A Legend of Half Dome

At one time, many bird and animal people lived in Yosemite Valley. One of them went to Mono Lake and wed Tesaiyac, an American Indian woman. He decided to return with her to Yosemite. They began their journey, he carrying deerskins, and she holding a baby cradle in her arms and carrying a basket on her back. When they reached the site of present-day Mirror Lake, they began to quarrel. She wanted to go back to Mono Lake, but he refused, saying that no oaks or other trees grew there. He would not listen to her when she said she would plant seeds.

In despair, Tesaiyac began to cry and ran back toward Mono Lake. Her husband grew angry and ran after her. Tesaiyac threw the basket at him and it became Basket Dome. She continued running and threw the baby cradle at her husband. Today, we experience it as the Royal Arches. Because they had brought anger into Yosemite, the two were turned into stone. He became North Dome and she became Half Dome. Tesaiyac regretted the quarrel and began to cry, forming Mirror Lake.

Today, you can still see the marks of those tears as they ran down her face. And if you look very carefully at Half Dome, you can see it is fashioned after the way the Mono tribe looked, hair bobbed and cut in bangs.