Cathedral Rock--Yosemite, No. 20

Early visitors to Yosemite saw the valley in religious and historical terms, likening the primordial geological features to the great ruins of Western civilization. Sites such as the Egyptian pyramids and the Roman Colosseum had become familiar through stereographs by European photographers. In this photograph of Cathedral Rock, named for its resemblance to Gothic architecture, Watkins emphasized the monumental quality of the towering granite spires that almost entirely fill the frame.