100 PHOTOGRAPHS 45
Decades before Ansel Adams ever saw Yosemite’s jag-
ged peaks, Carleton Watkins packed his mammoth plate
camera, tripods and a makeshift tent darkroom on mules
and ventured into the remote California valley. At the
journey’s end, Watkins had 130 negatives that offered the
first printed images of Yosemite’s towering masses, glacial
geology and jaw-dropping expanse. The images, includ-
ing Watkins’ intimate view of Cathedral Rock, floored the
growing nation’s power brokers. John Conness, a U.S. Sen-
ator from California, owned a set of the prints and became
an evangelist for the work. On June 30, 1864, President
Abraham Lincoln signed into law the Yosemite Grant Act,
laying the foundation for the National Park System, which
now protects some 84 million acres of land.
CATHEDRAL ROCK, YOSEMITE by Carleton Watkins EVIDENCE
