Re: Valley Meadow

This may be a silly question, but does anyone know the background of this meadow? The trees seem cleared at a 90 degree angle. Possibly previously used for crops or livestock?





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Also possibly the site of a former building that had some kind of area cleared around it (not suggesting that the building was exactly in that 90-degree bend but rather that this might have been the "yard" for a house or hotel there. The only problem with that is that I can't recall any historical structures much farther west than the current lodge location except on the other side of the river. Of course, it's quite a while since I did any research on no-longer-there buildings in the Valley so I could be forgetting something.

If you're not familiar with Linda Greene's 1987 study "Yosemite: The Park and its Resources" you might find something in there. If you've the patience, there are also a large number of fascinating (at least to me and 3 or 4 other people in this forum!) historical guides in https://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/ which might shed some light on this.

Totally agree that this looks like a manmade clearing...now I'm curious to see what other folks might have to say about it.

I think that it might be Slaughterhouse meadow where there used to be a slaughterhouse and fenced in areas to keep cattle in. Also, the location of Wosky pond which is seasonal.

EDIT!!!!!!!!!! Upon more intensive looking at Google Maps, it is NOT Slaughterhouse Meadow. Slaughterhouse meadow is west of what you are asking about. Will keep trying to figure it out.

If you have Facebook, go to the group Yosemite History and maybe someone there can help you.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/2022 12:46PM by parklover.

Well- Thanks to "parklover" for the suggestion. I posed the question to the Yosemite History Facebook page. Here is the response from Sonny Montague----- "That is Sewer Plant Meadow. Walk around out there and you'll find the remnants of ceramic pipe, etc. from the sludge system that pre-dated the sewer treatment plant built near Bridalveil Creek. Slaughterhouse and Wosky Pond (named after Wosky got his car stuck there) are further west." I guess Mystery Solved.

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Pohono
Well- Thanks to "parklover" for the suggestion. I posed the question to the Yosemite History Facebook page. Here is the response from Sonny Montague----- "That is Sewer Plant Meadow. Walk around out there and you'll find the remnants of ceramic pipe, etc. from the sludge system that pre-dated the sewer treatment plant built near Bridalveil Creek. Slaughterhouse and Wosky Pond (named after Wosky got his car stuck there) are further west." I guess Mystery Solved.

I am glad that the mystery was solved. We just got back from Yosemite today but yesterday, before Sonny's answer was posted we decided to go check it out. We did a search on Google Maps to find the exact area that the meadow you were asking about was. We first stopped at Sentinel picnic area to see if we could get a glance at the meadow from the other side of the Merced but the vegetation along the river was too thick to walk close enough to that meadow. I was just curious if the straight edge of the forest could be seen from across the river. After than we drove Northside Drive and noticed that from the road, not much of the meadow is seen due to trees close to the road. We didn't have time to stop and walk around the meadow and will have to do that another time. We are pretty familiar with Slaughterhouse meadow and Wosky Pond. The meadow is a good place for fall pictures and in the spring Wosky pond has some nice reflections if there is enough water.

Ahh! The remote glamour of the wilderness! grin

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