Creator
John Muir
Recipient
James R. Garfield
Preview
Transcription
THE TUOLUMNE YOSEMITE.The Hetch Hetchy Valley, “that wonderful counterpart of Yosemite”, as State geologist Whitney called it, was discovered by Mr. Joseph Sereech in 1850, the year before the discovery of Yosemite, when the Digger Indians held possession of it as an acorn orchard. After my first visit in the autumn of 1871, I have always called it the Tuolumne Yosemite, for it is a wonderfully exact counterpart of the great Yosemite, not only in its crystal river and sublime rooks and waterfalls, but in the gardens, groves, and meadows of its flowery park-lake floor. The floor of Yosemite is about 4000 feet above the sea, the Hetch Hetchy floor about 3700: the walls of both are of gray granite, rise abruptly cut of the flowery grass and groves, are sculptured in the same style, and in both every rock is a glacial monument.Standing boldly out from the south wall is a strikingly picturesque rock called Kolana by the Indians, the outermost of a group 2300 feet high corresponding with the Cathedral Hocks of Yosemite both in relative position and form. On the opposite side of the Valley facing Kolana there is a counterpart of the E1 Capitan of Yosemite, rising sheer and plain to a height of 1800 feet, and over its massive brow flows a stream which makes the most graceful fall I have ever seen. From the edge of the cliff it is perfectly free in the air for a thousand feet, then breaks up into a ragged sheet of cascades among the bowlders of an earthquake talus. It is in all its glory in June when the snow is melting fast, but fades and vanishes toward the end of summer. The only fall I know with which it may fairly be compared is the Yosemite Bridal Veil: but it excels even that favorite fall both in height and fineness of fairy airy beauty and behavior. Lowlanders are apt to suppose that mountain streams in their wild career over cliffs loose control of themselves and tumble in a noisy chaos of mist and spray. On the contrary on no part of their travels are they more harmonious and self-controlled. Imagine yourself in Hetch Hetchy
Location
Martinez, Calif.
Date Original
1907-09-06 00:00
Source
Original letter dimensions unknown.
Resource Identifier
muir16_0967-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 16, Image 0967
Copyright Status
Copyrighted
Copyright Statement
The unpublished works of John Muir are copyrighted by the Muir-Hanna Trust. To purchase copies of images and/or obtain permission to publish or exhibit them, see http://www.pacific.edu/Library/Find/Holt-Atherton-Special-Collections/Fees-and-Forms-.html
Owning Institution
National Archives. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.
Copyright Holder
Muir-Hanna Trust
Copyright Date
1984
Page Number
Page 3
Keywords
John Muir, correspondence, letters, author, writing, naturalist, California, correspondent, mail, message, post, exchange of letters, missive, notes, epistle
