THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES GIFT OF Commodore Byron McCandless d/-^. X 'O THE Yellowstone National Park HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE illustrated with Maps, Views and Portraits BY Hiram Martin Chittenden Captain, Corps of Engineers, United States Army Author of " American Fur Trade of the Far West," ** History of Steamboat j\\iviffation on the Missouri River " etc. FIFTH EDITION REVISED AND ENLARGED CINCINNATI The ROBERT Clarke Company 1905 Copyright, 1895, by HiBAM Martin Chittenden. Copyright, 1903, by HiBAM Martin Chittenden. PRESS OF the ROBERT CLARKE CO. CINCINNATI, OHIO, U. 8. A. C4-4c| PREFACE. -0^ The present edition of The Yellowstone embraces a thorough revision of the entire work. Part I. (historical) contains much new matter on the early history of the Park ; additional information concerning its geographical names, and a new account of the Xez Perce campaign of 1817. Part II (descriptive) is greatly enlarged in the chapters on topography, geology, thermal springs, fauna and flora, roadways and administration; while the "Tour of the Park" has been entirely recast to conform to the completed road system which has opened up new sections of the Park. The illustrations are nearly all original. Especial pains has been taken to make them representative of the Park scenery as a whole, and not simply an album of conven- tional geyser and waterfall views. It is extremely gratifying to note, as time goes on, that, in every important respect, the Yellowstone Park has so far fulfilled the expectations of its founders and justified the wisdom of its creation. As a land of wonders it still remains without an equal on the globe; as a source of great rivers, whose waters will be the life-blood of a miglit)' futui-e empire, its vast importance is beginning to be realized ; as a refuge for the native fauna of the coun- (iii) 959653 IV PREFACE. tr}^, elsewhere fast passing awav, it is all that can be rea- sonably expected. Its growing favor with the general pub- lic is evidenced by the increasing number of visitors; and with the local public, by the reduced frequency of poaching and by the abandonment of efforts to introduce railroads or cut off portions of its territory. There is no longer any reason to doubt that the Park will maintain its integrity as one of the ver}- few government reservations where the original conditions of nature are being presented with fidelity. Table of Contents, PART I.— HISTORICAL. Page. Chapter I. — "Yellowstone" 1 Chapter II. — Indian Occupancy of the Upper Yellowstone. 6 Chapter III. — John Colter 15 Chapter IV. — The Trader and Trapper 28 Chapter V. — Early Knowledge of the Yellowstone 35 Chapter VI. — James Bridger and His Stories 47 Chapteis VII. — Raynolds' Expedition 56 Chapter VIII. — Gold in Montana 62 Chapter IX. — Discovery 69 Chapter X. — The National Park Idea — Its Origin and Realization 89 Chapter XI. — Why So Long Unknown 97 Chapter XII. — Later Explorations 101 Chapter XIII.— Administrative History of the Park 107 Chapter XIV. — Geographical Names in the Yellowstone Park 121 Chapter XV. — An Indian Campaign Through the Yellow- stone Park 142 Chapter XVI. — The Nez Perces and the Radersburg Tourists 152 Chapter XVII.— The Nez Perces and the Helena Tourists. 163 Chapter XVIII.— Captain Spurgin and His "Skillets" 110 Vi TABLE OF CONTEXTS. PART II.— Descriptive. Page. Chapter I. — Boundaries and Topography 175 Chapter II. — Geological History of the Park 190 Chapter III. — Geysers 203 Chapter IV. — Hot Springs and Kindred Features 210 Chapter V. — Fauna of the Yellowstone 220 Chapter VI. — Flora of the Yellowstone 233 Chapter VII.— Forests of the Yellowstone 237 Chapter VIIL— The Flowers of the Park 246 Chapter IX. — The Climate of the Park 257 Chapter X. — Roads, Hotels and Transportation 261 Chapter XL — Administration of the Park 269 Chapter XI I. —A Tour of the Park — Preliminary 273 Chapter XIII. — A Tour of the Park — North Boundary to Mammoth Hot Springs 277 Chapter XIV. — A Tour of the Park — Mammoth Hot Springs to Norris Geyser Basin 284 Chapter XV. — A Tour of the Park^Norris Geyser Basin to Lower Geyser Basin 288 Chapter XVL — A Tour of the Park — Lower Geyser Basin to Upper Geyser Basin 294 Chapter XVIL — A Tour of the Park — Upper Geyser Basin to the Yellowstone Lake 301 Chapter XVI 1 1. — A Tour of the Park — Yellowstone Lake to the Grand Caiion of the Yellowstone 314 Chapter XIX. — A Tour of the Park — Grand Canon to Tower Falls 323. TABLE OF COXTENTS. Vll APPENDIX. Page. Map Index — Mountain Ranges, Peaks, Buttes, Ridges, Hills 339 Mountain Passes 340 Lakes • 340 Streams 341 Waterfalls 343 List of Prominent Geysers 343 Index 347 List of Illustrations. Page. Great Falls of the Yellowstone and Old Faithful Geyser — Frontispiece Cliff near Tower Falls, showing soft and yielding foundation under enormous load of basalt and breccia 17 Teton Mountains and Jackson Lake 32 Osprey Falls, Middle Gardiner River 53 Ivower Falls of the Yellowstone — Original Sketch by Private Moore, a soldier in the escort of the expedition of 1870 ... 60 Snow in Park Forests 65 Forest Fire near Upper Geyser Basin 80 Yellowstone River near Tower Falls 101 Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces 108 Tower Creek 129 Beaver Dam 144 The Devjl's Inkstand 165 Soda Butte 172 The Travertine Rocks . 193 Cone and Fountain Geysers 208 Bruin Among the Flowers — Posing for a Picture 225 Group of Park Bridges 240 Ornamental Forest Growths 245 Northern Entrance to Park 252 X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Golden Gate Viaduct 261 Orange Geyser and Pulpit Terrace 268 Crater of Great Fountain Geyser 293 Upper Geyser Basin 300 Giant Geyser Cone 305 Thunderstorm on Yellowstone Lake 309 Outlet of Yellowstone Lake 316 Upper Fall of the Yellowstone 320 Lower Falls of the Yellowstone Through Rain Mist 321 Granite Boulder near Inspiration Point 325 Tower Falls 332 The Hoodoos 336 Sylvan Lake, East Road 344 Yellowstone National Park (Map) Folder THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. Part I. — Historical. CHAPTEE I. 'YELLOWSTONE. LeAvis and Clark passed the first winter of their famous trans-continental expedition among the ^landan Indians, on the Missouri Eiver, fifty-six miles ahove the present capital of Xorth Dakota. When about to resume their JQurney in the spring of 1805, they sent hack to President Jefferson a report of progress and a map of the western country based upon information derived from the Indians. In this report and upon this map appear, probably for the first time in any official document, the words "Yellow Stone" as the name of the principal trilmtary of the Mis- souri. It scorns, however, that Lewis and Clark were not tJie first actually to use the name. David Thompson, the celebrated explorer and geographer, prominently identified with the British fur trade in the Xorthwest, was among the Mandan Indians on the Missouri Kiver from December 29, 1797, to January 10, 1798. While there he secured data, principally from the natives, from which he estimated the latitude and longitude of the source of the Yellowstone River. In his (1) 2 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. original manuscript journal and field note-books, contain- ing the record of his determinations, the words "Yellow Stone^^ appear precisely as used by Lewis and Clark in 1805. This is, perhaps, the first use of the name in its Anglicised form, and it is certainly the first attempt to determine accurately the geographical location of the source of the stream.* JSTeither Thompson nor Lewis and Clark were originators of the name. They gave us only the English translation of a name already long in use. "This river,'' say Lewis and Clark, in their journal for the day of their arrival at the mouth of the now noted stream, ''Tiad been known to the French as the Eoche Jaune, or, as we have called it, the Yellow Stone.'' The French name was, in fact, already firmly established among the traders and trappers of the Northwest Fur Company, when Lewis and Clark met them among the Mandans. Even by the members of the expedi- tion it seems to have been more generally used than the new English form; and the spelHngs, "Eejone," "Eejhone/' "Eochejone," "Eochejohn," and "Eochejhone,'' are among their various attempts to render orthographically the French pronunciation. Pro])ably the name would have been adopted unchanged, as so many other French names in our geography have been, except for the recent cession of Louisiana to the •Thompson's estimate: Latitude, 43° 39' 45" north. Longitude, 109° 43' 17" west. Yount Peak, source of the Yellowstone (Hayden) : Latitude, 43° 57' north. Longitude, 109° 52' west. Thompson's error: In latitude, 17' 15". In longitude, 8' 43", or about 21 miles. 3 United States. The policy wliicli led the government promptly to explore, and take formal possession of, its ox- tensive acquisition, led it also, as part of the process of rapid Americanization, to give English names to all of the more prominent geographical features. In the case of the name here under consideration this was not an easy mat- ter. The French form had already obtained wide currency, and it was reluctantly set aside for its less familiar transla- tion. As late as 1817, it still appeared in newly English printed books,* while among the traders and trappers of the mountains, it survived to a much later period. By whom the name Roche Jaune, or its equivalent form, Pierre Jaune, was first used, it would be extremely inter- esting to know; but it is impossible to determine at this late day. Like their successor, "Yellow Stone,'' these names were not originals, but only translations. The Indian tribes along the Yellowstone and upper Missouri rivers had names for the tributary stream signifying "yellow rock,"f and the French had doubtless adopted them long before any of their number saw the stream itself. It has been supposed that the Valley of the Yellowstone was visited by white men before the time of Lewis and Clark, particularly by the Chevalier de la Verendyre about the year 1743. But later researches have shown that the route of this explorer lay further South, and that he did not enter the Yellowstone Valley at all. He may have learned of the existence of that stream, and may have heard its native name ; but if so there is no record of the fact. Following de la Verendyre at the distance of nearly half a century came the traders and trappers of the Northwest •Bradbury's "Travels in the Interior of America." fThe name "Elk River" was also used among the Crow Indians. 4 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK^ Fur Company. As already told, they were among the Mandans as early as 1797, and the name Roche Jaune was in common use among them in 1804. But it is quite cer- tain that, prior to 1805, none of them had reached the Yel- lowstone liiver itself. Lewis and Clark particularly record the fact, while yet some distance below the junction of this river with the Missouri, that they had already passed the utmost limit of previous adventure hy white men. What- ever, therefore, was at this time known of the Yellowstone could have come to these traders only from Indian sources.* It thus appears that the name, which has now become so celebrated, descends to us, through two translations, from those native races whose immemorial dwelling place had been along the stream which it describes. What it was that led them to use the name is easily discoverable. Sev- enth-five miles below the ultimate source of the river lies the Grand Canon of the Yellowstone, distinguished among the notable canons of the globe by the marvelous coloring of its walls. Conspicuous among its innumerable tints is yellow. Every shade, from the brilliant plumage of the yellow bird to the rich saffron of the orange, greets the eye in bewildering profusion. There is indeed other color, unparalleled in variety and abundance, but the ever-pres- ent background of all is the beautiful fifth color of the spectrum. So prominent is this feature that it never fails to attract ♦Much information has come to light in recent years to throw doubt on the correctness of Lewis and Clark's state- ment that they w-ere the first white men on the Upper Mis- souri. While no positive and definite record has yet been found disproving their statement, researches among old docu- ments pertaining to French occupancy of Louisiana indicate that there were much earlier explorations of the Far West country than has generally been supposed. "YELLOWSTONE/' 5 attention, and all descriptions of the Canon abound in references to it. Lieutenant Doane (1870) notes the bril- liant yellow color^' of the rocks. Captain Barlow and Doctor Hay den (1871) refer, in almost the same words, to "the yellow, nearly vertical walls.'^ Raymond (1871) speaks oif the "bright yellow of the sulphur}^ clay." Captain Jones (1873) says that "about and in the Grand Canon the rocks are nearly all tinged a brilliant yellow." These early impressions might be repeated from the writings of every subsequent visitor who has described the scenery' of the Yellowstone. That a characteristic which so deeply moves the modern beholder should have made a profound impression on the mind of the Indian need hardly be premised. This region was by no means unknown to him; and from the remote, although uncertain, period of his first acquaintance with it, the name of the river has undoubtedly descended. Going back, then, to this obscure fountain-head, the original desigrjation is found to have been Mi tsi a da zi* Eock Yellow River. And this, in the French tongue, became Bnclie Jaune and Pierre Jaune; and in English, Yellow Rock and Yellow Stone. Established usage now writes it Yellowstone. ♦Minnetaree, one of the Siouan family of languages. CHAPTER 11. INDIAN OCCUPANCY OF THE UPPER YELLOWSTONE. It is a singular fact in the history of the Yellowstone National Park that very little knowledge of that country seems to have been derived from the Indians. The explana- tion ordinarily advanced is that the Indians had a super- stitious fear of the geyser regions, and therefore avoided them. How far this theor}^ is supported by the results of modern research is an interesting inquiry. Three great families of Indians, the Siouan, the Algoii- quian, and the Shoshonean, originally occupied the country around the sources of the Yellowstone. Of these three families the following tribes are alone of interest in this connection: The Crows, of the Siouan family; the Black- feet, of the Algonquian family; and the Bannocks, the Eastern Shoshones, and the Sheepeaters, of the Shoshon- ean family. The home of the Crows was in the Valley of the Yellow- stone and Big Horn Rivers, below the mountains, where they have dwelt since the white man's earliest knowledge of them. Their territory extended to the mountains which bound the Yellowstone Park on the north and east; bat they never occupied or claimed any of the country beyond. Their well-known tribal characteristics were an insatiable love of horse stealing and a wandering and predatory habit which caused them to roam over all the West from the Black Hills to the Bitter Root IMoimtains, and from the British Possessions to the Spanish Provinces. They were generally friendly to the whites, but enemies of the INDIAN OCCUPANCY OF THE UPPER YELLOWSTONE. 7 neighboring Blackfeet and Shoshones. Physically, they were a stalwart, handsome race, fine horsmen and daring hunters. They were everywhere encountered by the trap- per and prospector, who generally feared them more on account of their thievish habits than for reasons of per- sonal safety. The Blackfeet dwelt in the country drained by the headwaters of the Missouri. Their territory may be roughly defined as the watershed of that stream above and including Milk Eiver. The distinguishing historic trait of these Indians was their settled hostility to their neighbors, whether white or Indian. They were a tribe of perpetual fighters, justly characterized as the Ishmael- ites of their race. From the day in 1806, when Captain Lewis slew one of their number, down to their final sub- jection by the advancing power of the whites, they never buried the hatchet. They were the terror of the trapper and miner, and hundreds of the pioneers perished at their hands. Like the Crows, they were a well-developed race, good horsemen and great rovers, but, in fight, given to subterfuge and strategem rather than to open boldness of action.* * The term Blackfeet in the earlier years of the past cen- tury embraced, in popular language, four tribes — the Black- feet proper, the Bloods, the Piegan and the Grosventres of the Prairies. The Grosventres did not properly belong to the Blackfeet at all, but were related to the Arapahoes, who dwelt near th-e headwaters of the Arkansas. In some of their early migrations the two tribes had become separated, the Gros- ventres settling down in the country of the Blackfeet, with whom, in the course of long association, they becam-e closely identified. They were the most relentlessly hostile to the wiites of any of the four tribes. It was a Grosventre Indian that Captain Lewis killed in 1806. 8 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. In marked contrast with these warlike and wandering tribe? were those of the great Shoshoncan family, who occupied the countr\^ around the southern, eastern, and western borders of the Park, including also that of the Park itself. The Shoshones as a family were an inferior race. 'They seem to have been the victims of some great misfortune which had driven them to precarious methods of subsistence and had made them the prey of their power- ful and merciless neighbors. The names *Tish-eaters," "Eoot-diggers," and other opprobrious epithets, indicate the contempt in which they were commonly held. For the most part they had no horses, and obtained a livelihood only by the most abject means. Some of the tribes, how- ever, rose above this degraded condition, owned horses; hunted buffalo, and met their enemies in open conflict. Such were the Bannocks and the Eastern Shoshones — tribes closely connected with the history of the Park, one occup}'- ing the country to the southwest near the Teton Moun- tains, and the other that to the southeast in the Valley of Wind River. The Shoshones were generally friendly to the whites, and for this reason they figure less prominently in the books of early adventure than do the Blackfeet, whose acts of "sanguinary violence" were a staple article for the Indian romancer. It was an humble branch of the Shoshonean family which alone is known to have permanently occupied what is now the Yellowstone Park. They were called Tuhua- ril'a, or, more commonly. Sheepeaters. They were found in the Park country at the time of its discovery, and had doubtless long been there. These hermits of the moun- tains, whom the French trappers called ''les dignes da pitie/' have engaged the sympathy or contempt of explorers since our earliest knowledge of them. Utterly unf '; for INDIAN OCCUPANCY OF THE UPPER YELLOWSTONE. 9 warlike contention, they seem to have sought immunity from their dangerous neighbors by dwelling among the inaccessible fastnesses of the mountains. They were desti- tute of even savage comforts. Their food, as their name indicates, was principally the flesh of the mountain sheep. Their clothing was composed of skins. They had no horses, and were armed only with bows and arrows. They cap- tured game by driving it into brush enclosures. Their rigorous existence left its mark on their physical nature. They were feeble in mind, diminutive in stature, and are always described as a "timid, harmless race." They may have been longer resident in this region than is commoiily supposed, for there was a tradition among them, appar- ently connected with some remote period of geological dis- turbance, that most of their race were once destroyed by a terrible convulsion of nature. Such were the Indian tribes who formerly dwelt within or near the country now embraced in the Yellowstone National Park. That the Sheepeaters actually occupied this country, and that wandering bands from other tribes occasionally visited it^ there is abundant and conclusive proof. Indian trails, though generally indistinct, were everywhere found by the early explorers, generally on lines since occupied by the tourist routes. One of these followed the Yellowstone Valley entirely across the Park from north to south. It divided at Yellowstone Lake, the prin- cipal branch following the east shore, crossing Two-Ocean- Pass, and intersecting a great trail which connected the Snake and Wind River Valleys. The other branch passed along the west shore of the lake and over the divide to the valley of the Snake Eiver and Jackson Lake. This trail was intersected by an important one in the vicinity of Co- Dant Creek leading up from the Upper Snake A^alley to 10 THE YELLOWSTOXE XATIOXAL PARK. that of Henry Fork. Other intersecting trails connected the Yellowstone Eiver trail with the Madison and Firehole Basins on the west and with the Bighorn Valley on the east. The most important Indian trail in the Park, however, was that known as the Great Bannock Trail. It extended from Henry Lake across the Gallatin Eange to Mammoth Hot Springs, where it was joined by another coming up the valley of the Gardiner. Thence it led across the Black- tail Deer plateau to the ford above Tower Falls; and thence up the Lamar Valley, forking at Soda Butte, and reaching the Bighorn A'alley by way of Clark's Fork and the Shoshone River.* This trail was certainly a very an- cient and much-traveled one. It had ])ecome a deep fur- row in the grassy slopes, and it is still distinctly visible in places, though unused for a quarter of a century. Additional evidence in the same direction may be seen in the widespread distribution of implements peculiar to Indian use. Arrows and spear heads have been found in considerable numbers. Obsidian Cliif was an important quarry, and the open country near the outlet of Yellow- stone Lake a favorite camping ground. Certain implements, such as pipes, hammers, and stone vessels, indicating the former presence of a more civilized people, have been found to a limited extent; and some explorers have thought that a S3mimetrical mound in the valley of the S7"iake Eiver, below the month of Heart Eiver, is of artificial origin. Eeference will be made later to the discovery of a rude granite structure near the top of the Grand Teton, which is unquestionably of very ancient date. Eustic Geyser, in the Heart Lake Geyser Basin, is ''bor- * For history of this name, see chapter on geographical nomenclature of the Park. INDIAN OCCUPANCY OF THE UPPER YELLOWSTONE. 11 dcred by logs which are coated with a crystalline, semi- translucent deposit of geyserite. These logs were evidently placed around the geyser by either Indians or wlute men a number of years ago, as the coating is thick and the lo.^s firmly attached to the surrounding deposit."* More recent and perishable proofs of the presence of Indians in the Park were found by the early explorers in the rude wick-e-ups, brush inclosures, and similar contriv- ances of the lonely Sheepcaters. The real question of doubt in regard to Indian occu- pancy of or visits to the Park is therefore not one of fact, but of degree. The Sheepeaters certainly dwelt there ; but as to other tribes, their acquaintance with it seems to have been very limited. No word of information about the gey- ser regions ever fell from their lips, except that the sur- rounding country was known to them as the Burning Mountains. With one or two exceptions, the old trails were very indistinct, requiring an experienced eye to distin- guish them from game trails. Their undeveloped condi- tion indicated infrequent use. Old trappers who knew tJiis region in early times say that the great majority of Indians never saw it. Able Indian guides in the surround- ing country became lost when they entered the Park, and the Nez Perces were forced to impress a wliitc man as guide when they crossed it in 1877. A writer, to whom extended reference will be made in a later chapter, visited the Upper Geyser Basin in ISSC. accompanied by two Pend d'Oreilles Indians. Xeither of these Indians had ever seen or apparently heard of the geysers, and they "were quite appalled'^ at the sight of * Page 298, Twelfth Annual Report of Dr. Hayden. It is more than probable that this was the work of trappers. 12 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. them, believing them to be "supernatural" and the "pro- duction of the Evil Spirit." Lieutenant Doane, who commanded the military escort to the Yellowstone Expedition of 1870, says in his report :* "Appearances indicated that the basin [of the Yellow- stone Lake] had been almost entirely abandoned by the sons of the forest. A few lodges of Sheepeaters, a branch remnant of the Snake tribe_, wretched beasts who run from the sight of a white man, or from any other tribe of In- dians, are said to inhabit the fastnesses of the mountains around the lakes, poorly armed and dismounted, obtaining a precarious subsistence and in a defenseless condition. We saw, however, no recent traces of them. The larger tribes never enter the basin, restrained by superstitious ideas in connection with the thermal springs." In 1880, Col. P. W. Norris, Second Superintendent of the Park, had a long interview on the shore of the Yellow- stone Lake with We-Saw, "an old but remarkably intelli- gent Indian" of the Shoshone tribe, who was then acting as guide to an exploring party under Governor Hoyt, of Wyoming, and who had previously passed through the Park with the expedition of 1873 under Capt. W. A. Jones, U. S. A. He had also been in the Park region on former occasions. Colonel Norris records the following facts from this Indian's conversation : f "We-Saw states that he had neither knowledge nor tra- dition of any permanent occupants of the Park save the timid Sheepeaters. ... He said that his people (Shos- hones), the Bannocks, and the Crows, occasionally visited the Yellowstone Lake and River portions of the Park, but * Page 26, "Yellawstone Expedition of 1870." 1 Page 38, Annual Report of Superintendent of the Park for 1^1. INDIAN OCCUPANCY OF THE UPPER YELLOWSTONE. 13 vory seMom the geyser regions, which he declared were *heap, heap, bad/ and never wintered there, as white men sometimes did with horses/^ It seems that even the resident Sheepeaters knew little of the geyser basins. General Sheridan, who entered the Park from the South in 1882, makes this record in his re- port of the expedition:* "We had with us five Sheep-eating Indians as guides, and, fctrange to say, although these Indians had lived for years and years about Mounts Sheridan and Hancoek, and the high mountains Southeast of the Yellowstone Lake, they knew nothing about the Firehole Geyser Basin, and they exhibited more astonishment and wonder than any of us." Evidence like the foregoing clearly indicates that this country was terra incognita to the vast body of Indians who dwelt around it, and again this singular fact presents itself for explanation. Was it, as is generally supposed, a "superstitious fear^' that kept them away? The inci- dents just related give some color to such a theory; but if it were really true, we should expect to find well authenti- cated Indian traditions of so marvelous a country. Unfor- tunately history records none that are worthy of consider- ation. Only in the names "Yellowstone"' and "Burning Mountains" do we find any original evidence that this land of wonders appealed in the least degree to the native imagination.f The real explanation of this remarkable ignorance ap- pears to us to rest on grounds essentially practical. There was nothing to induce the Indians to visit the Park country. For three-fourths of the year that country is • Page 11, Report on Explorations of Parts of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, 1882. * See, however. Page 46. 14 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. iDaccessible on account of snow. It is covered with dense forests, which in most places are so filled with fallen timber and tangled underbrush as to be practically impassable. As a game country in those early days it could not compare with the lower surrounding valleys. As a highway of com- munication between the valleys of the Missouri, Snake, Yellowstone and Bighorn Eivers, it was no thoroughfare. The great routes, except the Bannock trail already described, lay on the outside. All the conditions, therefore, which might attract the Indians to this region were want- ing. Even those sentimental influences, such as a love of sublime scenery and a curiosity to see the strange freaks of nature, evidently had less weight with them than with their pale-face brethren. CHAPTEE III. JOHN COLTER. The first white man to set foot within the territory of the Yellowstone Xational Park was the individual whose name stands at the head of this chapter. He first comes to our notice as a private soldier in the expedition of Lewis and Clark. He accompanied these explorers across the conti- nent and as far back as Fort Mandan, the winter quarters of 1804-5. He was a typical frontiersman, though of more than average ability. A man of undaunted courage and incredible endurance, his whole career, so far as we know it, was filled with perilous adventure, and his exploits might pass for fairy tales were they not substantiated by the most reliable evidence. During his service under Lewis and Clark he won the respect and praise of those officers, and his work after he left them has won for him the resj)ect and praise of his posterity. When Lewis and Clark reached Fort Mandan on their return journey in 1806, Colter appealed to them to be relieved from further service in order that he might remain in the country and trap for beaver. The incident is thus recorded in the journal under date of August 15 and 16, 1806 : *Tn the evening we were applied to by one of our men, Colter, who was desirous of joining the two trappers who had accompanied us, and who now proposed an expedition up the river, in which they were to find traps and give him a share of the profits. The offer was a very advantageous one, and, as he had always performed his duty, and his 16 TILE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. services might be dispensed with, we agreed that he might go, provided none of the rest would ask or expect a similar indulgence. To this they cheerfully answered that they wished Colter every success and would not apply for liberty to separate before we reached St. Louis. We there- fore supplied him, as did his comrades also, with powder, lead, and a variety of articles which might be useful to him, and he left us the next day.'' To our explorers, just returning from a two years' sojourn in the wilderness. Colter's decision seemed too remarkable to be passed over in silence. The journal con- tinues: "The example of this man shows us how easily men may be weaned from the habits of civilized life to the ruder but scarcely less fascinating manners of the woods. This hunter has now been absent for many years from the frontier, and might naturally be presumed to have some anxiety, or some curiosity at least, to return to his friends and his country; yet just at the moment when he ia approaching the frontiers, he is tempted by a hunting scheme to give up those delightful prospects, and go back without the least reluctance to the solitude of the woods." Colter remained on the upper rivers until the spring of 1807, but just where, or with what adventure, is not known. After his first winter in the trapping business he decided to return to St. Louis. He set out in a log canoe entirely alone and made his way in safety as far as to the mouth of the Platte Eiver. Here he met an expedition under the celebrated trader, Manuel Lisa, bound for the headwaters of the Missouri to verify the glowing reports brought back by Lewis and Clark concerning the wealth of beaver fur to be found in that region. To Lisa the accession of such a recruit as John Colter, fresh from the very country Cliff Near Tower Falls. JOHN COLTER. Vt to which he was going, was a matter of the very highest importance. What inducements were offered we do not know, but enough to decide the self-exiled hunter to give up his return to civilization and to set his face for the third time toward the wilderness. Nothing occurred on the voyage with which his name is connected until the arrival of the expedition at the mouth of the Bighorn. Lisa had expected to find the Blackfeet nation very hostile, and it may have been a fear of this hostility that caused his unlucky decision to establish him- self in the country of their enemies, the Crows. But it seemed that a detachment of Lisa's party met a band of Blackfeet, either before or soon after the arrival at tlio mouth of the Bighorn, from whom interesting and impor- tant information was obtained. Far from being hostile, these Indians evinced a pacific disposition, and said that the provocation under which Captain Lewis had acted in kill- ing one of their number was so obvious and flagrant that they had not cherished this act as a justification of hos- tility, and were ready to open relations of trade with the whites. Lisa was greatly pleased at this prospect. He had already arranged to send Colter to notify the surrounding bands of Indians of his arrival, and he probably directed him to proceed also to the Three Forks of the Missouri and confer with the Blackfeet nation. It was a perilous adven- ture and one requiring great courage and hardihood. 'This man/' says Brackenridge, "with a pack of thirty pounds weight, his gun and some ammunition, went upward of five hundred miles to the Crow nation ; gave them informa- tion, and proceeded from thence to several other tribes." It seems that when Lisa arrived in the country the Crows were in the upper end of the vallev, probably on Wind (I*) ^ / 18 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIOXAL PARK. Eiver, and Colter had to travel a long distance to reach them. He then most likely secured the services of a party of the Crows to guide him by the best trail across the mountains, for he would hardly have selected so well by himself what is now, and doubtess was then, the best route through this exceptionally rugged country. All available evidence indicates that Colter traveled directly from Wind Eiver to Pierre's Hole, crossing the Wind Eiver mountains by Union Pass and the Teton Eange by Teton Pass. The sublime and wonderful scenery and the remarkable topo- graphical situation by which divergent streams flow from a common neighborhood to widely-separated river systems, and the ease with which the mountains could be crossed,* impressed Colter deeply. When he returned to St. Louis he drew the attention of Clark, Brackenridge and others to these remarkable features. It is probable that it was in the valley of Pierre's Hole that "the party in whose company he happened to be," was attacked, as related by Brackenridge. This party, accord- ing to Biddle, was of the Crow nation and the attacking party were Blackfeet. A fight ensued and Colter, by the necessity of the situation, was compelled to take part with the Crows. He distinguished himself greatly and received a severe wound in the leg. The Blackfeet were defeated, * "At the head of the Gallatin Fork and of the Grosse Come of the Yellowstone [the Bighorn River], from discoveries since the voyage of Lewis and Clark, it is found less difficult to cross than the Allegheny mountains. Colter, a celebrated hunter and woodsman, informed me that a loaded wagon would find no obstruction in passing." — Brackenridge. The Gallatin river was mistaken for one of the upper branches of the Yellowstone, probably; but it is clear that Colter here refers to Union or Two-gwotee pass at the head of Wind River. JOHN COLTEH. 19 but not until they had seen the pale-face ally of their enemies, to whom, no doubt, they attributed their dis- comfiture. The Crows, having conducted their guest across the mountains, and probably not deeming it wise to linger until the vengeance of the Blackfeet should bring reinforcements upon them, left Colter at this point and returned to their country. This conclusion seems certain from Colter's own narrative to Brackenridge, who says that, notwithstanding tlie wound in his leg, ^lie returned to the establishment entirely alone and without assistance, several hundred miles.'' Colter, upon his return to St. Louis, gave to Gen- eral Clark a description of his route, which the latter placed upon the map accompanying the report of the Lewis and Clark expedition and legended it '^'Colter's Route in 1807.'* This map makes it clear that from Pierre's Hole Colter undertook to reach Lisa's fort by the most direct route })ossible. Such was probably his plan. He knew that it would be folly for him now to proceed to the Tlirce Forks, where he would become an instant victim of Blackfoot vengeance. The best thing to do was to make his way back to the fort and report to Lisa. To go by the way he had come would be to make a long detour and nearly doul^le the distance over a direct line. Colter had a sufficient bump of locality to know that Lisa's fort lay about northeast of his position. He accordingly launched into the dense pine forests that cover the country on the northern flank of tlie Teton range and the southern portion of the Yellowstone National Park. It may with difficulty be imagined wliat must have been his astonishment when, emerging from the forests upon the shore of that surpassingly beautiful moun- tain lake near the source of the Yellowstone River, he found its shores steaming mXh. innumerable boiling springs and 20 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. geysers. As a matter of fact Colter^s route was carrying him directly across the present Yellowstone Park, from south- west to northeast. He saw the strange phenomena on the sliore of Yellowstone Lake, and along the course of its out- let for a distance of some forty miles. There is no record that he ever mentioned having seen the Falls of the Yellowstone, but he could hardly have escaped them, con- sidering the course of his journey as outlined upon the map. He continued down the Yellowstone so long as it bore to the northeast on his general course, but left it by way of the valley of the East Fork, where the river turns abruptly to the northwest. Such, in the main, is "Colter's route in 1807" — from the mouth of the Bighorn to the forks of the Shoshone Eiver, where he discovered an immense tar spring; thence to the Teton Pass and Pierre's Hole just west of the Teton Eange; thence northeast to Yellowstone Lake and down the Yel- lowstone Eiver to the ford at Tower Falls ; thence along the old Indian trail that led out of the Park country, and over into the valley of Clark's Fork ; thence back to the forks of the Shoshone, and thence back to Lisa's fort. He did not see the great geyser basins nor Mammoth Hot Springs, but he must have seen the Caiion and Falls of the Yellowstone. This very remarkable achievement — remarkable in the courage and hardihood of this lone adventurer and remark- able in its unexpected results in geographical discovery — deserves to be classed among the most celebrated perform- ances in the history of American exploration. Colter was the first explorer of the valley of the Bighorn Eiver; the first to cross the passes at the head of Wind Eiver and see the headwaters of the Colorado of the West ; the first to see the Teton Mountains, Jackson Hole, Pierre's Hole, and the JOHN COLTER. 21 source of the Snake Eiver ; and most important of all, the iirst to pass through that singular region which has since become known throughout the world as the Yellowstone AVonderland. He also saw the immense tar spring at the forks of the Shoshone Eiver, a spot which came to bear the name of ^'Colter's Hell/' Colter had now accomplished enough to entitle him to lasting distinction in the cause of geographical exploration ; but honors of a more perilous character still awaited him. As soon as spring opened — for he could not have returned to Lisa's fort before the arrival of winter — Lisa dispatched him again to visit the Blackfeet. He set out directly for the Three Forks of the Missouri, where he seems to have employed his time trapping until the Indians put in an appearance. He was accompanied on this expedition by a companion named Potts, very likely the same one who had been a fellow soldier in the Lewis and Clark expedition. Biddle relates that when these two men met the Blackfeet these Indians did not even yet evince hostile intentions, but that an altercation soon ensued, ending in a combat in which Potts was killed and Colter made his escape. This affair was probably the same as that related by John Brad- bury in his "Travels in Xorth America," and better known through Irving's "Astoria.'^ Colter gave the account of his miraculous escape to the English naturalist immediately after his return to St. Louis in the spring of 1810. All other accounts are based upon Bradbur/s. The simple and direct language in which the author has clothed his recital tells the story so well that even the skilful pen of Irving adopted it almost without change. The adventure is one of those remarkable experiences which have now and then occurred in our frontier history, almost beyond credibility, 22 THE TELLOWSTOXE NATIONAL PARK. hut nevertheless in their details clearly possible. The story is here repeated in the exact words of Bradbury : '"This man came to St. Louis in May, 1810, in a small canoe, from the headwaters of the ]\Iissouri, a distance of three thousand miles, which he traversed in thirty days. I saw him on his arrival, and received from him an account of his adventures aftor he had separated from Lewis and Clark's party; one of these^ from its singularity, I shall relate. On the arrival of the party at the headwaters of the Missouri, Colter, observing an appearance of abundance of beaver there, got permission to remain and hunt for some time, which he did in company with a man by the name of Dixon, who had traversed the immense tract of country from St. Louis to the headwaters of the ^Missouri alone. "Soon after he separated from Dixon and trapped in company with a hunter named Potts; and aware of the hostility of the Blackfeet Indians, one of whom had been killed by Lewis, they set their traps at night, and took them up early in the morning, remaining concealed during the day. They were examining their traps early one morning, in a creek about six miles from that branch of the Missouri called Jefferson's Fork, and were ascending in a canoe, when they suddenly heard a great noise, resembling the trampling of animals ; but they could not ascertain the fact, as the high perpendicular banks on each side of the river impeded their view. Colter immediately pronounced it to be occasioned by Indians, and advised an instant retreat; but was accused of cowardice by Potts, who insisted that the noise was caused by buffaloes, and they proceeded on. In a few minutes afterward their doubts were removed by a party of Indians making their appearance on both sides of the creek^ to the amount of iive or six hundred, who beckoned them to come ashore. As retreat was now impos- sible, Colter_turned the head of the canoe to the shore; and^ JOHN COLTER. 23 at the moment of its touching an Indian seized the rifle belonging to Potts; but Colter (who is a remarkably strong man), immediately retook it, and handed it to Potts, who remained in the canoe, and on receiving it pushed ofl into the river. He had scarcely quitted the shore when an arrow was shot at him, and he cried out, 'Colter, I am wounded.' Colter remonstrated with him on the folly of attempting to. escape, and urged him to come ashore. Instead of com- plying, he instantly leveled his rifle at an Indian, and shot him dead on the spot. This conduct, situated as he was, may appear to have been an act of madness ; but it was doubtlej^s the effect of sudden and sound reasoning; for if taken alive he must have expected to be tortured to death, according to their custom. He w^as instantly pierced with arrows so numerous that, to use the language of Colter, *he was made a riddle of.' ''They now seized Colter, stripped him entirely naked, and began to consult on the manner in which he should be put to death. They were first inclined to set him up as a mark to shoot at ; but the chief interfered, and seizing him by the shoulder, asked him if he could run fast. Colter, who had been some time amongst the Kee-kat-sa, or Crow Indians, had in a considerable degree acquired the Black- foot language, and was also well acquainted with Indian customs. He knew that he had now to run for his life, with the dreadful odds of five or six hundred against him, and those armed Indians; therefore he cunningly replied that he was a very bad runner, although he was considered by the hunters as remarkably swift. The chief now com- manded the party to remain stationary, and led Colter out on the prairie tlirce or four hundred yards, and released him, bidding him to save himself if he could. At that instant the horrid war whoop sounded in the ears of poor 24 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. Colter, who, urged with the hope of preserving life, ran with a speed at which he was himself surprised. He pro- ceeded toward the Jefferson Fork, having to traverse a plain six miles in breadth, abounding with prickly pear, on which he was every instant treading with his naked feet. He ran nearly half way across the plain before he ventured to look over his shoulder, when he perceived that the Indians were very much scattered, and that he had gained ground to a considerable distance from the main body ; but one Indian, who carried a spear, was much before all the rest, and not more than a hundred yards from him. A faint gleam of hope now cheered the heart of Colter; he derived confidence from the belief that escape was within the bounds of possibility; but that confidence was nearly fatal to him, for he exerted himself to such a degree that the blood gushed from his nostrils, and soon almost covered the fore part of his body. "He had now arrived within a mile of the river, when he distinctly heard the appalling sound of footsteps behind him, and every instant expected to feel the spear of his pursuer. Again he turned his head, and saw the savage not twenty yards from him. Determined if possible to avoid the expected blow, he suddenly stopped, turned round, and spread out his arms. The Indian, surprised by the suddenness of the action, and perhaps of the bloody appearance of Colter, also attempted to stop ; but exhausted with running, he fell whilst endeavoring to throw his spear, which stack in the ground and broke in his hand. Colter instantly snatched up the pointed part, with which he pinned him to the earth, and then continued his flight. The foremost of the Indians, on arriving at the place, stopped till others came up to join them, when they set up a hideous yell. Every moment of this time was improved by JOHN COLTER.' 25 Colter, who, although fainting and exhausted, succeeded in gaining the skirting of the cottonwood trees, on the borders of the fork, through which he ran and plunged into the river. Fortunately for him, a little below this place there was an island, against the upper point of which a raft of drift timber had lodged. He dived under the raft, and after several efforts, got his head above water amongst the trunks of trees, covered over with smaller wood to the depth of several feet. Scarcely had he secured himself when the Indians arrived on the river, screeching and yelling, as Colter expressed it, like so many devils/ They were frequently on the raft during the day, and were seen through the chinks by Colter, who was congratulating him- self on his escape, until the idea arose that they might set the raft on fire. "In horrible suspense he remained until night, when hearing no more of the Indians, he dived from under the raft, and swam silently down the river to a considerable distance, when he landed, and traveled all night. Although happy in having escaped from the Indians, his situation was still dreadful ; he was completely naked, under a burn- ing sun; the soles of his feet were entirely filled with the thorns of the prickly pear; he was hungry, and had no means of killing game, although he saw abundance around him, and was at least seven days' journey from Lisa's fort, on the Bighorn branch of the Eoche Jaune Eiver. These were circumstances under which almost any man but an American hunter would have despaired. He arrived at the fort in seven days, having subsisted on a root much esteemed by the Indians of the Missouri, now known by naturalists as psoralea esculenta/' From this time on deadly enmity toward the white race became the settled policy of the Blackfeet Indians. There (2) 26 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. is probably little doubt that it was the apparent favoritism of the white traders toward their enemies, the Crows, that turned the scale. For this appearance the action of Lisa in building his first post in Crow territory, and Colter's accidental presence in the ranks of the Crows when these Indians were attacked by the Blackfeet, are mainly respon- sible. Colter thus became in part the involuntary cause of that deadly feud which lasted beyond the lifetime of any of his contemporaries. Colter remained on the upper rivers until after Lisa's return in the summer of 1809 with an extensive outfit of the newly forjned St. Louis jMissouri Fur Company. But he ver}^ wisely abandoned the country before the disastrous events of IS 10 at the Three Forks of the Missouri. Ke set out for St. Louis about April 1st of that year, and made the descent of the rivers in thirty days, a distance, accord- ing to his own estimate, of some three thousand miles. He remained in St. Louis for a considerable time, and evidently talked a great deal about his adventures. He gave Clark important data for his forthcoming map of the Lewis and Clark expedition. He succeeded in making him- self accounted a confirmed prevaricator. No author or map-maker would jeopardize the success of his work by incorporating in it such incredible material as Colter fur- nished. His stories were not believed; their author became the subject of jest and ridicule; and the region of his adventures was long derisively known as "Colter's Hell.'** * This name early came to be restricted to the locality where Ck)lter discovered the tar spring on the Shoshone, probably because few trappers ever saw the other similar localities vis- ited by him. But Coltei^s descriptions, so well summed up by Irving in his "Captain Bonneville," undouMedly refer in large part to what he saw in the Yellowstone and Snake River Valleys JOHN COLTER. 27 Among those who esteemed Colter's accounts of siifB- cient importance to merit attention may be mentioned Gen. William Clark, Henry M. Brackenridge, the author, and John Bradbury, the English naturalist. He was seen by Bradbury in the spring of 1810, immediately after his return to St. Louis. Bradbury also spent the forenoon of March 18, 1811, with Colter while en route up the Missouri with the Astoria expedition of that year. Colter had lately married and was living near the river above the point where the little creek La Charette empties into the main stream. He was full of admonitions in regard to the Blackfeet, and urged the most careful measures to prevent trouble with them. As he saw the well appointed expedition setting out for the mountains, the old fever seized him again and he was upon the point of joining the party. But what the hardships of the wilderness and the pleasures of civilization could not dissuade him from doing, the charms of a newl}'- married wife easily accomplished. Colter remained be- hind; and here the curtain of oblivion falls upon the dis- coverer of the Yellowstone.* * This is the last positive record that we have of John Colter. In the Louisiana Gazette, St. I^uis, December 11, 1813, there appeared a notice by the administrator of the estate of "John Coulter, deceased," calling for a settlement of all claims for or against the estate. The final settlement left a balance in favor of the estate of $229.41%. The deceased may or may not have been the subject of this sketch. CHAPTEE IV. THE TRADER AND TRAPrER. For fifty years after Lewis and Clark returned from their expedition, the headwaters of the Yellowstone re- mained unexplored except by the trader and trapper. It was the traffic in peltries that first induced extensive ex- ploration of the West. Concerning the precious metals, the people seem to have had little faith in their abundant existence there, and no organized search for them was made in the earlier years of the century. But that country, even in its unsettled state, had other and impor- tant sources of wealth. Myriads of beaver inhabited the streams and innumerable buffalo roamed the valleys. The buffalo furnished the trapper with means of subsistence, and beaver furs were better than mines of gold. Far in advance of the tide of settlement the lonely trapper, and after him the trader, penetrated the unknown West. Grad- ually the enterprise of individuals crystallized around a few important nuclei and there grew up those great fur- trading companies which for many years exercised a kind of paternal sway over the Indians and the scarcely more civilized trappers. A brief resume of the history of these companies will show how important a place they occupy in the early history of the Upper Yellowstone. The climax of the western fur business may be placed at about the year 1830. At that time three great companies operated in territories whose converging lines of separation centered in the region about Yellowstone Lake. The oldest and most important of them, and the one destined to out- THE TRADER AND TRAPPER. 29 live the others, was the \vorld-reno\\Tied Hudson's Bay Company. It was at that time more than a century and a half old. Its earlier history was in marked contrast with that of later years. Secure in the monopoly which its extensive charter rights guaranteed, it had been content with substantia] profits and had never pushed its business far into the new territorv' nor managed it with aggressive vigor. It was not until forced to action by the encroa>ch- ments of a dangerous rival that it became the prodigious power of later times. This rival was the great jSTorthwest Fur Company of Montreal. It had grown up since the French and Indian War, partly as a result of that conflict, and finally took corporate form in 1787. It had none of the important territorial rights of the Hudson's Bay Company, but its lack of monopoly was more than made up by the enterprise of its promoters. With its bands of Canadian frontiersmen, it boldly penetrated the northwest and paid little respect to those territorial rights which its venerable rival was power- less to enforce. It rapidly extended its operations far into the unexplored interior. Lewis and Clark found its traders among the Mandans in 180-1:. In 1811 the Astorians saw its first party descend the Columbia to the sea. Two years later the American traders on the Pacifi.c Coast were forced to succumb to their British rivals. A long and bitter strife now ensued between the two British companies. It even assumed the magnitude of civil war, and finally resulted in a frightful massacre of unoffending colonists. The British government interfered and forced the rivals into court, where they were brought to the verge of ruin by protracted litigation. A compro- mise was at last effected in 1821 by an amalgamation of the two companies under the name of the older rival. 30 T?TE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. But in the meantime a large part of their best fur country had been lost. In 1816 the government of the United States excluded British traders from its territory cast of the Eocky Mountains. To the west of this limit, however, the amalgamated company easily forced all its rivals from the field. Xo American fur company ever attained the splendid organization, nor the influence over the Indians, possessed by the Hudson's Bay Company. At the time of which we write it was master of the trade in the Columbia Eiver Valley, and the eastern limit of its operations within the territory of the United States was nearly coincident with the present western boundary of the Yellowstone Park. The second of the great companies to which reference has been made was the American Fur Company. It was the final outcome of John Jacob Astor's various attempts to control the fur trade of the United States. Although it was incorporated in 1808, it was for a time overshadowed by the more brilliant enterprises known as the Pacific Pur Company and the Southwest Fur Company. The history of Mr. Astor's Pacific Fur Company, the dismal experi- ences of the Astorians, and the deplorable failure of the whole undertalcing, are matters familiar to all readers of Irving^s "Astoria.'^ The other project gave for a time more substantial promise of success. A British company of considerable importance, under the name of the Mackinaw Company, with headquarters at Michilimacinac, had for some time operated in the country about the headwaters of the Missis- sippi now included in the States of Wisconsin and Min- nesota. Astor formed a new company, partly with Amer- ican and partly with Canadian capital, bought out the Mackinaw Company and changed its name to Southwest THE TRADER AND TRAPPER. 31 Fur Company. But scarcely had its promising career begun when it was cut short by the War of 1812. The failure of these two attempts caused Mr. Astor to turn to the old American Fur Company. The exclusion Act of 1816 enabled him to buy at his own price the North- west Fur Company's posts on the upper rivers., and the American Company rapidly extended its trade over all the country, from Lake Superior to tlie Rocky ^lountains. Its posts multiplied in every direction, and at an early date steamboats began to do its business up the Missouri River from St. Louis. It gradually absorbed lesser concerns, such as the ^lissouri Fur Company, and the Columbia Fur Company, and by 1830 was complete master of the trade throughout the Missouri Valley. In 1834, Astor sold liis interests to Pratte, Chouteau and Company, of St. Louis, and retired from the business. At this time the general western limit of the territory operated in by tliis foriii id- able company was the northern and eastern slope of the mountains which bound the Yellow^stone Park on the north and east. Its line of operations was down the river to St. Louis, and its trading posts were located at freciuont intervals between. The third of the great rival companies was the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, whicli was founded in St. Louis in 1822 by Gen. W. H. Ashley, and received its full organ- ization in 182 G under the direction of Jedediah S. Smith, David Jackson pnd William L. Sublette. Among the lead- ing spirits, who at one time or another guided its affairs, was the famous mountaineer, James Bridger, to whom frequent reference will be made. This company had its general center of operations on the headwaters of Green River to the west of South Pass. Unlike the other companies^ it had no na\igable stream 32 TttE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. along which it could establish posts and conduct its opera- tions. By the necessities of its exclusively mountain trade it developed a new feature of the fur business. The voyageur, with his canoe and oar, gave way to the moun- taineer, with his saddle and rifle. The trading post was replaced by the annual "rendezvous," which was in many points the forerunner of the later cattle "roundups'* of the plains. These rendezvous were agreed upon each year at localities best suited to the convenience of the trade. Hither in the spring came from the east convoys of supplies for the season's use. Hither repaired also the various parties of hunters and trappers and such bands of Indians as roamed in the vicinity. These meetings were great occasions, both in the transaction of business and in the round of festivities that always prevailed. After the traffic of the occasion was over, and the plans for the ensuing year were agreed upon, the convoys returned to the States and the trappers to their retreats in the mountains. The field of operations of this company was very extensive and included about all of the West not controlled by the Hud- son's Bay and American Fur Companies. Thus was the territory of the great West practically parceled out among these three companies. It must not be supposed that there was any agreement, tacit or open, that each company should keep within certain limits. There were a few temporary arrangements of this sort, but for the most part each company maintained the right to work in any territory it saw fit, and there was constant invasion by each of the proper territories of the other. But the practical necessities of the business kept them, broadly speaking, within the limits which we have noted. The roving bands of "free trappers" and "lone traders/' and individual expeditions like those of Captain Bonneville and Tetox Mountains and Jackson Lake. THE TRADER AND TRAPPER. 33 Nathaniel J. Wyeth, acknowledged allegiance to none of the great organizations, but wandered where they chose, dealing by turns with each of the companies. The vigor and enterprise of these traders caused their business to penetrate the remotest and most inaccessible corners of the land. Sillimans Journal for January, 1834, declares that — ^'The mountains and forests, from the Arctic Sea to the Gulf of Mexico, are threaded through every maze by the hunter. Every river and tributary stream, from the Columbia to the Eio del Xorte, and from the Mackenzie to the Colorado of the West, from their headwaters to their junctions, are searched and trapped for beaver." That a business of such all-pervading character should have left a region like our present Yellowstone Park unex- plored would seem extremely doubtful. That region lay, a sort of neutral ground, between the territories of the rival fur companies. Its streams abounded in beaver; and, although hemmed in by vast mountains, and snow-bound most of the year, it could not have escaped discovery. In fact, every part of it was repeatedly visited by trappers. Eendezvous were held on every side of it, and once, it is believed, in Hayden Valley, just north of Yellowstone Lake. Had the fur business been more enduring, the geyser regions would have become known at least a generation Booner than they were. But a business carried on with such relentless vigor naturally soon taxed the resources of nature beyond its capacity for reproduction. In regions under the control of a single organization, as in the vast domains of the Hudson's Bay Company, great care was taken to preserve the fur-bearing animals from extinction; but in United ^States territory, the exigencies of competition made any 34 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. such provision impossible. The poor beaver, as at a later day the buffalo, quickly succumbed to his ubiquitous enemies. There was no spot remote enough for him to build his dam in peace, and the once innumerable multi- tude speedily dwindled away. The few years immediately preceding and following 1830 were the halcyon days of the fur trade in the United States. Thenceforward it rapidly declined, and by 1850 had shrunk to a mere shadow of its former greatness. With its disappearance the early knowledge of the Upper Yellowstone also disappeared. Subsequent events — ^the Mormon emigration, the war with Mexico, and the discovery of gold — drew attention, both private and official, in other directions; and the great wonderland became again almost as much unknown as in the days of Lewis and Clark. CHAPTER V. EARLY KNOWLEDGE OF THE YELLOWSTONE. On the west bank of the Yellowstone River, a quarter of a mile above the Upper Falls, in a ravine now crossed by a lofty wooden bridge, stands a tree, on which is the oldest record, except that of Colter, of the presence of white men within the limits of the Park. It is an inscription, giving the initials of a name and the date when inscribed. It was discovered in 1880 by Col. P. W. Norris, then Superintend- ent of the Park. It is now practically illegible from over- growth, although some of the characters can still be made out. Col. Norris, who saw it in the year 1880, claims to have successfully deciphered it. He verified the date by counting the annual rings on another tree near by, which bore hatchet marks, presumably of the same date. The time that had elapsed since these cuts were made corre- sponded well with the inscribed date. The inscription was : JOR Aug 19 1S19 Efforts have been made to trace this inscription to some of the early noted trappers, but the attempt can hardly succeed. Even if an identity of initials were established, the identity of individuals would still remain in doubt. Noth- ing short of some authentic record of such a visit as must have taken place can satisfy the requirements of the case. In the absence of any such record, the most that can be said is that the inscription is proof positive that the Park country was visited by white men, after Colter's time, fully fifty years before its final discovery. 36 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. Col. Norris' researches disclosed other sirailar evidence, although in no other instance with so plain a clue as to date. Near Beaver Lake and Obsidian Cliff, he found, in 1878, a cache of marten traps of an old pattern used by the Hudson's Bay Company trappers fifty years before. He also examined the ruins of an ancient block-house discovered by Frederick Bottler at the base of Mt. Washburn, near the Grand Caiion of the Yellowstone. Its decayed condition indicated great age. In other places the stumps of trees, old logs used to cross streams, and many similar proofs were brought to light by that inveterate ranger of the 'wilderness. The Washburn party, in 1870, discovered on the east bank of the Yellowstone, just above Mud Geyser, the remains of a pit, probably once used for concealment in shooting water fowl. A book called "The Eiver of the West,''* published in 1871, but copyrighted in 1869, before the publication of any modem account of the geyser regions, contains the record of an adventure in the Yellowstone country about the year 1829. The book is a biography of one Joseph Meek, a trapper and pioneer of considerable note. The adventure to which reference is made took place in 1829, and was the result of a decision by the Eock}^ Mountain Fur Company to retire from competition with the Hud- son's Bay Company in the Snake Eiver Valley. In leav- ing the country, Capt. William Sublette, the chief partner, led his party up Henry Fork, across the Madison and Gal- latin Elvers, to the high ridge overlooking the Yellowstone, at some point near the present Cinnabar Mountain. Here the party was dispersed by a band of Blackfeet, and Meek, * By Mrs. Frances Fuller Victor, an eminent authority upon the history of the Northwest coast- EAHLY KNOWLEDGE OF THE YELLOWSTONE. 37 one of its members, became separated from his compan- ions. He had lost his horse and most of his equipment, and in this condition he wandered for several days, with- out food or shelter, until he was found by two of his companions. His route lay in a southerly direction, to the eastward of the Yellowstone, at some distance back from the river. On the morning of the fifth day he had the fol- lowing experience : "Being desirous to learn something of the progress he had made, he ascended a low mountain in the neighbor- hood of his camp, and behold! the whole country beyond was smoking with vapor from boiling springs, and burning with gases issuing from small craters, each of which was emitting a sharp, whistling sound. When the first sur- prise of this astonishing scene had passed, Joe began to admire its effect from an artistic point of view. The morning being clear, with a sharp frost, he thought him- self reminded of the city of Pittsburg, as he had beheld it on a winter morning, a couple of years before. This, how- ever, related only to the rising smoke and vapor; for the extent of the volcanic region was immense, reaching far out of sight. The general face of the country was smooth and rolling, being a level plain, dotted with cone-shaped mounds. On the summit of these mounds were small craters from four to eight feet in diameter. Interspersed among these on the level plain were larger craters, some of them from four to six miles across. Out of these craters issued blue flames and molten brimstone."* Making some allowance for the trapper's tendency to exaggeration, we recognize in tliis description the familiar picture of the hot springs districts. The precise location ♦ Page 75, "River of the West." 38 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. is difficult to determine; but Meek^s previous wanderings, and the subsequent route of himself and his companions whom he met here, show conclusively that it was one of the numerous districts east of the Yellowstone, which were possibly then more active than now. This book affords much other evidence of early knowl- edge of the country immediately bordering the present Park. The Great Bend of the Yellowstone where Living- ston now stands^ was already a famous rendezvous, and the Gardiner and Firehole Elvers were well known to the trappers. In the Louisiana Gazette, of St. Louis^ February 28, 1811, is an article upon Louisiana from the pen of a then popular writer, Henry M. Brackenridge. In it occurs a reference to this region which no doubt originated with John Colter : "I think it probable that, on a close examina- tion of the country, evident traces of extinguished vol- canoes will be discovered. Mr. Lisa informs me that about sixty miles from his fort (at the mouth of the Bighorn) there is a volcano that actually emits flames. In this tract immense quantities of sulphur can be procured. It is not only found in caves, but can be scraped off the prairie in the manner of salt."" This is only one of a number of references from early writings that indicate the presence of volcanic activity on a moribund scale in the Rocky Mountains as late as the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. Among the employes of the American Fur Company in the decade from 1830 to 1840, was one AVarren Angus Ferris, clerk, to whom belongs the honor of having written the first actual description of the Firehole Geyser Basins. Ferris was attached to the mountain expeditions of the American Fur Company, and^in the course of his five EAELY KNOWLEDGE OF THE YELLOWSTONE. 39 years' service (1831-5) saw pretty nearly all the country ai'ound the Yellowstone Park. He had heard rumors of the strange phenomena which are now so well known, and in the spring of 1834, while returning south from the Flathead country, where he had spent the winter, he made a visit to the geyser basins for the purpose of verifying or refuting these reports. He made the journey from a point near where Beaver Canon Station, on the Utah Northern Railroad, now stands, and traveled almost west to the geyser basins. He was among the geysers on the 20th of May, 1834. In spite of some discrepancies in his account, it is reasonably certain that the point visited was the Upper Geyser Basin. Following is his narrative of the visit:* *'I had heard in the summer of 1833, while at rendez- vous, that remarkable boiling springs had been discovered on the sources of the Madison, by a party of trappers, in their spring hunt; of which the accounts they gave, were so very astonishing, that I determined to examine them myself, before recording their description, though I had the united testimony of more than twenty men on the subject, who all declared they saw them, and that they really were as extensive and remarkable as they had been described. Having now an opportunity of paying them a visit, and as another or a better might not occur, I parted • Ferris followed the practice of keeping a journal, and after his return from the mountains published it in the Western Literary Messenger, of Buffalo, New York. The article quoted below was republished in the Wasp, of Nauvoo, Illinois, a Mormon paper, August 13, 1842, and later became well known. Where it came from, or who its author was, no one in recent years knew until in the fall of 1900 the series of articles in the Literary Messenger was discovered by Mr. O. D. Wheeler, of St. Paul. Ferris was born at Glen Falls, N. Y., Dec. 20, 1810; and died at Reinhardt, Texas, February 8, 1873. 40 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. with the company after supper, and taking with me two Fend d'Oreilles (who were induced to take the excursion with me, by the promise of an extra present,) set out at a round pace, the night being -clear and comfortable. Wo proceeded over the plain about twenty miles, and halted until daylight, on a fine spring, flowing into Camas Creek. Eefreshed by a few hours' sleep, we started again after a hasty breakfast, and entered a very extensive forest, called the Pine Woods; (a continued succession of low mountains or hills, entirely covered with a dense growth of this species of timber;) which we passed through and reached the vicinity of the springs about dark, having seen several lakes or ponds on the sources of the Madison^ and rode about forty miles; which was a hard day's ride, taking into consideration the rough irregularity of the country through which we traveled. ^'\Ve regaled ourselves with a cup of coffee, the materials for making which we had brought with us, and immediately after supper, lay down to rest, sleepy and much fatigued. The continual roaring of the springs, however, (which was distinctly heard,) for some time prevented my going to sleep, and excited an impatient curiosity to examine them, which I was obliged to defer the gratification of until morning, and filled my slumbers with visions of water- spouts, cataracts, fountains, jets d'eau of immense dimensions, etc., etc. ^^WTien I arose in the morning, clouds of vapor seemed like a dense fog to overhang the springs, from which frequent reports or explosions of different loudness, con- stantly assailed our ears. I immediately proceeded to inspect them, and might have exclaimed with the Queen of Sheba, when their full reality of dimensions and novelty burst upon my view, 'the half _ was not told me.' EARLY KNOWLEDGE OF THE YELLOWSTONE. 41 ^-'From the surface of a rocky plain or table, burst forth columns of water, of various dimensions, projecting high in the air, accompanied by loud explosions, and sulphurous vapors, which were liighly disagreeable to the smell. The rock from which these springs burst forth was calcareous, and probably extended some distance from them, beneath the soil. The largest of these beautiful fountains projects a column of boiling water several feet in diameter, to the height of more than one hundred and fifty feet, in my opinion ; but the party of Alvarez,* who discovered it, persist in declaring that it could not be less than four times that distance in height — accompanied with a tremendous noise. These explosions and discharges occur at intervals of about two hours. After having witnessed three of them, I ven- tured near enough to put my hand into the waters of its basin, but withdrew it instantly, for the heat of the water in this immense chaldron was altogether too great for my comfort; and the agitation of the water, the disagreeable effluvium continually exuding, and the hollow, unearthly rumbling under the rock on which I stood, so ill accorded with my notions of personal safety, that I retreated back precipitately to a respectful distance. The Indians, who were with me, were quite appalled, and could not by any means be induced to approach them. They seemed aston- ished at my presumption in advancing up to the large one, and when I safely returned, congratulated me upon my 'narrow escape.^ They believed them to be supernatural and supposed them to be the production of the Evil Spirit. One of them remarked that hell, of which he had heard from the whites, must be in that vicinity. The diameter of the basin into which the waters of the largest jet prin- cipally fall, and from the center of which, through a hole * An American Fur Company clerk. (2*) 42 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. in the lock, of about nine or ten feet in diameter, the water spouts up as above related, may be about thirty feet. There are many other smaller fountains, that did not throw their waters up so high, but occurred at shorter intervals. In some instances the volumes were projected obliquely upward, and fell into the neighboring fountains, or on the rock or prairie. But their ascent was generally perpendic- ular, falling in and about their own basins or apertures. •^These wonderful productions of nature are situated near the center of a small valley, surrounded by pine- covered hills, through which a small fork of the Madison flows." Here we have a description free from exaggeration and reasonably true to the facts. No one who has seen the Upper Geyser Basin will question its general correctness. The writer then goes on to relate what he has learned from others, but here exaggeration creeps in and this part of his narrative is less reliable. It continues : *Trom several trappers who had recently returned from the Yellow Stone, I received an account of boiling springs that differ from those seen on Salt River only in magni- tude, being on a vastly larger scale; some of their cones are from twenty to thirty feet high, and forty to fifty paces in circumference. Those which have ceased to emit boil- ing water, vapor, etc., of which there were several, are full of slielving cavities, even some fathoms in extent, which give them, inside, an appearance of honey-comb. The ground for several acres' extent in vicinity of the springs is evi- dently hollow, and constantly exhales a hot steam or vapor of disagreeable odor, and a character entirely to prevent vegetation. They are situated in the valley at the head of that river near the lake, which constitutes its source. *'A shoii distance from these springs, near the margin of EARLY KNOWLEDGE OF THE YELLOWSTONE. 43 the lake, there is one quite different from any yet described. It is of a circular form, several feet in diameter, clear, cold and pure; the bottom appears visible to the eye, and feeems seven or eight feet below the surface of the earth or water, without meeting any resistance. What is most singular with respect to this fountain is the fact that at regular intervals of about two minutes, a body or column of water bursts up to the height of eight feet, \nth an explosion as loud as the report of a musket, and then falls back into it; for a few seconds the water is roily, but it epeedily settles and becomes transparent as before the effu- sion. A slight tremulous motion of the water, and a low rumbling sound from the caverns beneath^ precede each explosion. This spring was believed to be connected with the lake by some subterranean passage, but the cause of its periodical eruptions or discharges, is entirely unknown. I have never before heard of a cold spring, whose waters exhibit the phenomena of periodical explosive propulsion, in form of a jet. The geysers of Iceland, and the various other European springs, the waters of which are projected upwards, with violence and uniformity, as well as those seen on the head waters of the Madison, are invariably hot." The whole article forms the most interesting and authentic reference to the geyser regions published prior to 1870. It proves beyond question that a knowledge of this region existed among the early trappers, and confirms our previous deduction that the wide range of the fur business could not have left it unexplored. A brief but interesting reference to this region is found in the following extract from a letter by Father Do Sinot, dated at the University of St. Louis, January 20, 185?, describing a journey made by him in 1851 from Fort 44 THE YELLOTTSTOXE NATIONAL PARK. Union, at the mouth of the Yellowstone, to Fort Laramie, on the Platte : "Xear the source of the River Puante [Stinking Water, now called Shoshone], which empties into the Big Horn, and the sulphurous waters of which have probably the same medicinal qualities as the celebrated Blue Lick Springs of Kentucky, is a place called Colter's Hell — from a beaver- hunter of that name. This locality is often agitated with subterranean fires. The sulphurous gases which escape in great volumes from the burning soil infect the atmosphere for several miles, and render the earth so barren that even the wild wormwood can not grow on it. The beaver-hunters have assured me that the underground noises and explo- fiions are often frightful. "However, I think that the most extraordinary spot in this respect, and perhaps the most marvelous of all the northern half of this continent, is in the very heart of the Eocky Momitains, between the 43d and 45th degrees of latitude, and the 109th and 111th degrees of longitude; that it, between the sources of the Madison and the Yellow- stone. It reaches more than a hundred miles. Bituminous, sulphurous and boiling springs are very numerous in it. The hot springs contain a large quantity of calcareous matter, and form hills more or less elevated, wliich resemble in their nature, perhaps, if not in their extent, the famous springs of Pemboukkalesi, in Asia Minor, so well described by Chandler. The earth is thrown up very high, and the influence of the elements causes it to take the most varied and the most fantastic shapes. Gas, vapor and smoke are continually escaping by a thousand open- ings from the base to the summit of the volcanic pile; the noise at times resembles the steam let off by a boat. Strong, subterranean explosions occur like those in ^Colter's Hell/ tAULY KNOWLEDGE OF THE YELLOWSTONE. 46 The hunters and the Indians speak of it with a supersti- tious fear, and consider it the abode of evil spirits, that is to say, a kind of hell. Indians seldom approach it without offering some sacrifice, or, at least, without presenting the calumet of peace to the turbulent spirits, that they may be propitious. They declare that the subterranean noises proceed from the forging of warlike weapons; each erup- tion of the earth is, in their eyes, the result of a combat between the infernal spirits, and becomes the monument of a new victory or calamity. Xear Gardiner Eiver, a tribu- tary of the Yellowstone, and in the vicinity of the region I have just been describing, there is a mountain of sulphur. I have this report from Captain Bridger, who is familiar with every one of these mounds, having passed thirty years of his Hfe near them.'^ This very accurate description is the first that defines correctly the geographical location of the geyser regions. The most comprehensive of these early references to the natural phenomena of the Upper Yellowstone is the follow- ing extract from Gunnison's "History of the Mormons'' (1852), and comes directly from James Bridger: "He [Bridger] gives a picture, most romantic and enticing, of the head waters of the Yellowstone. A lake, sixty miles long, cold and pellucid, lies embosomed among high precipitous mountains. On the west side is a sloping plain, several miles wide, with clumps of trees and groves of pine. The ground resounds with the tread of horses. Geysers spout up seventy feet high, with a terrific, hissing noise, at regular intervals. Waterfalls are sparkling, leap- ing and thundering down the precipices, and collect in the pool below. The river issues from this lake, and for fifteen miles roars through the perpendicular canon at the outlet. In this section are the 'Great Springs/ so hot that 46 THK YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. meat is readily cooked in them, and as they descend on the successive terraces, afford at length delightful baths. On the other side is an acid spring, which gushes out in a river torrent ; and below is a cave, which supplies Vermil- lion' for the savages in abundance."' In this admirable summary we readily discover the Yellowstone Lake, the Grand Caiion, the Falls, the geyser basins, the Mammoth Hot Springs, and Cinnabar Moun- tain. Prior to 1860, Bridger had related these accounts to Captain Warren, Captain Eaynolds, Doctor Hayden, and others, and although he seems to have convinced these gentlemen that there was something in his stories, they still attributed less to fact than to fancy. There are numerous other interesting, though less defi- nite, references to an early knowledge of the Yellowstone ; but those we have given show their general character. The important fact to remember is that this knowledge was barren of result. For the most part it existed only in the minds of illiterate men, and perished wdth them. It never caught the public ear and did not in the least degree hasten the final discovery. CHAPTER VI. JAMES BRIDGER AND HIS STORIES. This celebrated hunter, trader and guide, whose name and career are a part of the pioneer history of the West, was thoroughly familiar with the region now comprised in the Yellowstone Park. His personal knowledge of it dates back as far as 1830. He often visited it, not like Ferris in a single locality, but in all its parts, and was well acquainted with its wonderful features. In his efforts to disseminate the knowledge he had acquired, he was as per- sistent as Colter had been before him, and with little better success. He tried to get his descriptions before the public, but no periodical or newspaper would lend itself to his service. The editor of a leading western paper stated in 1879 that Bridger had told him of the Yellowstone wonders fully thirty years before. He prepared an article from his description and then suppressed it, because a man who claimed to know Bridger told him he w^ould be laughed out of town if he printed any of ^old Jim Bridger's lies.' ^' In later years this editor publicly apologized to Bridger for having doubted his statements. Certain personal characteristics of Bridger aggravated this lack of confidence in what he said. He was the great- est romancer of the West in his time, and his reckless exaggerations won for him a reputation which he could not shake off when he wanted to. Accordingly, the truths that he told about the Yellowstone were classed with his fairy tales of the same region, and both were set down as the harmless vaporings of a mind to which truth had long been a stranger. 48 TtCE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. Some of the creations ascribed to him have survived to this day. We say "ascribed/^ for in reality they are no one person^s production, but are the . development of many years and many minds. They all have a basis in fact — the "soul of truth/^ wliich a great philosopher has said '^exists in things erroneous/^ In some cases the basis is pretty hard to discover, and it is easier to believe the embellished tale than its descent from the fact when once found. It is stated by an adept in this accomplishment that constant repetition and enlargement of liis imaginary experiences eventually leads him to believe them true, and this may have been the case with Bridger himself. In any event, it is a fortunate thing that these stories grow and develop with time, gravitating always from the real to the ideal; and he is to be pitied who feels an unseemly anxiety for the basic facts or would rob them of a single increment which the rolling years have given them. The few that are recorded here may be credited to Bridger without exciting the envy of rival experts in the same line. The first relates to the celebrated Obsidian Cliff, a mass of black volcanic glass with which all tourists in the Park become familiar. Its discovery by Bridger was the result of one of his hunting trips, and it happened in this wise. Coming one day in sight of a magnificent elk^ he took careful aim at the unsuspecting animal and fired. To his great amazement, the elk not only was not wounded, but seemed not even to have heard the report of the rifle. Bridger drew considerably nearer and gave the elk the benefit of his most deliberate aim ; but with the same result as before. A third and a fourth effort met with a similar fate. Utterly exasperated, he seized his rifle by the barrel, resolved to use it as a club since it had failed as a firearm. JAMES BRIDGER AND HIS STORIES. 49 He rushed madly toward the elk, but suddenly crashed into an immovable vertical wall which proved to be a mountain of perfectly transparent glass, on the farther side of which, still in peaceful security, the elk was quietly grazing. Stranger still, the mountain was not only of pure glass, but was a perfect telescopic lens, and, whereas, the elk seemed but a few hundred 3^ards off, it was in reality twenty-five miles away! Another of Bridger's discoveries was an ice-cold spring near the summit of a lofty mountain, the water from which liowed down over a long smooth slope, where it acquired such velocity that it was boiling hot when it reached the bottom,* The origin of the name of Alum Creek, a tributary of the Yellowstone, was due to an accidental discovery by Bridger. One day he forded the creek and rode out several miles and back. He noticed that the return journey was only a small fraction of the distance going, and that his horse's feet had shrunk to mere points which sank into the solid ground, so that the animal could scarcely hobble * This story, which is taken from the report of Captain W. F. Raynolds, was one of Bridger's favorites, and it is even said that he did not regard it as pleasantry at all, but as plain mat- ter of fact. Mr. Langford, who often heard him relate it, says that he generally described the stream as flowing over the smooth surface of a rock, and reasoned that, as two sticks rubbed together produce heat by friction, so the water rub- bing over the rock became hot. In proof, he cited an instance wher© the water was hot only in close proximity to the rock and not at the surface. Mr. Langford found a partial confirm- ation of the fact, but not of the theory, in fording the Firehole River in 1870. He passed over the smooth deposit of an active hot spring in the bed of the stream, and found that the stream bottom and the water in contact with it were hot. (3) 50 THE YELLOWSTOlfE NATIONAL PARK. along. Seeking the cause he found it to be in the astring- ent quality of the water, which was saturated with alum to such an extent that it had power to pucker distance itself.* To those who have visited the west shore of the Yellow- stone Lake, and know how simple a matter it is to catch the lake trout and cook them in the boiling pools without taking them from the line, the groundwork of the follow- ing description will be obvious enough. Somewhere along the shore an immense boiling spring discharges its overflow directly into the lake. The specific gravity of the water is less than that of the lake, owing probably to the expansive action of heat, and it floats in a stratum three or four feet thiols upon the cold water underneath. When Bridger was in need of fish it was to this place that he went. Through the hot upper stratum he let fall his bait to the subjacent habitable zone, and having hooked his victim, cooked him on the way out! In like manner the visitor to the region of petrifications on Specimen Eidge in the northeast corner of the Park, and to various points in the hot springs districts, will have no difficulty in discovering the base material out of which Bridger contrived the following picturesque yarn. Accord- ing to his account there exists in the Park country a moun- tain which was once cursed by a great medicine man of the Crow nation. Every thing upon the mountain at the time of this dire event became instantly petrified and has remained so ever since. All forms of life are standing about in stone where they were suddenly caught by the * "The headwaters of this stream are so strong with alum that one swallow is sufficient to draw one's face into such shape that it is almost impossible to get it straightened out again for one hour or so." — Journal of C. J. Weikert, August 26, 1877. JAMES BRIDGER AND HIS 6T0RIES. 51 petrifying influences, even as the inhabitants of ancient Pompeii were surprised by the ashes of Vesuvius. Sage brush, grass, prairie fowl, antelope, elk, and bears may there be seen as perfect as in actual life. Even flowers are blooming in colors of crystal, and birds soar with wings spread in motionless flight, while the air floats with music and perfumes siliceous, and the sun and the moon shine with petrified light! To show how old this story is, we quote the following from "Life in the Far West,^^ by George Frederick EuA'ton (18-19). It represents an old trapper who has come do\\Ti from the mountains and is relating his experiences in a tavern in St. Louis. The colloquy is with the landlady. It is also of interest as one of the very few existing speci- mens of the dialect of the trapper in the days when he flourished in the region around the Yellowstone I'ark : " *Well, Mister Harris, I hear you're a great traveler.' " ^Traveler, marm/ says Black Harris, 'this niggur's no traveler ; I ar' a trapper, marm, a mountain-man, w^agh !' " 'Well, Mister Harris, trappers are great travelers, and you goes over a sight of ground in your perishinations, I'll be l)ound to say/ " 'A sight, marm, this coon's gone over, if that's the way your "stick floats."* I've trapped beaver on Platte and Arkansa, and away up on Missouri and Taller Stone; I've trapped on Columbia, on Lewis Fork, and Green River and the Heely (Gila). I've font the "Blackfoot" (and d— d bad injuns they ar) ; I've "raised the hair" f of more than one Apach, and made a Rapaho "come" afore now; I've ♦ Meaning: "If that's what you mean." The "stick" is tied to the beaver trap by a string; and, floating on the water, points out its position, should a beaver have carried it away * Scalped. 52 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. trapped in Heav'n, in airth, and h — 1; and scalp my old head, marm/but I've seen a putrefied forest/ " ^La, Mister Harris ; a what T " * A putrefied forest, marm, as sure as my rifle's got liindsights, and "she'' shoots center. It was out on the Black Hills, Bill Sublette knows the time — the year it rained fire — and everybody knows when that was. If thar wasn't cold doins about that time, this child wouldn't say so. The snow was about fifty foot deep, and the bufler lay dead on the ground like bees after a beein'; not whar we was tho', for thar was no bufler, and no meat, and me and my band had been livin' on our moccasins (least\nse the parflesh*) for six weeks; and poor doins that feedin' is, marm, as you'll never know. One day we crossed a "canon" and over a "divide," and got into a peraira, whar was green grass, and green trees, and green leaves on the trees, and birds singing in the green leaves, and this in Febrary, Wagh! Our animals was like to die when they see the green grass, and we all sung out, "hurrraw for summer doins." ' " 'Hyar goes for meat/ says I, and I jest ups old Ginger [his rifle] at one of them singing birds, and down comes the crittur elegant; its darned head spinning away from the body, but never stops singing, and when I takes up the meat, I find it stone, wagh ! "Hyar's damp powder and no fire to dry it," I says, quite skeared.' " ^Fire be dogged,' says old Rube. *Hyar's a hos as'll make fire come;' and with that he takes his axe and lets drive at a Cottonwood. Schru-k — goes the axe agin the tree, and out comes a bit of the blade as big as my hand. We looks at the animals, and thar they stood shaking over • Soles made of buffalo hide. OspREY Falls, Middi.e Gardiner River. JAMES BRIDGER AND HIS STORIES. 63 the grass, which I'm dog-gone if it wasn't stone too. Young Sublette comes up, and he'd been clerking down to the fort on Platte, so he know'd something. He looks and looks, and scrapes the trees with his butcher knife, and snaps the grass like pipe stems, and breaks the leaves a snapping like Californy shells.' "•'What's all this, boy?' I asks. " Tutref actions,' looking smart ; 'putrefactions, or I'm a niggur.' "'La, Mister Harris,' says the lady, 'putrefactions! Why, did the leaves, and the trees, and the grass smell badly?' "'Smell badly, marm !' says Black Harris; 'would a thing smell if it was froze to stone? No, marm; this child didn't know what putrefactions was, and young Sublette's varsion wouldn't *'shine" nohow, so I chips a piece out of a tree and puts it in my trap-sack, and carries it safe to Laramie. AYell, old Captain Stewart (a clever man was that, though he was an Englishman), he comes along next spring, and a Dutch doctor chap was along too. I shows him the piece I chipped out of the tree and he called it a putrefaction, too ; and so, marm, if that wasn't a putrefied peraira, what was it? For this hos doesn't know, and he knows "fat cow" from "poor bull," anyhow.' " BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. James Bridger was bom in Eichmond, Va., in March, 1804, and died in Washington, Jackson Co., Mo., July 17, 1881. He must have gone west at a very early age, for he is kno\\Ti to have been in the mountains in IS?-!. 2>^iles Register for 1822 speaks of him as associated with Fitz- Patrick in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. Another record of this period reveals him as leader of a band of 54 THE YELLOWSTOXE NATIONAL PARK. whites sent to retake stolen horses from the hostile Ban- nocks. In 1830 he had become a resident partner in the Eocky Mountain Fur Company. That he was a recognized leader among the early mountaineers while yet in his minority seems beyond question. He became "The Old Man of the Mountains" before he was thirty years of age. Among the more prominent achievements of Bridger's life may be noted the following: He was long a lead- ing spirit in the Eocky Mountain Fur Company. He discovered Great Salt Lake and the noted Pass that bears his name. He built Fort Bridger in the lovely valley of Black Fork of Green Eiver, where transpired many thrill- ing events connected with the history of the Mormons and *' Forty-niners." He had explored, and could accurately describe, the wonders of the Yellowstone fully a quarter of a century before their final discovery. In person he was tall and spare, straight and agile, eyes gray, hair brown and long, and abundant even in old age; expression mild, and manners agreeable. He was hospita- ble and generous, and was always trusted and respected. He possessed to a high degree the confidence of the In- dians, one of whom, a Shoshone woman, he made his wife. Unquestionably Bridger's chief claim to remembrance by posterity rests upon the extraordinary part he bore in the exploration of the West. The common verdict of his many employers, from Eobert Campbell doT\Ti to Captain Ea}Tiolds, is that as a guide he was without an equal. He was a born topographer. The whole West was mapped out in his mind as in an exhaustive atlas. Such was Ms instinctive sense of locality and direction that it used to be said that he could "smell his way" where he could not see it. He was not only a good topographer in the field, but he could reproduce his impressions in sketches. "With a JAMES BRIDGER AND HIS STORIES. 55 buffalo skin and a piece of charcoal/' says Captain Gun- nison, "he will map out any portion of this immense region, and delineate mountains, streams, and the circular valleys, called 'holes,' with wonderful accuracy/' His ability in this line caused him always to be in demand as a guide to exploring parties, and his name is connected with many prominent government and private expeditions. ^ His lifetime measures that period of our history during which the West was changed from a trackless wilderness to a settled and civilized countrA\ He was among the first who went to the mountains, and he lived to see all that had made a life like his possible swept away forever. CHAPTER VII. RAYNOLDS' EXPEDITION. • On "the 13th of April, 1859, Captain AY. F. Eaynolds, of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, U. S. A., was ordered to explore "the region of country through which flow the principal tributaries of the Yellowstone Eiver, and the mountains in which they, and the Gallatin and Madison Forks of the Missouri, have their source." This was the first government expedition* directed to the pre- cise locality which is now embraced in the Yellowstone National Park. It is interesting to us, not for what it accomplished — for it fortunately failed to penetrate the Upper Yellowstone country — ^but because it gives an ad- mirable resume, in the form of a report and a map, of the geographical knowledge of that country down to the date of actual discovery. Captain Eaynolds was in the field during the two seasons of 1859 and 1860; but it was only in the summer of 1860 that he directed his efforts toward the country in which we are particularly interested. In May of that year the expe- dition left its winter quarters at Deer Creek, Wyo., and marched to the junction of the Wind Eiver and the Popo Agie where these streams unite under the name of Big Horn Eiver. Here the party di^dded. One division under Captain Eaynolds was to ascend the Wind Eiver to its source and then cross to the head waters of the Yellowstone. ♦ Accompanying this expedition as geologist was Dr. F. V. Hayden, whose name is so intimately connected with the his- tory of the Yellowstone Park. James Bridger was guide to the party. RAYNOLDS' EXPEDITION. 57 This stream they were to follow down to the Great Bend, and then cross over to the Three Forks of the Missouri. The other party, under Lieutenant Maynadier, was to skirt the east and north flanks of the Absaroka Range and to join the first party at the Three Forks, if possible, not later than July 1st. Captain Eaynolds was charged with other instructions than those mentioned in his order, which must be kept in mind in order properly to account for the final outcome of the expedition. A total eclipse of the sun was to occur on July 18th of that year, and its Hne of greatest occultation lay north of the British boundary. It was desired that Captain Eaynolds should be present in that locality in time to observe the eclipse. This condition, rather than impas- sable mountains or unmelted snows, was the chief obstacle to a thorough exploration of the Upper Yellowstone. The two parties separated May 24th. Captain Eaynolds, according to his programme, kept up the Wind Eiver valley, and with much difficulty effected a crossing by way of Union Pass — which he named — to the western slope of the mountains. He then turned north seeking a passage to the head waters of the Yellowstone. When nearly oppo- site Two-Ocean Pass, he made a strenuous effort to force his way through, spending two days in the attempt. But it was still June and the snow la}" deep on the mountains. It was a physical impossibilit}' to get through at that jDoint, and the risk of missing the eclipse forbade efforts else- where. The Captain was deeply disappointed at this result. He writes : "My fondly cherished schemes of this nature were all dissipated by the prospect before us ; . . . and I there- fore very reluctantly decided to abandon the plan to which I had so steadily clung." 68 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. Lieutenant Maynadier wisely made no attempt to cross the xibsaroka Eange, which rose continuously on his left. Had he done so, the deep snow at that season would have rendered his efforts futile. He kept close to the flank of the mountains until he reached the valley of the Yellow- stone north of the Park, and then hastened to join his com- manding officer at the appointed rendezvous. He reached the Three Forks on the 3d day of July. The expedition had now completely encircled the region of the Upper Yellowstone. At one point Captain Eaynolds had stood where his eye could range over all that country which has since become so famous; but this was the limit of his endeavor. The Yellowstone wonderland was spared the misfortune of being discovered at so early a da}^ — a fact quite as fortunate as any other in its history. It will be interesting now to survey this region as known at the time of the Eaynolds Expedition. Nothing of importance occurred to increase public knowledge of it until 1870, and Captain Eaynolds' Eeport is therefore the latest authentic utterance concerning it prior to the date of actual discovery. In this report Captain Eaynolds says : ^^Beyond these [the mountains southeast of the Park] is the valley of the Upper Yellowstone, which is as yet a terra incognita. My expedition passed entirely around, but could not penetrate it. . . . Although it was June, the immense body of snow baffled all our exertions, and we were compelled to content ourselves with listening to mar- velous tales of burning plains, immense lakes, and boiling springs, without being able to verify these wonders. I know of but two men who claim to have ever visited this part of the Yellowstone A^alley — James Brid^er and Eobert Meldrum. The narratives of both these men are very remarkable, and Bridger, in one of his recitals, describes RAYNOLDS'' EXPEDITION. 59 an immense boiling spring, that is a perfect counterpart of the geysers of Iceland. As he is uneducated, and had prol)- ably never heard of the existence of such natural wonders elsewhere, I have little doubt that he spoke of that which he had actually seen. . . . Bridger also insisted that immediately west* of the point at which we made our final effort to penetrate this singular valley, there is a stream of considerable size, which divides and flows down either side of the water-shed, thus discharging its waters into both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans." The Captain concludes this particular part of his report as follows : ^'I can not doubt, therefore, that at no very distant day, the mysteries of this region will be fully revealed; and, although small in extent, I regard the valley of the Upper Yellowstone as the most interesting unexplored district in our widely expanded country." Lieutenant Maynadier also contributes a few interesting observations upon this region. The vast importance of that extensive mass of mountains, as a reservoir of waters for the country round about, impressed him deeply. He says, somewhat ostentatiously : "As my fancy warmed with the wealth of desolation before me, I found something to admire in the calm self- denial with which this region, content with barren magnifi- cence, gives up its water and soil to more favorable coun- tries." ^^ Of the Yellowstone Eiver he was told that it had its source "in a lake in the impenetrable fastnesses of the Rocky Mountains;" and that for some distance below the lake it flowed through a narrow gorge, up which "no one has ever been able to travel/^ • Actually northeast. 60 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. But it is the map prepared by Captain Eaynolds that tells a more interesting story even than his written report. It reveals at once to the eye what was known as well as what was unknown of the Upper Yellowstone. Extend- ing in a southeasterly and northwesterly direction, is a large elliptical space, within which geographical features are represented by dotted lines, indicating that they are put in by hearsay only. In the midst of a surrounding country, which is already mapped with great accuracy, there is a region wholly unknown to the geographer. A cordon of mountains encircles it, and shows the limit of official effort to gain a correct knowledge of it. Within this enchanted inclosure lies the region approximately defined by the 44th and 45th parallels of latitude and the 110th md 111th meridians of longitude, which now constitutes the Yellowstone Xational Park. There one may catch glimpses, through the uncertain haze of tradition, of the geysers, hot springs. Lake, Falls, Grand Canon, Mammoth Hot Springs, and Two-Ocean Pass. This was the net result of fifty years' desultor}' wandering in and about and over this "mystic" region. Eaynolds' report was the first official recognition in any form of the probable existence of extensive volcanic phe- nomena in the region of the Upper Yellowstone. Had it been published immediately after the expedition, and had not public attention been totally engrossed with other matters of overshadowing importance, this region must have become fully known in the early Sixties. But within a month after the return of Captain Eaynolds to civiliza- tion there had taken place the national election which was the signal for attempted armed disruption of the Union. A year later found every officer of the Army called to new fields of duty. Western exploration entirely ceased until M- W^-'- J1 Lower Falls of the Yellowstone — Original Sketch by Private Moore, a Soloier in the Kscort ov the Expedition of 1S70. HAYXOLDS^ EXPEDITION. 61 18G.J, and was not vigorously resumed for some years thereafter. Captain Raynolds' report did not appear until 18GS, although his map was published several years earlier in order to meet a demand for it by the new settlers in Western Montana. Nothing transpired in the meantime to make the general public familiar witli this region, and the picture here given is therefore substantially correct down to the date of the celebrated W ashburn expedition. CHAPTER VIII. GOLD IN MONTANA. Among the most fascinating pages of American history are those which recount the annals of the discoveries of gold and silver. Xo one can appreciate the magnitude of those various movements by a simple perusal of statistics of the mineral wealth which they disclosed. He must pass through the mining belts and note how almost every rod of ground, over vast tracts of country, is filled with prospect holes that attest the miner's former presence. If t'le trapper carried the tools of his trade to haunts remote and inaccessible, the miner, with his pick and shovel, certainly outdid him. One can readily understand that, as soon as such a movement should be directed toward the region of the Upper Yellowstone, the wonders of that region wouU speedily be revealed. The presence of gold in the mountains of Montana was first noticed as far back as 1852. Later, in 1858, the Stuart brothers, James and Granville, founders of Montana, discovered gold in the Deer Lodge Valley; but they were destitute of equipments, and so constantly exposed to the hostility of the Blackfeet, that they went to Fort Bridger in the southwest corner of Wyoming, and did not return until late in 1860. It was in 1860 and 1861 that the rich mines on the Salmon and Boise Eivers were discovered. In 1862 the tide of discovery swept across the mountains into Montana. The rich mines on Pioneer Creek, the Big Prickly Pear, the Big Hole River, North Boulder Creek, and at Bannock, and GOLD IN MOXTANA. 63 other points, became known. Although there were scarcely a thousand people in Montana in the winter of 1862-3, the news of the great discoveries marshaled a host of immi- grants ready to enter the territory in the following spring. These were largely re-enforced by adventurers from both the Xorthern and Southern States, who sought in these remote regions exemption from the tributes and levies of war. The immigrants were welcomed in the spring of 1863 by the news of the discovery of Alder Gulch, the richest of all gold placers. The work of prospecting, already being pushed with vigor, was stimulated to an extraordinary degree by this magnificent discovery. Pros- pecting parties scoured the country in all directions, often with loss of life through the Indians, but rarely, after the first two or three years, with any substantial success. Some of these expeditions have a particular connection with our narrative because they passed across portions of what is now the Yellowstone Park. The most important of them occurred in August and September, 1863. It was led by Walter W. DeLacy, an engineer and surveyor of some distinction in the early history of Montana. The party at one time numbered forty-two men, although this number did not continue constant throughout the expedition. Its sole object was to "prospect'^ the country. Evidently nothing in the line of topographical reconnaissance was thought of, for Captain DeLacy says "there was not a telescope, and hardly a watch, in the whole party." The expedition left Virginia City, August 3d; passed south into Idaho until it struck the Snake Eiver, and then ascended that stream to the region about Jackson Lake. Near the mouth of Buffalo Fork a halt was macle, a corral was built to hold the stocky and a miners' meeting held, at 64 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. which rules were adopted to govern the miners in the con- templated examination of the country. The party then broke up into small groups and set out in different direc- tions so as to cover as much ground as possible. The last four days of August were spent in this search, but with failure in every direction. This discouragement led to the abandonment of the expedition. Fifteen men set out for home by the way they had come, while DeLacy and twenty- seven men resolved to reach the Madison Eiver and the settlements by going north. A day later this party entered the territory which is now the Yellowstone Park. The route lay up the Snake Eiver to its junction with Lewis River, where the hot springs of that locality were discovered. Here another separation occurred. About half the party went back down the river to re-examine a locality where they thought they had found some fair pros- pects. They soon returned, however, unsuccessful. The main party under DeLacy ascended the hills to the west of the river to seek a more practicable route. They soon reached the summit of the plateau where they discovered what are now Hering and Beula Lakes, and noted their divergent drainage. Thence they passed north over Pitch- stone Plateau until they struck the valley of Moose Creek. They descended this stream for a few miles and came to a large lake, which they supposed to be tributary to either the Madison or the Yellowstone Elvers. To their great surprise they found, upon rounding its southern point, that it drained south into the Snake. This is what is now called Shoshone Lake. From the outlet of the lake, DeLacy sent a man down stream to examine the river. This reconnaissance resulted in the discover)' of Lewds Lake and the hot springs basin there. When DeLacy resum ed. hi s route, he followed along •^' Snow in the Park Forests, Jcjne 13, 1899. GOLD IN MONTANA. 65 the east shore of the lake to its northern extremity, and then ascended the beautiful open valley of DeLacy Creek. He crossed the Continental Divide at the head of the valley, and camped on the evening of September 8th some miles beyond the Divide toward the Firehole Eiver. The next morning, September 9, 18G3, he came upon the consider- able stream of hot water wliich flows down a mountain ravine into the Lower Geyser Basin close by the Great Fountain Geyser. The reader will learn with some amaze- ment that the party thought little enough of this wonder- ful locality to pass directly through it without halt or per- ceptible delay. Before the camping hour of the afternoon had arrived, they were many miles away at the junction of the Gibbon and Firehole Elvers. The other section of the party, which had gone do^^Ti the Snake from its junction with Lewis River, soon returned, followed up the river to Lewis and Shoshone Lakes, passed around the western end of the latter lake, discovering its extensive geyser basin, and thence crossed over to the Madison. This stream they descended through the geyser basins, and followed the main party to the settlements. DeLacy might have passed into history as the real dis- coverer of the Yellowstone wonderland, but for the fact that he failed to appreciate the true importance of what he saw. In that, however, he was no exception to the gen- eral rule of immigrants. The search for gold with them so far overshadowed all other matters, that it would have required something more than geysers to divert them, even momentarily, from its prosecution. Although DeLacy kept a daily journal of his expedition, and noted therein the various items of interest along his route, he did not publish it until 1876, long after public interest had been strongly attracted to the geyser regions. He did, however, 66 THE YELLOWSTOXE NATIONAL I'ARK. publish a map of the coiintn' through which he passed, and on this map he correctly noted the drainage of Shos- hone Lake — something which the Folsom^, AVashburn and Havden expeditions all failed to do. He also noted the various hot springs locahties through which the party passed. In a letter published in Eaymond's "Alineral Re- sources of the States and Territories West of the Eocky Mountains/' in 1869, before the date of the Washburn expedition, he called attention to the existence of geysers at the head of Shoshone Lake and on the Madison Eiver. DeLac/s account, as finally published, is an interesting early -sdew of this region, and is remarkable for its general correctness. That he failed to publish his discoveries must be regarded as fortunate, so far as the Park is concerned, for the time had not yet come when it was desirable that the real character of this country should be made known. From 1863 to 1869 there were many other prospecting parties in the region of the Upper Yellowstone. In 1863 one of these parties, numbering thirty or forty men, as- cended the Yellowstone and the East Fork to the month of Soda Butte Creek, and thence across an intervening ridge to the next northern tributary' of the East Fork. Here all their horses were stolen by Indians. There were left only one or two mules, on which was packed all tlie baggage they could carry, the rest being concealed in a cache. The party then separated into two portions, and prospected the country for several days in the vicinity of Clark's Fork. They finally returned, emptied the cache, and descended to the Yellowstone, where they found fair prospects near the present north boundary of the Park. The expedition has no permanent interest for this narra- tive, except that it left the two geographical names, ^Tache Creek" and "Bear Gulch." GOLD IN MONTANA. 67 Id 1864, a party of seventy-three men, under James Stuart, passed from Deer Lodge, Montana, to the Yellow- stone Valley, and thence around the east base of the Ab- saroka range into the valley of the Shoshone river. The object of this expedition was to punish the Indians for outrages of the previous year, and also to prospect the country for gold. At the Shoshone Stuart was compelled to return home. The party then separated into groups that gradually worked their way back to the Montana settlements. One of these small parties went as far south as the Sweetwater Eiver, then crossed to the Green and Snake Elvers, and recrossed the Continental Divide at Two- Ocean Pass. They descended the Yellowstone, past the Lake and Grand Canon, and beyond the present limits of the Park. Norris found remnants of their camp debris serenteen years afterward. In 1866, a party under one George Huston left Vir- ginia City, Montana, and ascended the Madison Eiver to the geyser basins. Thence they crossed to the Yellowstone at Mud Geyser, ascended the river to the lake, passed com- pletely around the latter, discovering Heart Lake on their way, and then descended the Yellowstone by the Falls and Canon, to Emigrant Gulch. Here they were interviewed by a newspaper reporter, and on account of their travels was published in the Omaha Herald. They had seen al)out all there was to be seen in the whole region. At least two parties traversed the Park country in 1867. One of these gave names to Crevice, Hell-roaring and Slough Creeks. An account of the wanderings of the other party appeared in the Montana Post of that year. ;^Lany other parties and individuals passed through this region during the ^lontana mining craze. Their accounts appeared now and then in the local papers, and were re- 68 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. printed throughout the country. By 1869, probably very few of the reading public had not heard rumors of a strange volcanic region in the Far West. In Montana, par- ticularly, repeated confirmation of the old trappers' tales was gradually arousing a deep interest, and the time was fast approaching when explorations for the specific purpose of verifying these rumors were to begin. CHAPTEE IX. DISCOVERY. The discovery of the Yellowstone Wonderland — by which is here meant its full and final disclosure to the world — was the work of three parties who visited and explored it in the years 1869, 1870, and 1871, respect- ively. The first of these expeditions was purely a private enterprise. It consisted of three men, and was the first party to enter this country with the express purpose of verifying or refuting the floating rumors concerning it. The second expedition was of a mixed character, having eemi-oiRcial sanction, but being organized and recruited by private individuals. This was the famous "Yellowstone Expedition of 1870" — the great starting point in the post- traditional history of the Park. The third expedition was strictly official, under the military and scientific depart- ments of the government. It was a direct result of the explorations of 1870, and was intended to satisfy the pub- lic demand for accurate and official information concern- ing this new region of wonders. It was the final and necessary step in order that the government might act intelligently and promptly for the preservation of what was believed to be the most interesting collection of won- ders to be found in the world. THE EXPEDITION OF 18G9. The question of setting definitely at rest the constantly multiplying rumors of wonderful volcanic phenomena 70 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. around the sources of the Yellowstone, began to be seri- ously agitated among the people of Montana as early as 1867. An expedition was planned for that year, but came to nothing. A like result attended a similar effort the fol- lowing year. In 1869, the proposition came near material- izing, but fell through at the last moment, owing to the failure to obtain a military escort. There were three mem- bers of this proposed expedition, however, who refused to be frightened off by any dangers which the situation at that time promised. They had already provided them- selves with an elaborate equipment, and were determined, with escort or without it, to undertake the trip. The names of these men were David E. Folsom, C. W. Cook, and William Peterson, the last named being a native of Denmark. Armed with "repeating rifles, Coitus six-shoot- ers, and sheath-knives/^ with a "double-barreled shot gun for small game/^ and equipped with a "good field- glass, pocket compass and thermometer,'^ and utensils and provi- sioiis "for a six weeks' trip," they set out from Diamond City on the Missouri Eiver, forty miles from Helena, Sep- tember 6, 1869. The route lay up the Missouri to the Three Forks; thence via Bozeman and Fort Ellis to the Yellowstone Eiver ; and thence up the Y^ellowstone to its junction with the East Fork inside the present limits of the Park. From this point they crossed to the east bank and followed up the river, passing through the many groups of hot springs to be found east of the Grand Canon. On September 21st, they arrived at the Falls of the Y'ellowstone, where they remained an entire day. Some distance above the rapids they re-crossed to the west shore and then ascended the river past Sulphur ]\tountain and Mud Volcano to Y'ellow- stone Lake. They then went to the extreme west shore DISCOVERY. 71 of the lake and spent some time examining the surpass- ingly beautiful springs at that point. Thence they crossed the mountains to Shoshone Lake, which they took to be the head of the ]\radison, and from that point struck out to the northwest over a toilsome country until they reached the Lower Geyser Basin near Xez Perce Creek. Here they saw the Fountain Geyser in action and the many other phenomena in that locality. They ascended the Firehole liiver to Excelsior Geyser and Prismatic Lake, and then turned down the river on their way home. They were absent on the expedition thirty-six days. It is said that these explorers were so astonished at the marvels they had seen that 'Hhey were, on their return, unfiling to risk their reputations for veracity by a full recital of them to a small company whom their friends had assembled to hear the account of their explorations/^ But Mr. Folsom later prepared a inost entertaining narrative of his journey which was published in the Western Monthly, of Chicago, in July, 1871.* It deserves high rank in the literature of the Park. It is free from exag- geration and contains some descriptions unsurpassed by any subsequent writer. The article, and personal inter- views with the author and his companions, had a strong ♦ It is only through the undiminished loyalty of Mr. N. P. Langford to every thing pertaining to the welfare of the Yel- lowstone National Park that this article has been saved from oblivion. The office of the Western Monthly was destroyed by the great Chicago fire of ]871, and all the files of the magazine were lost. Mr. Folsom had lost or given away all copies in his possession. So far as is known there is but one remaining copy of this issue, and that is owned by Mr. Langford. In 1894, Mr. Langford caused the article to be reprinted in handsome pamphlet form, with an interesting preface by himself. 72 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. influence in leading to the important expedition next to be described. THE EXPEDITION OF 1870. The Yellowstone Expedition of 1870, more commonly known as the Washburn-Doane Expedition, was the culmi- nation of the project of discovery to which frequent refer- ence has already been made. At this time the subject was exciting a profound interest throughout Montana, and the leading citizens of the territory were active in organ- izing a grand expedition. General Sheridan, who passed through Helena just prior to his departure for the scene of the Franco-German War, spent some time in arranging for a military escort to accompany the party. The project did, not assume definite shape until about the middle of August, and when the time for departure arrived, Indian alarms caused a majority of the party to repent their deci- sion to join it. Finally, there were only nine persons who were willing to brave all dangers for the success of the undertaking. These nine were: General Henry D. Washburn, Surveyor-General of Montana, chief of the expedition, and author of a series of valuable "notes'^ describing it. Hon. Xathaniel P. Langford^ Avho published a series of articles in Scritne/s Magazine, which gave general pub- licity to the news of discovery. He became first Superin- tendent of the Park. Hon. Cornelius Hedges, who first proposed setting apart this region as a Xational Park. Hon. Truman C. Everts, ex-TJ. S. Assessor for Montana, whose experience upon the expedition forms the most pain- ful and thrilling chapter in the annals of the Yellowstone. DISCOVERY. 75 Hcfo. Samuel T. Hauser, President of the First National Bank of Helena, and later Governor of Montana. Walter Trumbull, son of the late Senator Trumbull. He published an account of the expedition in the Overland Monthly for June, 1871. Other civilian members of the expedition were Benjamin Stickney, Jr., Warren C. Gillette and Jacob Smith. The personnel of this party is sufficient evidence of the widespread interest which was being taken at the time in tlie region of the Tpper Yellowstone. The party proceeded from Helena to Fort Ellis, one hun- dred and twenty-five miles, where they were to receive a military escort promised by General Hancock, at that time commanding the department in which Fort Ellis was loca- ted. The post order detailing this escort is dated August 21, 1870, and directs Lieutenant Gusta\ais C. Doane, Sec- ond Cavalry, with one sergeant and four privates, "to escort the Surveyor-General of Montana to the falls and lakes of the Yellowstone and return.^' There is a signifi- cant absence in this order of any reference to geysers or hot springs; and the discreet post commander evidently did not intend to commit himself to a recognition of their existence on the strength of such knowledge as was then available. His incredulity was, indeed, largely shared by the members of the party themselves. Mr. Hedges subse- quently said: "I think a more confirmed set of skeptics never went out into the wilderness than those who composed our party, and never was a party more completely surprised and cap- tivated with the wonders of nature.^' Lieutenant Doane, than whom no member of the expedition holds a more honorable place in its historv', has left on record a similar confession. (4) 74 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. The party as finally organized, including two packers and two colored cooks^ numbered nineteen individuals. Thirty-five horses and mules, thoroughly equipped for a month's absence, completed the "outfit/' and made alto- gether quite an imposing cavalcade. August 22, 1870, the expedition left Fort Ellis, crossed to the Yellowstone, and ascended that stream through the First and Second Caiions, past the "Devil's Slide" and Cinnabar Mountain, to the present north boundary line of the Park at the mouth of the Gardiner Eiver. At this point they were within five miles of the celebrated Mam- moth Hot Springs which are now the first attraction to meet the tourist's e^^e on entering the Park. But the party kept close to the Yellowstone, instead of taking the mod- ern route up the Gardiner, and missed this wonder alto- gether. It was August 26th when the expedition entered the present territory of the Park. Lieutenant Doane and Mr. Everts, with one soldier and two hunters picked up on the way, rode in advance along the brink of the Third Canon and across the high plateau between the Gardiner and Tower Creek, camping at nightfall upon the latter stream. In the broad open valley near the junction of the Yellowstone and East Fork, a small tepid sulphur sijriug gave them the first evidence of their api^roach to the regions of volcanic acti\aty. Xext day, the remainder of the party arrived. Two days were spent in examining the beautiful Tower Falls, and — to our tyros in geyser exploration — the wonderful hot spring formations to be seen at that point. Here they also had for the first time glimpses of the Grand Caiion of the Yellowstone. The party left Tower Creek on the 29th of August, and DISCOVERY. 75 followed up the river over the east Hank of Mount Wash- burn. As their progress lifted them rapidly above the surrounding country, a marvelously beautiful landscape unfolded itself to their view. Presently an interesting incident occurred, which shall stand here in Lieutenant Doane's own language : ^^Through the mountain gap formed by the canon, and on the interior slopes some twenty [evidently a misprint] miles distant, an object now appeared which drew a simul- taneous expression of wonder from every one of the party. A column of steam, rising from the dense woods to the height of several hundred feet, became distinctly visible. We had all heard fabulous stories of this region, and were somewhat skeptical of appearances. At first it was pro- nounced a fire in the woods, but presently some one no- ticed that the vapor rose in regular puffs, as if expelled with great force. Then conviction was forced upon us. It was, in deed, a great column of steam, puffing away on the lofty mountain side, escaping with a roaring sound audible at a long distance, even tlirough the hearj forest. A hearty cheer rang out at this discovery, and we pressed onward with renewed enthusiasm." The party then ascended the lofty mountain to their right, now known as Mt. Washburn, and from its summit looked around upon the vast panorama which is now inclu- ded in the Yellowstone Xational Park. Had old James Bridger been present at that moment, he would have re- ceived ample vindication for long-standing injustice at the hands of his incredulous countrymen. There were the Cafion and Falls and Lake of the Yellowstone with evi- dence enough of boiling springs and geysers ! The enthu- siasm of the party was unbounded, and Lieutenant Doane 76 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. exultingly declares that they were "more than satisfied with the opening up of the campaign." The pack-train continued its course along the side of the mountain, and went into camp after a march of only twelve miles. That evening Messrs. Washburn, Doane and Hedges went on ahead of the main party, discovering the extensive mud springs at the southern base of the moun- tain, and finally reached the verge of a cliff beyond which yawned the stupendous Canon of the Yellowstone. It was the first real view from near by, but darkness prevented further examination. The next day saw the arrival of the party at the Falls of the Yellowstone, close by the mouth of Cascade Creek, which, with its Crystal Falls, received that day their pres- ent names. The remainder of this day, August 30th, and the next, were spent in exploring the canon and measuring the height of the falls. ]\Iessrs. Hauser and Stickney de- scended the sides of the canon to the brink of the river about two miles below the falls ; and Lieutenant Doane and Private McConnell accomplished the same difficult feat further down. It needs not to be said that the members of the party were profoundly impressed with the incompara- ble scener}^ of the Grand Canon, although their descrip- tions of it are, perhaps, least satisfactory of any they have left us. From the Canon the party ascended the now placid river amid ever-changing wonders. They passed Sulphur Moun- tain and the uncanny region around the Mud Volcano and Mnd Geyser, then crossed to the east shore of the river and finally went into camp, September 3d, on the shore of the Yellowstone Lake. Here our explorers were again in ecsta- cies, and not without cause; for, seen under favoring con- DISCOVERY. ' 77 ditions this "watery solitude" is one of the most beautiful objects in nature. After a day spent in this camp, the expedition continued by slow stages up the east shore of the lake. Messrs. Doane and Langford scaled the lofty Absaroka Range just east of the lake, being the first white men known to have accom- plished this feat, and their names now designate two of its noblest summits. September 7th, the party forded the Upper Yellowstone and traversed the almost impassable labyrinths of fallen timber between the several projecting arms on the south of the lake. It was on this portion of the route, September 9th, that Mr. Everts became separated from his party, lost his horse with all his accouterments, and commenced those "thirty-seven days of peril," which so nearly cost him his life.* This unfortunate affair cast a deep gloom • * The following succinct account of Everts' experience is from the pen of Lieutenant Doane, and is in the main correct. For Everts' own account see Scribner's Monthly, vol. III., p. 1. "On the first day of his absence, he had left his horse stand- ing unfastened, with all his arms and equipments strapried upon his saddle; the animal became frightened, ran away into the woods, and he was left without even a pocket knife as a means of defense. Being very near-sighted, and totally un- used to traveling in a wild country without guides, he became completely bewildered. He wandered down to the Snake River Lake [Heart Lake], where he remained twelve days, sleeping near the hot springs to keep from freezing at night, and climbing to the summits each day in the endeavor to trace out his proper course. Here he subsisted on thistle- roots, boiled in the springs and was kept up a tree the greater part of one night by a California lion. After gathering and cooking a supply of thistle-roots, he managed to strike the Bouth-west point of the [Yellowstone] Lake, and followed around the north side of the Yellowstone [River], finally 78 THE YELLOWSTO^"E NATTOXAL PARK, over the little party and seriously interfered w-itli the prog- ress of the expedition. A week was spent in searching for the lost companion, without other results than the discov- ery of the hot springs basins at Heart Lake and on the west shore of the Yellowstone Lake. At length it was concluded that ^Ir. Everts had either been killed or had wandered back home; and it was re- solved to wait no longer. The party were surfeited with sight-seeing, and believed that they had now covered the whole ground. They therefore determined to strike across reaching our [old] camp opposite the Grand Canon. He wag twelve days out before he thought to kindle a fire by using the lenses of his field-glass, but afterward carried a burning brand with him in all his wanderings. Herds of g'ame passed by him during the night, on many occasions when he was on the verge of starvation. In addition to a tolerable supply of thistle roots, he had nothing for over thirty days but a handful of minnows and a couple of »now-birds. Twice he went five days without food, and three days without water, in that country which is a net-work of streams and springs. He was found on the verge of the great plateau, above the mouth of Gardiner's River. A heavy snow-storm had extin- guished his fire; his supply of thistle-roots was exhausted; he was partially deranged, and perishing with cold. A large lion was killed near him, on the trail, which he said had fol- lowed him at a short distance for several days previously. It was a miraculous escape, considering the utter helplessness of the man, lost in a forest wilderness, and witti the storms of winter at hand." On the thirty-seventh day of his wanderings (September 9th to October 16th), he was discovered by Jack Baronett and George A. Pritchett, near the great trail on a high moun- tain a few miles west of Yancey's. Baronett threw up a mound of stones to mark the spot. He carried Everts in his arms the rest of that day, and passed the night on a small tributary of Black-tail Deer Creek. The next day he was taken on a saddle to near the mouth of the Gardiner. DTSrOVERY. ?D tlio m&imtriins to the ^faflipon and follow that stream to the settlements. They set out on the morning of Septem- ber 17th, over rugged hills and through fallen timber, crossing the Continental Divide twice, and camping that night in an open glade on a small branch of the Firehoie. While passing the second time over the Divide, they caught a glimpse of Shoshone Lake and erroneously thought it to be the head of the Firehoie River. At 9 A. M.^ September 18th, the march was resumed. The party soon reached the Firehoie just above Kepler Cascade and ttience followed down the course of the stream. Tourists who have visited the Park since 1891, when the new road from the Upper Basin to the Lake was opened, will remember that immediately after leaving "Old Faith- fuF^ they plunge into an unbroken pine forest and see no other evidences of geyser action until they reach the Lake. The situation of our homeward-bound explorers can thus be easily understood. They were traveling toward the geysers. The dense forest concealed everything beyond the radius of a few hundred feet. In unsuspecting mood, bent only on getting home to tell their wonderful story, and perhaps to find their missing companion, they moved down the river, crossing considerably below the site of the present bridge above the Upper Basin, and suddenly emerged from the timber into an open treeless valley. It was nearly noon of a clear, cool September day. Directly in front of them, scarcely two hundred yards away, a vertical column of water and steam was shooting upward a hundred and fifty feet into 'the air. The bright sunlight turned the clear water into a mass of glittering crystals, and a gentle breeze wafted the vast white curtain of steam far to the right across the valley. Thus it was that "Old Faithful," as if forewarned of the approach of her distinguished visitors, 80 THE YELLO^A^TONE NATIONAL PARK. gave them her most graceful salutation; and thus she bowed out of the era of tradition and fable, and ushered the civilized world into the untrodden empire of the Fire King. Little wonder that our astonished explorers "spurred their jaded horses," and "gathered around the wonderful phenomenon." The party spent only the remainder of the day and the following morning in the Upper Basin; but in that time saw seven of the principal geysers in action, and gave them their present names.* They then passed down the river through the Middle and Lower Basins, but stopped to ex- amine only such curiosities as were close by the river. Their rations were nearly gone, their lost companion was not found, and the desire to tell what they had already seen was greater than the desire to see more. They therefore made haste for home, and on the evening of September 19th encamped where the Firehole and Gibbon Eivers unite to form the Madison. From this point the party journeyed steadily homeward, conversing on the expedition of the past month, and planning how their great discovery might best be brought to the attention of the world. The news of this expedition created intense and wide- spread interest throughout the country. Messrs. Wash- burn, Hedges, Trumbull, and others, prepared numerous descriptive articles for the local Montana papers, many of them among the best that have ever been written upon the Park, and these were reproduced in every important paper in the land. The Helena Herald, of October 27, 1870, only a month after the return of the party, refers to the extra- ordinary interest aroused by these articles, so unlike the sixty years' indifference which had marked the history of this region. * See list of geysers in ApDondix. DlSCOVEllY. 81 . These preliminary and hasty reports were followed by more studied efforts. Lieutenant Doane^s masterly report was completed December 15, 1870. Besides its intrinsic merit, it has the distinction of being the first official report upon the Upper Yellowstone country. It passed through the customary military channels and was finally sent to Congress, February 24, 1871. Prof. S. F. Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution, also - presented the information gathered by Lieutenant Doane to the Philosophical Society of Washington during the winter. Messrs. Langford and Trumbull prepared entertaining magazine articles, w^hich, however, could not be gotten to press until the following May and June. But Mr. Lang- ford in the meantime did effective work from the lecture stand. In Helena, Minneapolis, New York and Washing- ton, he told the stor}' of what he had seen. In Washington, the Hon. James G. Blaine, Speaker of the House, presided at the lecture, and in the audience was Dr. F. V. Hayden, who was destined to play a prominent part in the history of the Yellowstone Park. From whatever point of view considered, this expedition is one of the most remarkable in our annals. From Helena to the farthest point reached by the party, the route passed over was nearly three hundred miles long. The region of the Upper Yellowstone is perhaps the most difficult of access in the entire country. Even to-day, it is an almost certain place in which to get lost, if one is not thoroughly familiar with wilderness travel and happens to stray away from the beaten path. In 1870, moreover, the danger from hostile Indians was a constant and formidable menace, and the party was more than once reminded of it during the prog- ress of the expedition. But in spite of all these dilhculties, the success of the enterprise was so complete, its incidents 82 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. were so full of romance^, and its results were so far-reach- ing and important, that it well deserves the wide attention it has received. THE JOINT GOVERNMENT EXPEDITION OF 1871. The direct result of the expedition of 1870 was to cause the United States Geological Survey to change its pro- gramme for the season of 1871; so as to give attention to the new wonderland ; and also to cause the military author- ities to send a well-appointed engineer party to the same locality. These two expeditions, one under Dr. Hayden and the other under Captains Barlow and Heap, of the Engineer Corps of the Army, moved for the most part together, camping near each other, and accompanied by the same military escort. Particular attention will here be given only to such features of these expeditions as pertain to new discoveries. At the very outset of their journey they branched off from the Washburn route at the mouth of the Gardiner River, and by ascending this stream, discovered the won- derful formations now known as the Mammoth Hot Springs. From this point, the parties traveled eastward to Tower Creek; thence over Mt. Washburn, and past the Canon and Falls, to Sulphur Mountain, Mud Geyser, and the Lake; thence by a new route across the mountains to the Upper Basin; thence east across the mountains again, past Shoshone Lake to Yellowstone Lake; thence around the head of this body of water to its outlet ; thence across the country, by separate routes, to the mouth of Soda Butte Creek; and thence down the East Fork to Baronett Bridge (which had been built only a few months before) , and out of the Park by way of Mammoth Hot Springs. The original work done by;^these parties, besides the DiscovEnY. 83 discovery of the springs on the Gardiner, was the opening of a route between the Yellowstone River and the Lower (acyser Basin; the exploration of the Lower Basin; the mapping of the shore line of Yellowstone Lake, by Dr. Hay den; the mapping of the head waters of the Snake River, by Captain Barlow: and some hasty explorations in the valley of the East Fork of the Yellowstone, now call:d Lamar Eiver. The chief value of these explorations, however, was not in the line of original discover}^, but in the large collection of accurate data concerning the entire region. The photo- graphs were of immense value. Description might exaggerate, but the camera told the truth; and in this case the truth was more remarkable than exaggeration. Unfortunately for Captain Barlow's collection, the great Chicago iire almost entirely destroyed it. The same cause delayed the appearance of his report until six weeks after the Park Bill was passed. An interesting and complete summary, however, api^eared as a supplement in the Chicago Journal for January 13, 1872. The report and collection of photographs and specimens by Dr. Hayden were therefore the principal results of this season's work, and they played a decisive part in the events of the winter of 1871-2. With the close of the expedition of 1871, the discovery of the Yellowstone wonderland was made complete. It remained to see what Congress would do with so unique and valuable a possession. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. Gustavus C. Doane. Lieutenant Doane was born in Illinois, May 29, 1840, and died in Bozeman^ Mont.^j May 5, 1892. xVt the age o^ 84 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK.- five he went with his parents^, in wake of an ox team, to Oregon. In 1849 his family went to California at the out- break of the gold excitement. He remained there ten years, in the meanwhile working his way through school. In 1862 he entered the Union service, went east with the California Hundred, and then joined a Massachusetts cavalry regiment. He was mustered out in 1865 as a First Lieutenant. He joined the Carpet-baggers and is said to have become Mayor of Yazoo City, Mississippi. He was appointed Second Lieutenant in the Regular Army in 1868, and continued in the service until his death, attaining the rank of Captain. Doane's whole career was actuated by a love of adven- ture. He had at various times planned a voyage to the Polar regions, or an expedition of discovery into Africa. But fate assigned him a middle ground, and he became prominently connected with the discovery of the Upper Yellowstone countr}^ His part in the Expedition of 1870 is second to none. He made the first official report upon the wonders of the Yellowstone, and his fine descriptions have never been surpassed by any subsequent writer. Although suffering intense physical torture during the greater portion of the trip, it did not extinguish in him the truly poetic ardor with which those strange phenomena seem to have inspired him. Dr. H'ayden says of this report : "I venture to state, as my opinion, that for graphic descrip- tion and thrilling interest it has not been surpassed by any official report made to our government since the times of Lewis and Clark.'' Nathaniel Pitt Langford, Mr. Langford was born August 9, 1832, in Westmore- land, Oneida County, ISTew York. His early life was spent on his father's farm, and his education was obtained by DISCOVERY. 86 winter attendance at district school. At nineteen, he became clerk in the Oneida Bank of Utica. In 185 i, he went to St. Paul, where we find him, in 1855, cashier of the banking house of Marshall & Co., and in 1858, cashier of the Bank of the State of Minnesota. In 1862, he went to Montana as second in command of the Xorthem Over- land Expedition, consisting of 130 men and 53 wagons drawn by oxen. In 1864, he was made Collector of Internal Eevenue for the new territory. In 1868, he was appointed by President Johnson Governor of Montana, but as this was after the Senate's imbroglio with the Presi- dent and its refusal to confirm any more presidential appointments, he did not reach this office. He was one of the famous Montana Vigilantes, a member of the Yellow- stone Expedition of 1870, and first Superintendent of the newly created Park. In 1872, he was appointed National Bank Examiner for the Pacific States and Territories, and held the office for thirteen years. He now resides in St. Paul, ^rinnesota. He is author of a series of articles in Scrihnc/s for 1871, describing the newly-discovered won- ders of the Yellowstone, and of the important work, "Vigilante Days and Ways," the most complete history in existence of that critical period in Montana history. The notable part which Mr. Langford bore in the dis- cover}" of the Upper Yellowstone country, and in the crea- tion of tbe Yellowstone National Park, has been fully set forth elsewhere. He has always been its ardent friend, and his enthusiasm upon the subject in the earlier days of its history drew upon him the mild raillery of his friends, who were wont to call him "Natiomal Park" Langford — a sobriquet to which the initials of his real name readily lent themselves. 86 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PxVRK. Henry Dana Washhurn. General Washburn was born in Windsor, Vt., March 28, 1832. His parents moved to Ohio during his infancy. Ho received a common school education and at fourteen began teaching school. He entered Oberlin College, but did not complete his course. At eighteen he went to Indiana where he resumed school-teaching. At twenty-one he entered the New York State and National Law School^ from which he graduated. At twenty-three he was elected auditor of Vermilion County, Indiana. His war record was a highly honorable one. He entered the army as private in 1861 and left it as Brevet Brigadier- General in 1865. His service was mainly identified with the Eighteenth Indiana, of which he became Colonel. He was in several of the western campaigns, notably in that of Vicksburg, in which he bore a prominent part. In the last year of the war he was with Sherman's army, and for a short time after its close was in command of a military district in Southern Georgia. In 1864, he was elected to Congress over the Hon. Daniel W. Voorhees, and again, in 1866, over the Hon. Solomon W. Claypool. At the expira- tion of his second term he was appointed by President Grant, surveyor-general of Montana, which office he held until his death. It was during his residence in Montana that the famous Yellowstone Expedition of 1870 took place. His part in that important work is perhaps the most notable feature of his career. As leader of the expedition he won the admiration and affection of its members. He was the first to send to Washington specimens from the geyser forma- tions. He ardently espoused the project of setting apart this region as a public park, and was on his way to Wash- ington in its interest when his career was cut short by DISCOVERY. 87 death. The hardship and exposure of the expedition had precipitated the catastrophe to which he had long been tending. He left Helena in November, 1870, and died of consumption at lus home in Clinton, Indiana, January 26, 1871. Ferdinand Vandiveer Hay den, "Doctor Hayden was born at Westfield, Massachusetts, September 7, 1829 His father died when he was about ten years of age, and about two years later he went to live with an uncle at Eochester, in Lorain County, Ohio, where he remained for six years. He taught in the country district schools of the neighborhood during his sixteenth and seventeenth years, and at the age of eighteen went to Oberlin College, where he graduated in 1850. . . . "He studied medicine with Dr. J. S. Newberry, at Cleve- land, and at Albany was graduated Doctor of Medicine in the early part of 1853. After his graduation, he was sent by Prof. James Hall, of New York, to the Bad Lands of White River, in Dakota. The years 1851 and 1855 he spent exploring and collecting fossils in the Upper Missouri country, mainly at his own expense. From 1856 until 1859, he w^as connected as geologist with the expeditions of Lieutenant AYarren; engaged in explorations in Nebraska and Dakota. From 1859 until 1862, he was surgeon, nat- uralist, and geologist with Captain W. F. Eaynolds, in the exploration of the Yellowstone and Missouri Elvers. In October, 1862, he was appointed acting assistant surgeon and assistant medical inspector until June, 1865, when he resigned, and was brcvetted Lieutenant-Colonel for meri- torious services during the war. He then resumed his scientific work, and in 1866 made another trip to the Bad Lands of Dakota, this time in the interest of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. In 1865, he was 88 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. elected professor of mineralogy and geology in the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, which position he resigned in 1872. From 1867 to 1879, his history is that of the organization of which he had charge, which began as a geological survey of Xebraska, and became finally the Geological Sun^ey of the Territories. . . . From 1879 until December, 1886, he was connected with the United States Geological Survey as geologist. His health began to fail soon after his connection with this organization, and gradually became worse, and he lived only a year after his resignation. "In 1876, the degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by the University of Eochester, and in June, 1886, he received the same degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He was a member of seventeen scientific societies in the United States, among them the Xational Academy of Sciences, and was honorary and corresponding member of some seventy foreign societies. A bibliography of his writing includes 158 titles. ". . . The diffidence, approaching even timidity, which impressed his fellow-students at Oberlin, character- ized Dr. Hay den throughout his life, and rendered it some- what difficult for those who did not know him intimately to understand the reasons for his success, which was un- doubtedly due to his eneTgy and perseverance, qualities which were equally characteristic of him as a boy and student and in later life. His desire to forward the cause of science was sincere and enthusiastic, and he was always ready to modify his views upon the presentation of evi- dence. He was intensely nervous, frequently impulsive, but ever generous, and his honesty and integrity were un- doubted. The greater part of his work for the government and for science was a labor of love.''* * Bulletin PhilosopMcal Society of Washington, Vol. VL, pp. 476-8. CHAPTER X. THE NATIONAL PARK IDEA — ITS ORIGIN AND REALIZATION. Since the Park was created and has to such a marked degree received the approval of the people, numerous claimants have arisen for the honor of having first sug- gested the idea. In truth;, no special credit for originality should attach to the matter. It was a natural, an unavoid- able proposition. To those who first saw these wonders, and were aiot so absorbed with gold-seeking as to be incapa- ble cf appreciating their importance, it was clear that, within a few years, they must become objects of universal interest. It was equally clear that the land around them would soon be taken up- by private parties, and that the beautiful formations would be carried off for mercenary pur- poses ; in short, that the early history of Niagara and of the Yosemite would repeat itself in the Yellowstone. To avoid such a calamity only one course was open, and that was for the government to retain control of the entire region. Tliat the necessity of such a course should have been set forth independently by several different parties, as we find it to have been, is therefore not in the least surprising. But inasmuch as the development of the project must have started from some one source, it is of interest histor- ically to determine what this source was. We find it to have been the Washburn Expedition of 1870.* The subject • Mr. Folsom deserves mention In this connection. In the manuscript of his article in the Western Monthly was a refer- ence to the Park idea; but the publishers cut out a large part of his paper, giving only th-e descriptions of the natural won- (4*) 90 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. was discussed by the party at the first camp after leaving the geyser regions near the junction of the Firehole and Gibbon Eivers. The date was September 19, 1870. The members of the party were sitting around the camp-fire after supper, conversing about what they had seen, and picturing to themselves the important pleasure resort which so wonderful a region must soon become. The natural impulse to turn the fruits of discovery to the per- sonal profit of the discoverer made its appearance, and it was suggested that it would be a "profitable speculation" to take up land around the various objects of interest. The conversation had not proceeded far on these lines when one of the party, Cornelius Hedges, interposed and said that private ownership of that region, or any part of it, ought never to be countenanced ; but that it ought to be set apart by the government and forever held to the unrestricted use of the people. This higher view of the subject found immediate acceptance with the other members of the party. It was agreed that the project should be at once set afoot and pushed vigorously to a finish. As soon as the party reached Helena, a series of articles appeared in the daily papers of that city describing the late expedition^ and in one of them, written by Mr. Hedges and published in the Helena Herald November 9, 1870, occurs what is believed to be the first public reference to the Park project. The next mention of the subject was in ^Ir. Langford's lecture, delivered, as already related, in Washington, Jan- uary 19, 1871; in New York, January 21, 1871; and at a ders, and this reference was cut out with the rest. Mr. Folsom also suggested the idea to General Washburn, of which fact Mr. N. P. Langford is still a living witness. From Mr. Fol- som's suggestion, however, ^o direct result can be traced. NATIONAL PARK IDEA — ORIGIN AND REALIZATION. 91 later date in Minneapolis. At each of these places he closed his lecture with a reference to the importance of setting apart this region as a National Park. The New York Tribune of January 23, 1871, thus quotes Mr. Langford: "This is probably the most remarkable region of natural attractions in the world; and, while we already have our Niagara and Yosemite, this new field of wonders should be at once withdrawn from occupancy, and set apart as a public National Park for the enjoyment of the American people for all time." Such is the origin of the idea which has found realiza- tion in our present Yellowstone Park. The history of the Act of dedication, by which the Park was created, may be briefly told. The general plan for a vigorous prosecution of the project was arranged in Helena, Montana, mainly by Nathaniel P. Langford, Cornelius Hedges and William H. Clagett, who had just been elected delegate to Congress from Montana, and who had already himself independently urged the importance of converting this region into a public park. Mr. Langford went to Washington when Congress convened, and he and Mr. Clagett drew the Park Bill, except as to description of boundaries, which was furnished by Dr. Hayden. The bill was introduced in the House by Mr. Clagett, December 18, 1871. Senator Pomeroy, of Kansas, had expressed a desire to perforai a like service in the Senate, a^d accordingly Mr. Clagett, as soon as he had presented the measure to the House, took a copy to the Senate Chamber and gave it to Senator Pom- eroy, who immediately introduced it. In each House it was referred to the Committee on Public Lands. In the Senate no formal report was prepared. In the House the Hon. Mark H. Dunnell, of Minnesota, chairman of the sub-committee having the bill in charge^ addressed a letter 92 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. under date of January 27, 1872, to the Secretary of the Interior, asking his opinion upon the proposed measure. The Secretary replied, under date of January 29th, fully indorsing the project, and submitting a brief report by Dr. Hayden, which forcibly presented all the main features of the case. The bill, being thus before Congress, was put through mainly by the efforts of three men, Dr. F. V. Hayden, N. P. Langford and Delegate William H. Clagett. Dr. Hayden occupied a commanding position in this work, as representative of the government in the exploration of 1871. He was thoroughly familiar with the subject,' and was equipped with an exhaustive collection of photographs and specimens gathered the previous summer. These were placed on exhibition, and were probably seen by all mem- bers of Congress. They did a work which no other agency could do, and doubtless convinced ever}- one who saw them that the region where such wonders existed should be care- fully preserved to the people forever. Dr. Hayden gave to the cause the energy of a genuine enthusiasm, and his work that winter will always hold a prominent place in the his- tory of the Park. Mr. Langford, as already stated, had publicly advocated the measure in the previous winter. He had rendered service of the utmost importance, through his publication in Scrihners Magazine in the preceding May and June. Four hundred copies of these magazines were brought and placed upon the desks of members of Congress on the days when the measure was to be brought to vote. During the entire winter Mr. Langford devoted much of his time to the promotion of this work. The Hon. William H. Clagett, as delegate from the Territory most directlv interested in the passage of the NATIONAL PARK IDEA ORIGIN AKD REALIZATION. 93 bill, took an active personal part in its advocacy from beginning to end. Through the efforts of these three gentlemen, and others less conspicuously identified with the work, this measure received perhaps the most thorough canvass of any bill that has ever passed Congress. All the members were per- sonally visited and, with few exceptions, won to the cause. The result was a practical unanimity of opinion when the measure came to a vote. This first took place in the Senate, the bill being passed by that body January 30th. It was warmly supported upon its passage by several members and opposed by one, Senator Cole, of California ; a fact the more remarkable because that Senator had in his own State — in the preemption by private parties of the Yosemite wonderland — the most convincing example possible of the wisdom of such a measure as that proposed. The Senate bill came up from the Speaker's table in the House of Eepresentatives, February 27th. Mr. Bunnell stated that the Committee on Public Lands had instructed him to ask the House to pass the Senate bill. Hon. H. L. Dawes, of Massachusetts, warmly advocated the measure, which was then passed by a decisive vote.* The bill received the President's signature March 1, 1872. f • No yea and nay vote was taken in tlie Senate. The vote In the House was — yeas, 115; nays, 65; not voting, 60. tTHE ACT OF DEDICATION. An Act to set apart a certain tract of land lying near the head- waters of the Yellowstone River as a public park. Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the tract of land in the Territories of Montana and Wyoming lying near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River and de- scribed as follows, to-wit: Commencing at the junction of Gardiner's River with the Yellowstone River and running east 94 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. Perhaps no act of our national Congress lias received such general approbation at home or such profuse com- mendation from foreigners as that creating the Yellow- stone Xational Park. The lapse of time only serves to con- firm and extend its importance; and to give additional force to the sentiment so well expressed by the Earl of Dunraven when he visited the Park in 1874 : ^'All honor then to the United States for having be- queathed as a free gift to man the beauties and curiosities of 'Wonderland/ It was an act worthy of a great nation, to the meridian, passing ten miles to the eastward of the most eastern point of Yellowstone Lake; thence south along the said meridian to the parallel of latitude, passing ten miles south of the most southern point of Yellowstone Lake; thence west along said parallel to the meridian, passing fifteen miles west of the most western point of Madison I-ake; thence north along said meridian to the latitude of the junction of the Yellowstone and Gardiner's Rivers; thence east to the place of beginning, is hereby reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale under the laws of the United States, and dedicated and 6et apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people; and all persons who shall locate, or settle upon, or occupy the same or any part thereof, except as hereinafter provided, shall be considered trespassers and removed therefrom. Sec. 2. That said public park shall be under the exclusive control of the Secretary of the Interior, whose duty it shall be, as soon as practicable, to make and publish such rules and regulations as he may deem necessary or proper for the care and management of the same. Svch regulations shall provide for the preservation from injury or spoliation of all timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities or wonders within said park, and their retention in their natural condition. The Secretary may, in his discretion, grant leases for build- ing purposes, for terms not exceeding ten years, of small par- cels of ground, at such places in said park as shall require the erection of buildings for the accommodation of visitors; all of NA.TTOJCAL PARK IDEA OnTGTX AXD REALIZATION. 9o and she will have her reward in the praise of the present army of tourists, no less than in the thanks of the genera- tions of them yet to come/'* It was a notable act, not only on account of the trans- cendent importance of the territory it was designed to pro- tect, but because it was a marked innovation in the tradi- tional policy of governments. From time immemorial privileged classes have been protected by law in the with- drawal, for the exclusive enjoyment, of immense tracts for forests, parks and game preserves. But never before was a region of such vast extent as the Yellowstone Park set apart for the use of all the people without distinction of rank or wealth. The example thus set by the United States has been widely followed, We have now the Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks, and numerous parks upon the sites of great battlefields. The State of Xew York has a Niagara Park the proceeds of said leases, and all other revenue that may be derived from any source connected with said park, to be ex- pended under his direction in the management of the same and the construction of roads and bridle-paths, and shall provide against the wanton destruction of the fish and game found within said park and against their capture or de- struction for the purpose of merchandise or profit. He shall also cause all persons trespassing upon the same after the pas- sage of this act to be removed therefrom, and generally shall be authorized to take all such measures as shall be necessary or proper to fully carry out the objects and purposes of this act Approved March 1, 1872. Signed by: James G. Blaine, Speaker of the House. Schuyler Colfax. Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate. UiAssEs S. Grant, President of the United States. ♦ Page xi., "The Great^Clxlde." 96 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. and contemplates setting apart a portion of the Adiron- dac region. Minnesota has the Itasca State Park, includ- ing the sources of the Mississippi. Canada also has a pub- lic park at Niagara, and a large reservation in the midst of the finest scenery of the Eocky Mountains. New Zea- land has set apart for public use the region of her hot springs and geysers. Finally the question has been mooted of reserving a vast tract of Africa wherein the large game of that continent may be kept from annihilation.* * In the first edition of this work the author represented George Catlin, the well-known painter of Indian scenes and portraits, as having originated the Park idea. This was hardly a correct position. Catlin's idea of a National Park was solely as a home for the Indians — a "Nation's Park, containing man and beast in all the wildness and freshness of their nature's beauty." He was an enthusiast upon that subject, as the fol- lowing reference to it will show: "I would ask no other monument to my memory, nor any other enrollment of my name among the famous dead, than the reputation of having been the founder of such an institution." His scheme had no possible reference to the geyser regions, of which he most probably never heard, and his name can not be considered in connection with those who originated the idea of the Yellowstone Park. CHAPTER XI. WHY SO LONG UNKNOWN. There is no more singular fact connected with the his- tory of the Upper Yellowstone country than its long ininumity from the presence of white men. From the date when Lewis and Clark first stood at the Three Forks of the Missouri, less than one hundred miles distant from this notable region, sixty-five years elapsed before it was fully known. In the meantime all the surrounding country had been thoroughly explored. Cities, villages, farms and high- ways had been established throughout the West. A rail- road had been built across the continent. But around the head waters of the Yellowstone, the most attractive region of all, it was still terra incognita, A fact so remarkable requires explanation. The most difficult feature of the question is the fact that little knowledge of this region appears ever to have been derived from the Indians. Lewis and Clark were told of the Great Falls of the ^lissouri, and of other notable geo- graphical features, long before they saw them. But of the far more wonderful Falls of the Yellowstone, of the great lake in the mountains, or of the marvelous volcanic phenomena in the same neighborhood, they received no hint. There is not a single instance on record, so far as we can discover, except in the meager facts noted in an earlier chapter, where rumors of this strange country appear to have fallen from the lips of Indians. And yet it was not a region unknown to them, for they had certainly passed back and forth across it for a long period in the (5) 98 THi: YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. past. Their deep silence coneerniDg it is therefore no lesa remarkable than mysterious. But how was it that the long period of the fur trade should have passed without disclosing this country? To this question a more satisfactory answer may bo returned. The Upper Yellowstone country was indeed^ as we have seen, frequently visited in these early years. But it was never favorite territory. Old trappers say that,, although it abounded in beaver, they were not so plentiful as in lower altitudes, while on the streams impregnated with mineral matter, the furs were not so good. The seasons also were unpropitious. The winter snows were so deep— they came so early and remained so late— that little could be done there except from the middle of June to the middle of September. But furs taken during the summer months are of inferior quality, and there was consequently no inducement to trap. Moreover it was generally at this time that the gatherings at posts and rendezvous took place, and after these were over but little time remained. Causes like these prevented extensive operations in this region, and doutbless only a comparatively small number of trap- pers ever saw it. Then, the interest of the trader was against the dissem- ination of any knowledge which might induce immigi-ation and hasten the certain ruin of his occupation. The stress of competition also caused him to remain silent concerning the places he had seen, lest a rival should profit thereby. He took no pains to reveal the country, and the trappers were too illiterate to do so had they wished. With the few notable exceptions which have been mentioned in a previ- ous chapter, no important press notice of these regions appeared during the entire sixty-five years. The fur business itself quickly ran its course, and "vvith WHY SO LONG UNKNOWN. 99 it disappeared all probability of an early discovery of the geyser regions from this cause. The war with Mexico fol- lowed, with the vast cession of territory which it secured. Then came the highly important discovery of gold in Cali- fornia. Already the Mormon emigration had taken place. These great events completely changed the character and purpose of western exploration. The whole West was forgotten excepting only California and the Salt Lake Valley, and the routes leading to them. Xone of these led close to the geyser regions. On the north were the British fur trader's route, and the Missouri Eiver route, both of which led directly west to the Columbia. To the south was the great thoroughfare along the Platte Eiver and through South Pass, leading to Utah, California and Oregon. Still further south were the long known routes near the border of Old Mexico. It was hopelessly improbable that gold seekers bound to the Pacific Coast along any of these routes would stray into the mountain fastnesses about the sources of the y ellowstone. I'inally the whole energy of the government in the field of exploration was directed away from this region. In the period from ISO-l-G, the date of I^wis and Clark's Expedi- tion, to 1870, the date of the real discovery of the Park, there were no fewer than one hundred and ten explorations in the country west of the Mississippi, nearly all of which had government authorit}', and were conducted on a scien- tific basis. Of these eighty-four were in the territory lately acquired from Mexico, and mostly in the far South and West. Nineteen were east of the Bighorn Mountains, five north of the Yellowstone, and only two in the region about the Upper Yellowstone. Of these two expeditions one was that of Lewis and Clark, and was in no wise intended to explore the Upper Y^'ellowstone further than might be 100 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. necessary to find a good route to the Pacific. This leaves but a single expedition of the whole number, that of Captain Raynolds, which was directed to this specific terri- tory. How the purpose of this expedition was defeated by the heavy snow in the mountains and by the solar eclipse of 18fi0, has been elsewhere related. And so it came about that it was the gold-seeker who finally revealed the well-kept secret of the Yellowstone. Itself destitute of mineral wealth, this region could not escape the ubiquitous prospector. It was not, indeed^ by him that it was publicly proclaimed to the world. He cared little for any country that was destitute of "color'' or "pay.'' But the hints he dropped put others on the track and opened the door to real discovery. This fact of long delay in the discovery of the Upper Yellowstone is the most important in its history. Had it been known at an earlier date, its fate would have been deplorably different*. The period of the fur trade was too early for the interest of the people to demand, or the power of the government to enforce, its protection. If Captain Raynolds had discovered it, all its most valuable tracts would have beeii pre-empted long before the government would have been able to give it attention. Fortunately, the discovery was delayed until there was a considerable population in the country near by, and the government was prepared actively to consider the matter. Before settlers could establish a permanent foothold, the Papk was cre- ated, and all the vexatious obstacles, which might other- wise have defeated the project, were avoided. CHAPTER XII. LATER EXPLORATIONS. As soon as the remarkable character of the countr}- about the sources of the Yellowstone became generally known, there was a rush of explorers to its borders. Every expedi- tion that could possibly extend the field of its labors in that direction did so, and there was scarcely a summer during the next twenty years that the Park was not the scene of some official exploration or visit. By far the most important of these were the various expeditions under the United States Geological Survey. Dr. Hay den was again in the country with two parties in 1872, and very widely extended the range of observations of the previous year. In 1878, survey parties again entered the Park and resumed work there on a much more minute and extensive scale. The result of that year's explorations appeared in 1883 in the form of an elaborate report by Dr. Hayden and his co-workers, which entered with much detail into the more important subjects of scientific interest. It was embellished with a great number of engravings and colored plates, and with an exhaustive series of topographical and geological maps. The work was again taken up in 1883, and was continued for several years. All questions of scientific importance were investi- gated more thoroughly than ever before, and many valuable official reports and monographs, together witli a superb map, have been the result. In 1872, General John Gibbon, U. S. A., with a consid- erable party, made a tour of the Park, passing by the usual 102 THE YELLOAVSTONE NATIONAL PARK. route from Mammoth Hot Springs via Mt. Washburn, the Grand Caiion, and the Lake, to the Firehole Geyser Basins. On his way home he attempted to ascend the North Fork of the ^ladison, following an old trail ; but he abandoned the attempt after going a few miles. His name, which was given to the river, has also attached to many other features along that valley. In 1873, Captain William A. Jones, of the Corps of Engineers, .passed through the Park as part of a more extended reconnaissance. . He was the first to carry a party through tlie "impassable barrier'^ of the Absaroka Eange. Jones Creek, just east of the northern portion of the Yellowstone Lake, shows where the party entered the Park. From the Lake the expedition passed down the east bank of the river to the valley of Junction Butte; thence west to ^Mammoth Hot Springs ; thence back over the usual trail via Tower Creek, Mt. Washburn, the Grand Canon and Mud Geyser, to the Lower Geyser Basin; thence via the Upper Basin to the west shore of the Yellowstone Lake: thence to the Upper Yellowstone Piiver; thence through Two-Ocean Pass and Two-Gwo-Tee Pass to the valley of Wind Kiver. The chief results of this expedition, in the line of original discovery, were the passage of the Absaroka Range, the verification of the traditional "Two-Ocean Water,'' between Atlantic and Pacific Creeks, in Two- Ocean Pass, and the discovery of the extremely easy Pass (Two-Gwo-Tee*) over the Continental Divide, between the Snake and Wind Rivers. Prof. Theodore B. Comstock accompanied the expedition as geologist. A valuable report of the reconnaissance appeared in 1875. In 1875, Captain William Ludlow, of the Corps of Engi- ♦ So named by Captain Jones for one of his Indian guides. LATER EXPLORATIONS. 103 neers, made a reconnaissance from Carroll, Montana, on the Missouri River, to the Yellowstone Park and return. In the Park he followed the previously traveled routes and developed little in the line of original discovery. Tie succeeded, however, in obtaining a very accurate measure- ment of the height of the Yellowstone Falls, and his re- port forms one of the ablest brief descriptions of the Paik extanlt. Among his civil assistants was George Bird Grin- nell, later widely known as the editor of Forest and Stream, and as one of the most steadfast and watchful guardians the Park has ever had. During the same season a distinguished party, consist- ing of the Secretary of War, Gen. W. W. Belknap, and several prominent officers and civilians, with Lieutenant G. C. Doane, of National Park fame, as guide, made a complete tour of the Park. An exceedingly interesting narrative of the trip was written by Gen. W. E. Strong, who was a member of the party. In 1877, Gen. W. T. Sherman and staff made a tour of the Park. His letters on the subject to the Secretary of AVar, and the official report prepared by Gen. 0. M. Poe of his staff, form a valuable contribution to the literature of the Park. In the same year Gen. 0. 0. Howard crossed the reser- vation in pursuit of the Nez Perce Indians. In 1880, the Hon. Carl Schurz, Secretary of the Inte- rior, accompanied by Gen. Crook with a large number of officers and soldiers, and an immense pack train, entered the Park from the valley of Henry Fork and made an ex- tended tour. In 1881, Captain W. S. Stanton, of the Corps of Engi- neers, made a reconnaissance through the Park, entering by the way of Soda Butte Creek^ and passing out by the 104 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. Madison Valley. The most important result of his work in the Park was a more accurate table of distances over some of the routes than had previously been in use. In July and August of this year, the Hon. John W. Hojt, Governor of Wyoming, with a military escort under command of Major Julius W. Mason, U. S. A., made an extended reconnaissance to discover a practicable wagon route to the Yellowstone Park from the southeast. He entered the Park by way of the Upper Yellow- stone, passed through it by way of Yellowstone and Shoshone Lakes, the Firehole Geyser Basins, the Grand Canon, the lower end of Yellowstone Lake, and left it along the route by which Captain Jones had entered in 1873. In the years 1881 and 1882, General Sheridan, with parties of considerable size, twice crossed the Park and visited its most important points. His expeditions were of great value to the Park from the forcible warning which he gave to the public concerning the demoralized condition of its civil administration. To these various expeditions must be added the exten- Bive, though desultory, explorations of P. W. Norris dur- ing the five years that he was Superintendent of the Park. It has thus come about that Yellowstone National Park, though remote, inaccessible, and of great extent, is about the most thoroughly explored section of the United States. Within the territory bounded by the 44th and 45th paral- lels of latitude, and the 110th and 111th meridians of lon- gitude, there are nearly four hundred geographical names. The names of hot springs and geysers would probably double the number. To appreciate this fact, it must be remembered that there are no settlements in the Park, and that counties, townships, cities, and villages, which LATER EXPLORATIONS. 105 on ordinary maps form so large a proportion of the names, are here entirely absent. That region has indeed been a paradise for the explorer, the topographer, and the geolo- gist; and its splendid opportunities have not gone unim- proved. The most elaborate expedition that ever passed through this region took place in August, 1883.* It included among its members the President of the United States, the Secretary of War, the Lieutenant-General of the Army, a- United States Senator, and several other distin- guished officers and civilians. The interesting part of the journey lay between Fort Washakie, Wyoming, and the Northern Pacific Eailroad at Cinnabar, Montana. The party traveled entirely on horseback, accompanied by one of the most complete pack trains ever organized in this or any other country, and escorted by a full troop of cavalry. Couriers were stationed every twenty miles with fresh relays, and by this means, communication was daily had with the outside world. The whole distance traveled was 350 miles, through some of the wildest, most rugged, and least settled portions of the west. Xo accident or draw- back occurred to mar the pleasure of the expedition. The • The year 1883 seems to have been the banner year for dis- tinguished visitors to the Park. The list of arrivals for that year includes the President of the United States and a mem- ber of his cabinet; the Chief- Justice and an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court; the General, Lieutenant- General, and a large number of other distinguished officers of the army; six United States Senators; one Territorial Gov- ernor; a prominent railroad president; the Ministers from Great Britain and Germany; the President of the Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice, England; three mem- bers of Parliament; and a considerable number of other emi- nent personages, both from this country and abroad. 106 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. great pastime en route was trout fishing, in which the President and Senator Vest were acknowledged leaders. The phenomenal "catches'' of these distinguished sports- men might pass into history as typical "fish stories/' were they not vouched for by the sober record of official dis- patches, and the unerring evidence of photographer Haynes' camera. The elaborate equipment of this expedi- tion, the eminent character of its personnel, and the evident responsibility resting upon those who conducted it, at- tracted a great deal of attention at the time, and gave it a prominent place in the annals of Western Wyoming. Twenty years after the visit of President Arthur occurred the second visit to the Park of a President of the United States during his term of office. Theodore Eoosevelt ar- rived in the Park on the 8th of April, accompanied by John Burroughs, and remained on the Eeserv^ation for six- teen days. He visited the country around Yancey's, spend- ing a week in camp there and travelling on horseback. This portion of his trip gave him an excellent opportunity to study the question of game preservation, in which he was deeply interested. He next visited the Firehole Geyser basins and the Grand Caiion of the Yellowstone, travelling all the way by sleigh. The venerable naturalist, his travel- ling companion, accompanied him on all his journeys, although he had not previously been on horseback in over forty years. On the day of leaving the Park, April 24th, the President assisted in laying the comer stone of the now entrance gate at Gardiner. After the ceremonies, which were conducted under Masonic auspices, he delivered an address on the subject of the Park to an assemblage of about tliree thousand people who had gathered from all the surrounding country. CHAPTER XIII. ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF THE PARK. The Act of Dedication of the Yellowstone National Park defines in clear terms the purposes for which it was created. These are: (1) The preservation of its natural curiosities, its for- ests, and its game. (2) The reservation of its territory from private occu- pancy, so that it may remain in unrestricted freedom "for the benefit and enjo3'ment of the people." (3) The granting of such leases and other privileges as may be necessary for the comfort and convenience of vis- itors. The Act contained no code of laws for the Park, defin- ing offenses and providing for their punishment, nor any legal machinery for enforcing such regulations as the Sec- retary of the Interior might establish. This condition prevailed for upward of twenty-two years, and during its continuance there were experienced the evils of a license which at times was wholly unchecked, and which it was never possible to bring under thorough control. This long-standing misfortune was aggravated by an- other scarcely less serious — the failure of Congress for several years to appropriate funds for the protection and improvement of the Park. For this failure, however, no one can justly be held faultily responsible. The promoters of the Park project had based extravagant expectations upon the results to be derived from leases. They believed that the revenue from this source would amply cover the ^expense of opening the necessary highways and providing 108 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. a proper police force. They did nott make due allowance for the fact that there was at that time no railroad within 500 miles; that the new reservation was an almost impass- able wilderness, and that the construction of roads and bridges must necessarily precede any profitable tourist business. Neither do they seem to have realized that these leases could not, in the nature of things, yield a revenue commensurate withe the work of opening up so wild and extensive a country. The argument of self-support was a mistaken one. It did an important work, however, for it is doubtful if Congress would have created this reserva- tion had it not believed that no additional public burden was to be incurred thereby. Left thus without laws for its government and funds for its improvement or protection, the early administra- tion of the Park was necessarily very inefficient. In look- ing back over those years it is a wonder that it survived at all and was not restored to the public domain. The administration of the Park was entrusted by the Secretary of the Interior to a Superintendent, and his first choice naturally fell upon Mr. Langford, well known as a member of the famous Washburn Expedition and as an ardent friend of the new reservation. But, from the first, his hands were completely tied. No salary was ever al- lowed him for his services, nor any funds with which ro carry out his duties. He was, therefore, powerless to ac- complish effective work. His office, which he held for about five years, was a source of great annoyance to him; for he was frequently, and most unjusitly, charged in the public press with responsibility for a condition of things for which he was in no sense to blame. In 1877, there appeared, as Mr. Langford's successor, one of the unique and picturesque characters in the his- Mam.moth Hot Sprixcs Teruaces. ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF THE PARK. 109 tory of the Park, Philetus W. Xorris, of Michigan. He was appointed immediately upon the advent of President Hayes' administration, and held office for nearly five years. Xorris filled with varying capacity the roles of explorer, path-finder, poet, and historian in the Park. Naturally a man of extraordinary energy, he entered upon his new charge with a genuine enthusiasm and an unbounded faith in its future value to the people. He was fortunate in receiving from Congress substantial means for carrying out his plans, and with his term of service begins the real administrative history of the Park. His work covered an extensive range, and left its mark, as its author did his name, in every quarter. He was an untiring explorer. He traveled all the existing trails and penetrated the unknown sections in every direction. He studied the history and antiquities of the Park and the results of his researches possess scientific value. He built the first roads in the Park, opening a vast extent of high- way, and although this has all been replaced by later work, it served its original purpose very well. He wroite and published a great deal about the Park and helped revive public interest in it at the time of its greatest need. Norris was succeeded in February, 1882, by Patrick A. Conger, of Iowa. The two men were as unlike in personal characteristics and views of official duty as it is possible to conceive. Conger possessed none of the love of his work, none of the faith in the Park, none of the enthusi- asm, energy, and restless activity that were so character- istic of his predecessor. His administration was weak and inefficient and brought the Park to the lowest ebb of its fortunes. Its only palliating feature, as viewed from this distance, is the fact that its very weakness aroused public sentiment and paved the way to reform in the government of the Pa^k. 110 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. As if the unfortunate condition of affairs due to the lack of suitable laws for the reservation were not enough, there arose in the early part of Superintendent Conger's administration a new and even more formidable danger, under the euphemistic title of the Yellowstone Park Im- provement Company. Previous to this time, there had been no regular leases in the Park. Several informal per- mits for occupancy had been granted, and a small number of inferior buildings had been erected. In 1880, there were nine of these buildings, nearly all of 'them being plain log-cabins, with earth roofs^ of the common frontier pattern. Only two, the headquarters building at Mammoth Hot Springs and Marshall's Hotel in the Lower Geyser Basin, rose in dignity above the primitive type. N'o one as yet thought of remaining in the Park during the winter season. But it finally dawned upon certain individuals that here was a rare opportunity to exploit the government for their private emolument under the generous guise of improving the Park, and catering to the comfort of the tourist. A company was formed, and a valuable ally secured in the person of the Assistant Secretary of the Interior, who granted a lease of 4,400 acres in tracts of about a square mile each aJt all the principal points of interest. It was urged in defense of this sweeping grant, that the protec- tion which had failed of realization by every other method could be secured in this way. It was thought that, if re- sponsible parties could be given exclusive control of these natural curiosities, they would, from motives of self-in- terest, if from no other, preserve them. But such a mo- nopolistic privilege was clearly opposed to the spirit of the Act of Dedication. Why set apart this region for the free and unrestricted enjoyment of the people, if the Secre- abmixisthative history of the park. Ill tary of the Interior could give to private parties absolute control of all its most important localities? Was this a proper interpretation of "small parcels of ground/' as specified in the act? Tlie danger involved in this action was a grave one, and it aroused a storm of protest through- out the country. Jt was about tliis time also that there began to appear those various railroad and segregation projects which have ever since been a formidable menace to the continued ex- istence of the Park. It had become apparent as early as 1882, that immediate and radical measures must be adopted if the Park was to be preserved in its original condition. General Sheridan, who passed through that region in 1881, 1882, and 1883, urgently appealed to the public sentiment of the country in favor of some definite action. The Governor of Mon- tana made an earnest appeal to Congress. Other influ- ential voices united in the same cause, and already it was broadly hinted that the only salvation of the Park lay in turning it over to the military. The whole matter was brought prominently before the next Congress, and in March, 1883, a clause in the Sundry Civil Bill containing the annual appropriation for the Park, forbade the grant- ing of leases of more than ten acres to any single party, authorized the Secretary of the Interior to call upon the Secretary of War for troops to patrol the Park, and pro- vided for the employment of ten assistant superintend- ents who were to constitute a police force. In this way the bold scheme of the Improvement Company was frus- trated, and the foundation laid for the present adminis- trative system. The Secretary of the Interior, however, seems not to have wished to avail himself of military assistance, and it was several years before this provision of the law was put into operation. 112 TIUE YELLOWSTOXE NATIONAL PARK. It was in this same year that the killing of birds and animals in the Park, and the taking of fish by any other method than by hook and line, were absolutely prohib- ited. Previously, hunting had been allowed so far as was necessary to supply the wants of camping parties— a con- cession that practically operated as an unrestricted license. The failure of Congress to enact needed legislation at length became so nearly chronic that relief was sought in another direction. Xearly all the territory of the Park, and all its great attractions, were within the limits of the Territory of Wyoming. Might it not be within the pro- vince of territorial legislation to furnish ' the necessary legal protection? The subject was agitated, and in the winter of 1884, an act was passed, designed "to protect and preserve the timber, game, fish, and natural curiosi- ties of the Park," and for other purposes. The act was very stringent in its provisions, but totally failed of its purpose. The attempt at territorial control of a national institution was in itself a blunder. Then, the officials chosen to execute the law were poorly qualified for their work and displayed a lamentable want of tact and moder- ation. Some of their arrests were unjust and t3Tannieal in the extreme. They formed an alliance with the assistant superintendents, federal officials (known in local parlance as ^"'rabbit catchers"), by which the latter shared, as informers, the fines levied by themselves. A law which made abuses like this possible quickly ran its course, and was repealed March 10, 1886. Although so unwise a measure could not stand, the first effect of its repeal was to advertise the fact that the Park was practically without legal protection. Matters became even worse than before. The common verdict, as gathered from official reports and other sources^ is that the body of ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF THE PARK. 113 police, styled assistant superintendents, were not only inetlicient, but positively corrupt. They were, for the most part, creatures of political favoritism, and were totally unused to the service required of them. Commissioned as guardians of the rarest natural wonders on the globe, they not infrequently made merchandise of the treasures which they were appointed to preserve. Under their surveillance, vandalism was practically unchecked, and the slaughter of game was carried on for private profit almost in sight of the superintendents' quarters. The difficulties that beset the administration of Superin- tendent Conger were too great for him to grapple with successfully, and he resigned, July 28, 1884. In his place was appointed, August 4, 1884, Robert E. Carpenter, of Iowa. Mr. Carpenter's views of the requirements of his office were clear and positive; and he promptly set about to carry them into execution. He went upon the theory that the Park was created as an instrument of profit to those who were shrewd enough to grasp the opportunity. Its protection and improvement were matters of secondary consideration. Instead of remaining at his post during the winter season, he went to Washington, and there, in con- cert with a member of the Improvement Company, very nearly succeeded in carrying a measure through Congress by which important tracts upon the Eeservation were to be thrown open to private occupancy. So confident of success were these conspirators that they even located claims upon the tracts in question, and their names ap- peared on claim notices posted to designate the localities. The measure failed of passage, but the scandal of Superin- tendent Carpenter's conduct led to his prompt removal from office. On the day of his removal. May 29, 1885, Colonel David (5*) 114 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. W. Wear, of Missouri, was appointed to the vacancy. Colonel Wear appears to have been well qualified for the place. He set out to reform the administration of the Park, and his intelligent and vigorous measures gave high encouragement to those who had been familiar with the previous condition of affairs. But, as often happens, he was made to suffer for the sins of his predecessors. The bad repute into which the government of the Park had fallen was not easily removed, and Congress finally declined to appropriate money for its continuance. The Secretary of the Interior was thus compelled to call upon the Sec- retary of War for assistance. The regime of civilian superintendents passed away, and that of the military superintendents began. The change was strenuously opposed by the Secretary of the Interior and by all who held or hoped to hold places under the old order; but the sequel quickly proved the wisdom of Congress. August 20, 1886, marks the turning point in the admin- istrative history of the Park. Upon that day Captain Moses Harris, First United States Cavalry, relieved the civilian Superintendent of his duties, and soldiers sup- planted the so-called assistant superintendents as Park police. Henceforth an entirely new order was to obtain. It was to be seen how much could be accomplished, even in the absence of laws, toward a vigorous an4 healthful administration. Trespassers upon the Reservation were promptly removed. The regulations were revised and extended, printed upon cloth, and posted in all parts of the Park ; and their violation was visited with summary pun- ishment to the full extent of the Superintendent's authority. Abuses of leasehold rights were searchingly inquired into and reported to the Department. As soon as this show of real authority was made manifest, and it ADMINlSTRATiyE HISTORY OF THE PARK. 115 became apparent that here was a man who meant what he said, a great part of the difliculty was over. Nothing in fact conduces so much to the infraction of law as a bohef in the incompetency or insincerity of those delegated to enforce it, and the removal of this cause was a long step in the right direction. The system thus inaugurated still continues with every prospect of permanency, although Congress has never taken the necessary steps to make it permanent. The military commander is still styled the Acting Superintendent. But it is not probable tliat public opinion will ever sanction a return to the old order. The administrative machinery has completely adjusted itself to the present system. A garrison of sufficient size to accommodate a squadron of cavalry has been established at Mammoth Hot Spring's and numerous permanent station houses have been built throughout the Park for the use of small detachments of troops in patrolling the Reservation. The system gives general satisfaction and is not likely to be disturbed. The new Hotel Company had a meteoric career, prom- ising great things, but accomplishing no permanent im- provement except the partial construction of a pretentious but ill-conceived structure, which has become widely known as the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. The company's for- tunes quickly ^collapsed, and the opening of the tourist season of 1885 found the great building in the possession of unpaid workmen, who held it under a kind of military guard until their wages should be paid. The jSTorthern Pacific Railway Company then came to the rescue, bought out the Improvement Company and cer- tain lesser concerns, and organized a new company called the Yellowstone Park Association. This company com- pleted the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, and has siD^e 116 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. built hotels at the following points: Norris Geyser Basin, three buildings, two of which have been destroyed by fire ; Lower Geyser Basin, the Fountain Hotel; Upper Geyser Basin, two buildings, one of which has been destroyed by fire; and one hotel each at the Yellowstone Lake and the Grand Canon. At first the carrying of tourists through the Park was an adjunct of the hotel business^ but in 1891 the Interior Department granted this privilege to a new company called the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company, and the two companies operated thereafter for many years as inde- pendent concerns. The transportation system of the Park, which has now developed into the best equipped organiza- tion of its kind in the world, was, in its essential features, the creation of Silas S. Huntley, who gave it his undivided attention from 1892 until 1901, the date of his death. By virtue of his wide acquaintance throughout the country, his intimate knowledge of the Park, and his genuine inter- est in its welfare, he practically controlled its administra- tion for many years, and died lamented as one of the best friends it ever had. In 1901, the Northern Pacific sold the hotel property to the owners of the Transportation Company, and the two business w^ere operated during the next two years under the same management. In the fall of 1902 the Railway Company took back its hotel property and bought an interest in the Transportation Company, so that it now virtually controls the tourist business of the Park. About 1890 a privilege was granted to W. W. Wylie, of Bozeman, Montana, to transport tourists through the Park and subsist them in ^^permanent camps." This privi- lege was renewed year after year, and the management oi the business was carried on under the name of the Wylie ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF THE PARK. IIY Camping Company. Mr. Wylie succeeded in building up a lucrative trade. His capable management, personal interest in the pleasure of tourists, and the cheaper rates and* longer visit that he gave them brought to his system a wide popularity. In 1899, a new company was formed to transport tour- ists from the Montana branch of the Oregon Short Line Railroad (Union Pacific) into the Park by the western entrance. It was called the Monida and Yellowstone Stage Company, and has been built up from a small begin- ning to a promising business. It is organized and controlled by Mr. F. J. Haynes, the licensed photographer of the Park, whose views of the Park scenery are well known the world over. The plant of this company is simi- lar to that of the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company, and its patrons are cared for at the regular hotels. About the year 1890, the privilege was granted of trans- porting tourists by boat over the Yellowstone Lake between two points on its shores touched by the road system. The beneficiary of this privilege, which has been of an exclusive or monopolistic character, is Mr. E. C. Waters, President and principal owner of the Yellowstone Lake Boat Com- pany. In the early part of Superintendent Conger's adminis- tration the government took up in earnest the question of road construction in the Park. Norris had opened up a great extent of roadway, but it was the crudest possible work, and the money thus spent left no permanent result. To give this matter systematic direction an engineer officer of the Army was detailed, in 1883, to take charge of the work. This officer was Captain D. C. Kingman, of the Corps of Engineers, whose term of duty ran through three 118 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. years and resulted in laying the foundation of the present road system of the Park. With the exception of about four years the work has remained under the Engineer Depart- ment, and was definitely placed there by Act of Congress of June 6, 1900. The year 1894 was an important landmark in the admin- istrative history of the Park. On May 4, of that year, the desired code of laws was enacted, and oh August 3, of the same year, an act was passed further regula.ting the ques- tion of leases and privileges. The circumstances attending the passage of the National Park Protective Act are worthy of record, because it was evidently their sensational character that aroused Congress to action. The preservation of the Park buffalo herd has always been a matter of deep public interest. There is a well-nigh universal desire that this noble animal, which has played such a part in the frontier history of our country^ shall survive in its native freedom within the territory set apart as a national park and game preserve. Accordingly the people have followed with extreme jealousy the welfare of this herd, and have been impatient at any evidence of neglect on the part of Congress or the Department in protecting it. In the month of March. 1894, a notorious poacher was caught by a government scout in the act of killing buffalo in their winter range in the Pelican Valley. Quite a number of slain buffalo were found — enough to show that, with a little more time, he would have exterminated the herd altogether. The arrest of this man was a bold and thrilling exploit, and was executed with brilliant success. There was present in the Park at the time a representative of Forest and Stream, a journal which has always been one of the Park's most enthusiastic guardians, and through this ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF THE PARK. 119 agency the news was promptly and effectively brought to the attention of Congress. The imminent danger of total annihilation of the herd produced the desired effect, and within a month the long-sought legislation had been effected. A formidable danger which for twenty years has threat- ened the integrity of the Park, is the effort to get railroads across its territor)\ The policy of the government in regard to this Eeservation is to maintain it as nearly as possible in its natural condition, unchanged by the hand of man. The sentiment of the country is almost a unit in favor of this policy. Every j^ear demonstrates its wisdom as the people come to appreciate more and more the rare foresight of the government in reserving one spot in the national domain where original conditions may remain undisturbed. It is the desire to restrict roads to the smallest extent con- sistent with convenient access to the principal objects of interest; to restrict buildings to the minimum number re- quired for the convenience of visitors; and particularly to keep out such modern innovations as railroads, and even electric lines. It is not necessary to rehearse here the arguments in favor of this policy, for they are well understood. They may all be summed up in the general fact that the moment railroads are built through the Park it loses forever that original condition which is one of its greatest charms. They would undoubtedly work serious damage to the game, and to the forests, to say nothing of their effect on the natural beauty of this region. Electric lines would be less objectionable than steam roads, but the same fundamental argument applies to them as well. The people prefer not to find these things in this Eeservation ; they prefer to travel behind horses, even if the discomforts are greater, and they 120 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. would rather have the government remove these discom- forts by creating a perfect system of roads than ever grant the privilege of building a railway line in the Park. This question was once put to a vote of the tourists, and their voice was ninety-five per cent, in favor of the absolute exclusion of every form of railroad. There is now but little real need of further legislation by Congress in the interests of the Park. The necessary provision should of course be made for the maintenance of adequate protection, and means should be provided to perfect the system of roads. Happily these are duties involving no onerous burden. They require no continuing outlay to 'beautify and adorn,'' for Nature has attended to these matters herself. The further policy of the govern- ment in regard to the Park should be strictly negative, with the sole object of preserving it unimpaired, as its founders intended, for the 'T^enefit and enjoyment" of succeeding generations. CHAPTER XIV. GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES IN THE YELLOWSTONE PARK. In common experience, the importance of geographical names lies in their use as a means of identification. To describe an object there must be a name^ and for this purpose one name is as good as another. But if the reason be sought why a particular name happened to be selected, it will generally be found to arise, not from this practical necessity, but from some primary fact or tradition, or from some distinguished character, in the annals of the community where it occurs. In its mountains and valleys, its lakes and streams, and in its civil divisions, the cradle history of a country may always be found recorded. In newly-discovered countries, the naming of geograph- ical features is the dearest prerogative of the explorer, as it is also the one most liable to abuse from personal vanity or egotism. The desire to attach his name, or those of his personal friends, to the prominent landmarks of the globe, where the eye of posterity may never escape them, is a weakness from which no discoverer has yet shown himself free. In a region like the Yellowstone National Park, destined 'for all time to be a resort for the lovers of science and pleasure, this temptation was quite irresistible; so much so, that, when the expeditions of 1870 and 1871 left the field, they left little worth naming behind them. And yet the honor thus gained has not, we venture to say, been all that its votaries desired. Small is the number of tourists who stop to inquire for whom Mary Lake, DeLacy Creek, (6) 122 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. or Stevenson Island was named. Fewer still are aware that Mt. Everts was not christened in honor of the distin- guished American statesman of similar name, but in com- memoration of one of the most thrilling individual experi- ences in American histor3\ So with all these personal names. The lively satisfaction with which they were given finds no counterpart in the languid indifference with which the modem visitor mechanically repeats them. Inasmuch as it fell to the lot of the United States Geo- logical Survey* to originate a great many of the names in our western geography, it is interesting to know from official sources the principles which governed in this impor- tant work. Writing upon this point, Dr. Hayden says:f "In attaching names to the manj mountain peaks, new streams, and other geographical localities, the discovery of which falls to the pleasant lot of the explorer in the un- trodden wilds of the West, I have followed the rigid law of priority, and given the one by which they have been gen- erally known among the people of the countr}% whether whites or Indians: but if, as is often the case, no suitable i descrip)tive name can be secured from the surroundings, a personal one may then be attached, and the names of * The organization now known as the United States Geolog- ical Survey dates from 1879, when it superseded the various Independent surveys which had previously been made under King, Wheeler, Powell and Hayden. The Hayden Surveys, which are alone here considered of those prior to 1879, were known as the United States Geological (Geological and Geo- graphical, in one instance) Survey of the Territories. Al- though the shorter name, United States Geological Survey, la In all cases used throughout this work, it refers, since 1879, to the present organization, and before that time to the Hayden Surveys. f Page 8, Fifth Annual Report of Dr. Hayden. GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES IN YELLOWSTONE PARK. 123 eminent men who have identified themselves with the great cause, either in the fields of science or legislation, naturally rise first in the mind.'^ In the more recent and thorough survey of the Park by the United States Geological Surv^ey, it became necessary to provide names for those subordinate features which, in a less restricted field, the early explorers had thought un- worthy of notice. Prof. Arnold Hague, upon whom this work has principally fallen, thus states the rule which he has followed:* "In consultation with Mr. Henry Gannett, geologist in charge of geography, it was agreed that the necessary new names to designate the unnamed mountains, valleys, and streams should be mainly selected from the beasts, birds, fishes, trees, flowers, and minerals found within the Park or the adjacent country.^' The christening of the hot springs and geysers of the Park hav9 been singularly fortunate. The names are in all cases characteristic. They are not studied efforts, but are simply the spontaneous utterances from first impressions by those who had never seen, and had heard but little of, similar phenomena. It is doubtful if the most careful study could improve them, and tourists will agree with General Poe, who referred as follows to this subject when he visited the Park in 1877 :t ''The region of these geysers has been rightly named Fire Hole, and one almost wonders that in this country, where the tendency is to name natural objects after men who have a temporary prominence, this interesting place and its ♦ Page 152, Part I, Annual Report United States Geological Survey for year ending June 30, 1887. t Page 79, "Inspection made in the Summer of 1877," etc 124 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. assemblage of wonders should have so completely escaped, and in general and in particular received names so very appropriate." In the race for the geographical honors of the Park, the prize fell neither to the United States Geological Survey nor even to Colonel Xorris, though each was a close com- petitor. It was w^on by that mythical potentate of whose sulphurous empire this region is thought by some to be simply an outlying province. Starting with 'T'olter's Hell," the list grew until it contained "Hell Eoaring Creek," "Hell Broth Springs," "HelFs Half Acre," "Sataoi's Arbor," and the Devil's "Den," "Workshop," "Kitchen," "Stairway," "Slide," "Caldron," "Punch Bowl," "Frying Pan," "Well," "Elbow," "Thumb," "Ink- stand," etc., etc. It is some satisfaction to know that this rude and fiery nomenclature is gradually falling into disuse. In a measure from sympathy with the purpose of the early name-givers, and to help those who take an interest in such matters to know when, by whom, and why the geographical names of the Park were given, some of the more important will be explained here. The great propor- tion of them fall naturally under two heads — Personal and Characteristic. The personal names may in turn be classi- fied into names given for the pioneers in the Park; for its explorers; for those who have served it in the fields of science or literature ; and for those whose only claim is that of friendship for the name-giver. To these more general classes may be added a few names given for Indian tTil)es, and a dozen or so that may be termed eccentric or fanciful. Baronett Peak is named for C. J. Baronett, "Yellowstone Jack," a famous scout and guide, closely connected with GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES IN YELLOWSTONE PARK. 125 the history of the National Park, and builder of the first bridge across the Yellowstone Eiver. Colter Peak, it need hardly be said, is for John Coltur. the original pioneer. The mountain is located southeast of the Yellowstone Lake. Yount Peak commemorates an old trapper and guide of that region. The mountain is the source of the Yellow- stone Eiver. Conarit Creek, in the southwest corner of the Park, is for one All Conant, who was in that country as early as 1805, and came near losing his life in this stream. Gardiner River, next to Yellowstone, is the most familiar and important name in the Park. The identity of the individual for whom it was given was long in doubt, and has been definitely settled only within the past three years. His name was Johnson Gardner, and he was one of the Bo-called free trappers. There are extant articles of agree- ment between him and Kenneth McKenzie, the bourgeois in cliarge of the American Fur Company post at Fort Union, relating to equipment and furs for the year 1832. There are also a statement of Gardner's account at Fort Union in the summer of 1832 and a bill of lading of furs shipped on the bull boat Antoine from the '^Crossing of the Yellowstone," July 18th of the same year. This was undoubtedly the individual for whom Gardiner River was named. The discrepancy in the spelling has no significance. The first certain reference to both stream and name, placing the identity of each beyond dispute, occurs in the letter from Father De Smet, quoted elsewhere. The name is thus seen to be the oldest in the Park except the name Yellowstone. Bridyer Lake requires no explanation. The name of this famous pioneer survives in many a feature of our western 126 THE YELLOWSTOXE NATIOXAL PARK. geography, but in none with greater honor than in this* little lake among the mountains that he knerw so well ; and near the source of that majestic stream with which so much of his eventful life was identified. Heart Lake was named prior to 1870 for an old hunter by the name of Hart Hunney, who in early times plied his trade in this vicinity. He was possibly one of Bonneville's men, for he seems to have known the General well and to have been familiar with his operations. He was killed by a war party of Crows in 1852. The spelling, Heart, dates from the expeditions of 1871. The notion that the name arose from the shape of the lake seems to have originated with Captain Barlow. It has gen- erally been accepted although there is really no similarity between the form of the lake and that of a heart. Lewis Lake is the only heart-shaped lake in that locality. Henry Lake is the name of a noted lake outside the limits of the Park passed by tourists entering the Park from the west. It is named for a celebrated fur trader, Andrew Henry, who built a trading post in 1810 on Henry Pork, the outlet of the lake. Jackson Lake was so called for David Jackson, a noted mountaineer and fur trader, and one of the first three partners of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. This lake was discovered by John Colter and was named by Clark Lake Bidclle, in honor of Nicholas Biddle, who first gave to the world an authentic edition of the journal of the cele- brated Lewis and Clark Expedition. This original name never gained any currency. Leigh Lake is for Richard Leigh ('Beaver Dick'^), a noted hunter, trapper and guide in the country around the Teton Mountains. The nickname ^^Beaver Dick'' arose, not from the fact that Leigh was an expert beaver trapper, but GEOGRAPTflCAL NAMES IN YELLOWSTONE PARK. 127 on account of the striking resemblance of two abnonnally large front teeth in his upper jaw to the teeth of a beaver. The Indians called him "The Beaver." Such are the principal names given for the pioneers of this region — those who entered it before the era of explora- tion. The explorer list is much more voluminous. Among the first under this head are those relating to the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-6. There are three of these names, Gallatin, Madison, and Lewis. The first designates one of the Three Forks of the Missouri, which takes its rise in the northeast comer of the Park in the Gallatin Mountains. The second is also one of the Three Forks, and rises (through its largest tributary, the Firehole Eiver) in Madison Lake, ten miles south of Lone Star Geyser. Lewis Lake and Eiver are, of course, named in honor of the famous explorer, Captain Merriwether Lewis. Eaynolds Pass, the name of a feature which lies out- side the Park near Henry Lake, dates from the Eaynolds Exploring Expedition of 1859-60. DeLacy Creek commemorates the prospecting expedition across the Park in 1863 under the leadership of Walter W. DeLaey, a well-known civil engineer of ^lontana. Folsom Peak is a well-earned honor that has fallen upon David M. Folsom, the explorer of 1869, and the first indi- vidual who ever made anything like a complete report of a tour of the Park. Of the ten members of the Washburn Expedition of 1870, including Lieutenant Doane, five bequeathed their names to prominent mountains of the Park. The leader of the party was particularly fortunate, for his name, Wash- hiirn, is on the most noted summit in the Park, a mountain which will forever be one of the chief delights of visitors to this region. 128 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. Lang ford and Doane are names that have found enviable resting places on two noble summits of the Absaroka Range^ east of the Yellowstone Lake. Hedges Peak does honor to the member of the party who first proposed the idea of converting this region into a National Park, and whose subsequent writings did much to carry that idea into effect. Truman G. Everts, the benighted wanderer, was re- warded for his suffering and peril by having his name given to a famous feature of the Park, the bold and lofty rampart that faces Mammoth Hot Springs from across the Gardiner Eiver. The location of the name was an awkward mis- chance. The mountain which should bear the name is Mt. Sheridan. It was named for Everts by the Washburn Party the night before he was lost, in recognition of his having been the first white man (except Mr. Hedges, who was with him) known to have visited its summit. In the writings of the Washburn Party, after their return, it is so used ; one very interesting article, by Mr. Hedges, with this name as a title, being published in the Helena Herald before it was known that Mr. Everts had been found. But the name was finally given to the high land between the Gardiner and the Yellowstone, a feature which is not a mountain at all, and which is ten miles from where Everts was found. The actual locality of the finding was erron- eously supposed to be near "Eescue Creek." Follo^^'ing the Washburn Expedition came those of 1871. Captain Barlow was the only member of his party who succeeded in leaving his name in the Park. For several years it designated the upper course of Snake Eiver, but was later transferred to a neighboring mountain. Barlow Peak, in order that the true name of the river might apply to its source. Tower Creek. GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES IX YELLOWSTONE PARK. 129 If Captain Barlow left no other names of his party, he did leave three distinguished names of Army Officers who had officially aided in his exploration or had otherwise laljored in the interest of that region. He remembered the chief of his Corps in ]\lt. Humphreys, and the commander of the Military Department in which the Park countr}- was then situated in Mt. Hancock; and that distinguished eoldier and faithful friend of the Park, who often visited it and always worked for its interest, in Mt. Sheridan. The United States Geological Survey is represented in the Park nomenclature be3'ond any other organization, and not always with the best judgment. Some important names, like that of Dr. Arnold Hague and Mr. Henry Gan- nett, are absent, while others of no especial claim or merit are present. The distinguished name of Dr. Haijden is perpetuated in the valley of the Yellowstone River, between Mud Geyser and the Falls. The name of James Stevenson, Hayden's right-hand man, and by some considered his superior as an explorer, designates one of the trio of Peaks — Langford, Doane and Stevenson — in the Absaroka Eange. There is also a Stevenson Island in the Yellowstone Lake. Mt. Chittenden is for George B. Chittenden; Bechler Elver, for Gusta\ais A. Bechler; Coulter Creel-, for John M. Coulter, the botanist; Hering Lake, for Rudolph Hering, the eminent civil engineer ; Mt. Holmes, for W. H. Holmes, geologist; Carrington Island, for Campbell Car- rington, zoologist; Peale Island, for Dr. A. C. Pcale, author of the elaborate report upon hot springs and geysers in tlie Hayden report of 1878. Jones Pass and Jones Creek are for Captain W. A. Jones, who led an expedition into the Park from the east in 1873 130 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. Mt. Hoyt is for Hon. John W. Hoyt, who, as Governor of Wyoming Territory, made a reconnaissance into the Park in 1881. Mason Creek is in honor of Major J. W. Mason, who commanded Governor Hoyt's escort. Both of the foregoing names were given by Colonel Norris. Gihhoji Eiver was named by Colonel Norris for General John Gibbon, who explored this stream in 1872. A few names have been given in recognition of scientific, literary or other service to the Park. Bnnsen Peak is for the eminent chemist and physicist, Eobert Wilhelm Bunsen; inventor of the Bunsen electric cell and of the Bunsen gas burner; co-discoverer with Kirchoff of the principle of Spectrum Anatysis; and the first thorough investigator of the phenomena of geyser action. Dunraven Peak was named by Henry Gannett for the Earl of Dunraven, "whose travels and writings have done so much toward making this region known to our cousins across the water." Dunraven visited the Park in 1874. In 1876, he pub- lished his "Great Divide," describing his travels in the West. Colonel Norris named this peak after himself, and coupled it with Mt. Washburn in a characteristic poem. But the United States Geological Survey decided other- wise, and transferred the Colonel's name to the northeast corner of the Park. Mt. Moran, one of the Tetons, was named for Thomas Moran, whose paintings of the scenery of this region have done so much to make it known to the world. Mt. Norris, Norris Pass and Norris Geyser Basin* are. * This basin was first explored, described and opened up to tourists by Colonel Norris. It was^J^wever, discovered in GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES IX YELLOWSTONE PARK. 131 of .course, named for P. W. Morris, second Superintendent of the Park. Elsewhere we have given a sketch of the enthusiastic and loyal friend of the Park for whom these features were named. It was not the Colonel's fault that his name was restricted to so few places along the route of the tourist. Mt. Huntley, in the Gallatin Eange, was named for the late S. S. Huntley, who built up the present admirable system of tourist transportation in the Park. Many of the personal names in the Park were given from motives of friendship or a desire to honor distin- guished officials. In several instances the persons so hon- ored never saw the Park. Ahiathar Peak is for Charles Abiathar White, paleon- tologist, United States Geological Survey. Atkins Peak is for John D. C. Atkins, at one time United States Indian Commissioner. Mt. Schurz was named for the Secretary of the Interior under President Hayes. Lamar River is for the person who held the same port- folio under President Cleveland. Kepler Cascade was named by Colonel ISTorris for the twelve-year-old son of Governor Hoyt. Virginia Cascade is for the daughter of the late Charles 1872 by E. S. Topping and Dwight Woodruff, who were led in that direction by noticing from the summit of Bunsen Peak a vast column of steam ascending to the southward. The day after this discovery, a tourist party, including a Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Stone, of Bozeman, Montana, visited it from Mammoth Hot Springs, and then continued their course, by way of the general line of the present route, to the Firehole Geyser Basin. Mrs. Stone was the first white woman to visit the Park. 132 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. Gibson, at one time President of the Yellowstone Park Association. Isa Lake and Craig Pass, where the road first crosses the Continental Divide, are for the first tourists who visited these features. Mary Lake (and with it Mary Mountain) was named in 1873, and a definite record of the christening has been left us by the Eev. E. J. Stanley : "We passed along the bank of a lovely little lakelet, Bleeping in seclusion in the shade of towering evergreens, by which it is sheltered from the roaring tempests. It is near the Divide, and on its pebbly shore some members of our party unfurled the Stars and Stripes, and christened it Mary-'s Lake, in honor of Miss Clark, a young lady be- longing to our party." Frank Island, in the Yellowstone Lake, is for the brothei of Henry W. Elliott, a member of the Hayden Expedition of 1871. Mary Bay is for Mary Force, a sweetheart of another member of the same expedition. The Annie, first boat* on the Yellowstone Lake, was christened for Miss Anna L. Dawes, daughter of Hon. H. L. Dawes, at that time a Senator of the United States. The native tribes of the continent are remembered to a small extent in the nomenclature of the Park, as much, perhaps, as they ought to be considering their small con- nection with it. ♦ The frame and cover for this boat were brought from Salt Lake City and assembled at the lake. In the well-known picture of this historic craft, the persons in the boat are James Stevenson and Henry W. Elliott. GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES IN YELLOWSTONE PARK. 133 AhsaroJca Range is given for the Crow Indians, whose immemorial home, Absaroka, was in the valley of the Big Horn River at the eastern base of these mountains. The range was first known ])y the name Yellowstone, and in 1873 was rechristened by ^Fajor Jones, Sierra Shoshone. The present name was given al)out the year 1885. Bannock Peak, in the Gallatin Range, is from the name of a tribe of Indians who inhabited the country to the south- west of the Park, and were finally settled on a reservation in southern Idaho. What is known as the Great Bannock Trail, passed along the valley of Indian Creek, some dis- tance south of this mountain. The spelling here given is that which custom seems finally to have settled upon; but Bannack would more nearly express the original pronunciation. The various spellings, some sixteen in number, come from the original Panai'hti, or Bannailiti, meaning southern people. Joseph Peak is for the famous chief of the Xez Perce Indians, who made a forced tour of the Park in the year 1877. Sheepeater Cliffs were so named by Colonel Norris in commenioration of the only tribe of Indians that ever permanently dwelt in the Park. These clifi's are tlie mag- nificent walls of the Middle Gardiner Canon below Osprey Falls. It was upon one of the ^'ancient and but recently deserted, secluded, unknown haunts'' of these Indians, that Colonel Xorris, "in rapt astonishment,'' stumbled one day, and was so impressed by what he saw, that he gave the neighboring cliff its present name. He thus describes this retreat :* * Page 10, Annual Report Superintendent of the Park for 1879. 134 THE YELLO^YSTOXE NATIONAL PARK. "It is mainly carpeted with soft grass, dotted, fringed, and overhung with small pines, firs and cedars, and, with the subdued and mingled murmur of the rapids and cata- racts above and below it, and the laughing ripple of the gliding stream, is truly an enchanting dell — a ^dnd and etorm sheltered refuge for the feeble remnant of a fading race.'' Indian Creeh, a tributary of the Gardiner, is a stream along which ran the old Bannock Trail. Indian Pond describes a beautiful little sheet of water close to the north shore of the Yellowstone. Its banks were a favorite camping ground for the Indians. Nez Perce CreeJc requires no explanation to those who have read the story of the flight of Chief Joseph and his braves up the valley of this stream in 1877. Shoshone, the name of a family of Indians that occupied the whole countr}^ south and southwest of the Park as far as to the Sierra Xevada Mountains, designates two natural features of the Park, Shoshone Lake and Shoshone Eiver. The Lake, which is one of the sources of Snake Eiver, was first named De Lacy Lake, after its discov- erer. The Washburn Party (1870) appear to have named it after their leader. In 1871, Doctor Hayden, failing to identify its location, and believing it to be tributary to the ^Madison Eiver, renamed it Madison Lake. It is this name which appears on the first map of the Park and in the Act of Dedication, where the west boundary of the Park is described as being "fifteen miles west of the most western point of Madison Lake." In 1872, when the correct drain- age of the lake was discovered, the name "Madison Lake" was transferred to its present location (See "Madison Lake"), and its place supplied by "Shoshone Lake." Tlie Act of Dedication is therefore misleading^ and it is neces- GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES IX YELLOWSTONE PARK. 135 sary to know that "Madison Lake" of the Act, is "Shoshone Lake*' now^ in order to understand the true location of the west boundary of the Park.* Shoshone liiver received its first name^ Stinkingwater, from John Colter, who so named it from a tar sprincr of very strong odor near the junction of the two forks of the stream. The river itself is one of the purest and most beautiful in the mountains, and the original name was so inappropriate that it has been changed to its present name by an Act of the Legislature of Wyoming. There are a few names which do not fall under any of the above classes and some which are eccentric and fanciful in character. Calfee and Miller Creeks were named by Colonel Xorris, and this is his record of the fact: "Some seven miles above Cache Creek we passed the mouth of another stream in a deep, narrow, timbered val- ley, which we named Calfee Creek^ after tlie famous pho- tographer of the Park. Five miles further on, we reached the creek which Miller recognized as the one he descended in retreating from tlie Indians in 1870, and which on this account, we called Miller's Creek.'' Cache Creek was so named from the following cireum- Btance: A prospecting party under one Austin were in camp on this stream when they were surprised by Indians, and all their stock stolen except one or two mules. Being unable to carry all their baggage from this point, they cached what they could not place on the mules, or could not themselves carry. Crevice, Hellroaring and Slough Creels, all names of ♦ Page 250, Sixth Annual Report of Dr. Hayden. 136 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. tributaries of the Yellowstone Eiver from the mountains along the north border of the Park, are survivals of the early prospecting days in this region. Topping, in his "Chronicles of the Yellowstone/^ records the circumstance that gave rise to the names: "They [a prospecting party] found gold in a crevice at the mouth of the first stream above Bear, and named it, in consequence, Crevice Gulch. Hubbel went ahead the next day for a hunt, and upon his return he was asked what kind of a stream the next creek was. ^It's a hell roarer,' was his reply, and Hell Roaring is its name to this day. The second day after this, he was again ahead, and, the same question being asked him, he said: ' 'Twas but a slough.^ When the party came to it, they found a rushing torrent, and, in crossing, a pack horse and his load were swept away, but the name of Slough Creek remains." Boone Creeh was named prior to 1870, for Eobert With- row, an eccentric pioneer of Irish descent, who used to call himself "Daniel Boone the Second." Solution Creeh is the outlet of Eiddle Lake. Surprise Creeh was so named because its course, as made known by official explorations, was surprisingly dif- ferent from what it had before been understood. Delusion Lahe was long supposed to be an arm of the Yellowstone Lake, its index "finger" in the fanciful re- eemblance of the lake to tlie human hand. This delusion was cleared away by official explorations. Eiddle Lahe is thus accounted for by Professor Bradley, of the United States Geological Survey : " 'Lake Eiddle* is a fugitive name, which has been lo- cated at several places, but nowhere permanently. It is supposed to have been used originally to designate the mythical lake, among the mountains, whence, according to GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES IX YELLOWSTONE PARK. 157 the hunters, water flowed to both oceans. I have agreed to Mr. Hering's proposal to attach the name to this lake, which is directly upon the divide at a point where the waters of the two oceans start so nearly together, and thus to solve the unsolved ^riddle' of the *^two-ocean-water.' " This was a year before Captain Jones verified the exist- ence of Two-Ocean-Pass. This completes the list of personal names in the Park, and it now remains to note a few of the more important that we have classed as characteristic — names expressive of the form, color, composition, or other peculiarity of the object named. Cinimhar Mountain, a prominent feature near the northern entrance to the Park, was "so named from the color of its rocks, which have been mistaken for Cinnabar, although the red color is due to iron." — Hayden. The Devil's Slide (also named before 1870) is on this moun- tain. Electric Peak, the highest mountain in the Park, received its name from the following circumstance, described by Mr. Henry Gannett, who ascended the mountain with sur- veying instruments, July 26, 1872: "A thunder-shower was approaching as we neared the summit of the mountain. I was above the others of the party, and, when about fifty feet below the summit, the electric current began to pass through my body. At first I felt nothing, but heard a crackling noise, similar to a rapid discharge of sparks from a friction machine. Imme- diately after, I began to feel a tingling or pricking sensa- tion in my head and the end of my fingers, which., as well as the noise, increased rapidly, until, when I reached the top, the noise, which had not changed its character, was (6*) 138 THE YELLOWSTOXE NATIONAL PARK. deafening, and m}" hair stood completely on end, while the tingling, pricking sensation was absolutely painful. Takinig off my hat partially relieved me. I started down again, and met the others twenty-iive or thirty feet below the summit. They were affected similarly, but in a less degree. One of them attempted to go to the top, but had proceeded but ft few feet when he received quite a severe shock, which felled him as if he had stumbled. We then returned down the mountain about three hundred feet, and to this point we still heard and felt the electricity." Elephant Back was so named ^'On account of the almost vertical sides of this mountain, and the rounded form of the summit." — Hayden. This name, as now applied, refers to a different feature from that originally designated by it. Many years before the Park was discovered, it was used to denote the long ridge of which Mt. Washburn is the commanding summit, and which was distinctly visible from beyond the present limits of the Park, both north and south. Factory Hill. — The term ^^factory" has at various times been applied to several different localities in the Park, because of their striking resemblance on frosty mornings to an active factory town. The resemblance was noted as far back as 1829. The name has now become fixed, as above indicated. Index Peak and Pilot Knob are two imposing summits near the northeast corner of the Park, and received their names before 1870. ''One of them derives its name from its shape, — like a closed hand with the index-finger extending upward, while the other is visible from so great a distance on every side that it forms an excellent land- mark for the wandering miner, and thus its appropriate name of Pilot Knob." — Hayden, GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES IN YELLOWSTONE PARK. 139 Roaring Mountain "takes its name from the shrill, pen- etrating sound of the stream constantly escaping from one or more vents near the summit." — Hague. Sepulcher Mountain is so called from the striking fea- ture on its northern slope which resembles a tomb or sepul- cher with a prominent footstone and headstone. The Teton Mountains were named by the French trap- pers as early as 1811 from the fancied resemblance of these peaks, when seen from a distance, to the nipple of the human breast. The name is now nearly a century old and has passed into all the literature describing that coun- try, particularly that of its fur trade era, the most roman- tic and fascinating in western history. Indeed, it has become the classic designation of the most interesting his- toric summit of the Eocky Mountains. That it should always retain this designation in memory of the nameless pioneers who have been guided by it across the wilderness, ajid many of whom have perished beneath its shadow, would seem to be a self-evident proposition. Individual merit, no matter how great, can never justify the usurpa- tion of its place by any personal name whatever. An at- tempt to do this was made in 1872 by the United States Geological Survey who rechristened it ^It. Hayden. The new name has never gained any local standing, and al- though it has crept into many maps its continued use ought to be discouraged. It is greatly to the credit of Dr. Hay- den that he personally disapproved the change, so far at least, as very rarely, if ever, to refer to the mountain by its new name. Fireliolc Jiivcr is a name the origin of which has here- tofore apparently been misunderstood. It dates from back as far as 1830, when the valley was called by the tra]~tp.^rs "Burnt Hole/' from a great forest fire which had recently 140 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PAEK. swept over it, the traces of which are distinctly visible at the present day. The record on this point is definite and conclusive. Atlajitic and Pacific Creel's flow out of Two-Ocean Pass, where a mountain stream divides, sending its waters through these streams to the two oceans. Outlet Creeh was the outlet of Yellowstone Lake when it was a tributary of the Columbia Eiver. Pelican Creeh very properly designates a stream the mouth of which, on the north shore of the Yellowstone Lake, is a great resort for this particular species of bird. Pelican Eoost is an island near by. Soda Butte Creek is so named from an extinct geyser, or hot spring mound, near the mouth of that stream. Tangled CreeJc, in the Lower Geyser Basin, is a most appropriate name. The stream is a perfect network of separate channels which cross and recross and interlace with each other in the most confusing fashion. Violet Creek, in Hayden Yalle}', is bordered with dense growths of the ^ild violet. Tower Falls was named by the Washburn party, and this is their record of the fact and the reason therefor : "By a vote of a majority of the party this fall was called Tower Fall.''— Washburn. "At the crest of the fall the stream has cut its way through amygdaloid masses, leaving tall spires of rock from 60 to 100 feet in height, and worn in every conceivable shape. . . . Several of them stand like sentinels on the very brink of the fall." — Doane. Sylvan Lake is not surpassed by any name in the Park in point of fitness. No finer example of sylvan scenery can be found anywhere than that embracing this exquisite sheet of water. GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES IX YELLOWSTONE PARK. 141 There are many other names in the Park, all of them given for the fauna and flora that flourish there. They are not characteristic in the sense that a particular name has any especial application to the ohject which it designates. The features so named are all of minor importance and it is not essential to enumerate them here. CHAPTER XV. AN" INDIAN CAMPAIGN THROUGH THE YELLOWSTONE PARK. In a letter dated at Fort Ellis, Montana Territory, August 19, 1877, addressed to the Hon. George W. McCreary, Secretary of War, the writer. General W. T. Sherman, then on a tour of inspection of the "country north of the Union Pacific Railroad,'' tells of his recent visit to the Yellowstone National Park. This was about the period when our Indian wars in the Ear West were at their height. Only a year had elapsed since the Custer massacre. It was the crisis of the Indian military ques- tion. There was at that time scarcely a spot in the whole Missouri and Yellowstone Valleys that was safe from Indian depredations. Naturally, therefore. General Sher- man had his mind upon this subject when his small party, comparatively unprotected, were traveling through the wilds of the National Park. But he saw nothing there to excite his fears, and in the letter above referred to, says : "We saw no signs of Indians and felt at no moment more sense of danger than we do here." It will presently be seen how delusive was this fancied security, and by how narrow a margin it escaped resulting disastrously to the General's party. The tour from Fort Ellis to the Park and return had taken from August 4th to August 18th. On the latter date, the party met an ingoing company of tourists from Helena composed of the following persons : A. J. Weikert, ^Richard Dietrich, Frederic Pfister, Joseph Roberts, Charles AN INDIAN CAMPAIGN THROUGH THE PARK. 143 Kenck, Jack Stewart, August Foller, Leslie Wilke, L. Dun- can, and Benjamin Stone (colored cook). The party fol- lowed the usual route to the Grand Canon and Falls of the Yellowstone, where they were in camp August 2ith. As they were entering the territory of the Park, another party was on the point of leaving it after a tour of about two weeks. This party was composed of the following p. r- sons, most of whom were front Eadersburg, Montana: George F. Cowan and wife^ Frank and Ida Carpenter, brother and sister of Mrs. Cowan^ Charles Mann, William Dingee, Albert Oldham, A. J. Arnold, and a Mr. Meyers. They had formed a permanent camp in the Lower Basin, near where the Fountain Hotel now stands, and from that point had made daily short excursions to the various local- ities of interest. They all visited the geyser basins and some of the party crossed to the Lake and Canon of the Yellowstone. They must have been seen by the Sherman party, for they were directly in its route. The party com- pleted their tour of the Park August 23d, and had ar- ranged to set out for home early on the following morning. In order to understand the unfortunate turn which the affairs of these two tourist parties w^ere about to take, it will be necessary to explain, in briefest outline, the cause and previous incidents of one of the most remarkable Indian campaigns in our history. From the time of Lewis and Clark, the Xez Perce In- dians had dwelt in what are now the States of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Their territory extended from the Salmon Eiver on the south to the Pelouse Eiver on the north, and from the Bitter Koot ^fountains westward into the present States of Idaho and Washington. In 1855 they ceded to the United States a part of their territory, and the principal chiefs located in the several portions of 144 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. the remainder. In I860, gold was discovered on the reser- vation and the usual gold rush followed. The danger of a conflict with the Indians became so great that a temporary arrangement, pending action by the government, was made between them and their Indian agent, opening a por- tion of the reservation '^to the whites in common with the Indians for mining purposes.''^ But the settlers did not stop with these concessions. In defiance of law, they built the town of Lewiston on the reservation, and gave other proofs of their project for per- manent occupancy. It soon became necessary for the gov- ernment to take some decisive step, and this was accom- plished in 1863 by a new treaty in which the Indians relin- quished three of their most important valleys, the Wallowa, the Alpowai, and the Salmon River. The treaty, however, was far from receiving the general assent of all the chiefs. A formidable faction, headed by Chiefs Joseph, Looking Glass, Big Thunder, ^\Tiite Bird, and others, refused to be bound by it, and were henceforth referred to in official reports as the "Non-treaty Nez Perces.'^ For a time the authorities made no effort to en- force the new treat}^, and the Indians were "tacitly per- mitted to roam^' over their ancient hunting-grounds. This condition of affairs continued for thirteen years, with various efforts in the meajitime to arrive at some sat- isfactor}' settlement. Finally, in 1876, a civil and military commission was appointed to visit the Nez Perce Indians, to examine into their grievances, and to determine what measures were necessary for a permanent settlement of the question. Tlie report* of this Commission is interest- ing, both for the facts it relates in regard to the tribal life and characteristics of the Nez Perce Indians, and for the • See Report of Secretary of the Interior, 1877, part 1, p. 607, ^ Beaver Dam. AJ^ INDIAN CAMPAIGN THROUGH TIEE PARK. 145 heroic treatment of the long-standing troubles wliieh it recommends. These Indians were altogether a peculiar people. The early missionaries had converted thora to the Christian faith, and, whether from that cause, or from natural proclivity, they were among the most religious of our Indian tribes. There is a general concensus of authorities that, despite certain grave defects of character, they were, mentally and morally, far above the average Indian. In later times, approaching the period covered by this sketch, they fell under the influence of a class of mystics called "dreamers,'^ who taught a doctrine of land ownership which was the immediate cause of all their subsequent troubles. This doctrine was, in substance, that *^the 'Creative Power,* when He made the earth, made no marks, no lines of divi- sion or separation, upon it, and that it should be allowed to remain as it is;'^ that it '^should not be disturbed by man, and that any cultivation of the soil, or other im- provements, any voluntary submission to the control of government/' were incompatible with the true purpose for which it was made. At bottom it was the broad principle that no man or aggregation of men can take from other men the right to enjoy what nature has made free for all. Why the Commission should characterize this doctrine as ''■pernicious,^' unless a thing is pernicious whenever it is impracticable, is not easy to understand. From the point of view of the nomadic life of the redmen, it is hard to conceive a theory of land tenure, or the want of it, more nearly approaching a perfect ideal. Unfortunately for such a doctrine, at the point at which American histor}^ had now arrived, it was no longer possi- ble of realization, and any attempt to put it in force could not result otherwise than in failure. So it was with (7) 146 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. Joseph and his followers. The government for a long time overlooked their infractions of the Treaty of 1863, but finally was compelled to interfere. The Commission rec- ommended that the existing treaty be enforced, by military aid if necessary. The recommendation was approved, and to General 0. 0. Howard fell the task of putting the In- dians on their proper reservation. For a time it seemed that they would be induced to submit without the employment of active force; but just as success was apparently assured, the Indians murdered some twenty white men, women and children, in revenge for one of their number killed the previous year. Peaceful negotiations came at once to an end, and the military authorities assumed control of the situation. This was June 13, 1877. Between that date and July 12th, three battles were fought, in which both sides suffered severely, and the Indians displayed extraordinary fighting abilit3\ They then left their country — as it proved, not to return — and set out across the mountains to their oft-visited ^'buffalo country,'^ in the Judith Basin, far to the eastward of the Upper Missouri. But their route lay too close to the military post of Fort Missoula and to the towns in the more thickly settled por- tions of Montana. They bore off to the southward, through a country with whose people they were well acquainted, and with whom they had often traded in previous excur- sions to the buffalo country. Here they found friends and obtained the supplies they needed. In the meantime, General Gibbon, with a small force, which he had gathered from Forts Benton, Shaw, and Mis- soula, and from volunteers among ^Montana citizens, was in close pursuit. He overtook the Indians on the Big Hole AN INDIAN CAMPAIGN THROUGH THE PARK. 147 River, in Southwestern ^lontana, wiiere a desperate battle ensued, in which liis own force was severely handled. The Indians then passed south into Idaho, with Howard in pursuit, swung around to the east, and recrossed into ^Montana by way of Henry Lake. Near Camas Creek they had an engagement with the pursuing troops. Howard arrived at Henry Lake at 8 a. m., August 23cl, just as the Indians had left. The long marches compelled hira to halt at this point for three or four days, to rest his men and replenish his supplies. This gave the Indians a considerable start, of which, however, they took only a leisurely advantage. Their route lay across the Yellow- stone Park, which they entered by Targhee Pass, and on the night of August 23d they encamped on the Firehole River, within the Park boundaries, a short distance from where we left the Radersburg tourists, and less than twenty miles from the camp of the Helena party. The interest of the campaign for the next week centers chiefly upon the fortunes of these unlucky excursionists. An account of their adventures will be given in the chapters immediately following. Just as the Indians went into camp on the night of August 23d, their first day in the Park, they captured one Shively who was on his way to Montana from the Black Hills. As Shively professed to know the country, whicli the Xoz Perces had never seen before, they impressed him into their service as guide. He was with them thirteen days and claims to have served them faithfully, as well as to have received fair treatment from them. x\t any rate he won their confidence by his behavior, and was watched so carelessly that he escaped one dark night just as the Indians were crossing the northeast boundar}' of the Park. 148 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. On the 24tii of August the Indians, under Joseph, moved to the Yellowstone Eiver at the site of the ford near Mud Geyser. Here they remained during the 25th. On the following day the bulk of the command crossed the river, ascended its right bank to the lake, and took the Pelican Creek trail for the Lamar River valley in the northeast comer of the Park. A small party of marau- ders separated from the main body at Mud Geyser, descended the Yellowstone by the Mt. Washburn trail, at- tacked the Helena tourist party on their way, killing one man, burned and partially destroyed Baronett bridge near the junction of the Yellowstone and Lamar Elvers, made a raid upon Mammoth Hot Springs, killing one man there, and went down the valley as far as Henderson's Eanch, where Cinnabar now stands. Here they committed numer- ous depredations, stole a number of horses, and then re- turned without having suffered any loss whatever. Chief Joseph and his followers left the Park by way of Miller Creek. Their natural route would have been by Soda Butte Creek and Clark's Fork ; but they had learned, probably through Shively, that there was a large party of miners in the section where Cooke City now stands, and they feared that they might encounter some opposition there. As soon as the command at Henry Lake had become recuperated, the pursuit was vigorously resumed. Howard followed in the track of the Indians as far as to the ford of the Yellowstone; but instead of crossing at this point, he descended the river by the left bank to the site of Baron- ett's celebrated first bridge over the Yellowstone. The bridge was found partially destroyed by the Indians and had to be repaired, after which the line of march was continued up the Lamar and Soda Butte Valleys, ajid across the divide to the valley of Clark's Pork. AN INDIAN campaign: THROUGH THE PARK. 149 The authorities had been widely warned of the probable route of the Indians and were lying in wait to intercept them. Gen. Sturgis expected to do this as they emerged from the Absaroka Mountains; but unfortunately he sta- tioned himself in the wrong pass and left the one which the Indians took unguarded. By this loss of time he fell in behind both the Indians and Howard, who was now in close pursuit. The Indians crossed the Yellowstone, Sep- tember 12th. Here Sturgis ov^ertook them with a com- pany of cavalry and a slight conflict ensued. The Indians then struck north, apparently for the British line. On September 23d they crossed the Missouri at Cow Island and resumed their march north. But they were inter- cepted by General Miles in the Bear Paw Mountains and a severe fight followed, at the northern base of the range on Snake Creek, less than thirty miles from the boundary. The Indians were defeated and Looking Glass was killed. Most of the survivors surrendered unconditionally, and the rest escaped across the line. This was on October 5, 1877. Since the first outbreak, June 13th, three months and twenty-two days had elapsed. The flight and pursuit liad extended over 1,500 miles. There had been no fewer than fifteen engagements. The whites had lost 6 officers and 121 soldiers and citizens killed, and 13 officers and 127 soldiers and citizens wounded. A large part of the Inc?ian losses could never be ascertained, but their known losses were 151 killed, 88 wounded and 489 captured. This celebrated campaign is well intended to elicit the fullest sympathy for the unfortunate Xez Perces. A vast deal of sentiment has been wasted upon the cause of the red man. Opinions have ranged from the extreme views of Catlin, who could see no wrong in the Indian, to those 150 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. of the rabid frontiersman whose creed was "no good Indian but a dead one/^ But, if there ever was a case where sym- pathy might well incline to the side of the Indian, it is the one under consideration. The Xez Perces had always been friendly to the whites, and it was their boast that they had never slain a white man. They were intelligent, brave, and humane. In this campaign they bought supplies which they might have con- fiscated; they saved property which they might have de- stroyed; they spared hundreds of lives which other Indians would have sacrificed. If some of the more lawless ele- ment committed various outrages, they might justly reply that the whites had fired into their tents where their women and children were sleeping. In short,, their con- duct in this campaign places them in all respects nearer the standard of civilized people than any other of the native tribes of the continent. In estimating the causes that led to the war, history can not fail to establish that the Indians were in the right. It was a last desperate stand against the inevitable destiny which was robbing the Indian of his empire^ a final protest against the intolerable encroachments of the pale face. In defense of this principle, the Xez Perces staked their all on a single throw. They lost, and were irretrievably ruined. They were transported to a distant territory, and the land of "their fathers they saw no more.* The campaign of 1877 was the only one in which tour- ists of the National Park were ever subjected to serious • After the surrender, Joseph and a few of his followers were sent to Fort Leavenworth, where they remained until July, 1878, when they were taken to the Indian Territory. After languishing here for seven years, they were established on the Colville Reservation in Washington. AN INDIAN CAMPAIGN THROUGH THE PARK. 151 danger from the Indians.* It has left its mark indeliljly upon the Park. "Xez Perce Creek" will always remind the traveler of the terrible danger in which anotlier party of tourists was once placed upon the borders of that stream. "Howard's TraiF' will not soon be effaced from the forests and mountains where Captain Spurgin, witii brilliant expedition, built the first passable highway through that tangled wilderness. * In 1878, there was a slight alarm in the Park caused by an ephemeral raid of the Bannock Indians; but, beyond the loss of a few horses, no damage was done. CHAPTER XYI. THE NEZ PERCES AND THE RADERSBURG TOURISTS. Going back to the morning of August 24, when Chief Joseph and his people arrived in the Lower Ge^'ser Basin, we will record the experience of the two parties of tourists to whom allusion was made in the previous chapter. The Radersburg tourists were encamped about half a mile west of the Fountain Geyser in a fringe of trees along the left bank of a small stream. This had been their permanent camp from which they had made excursions to the Upper Basin, the Lake and the Canon. Arnold and Dingee had arisen before sunrise to make a fire and prepare breakfast, for the party were to start home that morning. Soon after, Mrs. Cowan aroused her husband and told him there were Indians outside. Mr. Cowan peered through the flap of the tent and saw that it was indeed so. Hastily dress- ing, he went out and commenced talking with an Indian called Charley, who spoke English well — a tall, slender Indian, with a long, but not bad-looking face. Charley pretended that the Indians were Flatheads, but a little questioning drew out the fact that they were Xez Perces. As it was known that these Indians were on the warpath, Mr. Cowan at once realized the gravity of the situation in which his little party were placed. Charley pretended that he belonged to L and about an hour before the main body. Their duty was to make a road for the army, and it involved con- stant work, great activity, and called forth every practical expedient for overcoming difficulties with alacrity. After the Park was reached these difficulties became too great to open the road as fast as Howard wished to move, and on the second day the army passed on over Mary Mountain, leaving Spurgin and the train to follow as fast as they could. The Captain made the prodigious ascent of the mountain, opening a road through the timber, and reached the ford of the Yellowstone very soon after Howard did. The General asked him how many wagons he had to abandon, and was greatly pleased to learn that all had gotten through. Captain Spurgin crossed to the right bank of the Yellowstone at the Mud Geyser Ford, as it was expected to follow the Indians up the Pelican Valley. But at this point a man named Irwin came into camp, who had just escaped from the Indians, and the information he brought induced Gen^^ral Howard to go down the Yellowstone by tlie left bank, cross at Baronett Bridge, and then ascend the Valley of Lamar Eiver until he should strike Joseph's trail again. As the countr}' was too rough for the wagons to keep up they were placed under separate escort, and supplies for the troops were carried by pack train. At Cascade Creek the escort was ordered to join Howard, and the train was put under charge of Captain Spurgin, ^^dtli orders to take it back to Fort Ellis. It was on tliis part of the route from Mud Geyser to Baronett Bridge, over the shoulder of Mt. Washburn*, that Captain Spurgin made a proud record for himself as an officer of energy and resource, and left traces of the campaign through the Park which a (quarter of a century 172 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. has failed to eradicate. There are evidences of the old road nearly all the way. The high wooded hill along the river west of the present road, and about two miles above the Upper Falls of the Yellowstone, was descended by cutting a narrow way through the timber and letting the wagons straight do^\^l, holding them with ropes wound around trees. The marks on the trees where the ropes burned through the bark are still (1903) distinctly visible. The soldiers called this place "Spurgin's Beaver Slide." The crossing of Cascade Creek also can still be identified. The train passed through Dunraven Pass, and instead of keeping along the trail dropped down into the valley of Carnelian Creek. Thence it kept on to Tower Creek, and crossed the latter stream about a mile above the modern bridge. The traces of this old road will not disappear, except through a forest fire, for centuries to come. While descending the valley of Carnelian Creek the little party had a momentary scare that created something of a panic. One of the herders rode into camp in hot haste saying that a large body of Indians was coming down the trail from Dujiraven Pass. The men instantly withdrew a little distance from the train and took up a defensive position, where they waited an hour or so until all danger had passed. It developed later that the Indians were friendly scouts under Lieutenant Doane. After arriving at Baronett Bridge, and when the difficult part of his task was over. Captain Spurgin decided to take with him only sufficient rations to carry him to Ellis, and send all the rest on to Howard by pack train. The circumstance gave rise to an amusing incident worth recording. There were three garrulous braggarts among .Spurgin's ^''skillets,'' wlio were always vaunting the great exploits and the wonderful experiences the^ had gone CAPTAIN- SPURGIN AXD HIS ''''SKILLETS/' 173 tlirough. Tlie night of the arrival at Baronett Bridge, Spurgin overheard them in camp engaged in their favorite pastime, each trying to outdo the other. One of them related that when he crossed the plains with his father years before they found the game all gone, and were compelled to kill their horses for meat. They came to like this food almost as well as buffalo meat. The second story teller declared that it was nothing to have to live on horseflesh ; that he had often been reduced to such straits ; and on one occasion had actually been com- pelled to live on rattlesnakes. He found this flesh exceed- ingly palatable, as good as anything he ever ate. Xumber three likewise had been compelled in his long experience to eat everything from horses to snakes, and other reptiles and "varmints." But once he got into a country where he could find absolutely nothing. It was on the Blacktail Deer Creek, not ver}^ far from where they then were. He was about to give up in despair when all of a sudden he came upon a herd of strange wild cattle that weighed all the way from 1,200 to 1,800 pounds. He pitched his camp in this paradise, which had so suddenly sprung up in the desert, and reveled in abundance for several days. The morning following this wordy contest Captain Spurgin called these men to his tent, told them his plans, and asked them how many days' rations they thought would be barely sufhcient to take him to Ellis; that he wanted to send all the rest to Howard. The horseflesh eater thought about twenty days' rations would do. The rattlesnaJvc man thought it best to make it twentj^-one. The hero of the wild cattle tale "allowed" that it would require twenty or twenty-one. Their unanimity of opinion was striking, and their determination to have plenty to eat equally so. 174 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. Spurgin told them that he should take only seven days^ rations. They threw up their hands in horror and declared that they would all surely starve. "Well/^ said the Cap- tain, looking at number one, "if worse comes to worst we can kill our horses and eat them." The man replied that their horses were too poor to make suitable meat. "In that case we can fall back upon rattlesnakes/^ suggested the Captain. "There are plenty of them in this countr}', are there not?" and he fixed a mischievous eye upon the rattlesnake man. The latter promptly replied that rattle- snakes did not flourish in such high altitudes. "Well, in any event." persisted the Captain, turning to number three, "we will kill some of those wild cattle on the Black- tail that weigh from 1,200 to 1,800 pounds, and put up meat enough to last us. We shall have to do something, for I'm going to take only seven days' rations." "We'd better see wHo's around the next time we go to blowing," said the wild cattle man to his pals as they slunk away crestfallen at their interview. Part II —Descriptive CHAPTER I. BOUNDARIES AXD TOPOGRAPHY. At the time when the bill creating the Yellowstone Park was before Congress there had been no detailed survey of that region, and the boundaries, as specified in the bill, were to some extent random guesses. The exploring parties of 1870 and 1871 had seen all the more important points of interest. To include these in the proposed reservation, the framers of the bill passed two lines due east and west, one through the junction of the Yellowstone and Gardiner Eivers, and one through a point ten miles south of the most southerly point of the Yellowstone Lake; and two lines due north and south, one through a point ten miles east of the easternmost point of Yellow- stone Lake, and one through a point fifteen miles west of the most westerly point of Shoshone (then called Madison) Lake. The nearly rectangular area thus resulting was found to lie mainly in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with narrow strips, two or three miles wide, overlapping into the Territories of Montana and Idaho. The mean dimensions of the Reservation were 61.8 miles by 53.6 miles, giving an area of 3,312.5 square miles. Under Acts of Congress approved March 3, 1891, and June 4, 1897, authorizing the creation of forest reserves and the modification of boundaries of reserves already created, several such creations and changes have been 176 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. made in the country around the Park during the past twelve years. There are at present two such reserves on the borders of the Park — the Yellowstone Forest Eeserve (proclamation of January 29, 1903), which is a consolida- tion, with some change, of the reserves previously created east and south of the Park; and the Madison Forest Keserve, which was newly created by proclamation of August 16, 1902. The territory thus set aside covers the entire eastern and southern boundaries of the Park, except that portion in the State of Idaho ; and limited portions of the northern and western boundaries. The approximate areas reserved are: The Yellowstone Eeserve, 13,070 square miles. The Madison Eeserve, 1,270 square miles. This makes, with the Park proper, a total area reserved from settlement of about 17,600 square miles.* There have been many attempts to extend the Park boundaries so as to take in portions of the surrounding country now embraced in the forest reserves, particularly the region known as Jackson Hole. The time is now past, however, when this can be accomplished without a radical • There Is an exceedingly Interesting historical reference to this region, in which there is a definition of boundaries which does great credit to the individual who made it. In a letter quoted elsewhere, the distinguished Jesuit missionary, Father DeSmet, writing in 1852, makes this statement: "I think that the most extraordinary spot in this respect [natural wonders], and perhaps the most marvelous of all the northern half of the continent, is in the very heart of the Rocky Moun- tains, between the 43d and 45th degrees of latitude, and the 109th and 111th degrees of longitude." Let the reader exam- ine a map of Wyoming on which are represented the Yellow- stone Park and the neighboring forest reserves, and note how closely their combined area agrees with that described by Father DeSmet. BOUNDARIES AND TOPOGRAPTTY. Ill change in the present policy of governing the Park. Set- tlement has already gained a foothold in the surrounding reserves which it would be difficult to uproot. The perma- nent exclusion of- railroads from all parts of such an exten- sive territory is neither practicable nor desirable. The hunting of wild game throughout this region at certain seasons and under careful restrictions is eminently proper. In the Park itself it is very desirable to exclude all these things and it has been found practicable to do so. The policy should be carefully maintained, and the Park is the only place of like extent in the world where this is possi- ble. It will fall by its own weight if extended too far. The Indians, with that exquisite propriety which so often characterized their geographical nomenclature, called tliis larger region the '^'^summit of the world"; and it is the summit of the world as they knew it — the top of the North American Continent. From out its forests and mountains great rivers descend in every direction to the sea. The Missouri River, through the Madison and Galla- tin Forks, and the great tributaries, Yellowstone and Platte, flows down from these mountains. Likewise Green River, the principal tributary of the Colorado of the West, rises in the snows of these same hills, and its icy waters flow south until they reach the sea on the very border of the torrid zone. Finally the great southern branch of the Columbia, the Snake River, finds it sources interlaced with those of the streams just mentioned. The vast importance of this region as a source of great river systems will be understood when it is remembered that each of these streams flows for fully a thousand miles through a country where agriculture is possible only by irrigation, and that their waters, if properly utilized, are capable of maintaining a population as great as that west 178 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PAHK. of the longitude of Omaha to-day. Surely, it is not only the "summit of the world," but a veritable fountain head of national life, and there is a natural harmony of relation in the fact that this entire region has been brought under federal control. MOUNTAIN SYSTEMS. Confining our inquiries to the Park proper, we shall ne:xt note its salient topographical features. The Park lies in the "heart of the Rocky Mountains," and within or around it are some of the most massive ranges on the continent. This is particularly true of the extensive system which borders the Park on the east under the name Absaroka. It extends north of the Park fully forty miles and south as far as Union Pass, where it merges into the noted Wind Eiver range. It separates the valley of the Upper Yellow- Btone from its principal tributary, the Big Horn. The range is excessively rugged and broken, and is practically impassable, except along a few trails. Sylvan Pass, which has been selected for the eastern approach to the Park, is about eight thousand six hundred feet high, nearly a thou- sand feet lower than any other within a distance of forty miles. There are thirty named peaks of this range within the Park with a ruling altitude of about ten thousand four hundred feet; but in the forest reserve, just east of the Park, the altitude is about two thousand feet higher. The scenery of these mountains is everj^where of a sublime and imposing character. The Gallatin Eange, another important mountain system, lies in and beyond the northwest corner of the Park. It separates the watersheds of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers, and is the source of several tributaries of eaoli stream. The range is one of great scenic beauty and one BOUNDARIES AND TOPOGRAPHY. 179 that falls prominently under the eye of the tourist. It is also of particular interest to scientists from its varied geo- logical structure. It is not a lofty range, its seventeen named peaks, averaging only about nine thousand eight hundred feet high; but its highest summit, Electric Peak, is the loftiest mountain in the Park. The Washburn Piangc, a detached system, originaV.y known as the "Elephant's Back," is situated between th^i Grand Canon of the Yellowstone and the Gardiner Eiver. It has seven christened summits, with an average altitude of 9,800 feet. The most conspicuous peak of the range, as well as the most noted mountain of the Park, is Mt. Washburn. The Red Mountain Range is a small group of mountaiiis between Heart and Lewis Lakes, and southwest of Yellow- stone Lake. Its principal summit, and next, to Mt. Wash- burn the most important one in the Park, is ^It Sheridan. The Big Game Ridge lies along the south boundary of the Park, and is the source of the Snake River. It has six named peaks, with an average altitude of 9,800 feet. The Teton Range lies south of the Park, its northern spurs crossing the boundary. It is not an extensive system, but one of great altitude and marvelous scenic beauty. The Grand Teton, its principal summit, is about 13,700 feet high. The whole range rises in sheer relief above the sur- face of Jackson Lake nearl}^ a mile and a half. It has always l^een a matter of great regret that this wonderful mountain system was not included in the Park. The Continental Divide, or the ^^leight of land," whicli separates the waters that flow into the Atlantic from those that flow into the Pacific, crosses the Park in a direction from northwest to southeast. Its sinuous course can be best understood from the map. It does not lie along the 180 1!11T. YELLOWSTONE N-ATIOJTAL PARK. crest of any prominent ridge, and in one place is but little higher than the Yellowstone Lake. A notable feature of the Divide is the great loop that it makes around the water- shed of DeLacy Creek, a tributary of Shoshone Lake. The main tourist route passes directly through this area, and tlius crosses the Continental Divide twice. Another promi- nent feature of the Divide is Two-Ocean Pass, described elsewhere,* which lies just south of the Park. DEAITTAGE SYSTEMS. The Absaroka and Gallatin Eanges and the Continental Divide mark the boundaries of the three great river sys- tems of the Park, the Yellowstone, the Missouri and the Snake. The first two are on the Atlantic slope ; the third is on the Pacific slope. The areas drained by them are approxi- mately : By the Yellowstone, 1,900 square miles. By the Missouri, 730 square miles. By the Snake, 682 square miles. The Yellowstone River has its source in the snow drifts of Yount Peak, twenty-five miles southeast of the Park. It enters the Reservation six miles west of the southeast corner; crosses it in a direction somewhat west of north, and leaves it at a point about nineteen miles east of the northwest corner. Xear the center of the Park it flows through the celebrated lake of the same name, and further north passes through two remarkable caiions before it leaves the Reservation. Its principal tributaries from the east are Pelican Creek, which flows into the Lake, and the Lamar River, commonly called the East Fork. Those from the west are Tower Creek and Gardiner River. * Page 310. BOTTNDARIES AND TOPOGRAPHY. 181 The Lamar Eiver rises nearly due east of the outlet of Yellowstone Lake and flows northwesterly, joining the main stream near Junction Butte. Its principal tributary is Soda Butte Creek, which rises just outside the northeast comer of the Park and joins the Lamar Eiver near the ex- tinct hot spring cone from which it derives its name. Gardiner Eiver is the second largest tributary of the Yellowstone, and drains the extensive area between the Washburn and Gallatin Mountains. The low-water discharge of the Yellowstone Eiver, aa measured by the writer, in 1891, a little below the lake out- let, is 1,598 cubic feet per second; as measured by the United States Geological Survey, in 1886, 1,525 cubic feet. The discharge at the north boundary of the Park cannot be less than 2,000 cubic feet. The Missouri Eiver drainage flows into the Gallatin and Madison forks of that stream. The Gallatin drains only a small area in the extreme northwest corner of the Park. The Madison is formed by the junction of the Gibbon and Firehole Elvers, about twelve miles east of the west boun- dary of the Park. The Gibbon takes its rise a few miles west of the Falls of the Yellowstone, and flows in a south- west direction. The Firehole rises in Madison Lake, and flows north to its junction with the Gibbon. Its principal tributaries are the Little Firehole Eiver and Iron Creek on the west, and Xez Perce Creek on the east. The Snake Eiver drains the southwest portion of the Park. It rises about fifteen miles south of Yellowstone Lake, just outside the boundary. It then takes a northerly circuit into the Park, receiving the waters of Heart and Lewis Elvers, and leaves the Eeservation just north of Jack- son Lake. Its princijial tributary is the Lewis Eiver, which drains Shoshone and Lewis Lakes. Several large streams, 182 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PAKK. Bechler and Falls Elvers among them, cross the southwest boundary of the Park and join the main Snake further south. A very noted stream, the main trunk of which lies out- side the Park, is the Shoshone (formerly called Stinlving Water) Eiver, which rises in the Forest Eeserve east of the Park. Several of its western tributaries, like Jones and Middle Creeks, drain a considerable area in the Absaroka Eange, east of the lake ; and along the valley of the second of these streams is located the eastern entrance to the Park. These several rivers, with their tributaries, make about 165 named streams in the Park. The abundance of flow- ing water as indicated by these figures, has an important bearing upon the practical side of the Park — considered as a pleasuring ground. The number of bridges and the dam- ages from floods are a constant and heavy expense to the road system. On the other hand, the presence of so many streams, with the rapids and cataracts which abound upon most of them, forms one of the mo==t attractive features of the landscape. In the entire Park there are about thirty-six named lakes with a total area of nearly 165 square miles. Of these lakes, twenty-one, with an area of l-i3 square miles, are on the Yellowstone slope; eight, with an area of perhaps two square miles, are on the Missouri slope; and seven, with an area of about twenty square miles, are on the Snake Eiver slope. The four principal lakes — Yellowstone, Shoshone, Lewis and Heart — are clustered near the Conti- nental Divide at its lowest point, the first being on the Atlantic slope, and the others on the Pacific. There are upon the various streams of the Park no fewer than twenty-five interesting waterfalls, where the streams descend from the plateau to the lower surrounding country. BOUNDARIES AND TOPOGRAPHY, 183 VALLEYS. Although the mountains are the prime factors in determ- ining the topography of a country like the Yellowstone Park, they are, in a practical sense, of less importance than the valleys that lie between them and the streams cf "which they are the source. It is mainly in the valleys that the fauna of a region dwcll^, and that man carries on his work. In the Park it so happens that most of the charac- teristic attractions are also to be found there. The valleys naturally fall under two broad divisions — open valleys and caiions. The largest and most important of the open valleys is that of the Yellowstone and Lamar Elvers, stretching from Mt. Washburn and Crescent Hill nearly to the east boundary of the Park. It is fully twent}'-five miles long and five to ten broad. It is nearly all open country, with fine pasturage extending well up the sides of the mountains, forming an ideal grazing ground, where elk, deer and antelope roam in immense herds. Hay den Valley, the second largest grassy tract in the Park, is that portion of the valley of the Upper Yellowstone which lies north of Mud Geyser. It is covered with rich grass and is a splendid summer grazing ground, but the snowfall of winter is too deep for animals to dig through to the turf. Among the other open valleys of importance are Swan Lake Flat and Willow Park, in the valley of the Upper Gardiner; Elk Park and Gibbon Meadows, on the Gibbon River; the broad area of Pelican Valley; the Firehole Geyser Basins, more noted for their natural features than as a grazing country; and some open tracts around Shoshone and Lewis Lakes, and along the valley of Falls River. 184 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. Going outside the Park^ the wonderful valley of Jack- son Hole naturally arrests attention. It is an extensive region^ generally oj)en and of rolling terrane, though in some 2dacesllat and even as a floor: abounding in fine pasturage, and a natural home for game of all kinds. But its chief attraction lies in its marvelous natural beauty. It is tra- versed b}" the Snake Eiver; dotted with several fine lakcs^, of which Jackson Lake is the largest, and surrounded by majestic mountain ranges. The Teton Kange on the west is its most important scenic attraction. The name, Jackson Hole, applies strictly to the lower part of the valley below Jackson Lake. Caiions are the narrow openings among the hills through which the water from the mountains finds its way to the lower country. There are very many of these. On the Yellowstone, above the Great Bend at Livingston, where the river finally leaves the mountains, there are four of these caiions, the first two of which are outside the Park. The fourth caiion begins about two miles above the Upper Falls and continues to Baronett Bridge, a distance of twenty-five miles. Its central portion is the world- renowned Grand Canon of the Yellowstone. The Gardiner Eiver has two fine canons that come to the notice of the tourist. The first of these is near the north- ern entrance to the Park. The second lies behind Bunsen Peak, and is of great depth, beauty and grandeur. On the Gibbon Eiver there is a small, but picturesque, canon half a mile long, below Virginia Cascade, and an- other of great interest, extending for five miles below Gibbon Meadows. On the Firehole Eiver there are two small gorges, inter- esting mainly from the cascades and rapids of the river. One of them is where the tourist route first strikes the river BOUNDARIES AND TOPOGRAPHY. 186 five miles below the Fountain Hotel, and the other is in the vicinity of Kepler Cascade, above the Upper Geyser Basin. Spring Creek Canon is a winding, sylvan valley, of very picturesque outline, through which Spring Creek flows in the last three miles of its course. It is traversed by the tourist route. On the eastern approach Sylvan Pass is a very striking natural cut through the mountains, while the canon of Middle Creek presents a remarkable scene of rugged, broken country, filled with dense forests, and traversed by a torrential mountain stream. There are hundreds of caiions besides those men- tioned, where streams like the Lamar Eiver and its tributaries, and the Gallatin, Snake and Upper Yellow- stone, flow out from their sources in the mountain snows. But few visitors are fortunate enough ever to see them, and their beauties will always remain in large part concealed from the general eye. PLATEAUS. A considerable portion of the Park area is composed of what may be termed plateaus, elevated tracts of land, not so high as the mountain ranges, but much higher than the valleys. Ordinarily, these are to be found along the divides between the larger streams. The more important are the Pitchstone Plateau, between the Snake Eiver and the head waters of the Bechler and Falls Elvers, with a mean altitude of 8.500 feet; Highland Plateau, between the Yellowstone and the Madison Eivers, altitude 8,300 feet; ^Mirror Plateau, between the Yellowstone and the Lamar Eivers, altitude 9,000 feet; the Blacktail Deer Plateau, between the Yellowstone and the Gardiner, altitude 7.000 feet ; and the Madison Plateau, we.^ of the Lower Geyser Basin, altitude 8,300 feet. (8*) 186 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PAEK. SCENERY. The mountain scenery of the Park is that of the Eocky Mountains in general, though not so rugged and imposing on the whole as may be found in Colorado or in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges on the Pacific Slope. Yet in its general details it is typical of the scenery of the central mountain region, and perhaps the most varied and beau- tiful of any. The ^svriter can not better convey a general idea of it than by reproducing here a description prepared for a different purpose.* '•'The physical aspect of the Eocky Mountains is alto- gether characteristic. The traveler who passes hurriedly through them on the modem railroad is liable to contrast imfavorably their grey color, severe outlines and barren slopes with the verdure-clad hillsides of the Eastern States. Not so he, who, like the ancient trapper, frequents their unaccustomed haunts, comes in close contact with their wild and picturesque details, and observes their varying moods with the changes of each day and the seasons of the year. This more intimate acquaintance discloses a wealth of beauty which the uniform green of the Eastern mountains does not possess, and it is said by reputable painters of natural scenery, that no mountains in the world, not even the Alps, afford scenes so satisfactory to the artist as those of the Eocky Mountains. "The general appearance of the mountains is of a greyish color where vegetation is scarce. This results not ouly from the exposed areas of rock in situ, but from the dis- integrated rock which covers the mountains in many places with a sterile soil. The reddish color of iron oxide is widely present, particularly in the smaller hills of the ♦American Fur Trade of the Far West, p. 728 et seq. BOUNDARIES AND TOPOGRAPHY. 187 Bad Lands, while yellow and other colors are of frequent occurrence. ^^The greater number of the northern mountains have extensive grassy slopes whose broad areas, inclined upward as on a mighty easel, and spread out in rolling stretches with gentle depressions between them, look like beautiful carpets of green or brown, according to the season, softened by the mellow haze of distance and burnished by the crim- son rays of the morning and evening sun. At the higher elevations, from five to ten thousand feet, forests of pine, fir and similar trees abound extensively and cover the mountains with a mantle of dark green or black. At fre- quent intervals throughout these forests are open spaces, filled with luxuriant grass, forming parks of faultless beauty amid the somber solitudes of the surrounding woods. Everywhere in these wild and sublime situations occur the always pleasing groves of the quaking aspen, a grateful relief either from the gloomy view of extensive forests or the uniform prospect of grass-covered slopes. Taken together, these varied arrangements of nature present an artistic appearance that reminds one of the cul- tivated sections in the mountain regions of Europe where man has contributed so much to enhance the beauty of nature. *The scenery of these mountains, moveover, is subject to continual and interesting change. Scarcely have the bleak storms of winter subsided, and while yet deep fields of snow lie upon the upper slopes, the soft blossoms of spring shoot eagerly from the scanty soil and oppose the gentle warmth of their blooms to the chill snow which is slowly receding before them. So profuse and beautiful are the flowers in these lofty regions that one would doubt if any other season could rival the springtime in beauty. But in 188 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. truth the somber season of autumn is the most attractive of all. The early frosts cover the mountain sides with the most varied and gorgeous colors. The quaking aspen^ which before was simjily a mass of green upon the moun- tain side, now stands forth with tenfold greater distinctness in its rich autumnal foliage. The low growth of under- brush, which scarcely attracts the eye at other seasons, takes on a livelier hue, transforming whole mountain sides into fields of pleasing color. Even upon those inaccessible and apparently barren slopes, where the eye had not before detected any sign of vegetable life, may now be seen spots of crimson and gold, as if nature had scattered here and there rich bouquets of flowers and bunches of fruit. "It is not upon the surface of the earth alone that are to be seen the grandeur and beauty of these regions. Even the wild mountain storms which are frequent at certain seasons have an attraction peculiarly their own, and all the more remarkable by the very contrasts which they produce. If, in passing, they display on a terrible scale the power of the elements, on the other hand, they leave behind them, in the sun-gilded clouds among the mountain tops, the most peaceful and pleasing pictures which nature anywhere affords. "Again, in the long rainless season, the atmosphere, like the painter's brush, tints the hills, in ever-varying inten- sity, with the purple and blue of distance. For this is pre-eminently a land of cloudless skies. The risings and settings of the sun are on a scale of sublime magnificence, while the moon rides among the mountain peaks with a serene splendor unkno^ni in less favored climes. ' It is in this mountain scenery that the chief attraction of the Park lies — for him who spends considerable time there. fiOtJNDAKTKS AXD TOPOatJAt>HY. 189 lie may weary of the geysers and hot springs, but he always finds relief in the varied aspect of nature — ^hei* shifting seasons, her growth and decay; her mutability amid scenes of changeless grandeur — and it would make little difference in his fondness for this region if all its strange and erratic phenomena should cease to exist. CHAPTEE IL GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PARK, Nature seems from the first to have design ed this region for a mountain park. Back in the remote twilight of the earth's geological histor}', beyond which man is unable to trace the smallest relic of the past;, and when, the surface of the globe was one va^t ocean with a few scattering islands^ the nuclei of all subsequent land gro^\i:hS;, there had already arisen around the Park country those granite .protuberances which form the ground work of its present mountain systems. Just what were the position and extent of these primeval elevations can never be definitely deter- mined, but geologists agree that they existed on every side of the Park which itself remained buried beneath the waters long ages after their emergence. In the course of an inconceivable extent of time, embrac- ing the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras, these exposed areas were denuded by the action of the elements and the result- ing detritus was spread about over the bottom of the sur- rounding seas. Xot improbably chemical action, in those times of intense activity of all natural agencies, may have hastened deposition from the impregnated waters and have aided in the upbuilding of the sedimentary rocks. From whatever cause, these depositions were of vast extent, their thickness in some localities, as measured by the geologist, being several thousand feet. Possilily during all this time there was an increasing emergence of old mountain foun- dations, bringing the outlines of the continent more and more prominently into view. In geological chronology it was near the close of the GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PARK. 191 Cretaceous Period that this long-existing condition under- went a profound change. The shrinkage of the earth in the process of cooling had thrown a strain upon its still weak and plastic crust which it was no longer able to with- stand. The old Archffian rocks and the vast sedimentary accumulations were crumpled and forced upward in stupendous wrinkles, forming lofty mountain ranges above the ancient sea. These movements may have been very slow, as we now reckon time, but they were rapid in a geological sense. Very interesting would it be if the geologist could penetrate the lavas which now cover these ancient rocks, and make for us a map of the Park region as it then was. We may conjecture that the present surrounding mountain chains had taken form, and were probably more lofty and very different in appearance, owing to the vast changes of later times. It is also probable that the interior of the Park, which we now call its plateau, had arisen above the sea and that consequently the formation of sedimentary rocks had ceased. The interior basin was nevertheless a depressed area, relatively far deeper than at present. Whether there were folds or uplifts where Mts. Washburn and Sheridan now stand is uncertain, but the feeble resist- ance of the crust at these points in later times would indi- cate that there were. Now followed changes of great and far-reaching import- ance. The crushed and plicated earth-crust yielded to pres- sure from beneath, where the molten interior, compressed by the ever increasing force of contraction, was seeking relief and expansion. Volcanic eruptions of wide extent and prodigious magnitude took place, and continued inter- mittently through Tertiary and into Quaternar}- time. There were evidently many and long periods of quiescence. 192 I^HE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. The pent-up forces having expended their energ}' in one eruption remained quiescent for a season. The ordinary atmospheric and vegetable agencies then asserted them- selves very much as at present, though probably with greater force and intensity. Meanwhile the imprisoned fires gathered new force^, burst forth again and destroyed the peaceful work that had gone on during the period of rest. Thus these opposite manifestations of natural forces succeeded each other through long ages, until the reign of peace was established and the powers of violence and terror were permanently dethroned. The lava outpourings during this period of volcanic activity have given our Park the form in wliich we see it to-day, except as this has since been modified by the agencies of denudation and erosion. The earlier outpour- ings consisted mainly of andesitic breccias; the later of rhyolite, while all along there were smaller flows of basaltic lavas. The andesitic eruptions played their prin- cipal part in the up-building of the mountains. Over the greater part of the xlbsaroka and Gallatin Eanges the older granite and sedimentary rocks were buried beneath the lava, and the modern form of these mountains is that which time has wrought out from these igneous rocks. These volcanic outbursts were evidently not so much of the character of molten lava as in later times. In many places the heat was not sufficient to consume organic sub- stances, the forms of which have remained intact to the present time. The material was apparently not liquid enouoh to spread itself about like a lake, but instead banked up in the near neighborhood of eruption and thus promoted the building up of the mountains. It seems also to have been of a character that yielded readily to the agencies of erosion. There were several craters from which these lavas issued i tj __ cj _o __ m: < * o Th£' Traverti>-e Rocks. GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PARK. 193 — two or more in the Absaroka Range, one in the Gallatin Range, and two, which interest us more, in the interior of the Park, Mt. Washburn and Mt. Sheridan. No one can Etand on the summit of ^It. Wasliburn and look down upon the forest-covered amphitheater that forms the watershed of Tower Creek, without feeling instinctively that he is standing on the rim of an ancient crater, which was once a seething caldron of molten lava, but is now eJothed in a garb of beauty by the gentler agencies of nature. In the process of time the eruptive material from these volcanoes showed a marked change in character. The later flows were mainly of rhyolite. It is this rock that makes the Park plateau what it is to-day. It was of a more liquid character than the early outflows, and spread itself all over the country, filling up its depressions and elevating the general surface of the basin by more than a thousand feet. The rock has a great variety of superficial habit, from the soft friable material which grinds to powder under the wheels of wagons, to the glassy structure so prominent in Obsidian Cliff. Nine-tenths of all the rock which the tourist sees is of this character, though its varied forms might lead him to a different conclusion. Throughout the entire period of volcanic activity in tliis region there were limited outpourings of basalt, and the latest eruptions were of this character. Though small in extent, compared with the other rocks, it is the most important of all from a scenic point of view ; for it always assumes a form that attracts attention. Prominent examples may be seen in the Middle Gardiner Canon at Osprey Falls, and along the banks of the Yellowstone near Tower Falls. Xext in order of the great events in the geological evo- lution of the Park is the Glacial Epoch. Its work is (9) 104 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. everywhere visible and certainly overspread the entire region. Unquestionably the Park was covered with one vast ice sheet, which even the warm ground where the hot springs were could not resist. Perhaps the most extensive and important of all the glaciers was the one which de- bouched from the Third Caiion of the Yellowstone and the Lower Gardiner, into the valley below. It came from two sources — one in the Absaroka Eange at the head waters of Lamar Eiver, and the other from th.e Gallatin Eange, whence it moved eastward and curved around to the left over Terrace Mountain, joining the main ice stream in the Gardiner Valley. The debris borne along by these com- bined glaciers are strewn everywhere throughout the north of the Park, and are particularly prominent in the valley of the Yellowstone from the Park boundary north, halfway to Livingston. In the Gibbon Caiion, near the Falls, are great accumulations of drift boulders intermixed with mud. Hayden Valley and vast areas throughout the north of the Park are stre^Ti with drift. One lone and impres- sive monument of this once mighty agency still rests in solitary grandeur on the bank of the Grand Canon, near Inspiration Point. It is a huge granite boulder and must have been brought to its present situation by the ice.* The glacier has been the main agency in giving the Park topography its present form ; that is, it has done more than an}i:hing else to shape the valleys and hills and give the terrane its varied aspect, rounding and smoothing its ele- vations, plowing out its valleys and scooping out the depres- sions for its lakes. It has a less enviable reputation^^^th those to whom falls the practical task of preparing highways for travelers throughout the Park. Xo obstacle to road build- * See also page 320. GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PARK. 195 ing is quite so formidable as the masses of drift boulders 80 frequently encountered. They have cost the government thousands upon thousands of dollars. But they have been of great benefit in other ways, for the line gravel beds are extensively used in building up a good road surface. One of these masses of gravel and sand is very remarkable and has proven a veritable gold mine to the government in its work around Mammoth Hot Springs. This is Capitol Hill, which is almost entirely built up of sand and gravel, very clean and free from loam, and mixed by nature in almost the identical proportions required lor ordinary concrete. Another similar deposit is found on Swan Lake Flat, from which the material for the Golden Gate viaduct was procured. The events of the volcanic period of the Park history are preserved in one of the most perfect natural records which the researches of geologists have ever brought to light. The place known as the Fossil Forests of the Yellowstone is a deep exposure of the volcanic rocks caused by the erosion of the valley of Lamar Kiver. It discloses several consecutive horizons of vegetable growth separated from each other by lava flows, which completely buried the subjacent growths and provided a foundation for those above. Beginning with the first or lowest, it is clear that conditions prevailed at the time wliich were highly favor- able to vegetable growth, and that these continued long enough for giant trees to attain mature size. Finally tliis season of growth was rudely interrupted by the violent outburst of a volcanic eruption. Vast masses of ejected material overwhelmed and submerged the land. In this particular locality the heat was not intense enough to con- sume the trees, although it killed them and probably reduced most of them to mere stubs. In the course of long 196 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. ages since that time the percolation of siliceous waters has turned the organic forms into stone by the process of sub- stitution, and has thus preserved a most faithful picture of the vegetable life of that period^ and an infallible proof of the agencies that destroyed it. Some of the petrifications are very perfect. Roots, bark, parts showing incipient decay, worm holes, leaves — all are preserved with absolute fidelity. The rings of annual growth may be counted, and these indicate for the larger trees an age of not less than five hundred years. Some of the stumps are fully ten feet in diameter. Here and there the ponderous roots stand imbedded in the rock face of the cliff » where Erosion has not yet undermined them. In one case, a large tree that had fallen before petrifaction lies partly exposed, both ends being still imbedded in the rock. Some hollow trees show interiors beautifully lined with holocrystalline quartz. After the first eruption had ceased a period of quies- cence followed, during which the ordinary atmospheric and aqueous agencies began work, eroding the surface in some places and depositing the products of erosion in others, while vegetation rapidly covered the newly-formed soil. A subsequent volcanic outburst destroyed this second growth and gave a new horizon, on which the same process was repeated. This continued until there were at least nine, and probably twelve, of these consecutive growths. How long it took each growth to reach maturity; how long each flourished afterward before destruction ; and how long the several eruptions suspended vegetable life are mat- ters largely conjectural. But at the very lowest estimate the time represented by these various accumulations can not be less than ten thousand years. That these early trees were of a different species from GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PARK. 197 those which now flourish there, need not excite surprise, for climatic and other conditions are wholly changed. But an equal difference seems also to have prevailed between the successive growths^ the trees of which were not only unlike each other, but more than half of them hitherto unknown to science. Seventy species in all have been iden- tified and described. The cessation of active eruptions with the later basalt outpourings did not mean the cessation of volcanic activity in this region. It has continued ever since in the form in which we see it to-day, although at one time far more wide- spread than at present. There is some evidence also that molten matter has been seen in certain localities in the Park within historic times. There is no doubt that the source of the energy which is seen to-day in the hot springs and geysers is identical with that which caused the erup- tions of former times. Attempts have been made to explain this heat as originating in chemical action, or from the retained heat of the lava flows; but there are insuperable objections to l)oth theories. It is necessary to go back to the great reservoir of internal heat, which here, as in all volcanic regions, must be presumed to lie near the surface. One disquieting inference from this theory is that the security of our Park may not be as perfect as could be desired, and that the old pent-up forces may yet assert themselves with appalling results. The action of this internal heat, as seen in the thermal phenomena of the Park, has been very general over its area, but has nowhere produced any marked change in its topography. The terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs are the only considerable exception. They have wrought an extensive change on the mountain side where they are found, extending from the Gardiner Kiver back three miles 198 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. and up about 1^500 feet to the tojD of Terrace Mountain. In the other hot springs districts the changes consist only of comparatively thin incrustations built up of deposition from the hot waters. The period of time through Avhich this thermal action has been going on is very great, and presumably dates from the last of the volcanic eruptions. It certainly antedates by a long period the Glacial Epoch, for drift is found on the summit of Terrace Mountain, which is itself a creation of hot springs deposits. Efforts have been made to measure the rate of deposition from the springs in the geyser basins, and to calculate therefrom the time required to do the work which has actually been done. The method is one of great difficulty and uncertaint}^, but indicates a minimum period of twenty-five thousand years. It is probably much greater than this. The area of hot springs action in the Park is Yeij exten- sive, far more so than surface indications would lead one to suppose. All over the Park Plateau are to be found various substances formed by the decomposition of volcanic rock through the agency of steam and hot water. The remarkable coloring of the Grand Canon is that of the various substance? formed by this decomposition. There are many other places in the Park where cafions like this might exist if the eroding agencies were there to carve them out. The government work in the building of roads throughout the Park has revealed the existence of "forma- tion" in many places where it would not be suspected from superficial appearances. The erosion of the Grand Canon, one of the most mar- velous pieces of nature's handiwork, is connected with another profound change in the topography of the Park. The surface of the Yellowstone Lake once stood 160 feet GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THL PAIIK. 199 higher than at present, and its waters flowed through the narrow gorge of Outlet Creek into Heart Lake, and thence into Snake Eiver, thus placing the entire watershed of the lake on the Pacific Slope. In those times the Con- tinental Divide passed over the summit of Mt. Washburn. AMiether from some natural convulsion in this region, or the damming up of the southern outlet by Glacial ice, or from whatever cause, the waters of the lake found an outlet over the natural dam at the eastern base of Wash- burn, and began flowing north. The immense body of water stored in the lake and its overflow during the ages that have since elapsed have excavated this wonderful canon in the decomposed rhyolite. The old shore line of the lake has been identified in many places. In the ya&t but unknown period since the great events which we have noted were complete, the only agencies which have modified the topography of the country, except the hot springs action, are those of denudation, erosion and vegeta- ble g^o^^'th. The succession of the seasons, the action of wind and rain and snow, the gro^\i:h of forests and other vegetation, the flow of the streams, have all l)een instru- mental in giving the Park its present actual appearance. 'No profound change has been produced by these agencies, but their influence upon the superficial aspect of nature has been very great. It is an interesting but never-ending study, that of the rocks of the Yellowstone Park, and impossible of extended treatment here; but that the reader may have some assistance in his attempt to identify them, if he visits the Park, the fol- lowing references are given to the more important outcrop- pings along the main route. Upon entering the Park from the north the tourist alights In a bed of glacial drift and sees strewn all around him granite and other boulders brought down from the Gallatin and Nortlj Absaroka rangeg. 200 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. The rock from which the entrance gate is built is from a basalt outcrop just across the Yellowstone from Gardiner. Nearly every piece is a section of an hexagonal prism. The valley of the Gardiner along which the road lies is on the line of a fault where the earth's crust parted, that on the right dropping down and that on the left lifting up, and form- ing the feature now known as Mt. Everts. It is mainly com- posed of sedimentary rocks — limestones and sandstones- Along the eastern portion is a covering of rhyolite distinctly prominent in the bold escarpment of which a salient angle fronts Bunsen Peak and the valley of the Middle Gardiner. Soon after the road leaves the river and begins the ascent of the hill it strikes the travertine deposits of Mammoth Hot Springs. The road is cut through this formation in several places. In ascending the hill above Mammoth Hot Springs the road lies in the travertine most of the way for three miles, and in one place passes through a remarkably confused mass of broken formation locally called the "Hoodoos." The Golden Gate Canon is through rhyolite rocks. The rocky formation of Bunsen Peak is of dacite porphyry surrounded by rhyolite and basalt. A beautiful display of the latter rock may be seen in the walls of the Gardiner Canon behind the mountain. Swan Lake Flat is covered, as the visitor will readily ob- serve, with glacial drift. Near the seventh mile post, whei'e the road crosses the Gar- diner River, about a thousand feet up stream, may be seen a fine outcropping of basalt broken up into angular bould-ars. Quantities of this rock have been crushed for use on the roads. The Gallatin Range, in full view, has many exposures of sedimentary rocks, lim-estone and sandstone. Along the front of Mounts Holmes and Huntley and of Trilo- bite Point are exposures of the Archaean rocks, granite and gneiss. The tourist route now lies almost wholly in the rhyolite rocks until Hayden Valley is reached. The appearances of this rock are very varied, one of the extreme forms being seen in Obsidian Cliff. In some places the rock is hard and weathers well, but as a general thing it is soft. This is tbe GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PARK. 201 case in the picturesque exposures at Virginia Cascades and in the Gibbon Canon above the falls, although at the sites of both these cataracts the rock is hard enough to resist the action of the water. All over the high plateau the road work has encountered a rock which is largely glassy rhyolite or obsidian, and although it can be removed only by blasting, it crumbles to pieces upon exposure. This characteristic accounts for the fact that in passing through the forests where this rock mostly abounds one would not suspect its presence except by digging into the ground. This condition prevails all along the road between Norris and the Grand Canon. Along the shore of the Yellowstone Lake the road passes over lacustrine deposits for considerable distances which were laid down when the lake stood at its ancient level. Along the Yellowstone River from Mud Geyser to the head of the rapids the road lies all the way in glacial drift, which indeed extends along the river amid outcroppings of rhyolite to below the site of the Grand Caiion Hotel. The Grand Canon is carved through decomposed rhyolite. On leaving the Grand Canon Hotel for Mt. Washburn, the road across the undulating plain to the base of the mountain lies in glacial drift which overspreads in a thin coat the under- lying rhyolite. Where the road crosses the east fork of Cascade Creek and begins the ascent of the mountain it enters the area of ande- yite rocks in the form of the early basic breccias. The road continues in this rock to the summit of the moun- tain and down the northern slope to within three miles of Tower Creek where it again comes into an area of rhyolite. Glacial drift Is everywhere found in the lower valley of Tower Creek. Andesites compose the bed of the Yellowstone all along the lower course of the Grand Caiion. Below Tower Falls this is capped by a conglomerate of "gneissic and andesitic pebbles in friable sandstone," and this by a wonderful wall of colum- nar basalt. Rising from the bottom of the caiion a mile below Tower Falls is a stately, Isolated column of rock that has resisted 202 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PAEK. the wear of time. It is 260 feet high, but does not rise to the level of the basalt. The road from the Yellowstone to the top of Crescent hill divide lies mainly in the early acid and basic breccias, or andesltic lavas. All over these portions of the Park, beginning on the north- ern slopes of Washburn and extending east to Soda Butte the ground Is strewn with "specimens" of various sorts — agate, chalcedony, onyx, Jasper, garnets, amethyst, etc. The names Specimen Ridge, Garnet Hill, Amethyst Creek and several others took their rise from this circumstance. The ride across the high plateau from Crescent Hill to the Gardiner River is -everywhere through the glacial drift, but With frequent outcroppings of rock in situ. Basalt and early acid breccias (andesite) are prevailing rocks, with an out- cropping of limestone n-ear the crest of the slope descending to Black-tail-deer Creek. The immediate valley of this stream is composed of rhyolite, but the basalt recurs again along the east Gardiner, and the beautiful Undine Falls is over this rock. The canon for a con- siderable distance along the hillside below the falls Is carved out of the same material. From the high ground where the road emerges from Cres^ cent Hill Canon a splendid view is had of the country across the Yellowstone River. The mountains there are composed mainly of Archaean rocks, and in these are found the only gold and silver veins In the Park. CHAPTER III. GEYSERS. The hot springs of the Yellowstone National Park may be roughly divided into two classes, eruptive and non- eruptive. To the first the term geyser is applied, while the term hot springs is restricted to the second. Tiiese two classes pass into each other by insensible gradations and the line of demarcation it is not possible to draw. The fol- lowing description will pertain only to those examples about which there is no doubt, and which may be taken as types of their class. A geyser may be defined as a periodically eruptive hot spring. The name, as might be expected, is of Icelandic origin, and comes from the verb gcysa, to gush. The gen- eral characteristics of a true geyser, as illustrated by the most perfect example known. Old Faithful in the Yellow- stone Park, are the following : (1.) There is an irregular tube descending from the earth's surface to some interior source of heat. (2.) The mouth of this tube may be either a self -built mound or cone (as in the example), or simply an open pool. (3.) Into this tube meteoric water finds its way and is subjected to the action of heat. (4.) The result is an eruption and expulsion of the water from the tube with more or less violence. (5.) The eruption is generally preceded by slight prelim- inary upheavals leading gradually to the final outburst. (6.) After cessation of the eruption there is a heavy escape of steam. 204 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. (7.) A quiescent period, generally of indeterminate du- ration, follows during which the conditions necessary for an eruption are reproduced. Geyser phenomena have attracted a great deal of scien- tific attention, and many theories have been advanced to explain them. Passing over for the present the less import- ant, attention will first be given to Bunsen's theory, because it is, upon the whole, the most satisfactory yet advanced. This theory was a direct deduction from observations upon the Great Geyser of Iceland, and has been experimentally illustrated- by artificial examples. The fundamental principle upon which it is l)ased is the well known fact that the temperature of the boiling point of water varies with the pressure to which the water is subjected. At the sea level, under the pressure of one atmosphere (fifteen pounds to the square inch), the boiling point is about 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Under a pressure of two atmospheres it is 250 degrees; of three, 275 degrees; of four, 293 degrees, and so on. At an altitude like that of the Park plateau, where the atmospheric pressure is much less than at sea level, the normal boiling point is about 198 degrees, but the law of variation due to pressure conditions applies exactly as in lower altitudes. If water, subjected to great pressure, be heated to a temperature considerably above that of its normal boiling point, and if then the pressure be suddenly relieved, it will almost instantaneously be converted into steam; a fact which always operates to enhance the danger from the ex- plosion of steam boilers. In the case of an ordinary geyser, it is readily seen that in the long irregular tube descending to great depths there are present the necessary conditions for subjecting the water to great pressure. At the surface the pressure is that of the weight of the atmosphere cor- GEYSERS. 205 responding to the altitude; at a certain depth below (33 feet at the sea level, but less at higher altitudes) it is twice as great; at double this depth three times as great, and so on. Suppose, now, that there is an interior heat at some point along the geyser tube well below the surface. The boiling point of water in the vicinity of the heat supply \^nll be higher than at the surface in definite relation to its distance down. If the tube be of large diameter and the circulation quite free, the water will never reach this point, for it will rise nearer the top, where the boiling point is lower and will pass off in steam. The spring will thus be simply a boiling or quiescent spring. But if the tube be comparatively small and if the circulation be in any way impeded, the temperature at tlie source of heat will rise until it reaches a boiling point corresponding to its depth. Steam will result, and will rise through the water, grad- ually increasing the temperature in the upper portions of the tube. After a time the water throughout the entire tube becomes heated nearly to the boiling point and can no longer condense the steam rising from below, which then accumulates until its expansive power is great enough to lift the column above and project some of the water from the tube. This lessens the weight of the column and relieves the pressure at every point. In places ^vliere the water had been just below the boiling point, it is now above, and more steam is rapidly produced. This throws out more water, still further lightens the column, and causes the generation of more steam, until finally the whole con- tents of the tube are ejected with terrific violence. From this explanation it is apparent that anything which impedes the circulation of water in the geyser tube will expedite the eruption. The well-known effect of 206 THE YELLOWSTONE KATIOXAL PARK. "soaping geysers'^ may thus be accounted for. As oil thro\\Ti upon waves gives a viscosity to the surface^ which greatly moderates their violence^ so the addition of soap or lye makes the water of the geyser tube less free to cir- culate, and thus hastens the conditions necessary to an eruption. The apparently contrar)^ process of violently agitating the water of the geyser, as by stirring it with a stick, some- times produces the same eifect; but this results from the sudden forcing upward of masses of superheated water, instead of allowing them to rise and gradually cool. That Bunsen's theory really explains the phenomena of geyser action there can be little doubt. It is true that in no single geyser does one find a perfect example of the theory. But it must be remembered that tj'pical conditions probably never exist. The point of application of heat; tlie mode of application, whether from the heated surface of rocks or from superheated steam issuing into the tube; the diameter and regularity of the tube; the point of in- flow of the cold water, are all matters which influence the eruption and determine its character. In the endless ^^ariety of conditions in nature one need not wonder at the varying results. He should rather wonder that in a single instance nature has produced a combination of such per- fection as is found in Old Faithful, which, for thousands of years has performed its duty with the regularity of clock work. There are various other theories, each with some partic- ular merit, which may be briefly referred to. Sir George Mackenzie, who visited Iceland in 1810-11, thought the geyser tube at some point beneath the surface curved to one side and then upward, communicating with a chamber in the immediate vicinity of the source of heat. The water GEYSERS. 207 in this chamber becomes heated above the boiling point, and, expanding, forces the water into the tube until the chamber is finally emptied to the level of its outlet. Any further expulsion of water lessens the weight of the column above. Bunsens theory comes into play, and with the accumulated pressure of the steam in the chamber, pro- duces a violent eruption. Prof. Comstock, who visited the Park in 1873, thought that there were two chambers, the lower being in contact with the source of heat, and the upper acting as a sort of trap in the geyser tube. After a sufficient force of steam has accumulated in the lower chamber, it ejects the con- tents of the chamber above. S. Baring-Gould, who visited Iceland in 1863, observed that if a tube be bent into two arms of unequal length, the shorter of which is closed, and if the tube be filled with water and the shorter arm then heated, all the character- istic phenomena of geyser action result, the water being finally ejected with explosive violence from the longer tube. Xow, it is probable that in nature each of these theories may find illustration^ but it must still be acknowledged that in all cases Bunsens tlicory is the partial explanation,' and in many the only adequate one. The most superficial examination of the geysers in the Park will disclose two widely different classes as regards their external aj)pcarance and mode of eruption — the foun- tain geysers and the cone geysers. In the fountain geyser there is no cone or mound, but in its place a considerable pool, which in intervals of rest bears a perfect resemblance to the larger quiescent springs. The eruption generally consists of a succession of prodigious impulses by which large masses of water are thrown up one after another. There is ordinarily no continuous jet. 208 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. To geysers of this class, Mackenzie's and Comstock's theo- ries would seem to find closer application than to any oth- ers. Noted examples are the Fountain, the Great Foun- tain, the Grand and the Giantess Geysers. The cone geysers, on the other hand, have no pool about the crater and water is not generally visible in the tube. There is always a self -built cone or mound of greater or less prominence, ranging from a broad, gently-sloping mound, like that of Old Faithful, to a huge cone like that of the Castle. The eruptions from these geysers usually lake the form of a continuous jet, and are more in accord- ance with the theory of Bunsen. Prominent examples are the Giant, Castle, Old Faithful, Lone Star and Union. An interesting and singular fact pertaining to this re- gion is that in most cases the springs and geysers have no underground connection with each other. Water in con- tiguous pools stands at different levels, and powerful gey- sers play with no apparent effect upon others near by. It is another interesting question to know whence comes the water for these geysers and hot springs. Into the hid- den caverns of "Old Faithful" flow perhaps a quarter of a million gallons per hour. This is a large stream, but it is a mere trifle compared with the entire outflow of hot water throughout the Park. The subterranean passages by which the necessary supply is furnished to all these thou- sands of springs, certainly constitute the most intricate and extensive system of water-works of which there is any knowledge. Xot the least wonderful of the features of the great gey- sers are the marvelous formations which surround them, more exquisitely beautiful than any production of art". Tliey are much finer than those to be found around the ordinary quiescent springs. The falling or dashing of the Cone and Fountain Geysers (Old Faithful and the Great Fountain). GEYSERS. 209 hot water seems to bo essential to the most perfect results. To say that tht'se rocky formations simulate cauliflower, sponge, fleeces of wool, flowers or bead-work, conveys but a feeble idea of their marvelous beauty. It is indeed a most interesting fact that nature here produces in stone, by the process of deposition, the identical forms elsewhere produced by the Yery different processes of animal and vegetable life. These formations are all silica and are of flinty hard- ness. Bunsen, and Prof. Le Conte following him, assert it to be a rule that the presence of silica in the water is essen- tial to the development of a geyser. In one sense this is true, and in another it is not. Should the heated waters find a ready-made tube, like a fissure in solid rock, this would serve for a geyser tube as well as any other. The Monarch Geyser, in Xorris Geyser Basin, seems to have originated in this way. But in the general case, geyser tubes are built up, not found ready made. In such cases silica is an indispensable ingredient of the water. A cal- careous deposit, like that at Mammoth Hot Springs, would lack strength to resist the violent strain of an eruption. So it is found to be a fact that silica is the chief mineral in the water of all important geysers. (9*) CHAPTER IT. HOT SPRINGS AXD KINDRED FEATURES. Under this general head will be included all the various forms of thermal activity in the Park except the geysers, viz. : the quiescent springs, boiling springs, mud springs or paint pots, the steam vents and fumaroles. QUIESCENT SPRINGS. The quiescent spring stands at the opposite pole from the geyser. The conditions are such that the water no- where reaches the boiling point, and the surface steams quietly away unruffled except by the passing breeze. There is not the smallest suggestion of the turbulence and violent energy of the geyser, but its whole behavior is list- less and peaceful. In keeping with this character is the inimitable beauty of its soft blue waters. It is not simply the beautiful hue of gTeat depths of clear water. In ordi- nary pools, however deep and clear, one does not find all the colors of the spectrum, flitting about, as though seen through a revolving prism. Sometimes there is aa iri- descent effect similar to that of a film of oil upon water; but there is no oil here. There are doubtless many con- triliuting causes that produce these remarkable effects. There is first a great depth of clear water which always presents a beautiful appearance. Then there are the min- eral deposits on the sides of the crater, producing indefinite reflection, the effects of which are multiplied by the refrac- tive power of the water. The mineral ingredients dis- solved or suspended in the water doubtless add to the effect. The rirds about the quiescent springs are often very HOT SPRINGS AND KINDRKD FEATURES. 211 beautiful, and the observer is astonislied to see how they stand up above the general surface of the ground so evenly built that the water has hardly a choice of route in flowing away. Tyndall, however, makes this puzzling phenomenon clear. He says: "Imagine the case of a simple thermal siliceous spring, whose waters trickle down a gentle incline; the water thus exposed evaporates speedily, and silica is deposited. This deposit gradually elevates the side over which the water passes, until finally the latter has to take another course. The same takes place here ; the ground is elevated as before, and the spring has to move forward. Thus it is compelled to travel round and round, discharging its silica and deep- ening the shaft in which it dwells, until finally, in the course of ages, the simple spring has produced that won- derful apparatus which has so long puzzled and astonished both the traveler and the philosopher.^' What will astonish the visitor even more is the fact that this building up is often the result of vegetable growth. The heat of the water would seem incompatible witli the existence of life within it ; but it is not so. Low forms of algous growth abound in nearly all the springs where tlie tem.perature is below 185 degrees Fahrenheit. The soft, slippery, colored substance that borders many of the springs and the rivulets which flow from them is a form of vege- table life — very elementar}^ it is true, but still life. These algous groT\i;hs are even considered as one of the most important agencies in causing the deposition of the mineral ingredients of the waters. This deposition takes place mainly, however, as a result of evaporation. It is generally supposed that it results from cooling, but this is true only to a small extent. Water from the springs has been kept for years and reduced nearly to the freezing point 212 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. without deposition: but, singularly enough, actual freezing forces it to give up its mineral ingredients. As in the case of the gej^sers, so in that of these quiescent springs, there is an almost infinite variety; but popular interest attaches mainly to those like the Morning Glory, which are such gems of beauty tliat they stand unrivaled among the works of nature or art. There are several ex- amples of this higher order in the Park. The Morning Glory is the most beautiful in the Upper Geyser Basin. Prismatic Lake and Turquoise Pool in the Midway Basin are the largest in the Park. There is a very beautiful one on the west shore of the Yellowstone Lake a hundred yards from the road junction. The celebrated Mammoth Hot Springs on the Gardiner River are quite different from those in any other part of the Park, although in the matchless beauty of coloring they resemble and possibly excel the finer examples in the geyser basins. The water of these springs, as already explained, holds carbonate of lime in solution, while most of the oth- ers contain silica. To this fact must be attributed the pecu- liar character of the formations at Mammoth Hot Springs. WTierever the deposits of springs are calcareous, the char- acter of the formations is different from those produced by the deposit of silica. They rise in terraces one above an- other, and mold for themselves overhanging bowls of tran- scendent beauty in form and color. The quantity of mineral matter held in these calcareous waters is astonishing, and its rate of deposition is very rapid. Consequently, the growth of the "formation" is rapid, and beautiful bowls and terraces are built up in one or two seasons. The rapidity of deposit is so great that commercial advantage is taken of it, and a licensed resi- dent of the Park makes his living by coating specimens in HOT SPKIXGS AND KINDRED FEATURES. 213 these springs and selling them to the public. He would soon go out of business if compelled to await the slow pro- cess of the silica waters. But if the growth of these deposits is rapid, their per- manence is unfortunately much less than that of other formations. The subterranean channels are weak and give way easily to pressure. New outlets break forth and the general history of the springs is that of constant change. IIow extensive and rapid this has been in the past is evi- denced l)y the presence of many well grown trees whicli are still standing, though killed and partly buried by the deposit. There are many other forms of quiescent springs throughout the Park. Some are simple open pools, filled with turbid water, exhibiting no beauty or attractiveness. Others are densely muddy and positively repulsive. In the lower geyser basin there is an extensive pond or lake of hot water, besides several of smaller size, in all of whicli the water has a dark, almost black, color. It is one of these springs that is called the Firehole, from the appear- ance of a lambent light blue flame beneath the water, caused by the escape of superheated steam from a fissure in the rock. BOILING SPRINGS. The boiling spring is intermediate between the quiescent spring and the geyser. The circulation is sufficiently free to prevent a great rise of temperature in the lower depths of the tube, and nothing more than a surface ebullition, often extremely violent, results. Tliese springs are gener- ally objects of secondary interest. They are simply enorm- ous caldrons, but in some instances they exhibit peculiari- ties which are very interesting. Several of them show 214 THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PAEK. a geyseric tendenc}^, in which the eruptive force is expended before it can produce any decisive result. Among the more important of these features is Beryl Spring, in the Gibbon Caiion, on the right bank of the river, close to the road. It discharges a large volume of hot water. There is another and larger spring in the valley of the Gibbon near its mouth and close by the side of the road leading into the Park from the west. There are several of these springs in the Firehole Geyser basins. Excelsior Geyser, from its very infrequent eruptions, may more properly be considered a boiling spring. The quantity of water that it discharges is immense. Xorris Geyser Basin has a few of these springs, though none of particular interest. On the west shore of the Yellowstone Lake, near the road way, is a large boiling spring, the waters of which have a faint muddy tinge. Perhaps the most interesting feature of this class in the Park is Sulphur Spring, a pseudo-geyser at the west base of Sulphur Mountain. Its ebulUtion is extremely spasmodic and violent, but the discharge of water very small. It is heavily charged vrith. sulphur and the rim of the pool and edges of the stream carrying the overflow are bordered with brilliant yellow. Between the true quiescent spring and the boiling spring there is every gradation. The various examples can be numbered by the thousands and no two are alike. Every spring has its own individual character. "frying pan'^ springs. A peculiar phenomenon to which it is diflficult to assign a distinctive name, is exemplified in the feature called the 'M)eviFs Frying Pan,^^ three miles north of the Xorris Geyser Basin. It is a true reproduction, upon a large scale, of the appearance of the ordinary frying pan. This phe- HOT SPRINGS AND KINDRED FEATURES. 215 nomenon has a wide distribution, and something resem- bling it may be found in certain pools or lakes, the bottoms of which are apparently full of the bubbling vents. The most striking example is Turbid Lake, which lies a short distance from the east shore of the Yellowstone Lake. It is a considerable body of water, at least half a mile across, and is fed by the purest streams of the mountains. But nearly its entire bottom is overspread with these vents, and the steam and gas from them escape in feeble bubbles at the top. The whole appearance is like that of a tub of water that has been used in washing. The outlet of the lake is a turbid stream, not capable of sustaining fish. MUD SPRINGS. A very characteristic and interesting class of phenomena are the mud springs that abound in all parts of the Park. They present an almost endless variety of form and aspect, but there are only two that need now detain us — the "paint pots'^ and the eruptive springs, like the Mud Geyser on the Yellowstone Eiver. The mud springs, or Paint Pots, as they are now always called, are extremely curious phenomena. They are caused by the rising of steam through considerable depths of earthy material. The water is just sufficient in quantity to keep the material in a plastic condition, and the steam operates upon it precisely as it doc^s upon a kettle of thick mush. Generally there are various mineral ingredients, mostly oxides of iron, which impart different colors to dif- ferent parts of the group. As the steam puffs up here and there from the thick mass, it forms the mud into a variety of imitative figures, prominent among which is that of the lily. These figures immediately sink back into the general niass, only to be formed anew by other puJffs of steam. The 216 THE YELLOWSTONE XATIO^AL TAUJl. material is so fine as to be almost impalpable between the fingers. Lieutenant Doane, however, justly observes that "mortar might well be good after being constantly worked for perhaps ten thousand years." This "mortar' has ac- tually been used with good results in "calsomining"^ walls. The Paint Pots, in one form or another, are found in a great many situations, but there are only three localities where they are grouped in sufficient number to attract es- pecial interest. These are the Gibbon Paint Pots on the border of the Gibbon Meadows, east of the road, rarely seen by tourists; the Mammoth Paint Pots directly in front of the Fountain Hotel and near the Fountain Geyser, and a group on the west shore of the Yellowstone Lake, near the road junction. Mud Geyser (or Mud Volcano, as it was originally and more properly called) is considered by many the most extraordinary and wonderful natural feature in the Park. In point of beauty it stands at the antipodes of the quies- cent pool. It is uncanny, repulsive and suggestive of everjihing horrible and uncouth. A similar feature to that just described is found in the Devil's Inkstand, on the northern face of Mt. Washburn. STEAM VENTS. The steam vents exhibit still another striking form of thermal phenomena in the Park. They exist where surface water is apparently lacking and where there is a vast quan- tity of steam generated far below. The result is that there is no accumulation of water in the tube, which might even- tuate in an eruption, but it is all blo-^vn out in fine mist as fast as it runs in. The most prominent example is in Norris Geyser Basin where, witliin a small area, there are several of these vents. For many years the Growler and HOT SPRINGS AND KINDRED FEATURES: 217 Hurricane held the record as steam producers, but lately they have yielded a part of their vigor to a new vent which exliibits greater power than either of its predecessors. The force of the steam as it comes from these vents is terrific. A large quantity of water is blown out in the form of mist and the rain that falls on the leeward side of the steam column is like the perpetual shower at the base of Niagara. Roaring Mountain has one of these powerful vents near the summit. There is another large one on the east shore of the Yellowstone Lake, called Steamboat Spring, and there are many smaller ones in different localities. FUMAROLES. The fumaroles are small vents from which the steam escapes quietly and without any marked exhibition of force. They are found all over the Park, but it is only in cold, damp weather when the steam is rapidly condensed, that their actual frequency can be appreciated. SPRINGS. Many of the stream sources throughout the Park are warm. Springs that have every appearance of being cold are often found, upon examination, to have temperatures far above the normal for spring water. In fact, the whole country is in a heated condition near the surface, and the evidences thereof are so numerous and frequent that they cease to attract attention from those who are familiar with them. Eeference has already been made to the fact that mineral ingredients in the hot springs of the plateau are composed mainly of silica, while those at Mammoth Hot Springs are nearly pure travertine. The hot waters in the latter case have decomposed the underlying limestone which are here near the surface, whereas farther out in the Park the min- (10 218 THE YELLOWSTOXE NATIONAL PARK. eral ingredients come almost exclusively from the lavas in which there is only a trace of carbonic acid. This differ- ence in composition produces the great difference in the superficial appearance of the deposits. Xothing could be more unlike than the formations at Mammoth Hot Springs and those around the Great Fountain or Old Faith- ful Geyser ; yet each in its way is a transcendently beautiful specimen of nature^s handiwork. The temperature of the thermal springs of the Park varies all the way from cold spring water up to the boiling point, 198 degrees. In the geysers it rises above the boil- ing point, though, from the nature of the case, the measur- ing of such temperature is practically impossible. In a few instances temperatures of 200 degrees have been re- corded. The following table gives an analysis of the principal waters of the Park. It is the work of the Chemical Labo- ratory of the United States Geological Survey, and was performed by Frank Austin Gooch and James Edward Whitfield: HOT SPRINGS AND KINDRED FEATURES. d O Q ^ ^ ?i £. -• M ? O " re o 90 3 <5 rt) 'Tj n. p p p Jo K> di v£) Oi O On O fO OOOCOOOtiO 00 ii 4^ 4^ ON w 00 00 c/1 o o c OJ Ca 0> i-i P p p b b b 0> M K) 00 ^ ^ C/1 00 -H p p o b b b c o b b 0000 o o OO vT) K) On ^J Cn Oj ^-I a\ OJ 4^ Cn Silica. Sulphuric Acid. p p OJ OJ p b o oi o w o OJ OD 00 01 vO K> Cn -P^ Cn K) bO « OJ c o o o Cn ON Carbonic Acid. poo b b b •-I fO i-l -f^ vD -fi. vO O On p O p b b b p p b b o o p o b b Boracic Acid. 0000000000 - o Arsenious Acid. 0000000000 l-H 0> OJ \o o 00 OJ 4^ VsD 000000000 goo •^ ON 4^ O VO v£) Iron. to ^000000 o o b b ^j cn M ^J 8»0 Oj OJ o 10 Cn On Aluminum, Calcium. 000 8 8 8 8 8 O 10 to p c b b c Ov ^J O Oj KJ M to VO Magnesium. 000 o b b 10 10 4^ vO OJ c 00000 K) Oj M Ov K) 4^ ^ Cn Cn o o Oj ^-i "