome rocks Yosemite is unrivalled. But there are many other valleys of the same See also:kind. The most noted of those in the Sierra, visited every summer by tourists, hunters and mountaineers, are the Hetch Hetchy Valley, a wonderful See also:counter-See also:part of Yosemite in the Tuolumne See also:canyon; Tehipitee Valley, in the See also:Middle Fork canyon of See also:- KING
- KING (O. Eng. cyning, abbreviated into cyng, cing; cf. O. H. G. chun- kuning, chun- kunig, M.H.G. kiinic, kiinec, kiinc, Mod. Ger. Konig, O. Norse konungr, kongr, Swed. konung, kung)
- KING [OF OCKHAM], PETER KING, 1ST BARON (1669-1734)
- KING, CHARLES WILLIAM (1818-1888)
- KING, CLARENCE (1842–1901)
- KING, EDWARD (1612–1637)
- KING, EDWARD (1829–1910)
- KING, HENRY (1591-1669)
- KING, RUFUS (1755–1827)
- KING, THOMAS (1730–1805)
- KING, WILLIAM (1650-1729)
- KING, WILLIAM (1663–1712)
King's See also:river; and the King's river Yosemite in the South Fork canyon, the latter being larger and deeper than the Merced Yosemite. All are similar in their trends, forms, sculpture and vegetation, and are plainly and harmoniously related to the See also:ancient glaciers. The See also:Romsdal and Naerodal of See also:Norway and Lauterbrunnen of the See also:Alps are well characterized glacial valleys of the Yosemite type, and in S.E. See also:Alaska many may be observed in See also:process of formation.
See the See also:Annual Reports (See also:Washington, 1891 sqq.) of the See also:Superintendent of the Park; the See also:Guide to the Yosemite published by the California See also:Geological Survey; See also:John See also:Muir, Our National Parks (See also:Boston, 1901); and _Bunnell's See also:Discovery of the Yosemite (New See also:York, 1893). (J.
End of Article: YOSEMITE
Additional information and Comments
There are no comments yet for this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.
Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.
|
del.icio.us it!