Nov 01 2008

Why "Yosemite" Sam?

Published by at 11:45 am under California,Western U.S.

I know "Yosemite" is a funny-sounding word, but with all due respect to Warner Bros., I don’t get the connection.  I’m pretty sure Sam would not have prospered in Yosemite.  There weren’t many people for him to rob or claims to jump.  Although, there were plenty of varmints to shoot, so maybe that’s it.

Sam is a bit different from Yosemite’s other famous men.  Let’s compare:

ysam

Exhibit A: Yosemite Sam

180px-John_Muir_Cane

Exhibit B: Conservationist John Muir 

250px-Ansel_Adams

Exhibit C: Photographer Ansel Adams

250px-James_Grizzly_Adams_-_Towne_&_Bacon,_1860

Exhibit D: Grizzly Adams (no relation to aforementioned Ansel)

 

The first thing we should look at is facial hair.  At first glance, it seems that Yosemite Sam fits in with this crew of famous Yosemite men.  However, upon closer examination, we see that Yosemite Sam simply has a giant mustache, while the others have beards.

But the differences run even deeper than that.  They all wear different types of hats, for starters. 

Now let’s look closer.  We’ll start with John Muir, one of the most influential environmentalists and conservationists in American history.  The only thing Yosemite Sam was interested in protecting was his pride, and he repeatedly failed at that.  How about Ansel Adams, an avid nature lover and an American photography icon?  Yosemite Sam is an American icon too, although mostly on the mud flaps of semi-trucks.

It is Grizzly Adams that Yosemite Sam most closely resembles.  Grizzly Adams spent most of his life in the mountains of California, capturing animals for zoos and circuses.  His claim to fame was making "pets" out of grizzly bears and wrestling them.  Idiot.  I never saw Yosemite Sam wrestle a bear, but he did go after Bugs Bunny quite often, and there was that one episode with the shark ("Down! Ya shark-livered varmint!").

Maybe he fits his name after all.

– Meredith

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