The first permanent settler in the Yosemite Valley was J. C. Lamon, who built a cabin in the very end of it in 1860 and planted gardens and orchards. Four years later an act of Congress granted the Valley itself and the adjacent territory to the State of California on the condition that it be held forever as a public park. In 1905, however, California gave back the Valley to the United States, and it now forms part of the Yosemite National Park, which was created in 1890. PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 4, No. 16, SERIAL No. 116 COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC. [Illustration: FROM A WATER COLOR PAINTING YOSEMITE FALLS. YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK] _THE YOSEMITE VALLEY_ _The Waterfalls_ TWO The finest photograph is inadequate to convey to the mind a satisfactory impression of the Yosemite Falls. The Yosemite Creek descends to the valley floor in three leaps, with a total height of about 2,500 feet. It is the highest known cataract in the world. The upper fall has a vertical descent of 1,430 feet; the middle fall consists of a series of cascades, with a total descent of 626 feet; while the lower fall is 320 feet high. At the top the Yosemite Falls is about 35 feet wide. As the season advances and the volume of water decreases, the fall dwindles considerably. At its best, however, it is one of the grandest features of the Valley. In winter a splendid ice cone, 500 feet high, forms at the foot of the upper fall. Near Cathedral Spires, the Bridal Veil Fall pours down. People love it for its delicate, spirit-like beauty. It has a clear vertical fall of about 630 feet, with a width of 50 to 70 feet. The name is derived from the effect on it of the wind, which makes it flutter like a white veil. The Bridal Veil shoots from the upper ledge of the cliff by the velocity the stream has acquired in descending a long slope above the head of the fall. Usually the fall strikes on flat topped slabs, which form a kind of ledge about two-thirds of the way down. Between four and five o’clock in the afternoon beautiful rainbows may be seen in this fall. The Nevada Falls, 594 feet high, is generally ranked next to the Yosemite in interest. It is a heavy, turbulent cataract. Before reaching the bottom of its plunge the fall is broken and scattered by a sloping portion of the cliff about half-way down. It is the stormiest and whitest of all the falls in the Valley. The Vernal Falls has a vertical descent of 317 feet and varies in width from 70 to 80 feet. This fall is an orderly, graceful, easy-going one. It may be more closely approached than any other. Just above it is the beautiful Emerald Pool.