“I agree with Prof. Whitney that the valley was the result of a subsidence, long anterior to the glacial epoch, and that the valley itself, except upon its edges and upper sides, has not been materially modified by the glacier movement.” Prof. J. D. Whitney, in his geological report says: “The Yosemite valley is a unique and wonderful locality; it is an exceptional creation; ... cliffs absolutely vertical, like the upper portions of the Half Dome and El Capitan, and of such immense height as these, are, so far as we know, to be seen nowhere else.... How has this unique valley been formed, and what are the geological causes which have produced its wonderful cliffs, and all the other features which combine to make this locality so remarkable? These questions we will endeavor to answer, as well as our ability to pry into what went on in the deep-seated regions of the earth in former geological ages will permit.” Mr. Whitney explicitly states his belief that most of the great canyons and valleys have resulted from aqueous denudation and erosion and cites the cutting through the lava of Table Mountain at Abbey’s Ferry on the Stanislaus river as proof, and, continuing, to the exception, says: “It is sufficient to look for a moment at the vertical faces of El Capitan and the Bridal Veil Rock turned down the valley, or away from the direction in which the eroding forces must have acted, to be able to say that aqueous erosion could not have been the agent employed to do any such work.... Much less can it be supposed that the peculiar form of the Yosemite is due to the erosive action of ice.... Besides, there is no reason to suppose, or at least no proof, that glaciers have ever occupied the valley, or any portion of it.... So that this theory, based on entire ignorance of the whole subject, may be dropped without wasting any more time upon it.