Rainbow Falls, Yosemite Valley

Frederick B. Kress

The 1861 photographs of Carleton E. Watkins and the 1862 paintings of Albert Bierstadt brought the magnificent landscapes of Yosemite to the attention of the populace on the eastern coast. In 1872, Picturesque America was published by D. Appleton and Company of New York and people viewed these as a clarion call for travel and adventure. Awaiting their arrivals were granite peaks, lakes, mountain meadows, and spectacular waterfalls.

On 20 June 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill passed by Congress that set aside Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias. The bill stated that the lands be held “…for public use, resort, and recreation…inalienable for all time.” This marked the first time the U.S. government protected land for public enjoyment and it laid the foundation for the establishment of the national and state park systems. Yosemite National Park was designated by an Act of Congress on 1 October 1890, making it the third national park in the United States, after Yellowstone and Sequoia. Yosemite National Park encompasses 747,956 acres in the central Sierra Nevada Mountain Range in California. Approximately 95% percent of the park is federally designated wilderness. Yosemite National Park was declared a World Heritage Site on 31 October 1984.

Rainbow Falls, Yosemite Valley is an oil on canvas painted about 1921 by Frederick B. Kress. Yosemite Falls is the highest waterfall in Yosemite, dropping a total of 2,425 feet from the top of the upper fall to the base of the lower fall. The formation of a waterfall rainbow is primarily a result of sunlight interacting with the airborne water droplets produced by the falling water and sprayed by the wind.