ches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the
heart of man.

Appendix A

Legislation About the Yosemite

In the year 1864, Congress passed the following act:--

ACT OF JUNE 30, 1864 (13 STAT., 325).

An Act Authorizing a grant to the State of California of the "Yo-Semite
Valley," and of the land embracing the "Mariposa Big Tree Grove."

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America, in Congress assembled, That there shall be, and is
hereby, granted to the State of California, the 'Cleft' or 'Gorge' in
the Granite Peak of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, situated in the county
of Mariposa, in the State aforesaid, and the headwaters of the Merced
River, and known as the Yosemite Valley, with its branches and spurs, in
estimated length fifteen miles, and in average width one mile back from
the main edge of the precipice, on each side of the Valley, with the
stipulation, nevertheless, that the said State shall accept this grant
upon the express conditions that the premises shall be held for public
use, resort, and recreation; shall be inalienable for all time; but
leases not exceeding ten years may be granted for portions of said
premises. All incomes derived from leases of privileges to be expended
in the preservation and improvement of the property, or the roads
leading thereto; the boundaries to be established at the cost of said
State by the United States Surveyor-General of California, whose
official plat, when affirmed by the Commissioner of the General Land
Office, shall constitute the evidence of the locus, extent, and limits
of the said Cleft or Gorge; the premises to be managed by the Governor
of the State, with eight other Commissioners, to be appointed by the
Executive of California, and who shall receive no compensation for their
services.

"Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That there shall likewise be, and
there is hereby, granted to the said State of California, the tracts
embracing what is known as the 'Mariposa Big Tree Grove,' not to exceed
the area of four sections, and to be taken in legal subdivisions of
one-quarter section each, with the like stipulations as expressed in
the first section of this Act as to the State's acceptance, with like
conditions as in the first section of this Act as to inalienability,
yet with the same lease privileges; the income to be expended in the
preservation, improvement, and protection of the property,