Howdy, In this Mariposa Battalion/Yo Semite follow up, I plan nothing further about/on the various writings of eyewitness Lafayette BUNNELL - pretty easy to find. And I only barely mention the reported YoSemite sighting by Capt. Joe WALKER and his group in 1833. For those interested, I suggest they check out the writings of the Walker Expedition's clerk, Zenas LEONARD, which have appeared in various places, including in LEONARD's book "Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas LEONARD,"ed. Milo Milton Quaife(Chicago: Lakeside Press, 1934). BUT, thanks to the Yosemite materials sent by my list friend Nancy Howard. <[email protected]>, I'd like to talk about - many may already know - what probably was the first, validated SIGHTING of Yosemite Valley, which reportedly took place in October, 1849 by William Penn ABRAMS and his friend U.N. REAMER. I have seen Abrams' account in a couple of places, but probably the best mention is Hank JOHNSTON'S article "Discovery of the Yosemite: Retrospective" in the Yosemite Association's Spring, 1998 journal. The only shadow on Abrams' account is that it stayed hidden for almost 100 years - his diary-didn't come to light until l947. Since present-day historians appear to accept its validity, with a little intro - here goes: Apparently, on or about October 10, 1849, Abrams and his friend Reamer left Jim Savage's trading post at the confluence of the Merced and South Fork Rivers tracking a Grizzly. With punctuation added, Abram's diary shows this October 18, 1849 entry: "Returned to S.F. after a visit to SAVAGE's property on the Merced R. Prospects none too good for a mill. Savage...has five squaws for wives... While at Savage's Reamer and I saw grizzly tracks and went out to hunt him down, getting lost in the mountains and not returning until the following evening. Found our way to camp over an Indian trail that led past a valley enclosed by STUPENDOUS cliffs rising perhaps 3,000 feet from their base and which gave us cause for wonder. "Not far off a water fall drops from a cliff, below three jagged peaks into the valley, while farther beyond a rounded mountain stood, the valley side of which looked as though it has been sliced with a knife as one would slice a loaf of bread, and which Reamer and I called the Rock of Ages"(Also quoted in Weldon F. Heald's "The Abrams Diary," Sierra Club Bulletin 32, No. 5(May, 1947). Writer Hank Johnston comments: "Abrams' perceptive word picture leaves little doubt that he and Reamer saw CATHEDRAL ROCKS, BRIDALVEIL FALL, and HALF DOME, mostly likely from near the original 'Inspiration Point,' but the men DID NOT descend into the Valley itself. Ironicallly, it is doubtful that Abrams ever knew he had seen Yosemite Valley, even after it became interntionally famous during the 1860s." OK, FOLKS, where does all this leave us and Yosemite's Discovery? To each his own, I suppose - we'll never really know. But I like Hank Johnston's summary: "CONCLUSIONS: "1. Captain Joe WALKER passed[in 1833] through the center of present Yosemite National Park, but never saw the Valley itself. " 2. William Penn ABRAMS and U. N. REAMER were the first non-Indians to look down upon the Valley in October, 1849, so far as we know. They apparently never knew what they had seen, and their discovery played no part in bringing Yosemite to the attention of civilization. "3, About 50[58/9?] members of the Mariposa Battalion entered Yosemite Valley on March 27, 1851, the FIRST white men to do so according to all evidence...." Sorta hate to say goodby to ole Yo Semite; if ok, later on may look up some more stuff, Bob Norris in Dallas <BNorris166aol.com>