Yosemite Valley, from the "best general view"

Watkins, Carleton E., 1829-1916 · 1866

From catalogue raisonné: The trail from the town of Mariposa to Yosemite Valley climbed to a point called "The Stand-point of Silence" later known as Inspiration Point, where Yosemite Valley could first be observed. Watkins identified many of the locations in Yosemite from which "the view looked best," a phrase he first used to describe his general goals in 1858. This is stated here as "Best General View," describing a composition made from a location known today as Old Inspiration Point. Present-day Stanford Point is to the right. Yosemite Valley is nearly 3,000 vertical feet below this location.