Chapter 16

BEAUTY SPRING FORMATION.

Traveling along the shores of Yellowstone Lake for a distance of something more than thirty miles, we came to Lake Hotel, and beyond that the cliffs, which, however, are scarcely deserving of notice when brought into comparison with the Columnar Cliffs of the Yellowstone Cañon, soon to be described. Continuing our circuit of the park, we followed the main road, running along Yellowstone River, past Mud Geyser and Sulphur Mountain, until we found accommodations at Cañon Hotel, the center of another district of wonders, where we tarried for three days, to employ our energies in taking views of the extraordinarily grand and awfully imposing natural objects which cluster hereabout in the Cañon of the Yellowstone.

GENERAL VIEW OF THE NORRIS BASIN GEYSERS.—This beautiful photograph will give a good idea of the vast number of geysers in this locality, all of which emit boiling water and mud. Special attention is called to the accuracy and beauty of this superb photograph. Not only does it show the steam and water of the geysers as naturally as they would appear in reality, but all the other minutiæ of the scene are perfect, even to the shadow of the trees on the roadway in the foreground.

CRYSTAL CASCADE, 129 FEET HIGH.

A short distance from the hotel is Mount Washington, whose massive head is raised to a height of 10,500 feet above the sea; but so gradually sloping are its sides that an easy roadway has been made to the summit, which we ascended and from that lofty peak surveyed the vast landscape that was in the field of vision; and what a glorious panorama was there presented! We were indeed upon the topmost ridge of the Great Continental Divide, with the whole world apparently at our feet. Towards the far west and the distant south, as the range makes a sharp curve, were the high and snow-crested peaks of the Rocky Mountains, among which we readily distinguished the majestic Tetons, upon which the sacred fires lighted by very ancient tribes of Indians are said to be still burning. To the northwest are the Madison and Gallatin Mountains, dropping gracefully towards the east until they form what appears to be the western walls of Yellowstone Valley, speckled with its hundreds of steam-vomiting springs. The mountainous aspect of the western view has its counterpart in the tumultuous landscape which greets us on the east, for the horizon is broken, and the blue sky pierced by the Shoshone Range, which we follow towards the north as far as Emigrant Peak, as it thrusts its brazen front out of the Snowy Range. Still further west we perceive the outlines of the Stinking and Big Horn River Valleys, running in a northwesterly direction, past Fort Custer and the tragic Custer battle-field, until they merge into the Yellowstone Valley, two hundred miles from the park. In the clear depths of the far southwest we perceive a glitter in the tenuous atmosphere, which our glasses discover to us to be caused by snow on the Wind River Mountain peaks reflecting the brilliant sunlight. This magnificent range, that leaps out of the plains of Wyoming, and after running one hundred miles disappears again in the prairie, attains such a lofty altitude that the Wind River Shoshone tribe regard it as the crest of the world. And they have a legend, borrowed from the Blackfeet, that only one warrior ever reached the summits, from which he was permitted to look directly into the happy hunting grounds and survey all the entrancing beauties of that delectable land of happy spirits. But if the distant prospect is pleasing, how much more delightful is the wonder valley that lies at our feet! Looking down from our exceeding high eminence, we behold with amazement the Grand Cañon of the Yellowstone, a gigantic gash in the mountains twenty miles in length, and watch the play of enormous waterfalls that swell the mighty chorus of nature.

THE CRATER OF CASTLE GEYSER, YELLOWSTONE PARK.—This photograph presents a splendid and accurate view of the crater of one of the most noted geysers of this celebrated locality. The light and conditions were particularly favorable when our party was there, and they thus succeeded in getting one of the finest negatives of their entire series. The formation of the cone appears as clear, distinct and beautiful as if it were standing before us in its natural condition. No painting or engraving can equal such a photograph, in the qualities that make an illustration perfect.

GIBBON FALLS, YELLOWSTONE PARK.

Descending from Mount Washington, we proceeded by the roadway through a deep forest of pines until presently we gained the brink of a frightful chasm nearly 2,000 feet deep, over which the river poured in tremendous force and had a sheer drop of 140 feet. This is the Upper Falls, and a grand nature-picture they compose. But the magnificence of the scene is mightily increased less than half a mile below, where the cañon walls rapidly contract and another greater precipice has been formed. Here the mad waters take a violent tumble of 350 feet, at Lower Falls, and are tossed up again in a mist that sometimes beclouds the valley. But recovering its force, the river plunges on with renewed energy, as the descent increases, until out of the gloomy depths it again emerges for one more final leap of 150 feet, at Tower Falls.

While the falls are of extraordinary interest, they are not more than the worthy accessories of a cañon which, though not the greatest, is in some respects the most sublime of any on the American continent. Mr. Archibald Geikie, an English scientist, has given the following admirable description of Yellowstone Cañon, admirable not only for its graphic picturing, but also because it is an Englishman’s confession that there is something really grand in America:

GRAND CAÑON OF THE YELLOWSTONE.—The Grand Cañon is immediately north of the lake, with Tower Falls at its north end and Yellowstone Falls at the south. The photograph presents a fine view from one of the most desirable points, but even a photograph, let it be ever so accurate, cannot give a true idea of the real grandeur of a scene like this. The width of the cañon varies from 200 to 500 yards, and the walls on either side rise to a height of 1200 to 1500 feet, the river winding its tortuous way and plunging over numerous waterfalls at the bottom of this tremendous crevice. The river is transparent as crystal, and reaches a depth of 300 feet at one point.

YELLOWSTONE RIVER, NEAR MUD GEYSER.

“Scrambling to the edge of one of the bastions and looking down, we could see the river far below, dwarfed to a mere silver thread. From this abyss the crags and slopes towered up in endless variety of form, and with the weirdest mingling of colors. Much of the rock, especially of the more crumbling slopes, was of a pale sulphur-yellow. Through this groundwork harder masses of dull scarlet, merging into purple and crimson, rose into craggy knobs and pinnacles, or shot up in sheer vertical walls. In the sunlight of the morning the place is a blaze of strange color, such as one can hardly see anywhere save in the crater of an active volcano. But as the day wanes, the shades of evening, sinking gently into the depths, blend their livid tints into a strange, mysterious gloom, through which one can still see the white gleam of the rushing river and hear the distant murmur of its flow. Now is the time to see the full majesty of the cañon. Perched on an outstanding crag, one can look down the ravine and mark headland behind headland mounting out of the gathering shadows and catching upon their scarred fronts of red and yellow the mellower tints of the sinking sun. And above all lie the dark folds of pine sweeping along the crests of the precipices, which they crown with a rim of green. There are gorges of far more imposing magnitude in the Colorado Basin, but for dimensions large enough to be profoundly striking, yet not too vast to be taken in by the eye at once, for infinite changes of picturesque detail, and for brilliancy and endless variety of coloring, there are probably few scenes in the world more impressive than the Grand Cañon of the Yellowstone.” Along the twenty miles of cañon where the walls are highest they have been carved by glacial agencies and weather-worn into many curious forms, generally columnar, but sometimes presenting the appearance of spires, domes, turrets and crenelated battlements, and everywhere the matchless colors of yellow, red, green, and many tints are present. After passing down the extreme length of the cañon, we took the less traveled road running east from Yancy’s Camp and visited the petrified forests; and here we began to comprehend more thoroughly than before the mysteries of the Yellowstone Park Basin. The evidence is here abundant that in the remote past this entire region of 375 square miles was a pleasant vale, where a luxuriant forest abounded, and many monster animals, long since extinct, found a pleasant abode. Following this period of delightful natural conditions, there succeeded a flood of ice that came sweeping with almost unimaginable force from the north, grinding, tearing and destroying until the region was denuded and the very earth furrowed and torn into the wonderful disfigurements which we now behold. In this terrific flood the mountains were precipitated and folded upon the forests and buried with the monster animals that had sought refuge in the spots which became their cemeteries. In the rents thus made the grinding ice flowed until it reached the internal furnace of the world, which generating gases and steam, explosions followed that tore wider the earth’s womb and made the region a fiery cave. Into the devious caverns thus formed water from underground rivers continues to flow, over subterranean fires that convert it into steam, and thus at the many vents we observe the ever active, though constantly waning, energies of the volcano.

TOWER FALLS, IN THE GRAND CAÑON.—At this point the waters of Yellowstone River spring at one bound over a precipice 156 feet high, forming one of the most beautiful and picturesque falls to be found in any country. The castellated rocks surrounding the falls stand like grim sentinels guarding their beautiful treasure, and have been well and appropriately named, for their resemblance to ancient towers and battlements is so striking as to be recognized at a glance. This is one of the most attractive points along the entire length of Yellowstone Cañon.

A PETRIFIED TREE IN THE BAD LANDS OF DAKOTA.—In many parts of the Northwest, particularly in the Bad Lands of Dakota and Yellowstone National Park, there are whole forests of petrified trees, partly standing or lying about in promiscuous profusion. A fine photograph of a portion of one of these trees is given on this page. According to the scientific theory, these forests were overwhelmed by the ice-flood many centuries ago, and each tree became, through chemical action, a thousand years or more thereafter, a gem-like pillar of the most exquisite beauty. Petrified remains of gigantic animals that roamed these ancient forests are found in abundance in the same regions.

BISCUIT BASIN.—This is one of the most singular as well as beautiful formations in Yellowstone National Park. Terraced overflow basins like this are a most striking feature of the hot springs, and no description can do justice to their beauty, for neither the delicate fretwork of their walls, the frosted surface of the glistening deposit, nor the brilliant colors of the pools can be adequately described. The sides and bottom of the basin are formed of pure white travertine, while the varying depths cause the water to appear all shades between a peacock-blue and a light nile-green. Those who have seen Biscuit Basin will never lose the memory of the vision of beauty that it impresses upon the mind.

CRATER OF OBLONG GEYSER.

But there have been two glacial drifts over a great part of North America, and the second ice-flood scoured the earth in such manner as to frequently uncover the forests and animal remains that were buried by the first great deluge. It is in the region of the Petrified and Fossil Forests that we note the evidence of the truth of this theory; not only in Yellowstone Park, but in the Bad Lands of Dakota, the dry lake basins of the Southwest and, in fact, in nearly every State of the Union. But in Yellowstone Park the remains of petrified trees are particularly numerous, and it is here that we observe the most beautiful specimens of chalcedony lying about in promiscuous profusion, like the ruins of some magnificent palace. Every tree here, overwhelmed by the ice-flood, became, in a thousand years thereafter, a pillar of the most exquisite beauty, and we now examine them with wondering curiosity, then convert them into articles of use and adornment.

The same chemical action which changed the forests of this region into gem-like stone, also preserved the bones of many huge creatures which met their death suddenly in this volcanic basin. Here and there specimen relics of gigantic animals may be found in the fossil district east of Yellowstone River, though they are becoming scarce because of the immense quantity that has been carried away by scientific bone collectors and the admirers of curious things during the several years that the park has been a popular resort.

In this same district there is a depression or basin, about three hundred yards in diameter, which has received the title of Death Valley, a designation that is appropriately applied because it is not only an ossuary, where the bones of many animals lie about in promiscuous profusion, but such noxious gases emanate from the basin that it is represented as a place where no creature can survive the exhalations for more than a few minutes.

BASALTIC CAÑON OF THE YELLOWSTONE.—The Basaltic Cañon of the Yellowstone is similar in formation to the Giant’s Causeway of Ireland and Fingal’s Cave of Scotland, but not so pronounced in the columnar outlines. It is much more extensive, however, and equally as interesting and remarkable as either of the above-named natural wonders. The erosion of the rocks and the settling of the debris at the foot of the cliffs have shortened the pillars to a very considerable extent, and made them much less imposing than they were originally, but they are still among the most remarkable natural wonders of the world.

LIMESTONE PINNACLES IN BIG HORN RIVER CAÑON.—The Big Horn River, in its course through Wyoming, passes through as fine a scenic region as can be found in America, or, indeed, in any other country. A fine example of the wild picturesqueness of this scenery is given on this page, where we see turrets and towers and battlements piled one upon the other until they present a view unlike anything else in existence, unless it may be some of the most rugged portions of the famous scenery along the Rhine River, in Germany.

A RANCH ON THE LITTLE MISSOURI RIVER.—Scenes like this are not uncommon in the rich valleys of the Far Northwest, where stock-raising and farming have proved to be even more profitable than mining for the precious metals. Enterprising pioneers, who were attracted to that region by the discovery of gold and silver, have turned their attention to the more certain and desirable pursuit of agriculture, and the green valleys are now dotted with modest homes and thrifty farms, where peace and plenty go hand in hand with happiness and contentment.

GROTTO GEYSER.

Examination of the remains found therein reveals the fact that bears, deer, wolves, a mountain lion, and numerous small animals have died of asphyxiation in trying to pass over the accursed ground. But as these sulphurous gases have the power to kill, they have also, to a certain extent, the virtue to preserve, the bodies of creatures thus destroyed exhibiting slight evidences of decay for a month or more after death. On account of the danger attending a critical investigation of this noxious plague-spot, those who have visited the place have been compelled to exercise great caution, and to use field-glasses in making their examinations. One rash person is known to have attempted a passage of the basin, but he was unable to advance more than twenty yards, and had he not retained the presence of mind to hold his breath, when he found himself affected by the gas, escape from certain death would hardly have been possible. No scientific investigator has ever visited the spot, so far as I have been able to learn, and reports of the deadly exhalations which characterize it therefore come from the few persons who have approached the place out of curiosity. It is also, and fortunately, no doubt, very difficult to reach, that portion of the Park being almost inaccessible by reason of the rugged topography, the jagged stones and almost impassable crevices which surround it. No roads have been surveyed in the locality, and only the intrepid, venturous and agile can reach the malignant basin, at the expense of great effort and endurance; for it is easier to climb the Tetons than to surmount the grim barriers which guard Death Valley. Assuming that the reports made by several persons who claim to have visited the spot are true, and which there is not lacking reason to believe, an explanation of its deadly character is not difficult to give, because similar conditions, though in much lesser degree, are found in many localities within the Park.

HARVEST SCENE ON DALRYMPLE’S FARM, NORTH DAKOTA.—During the prosperous era of wheat-raising, this was one of the most celebrated farms in the world. It covered an area of 50,000 acres, and both steam and horse-power were employed, not only in plowing the soil, but in harvesting and threshing the grain as well. Fifteen riding plows are to be seen in this photograph, busily at work preparing the ground for the seed.

LONE STAR GEYSER CONE.

The geysers, such as are now active, are confined within a district whose radius does not exceed twenty-five miles, but there are unquestionable evidences that they were distributed over a much greater area before the last glacial epoch. Indeed, appearances indicate that at one time, in the very remote past, the whole present extent of the Park was occupied by either a sea of fire or a tremendous cluster of volcanoes. When the glacial catastrophe occurred the mountains on the north, whence the ice-flood descended, were pushed forward and deposited in the fiery basin. By this action the formerly mountainous lands to the north were leveled and became vast plains, as we now find them. The caldron of fiery activity was filled up by the material thus deposited, but confinement of the gases, which were being constantly generated, caused repeated explosions, the results of which we find in the cañons that ramify the district. It will not fail to escape the notice of the geologist that of the many rivers and streams that penetrate the Park, not one of them flows from the north, though immediately south of the Park the Snake River takes its rise, and has cut a way through the Teton Range that must have once opposed its passage. These mountains, as well as other ranges in the vicinity, are a part of the residue carried down by the glacial flood, and thus changed the slope, which was formerly towards the south, to a contrary direction. Several new basins were created by this enormous deposition, for it was impossible, by reason of the eruptions caused by escaping gases, that the deposit should show equal distribution. One of these basins is Death Valley, which, originally a geyser or volcano, was suppressed by the glacial deposit, though the furnace which fed it was not extinguished. The condition is therefore like that of a charcoal kiln, which, burning beneath a covering of earth, still allows the smoke and gases to escape. But since the geysers are not produced by the consumption of combustible material, but by chemical decomposition, though the action of fire and water, no smoke is created and thus none is seen escaping from the valley; but the deadly gases, all the more poisonous because of their temporary confinement, are constantly exuding through the earth-covering, having no connection with any active geyser through whose vent they might escape.

A HARVEST FIELD IN DAKOTA.—Such a harvest scene as this can be seen nowhere else in the world except upon the broad and rich prairies of the Northwest, and in a few localities in California. Eight self-binding reapers are at work in the field so accurately photographed before us, requiring an army of workmen in the proper handling of the golden grain. In California, where the climate is dry and the rain falls only at certain seasons, the harvesting is done with heading machines, and the grain is cut, threshed and sacked all at the same time. But more care is required in the Dakotas, where the rainfall is more frequent and uncertain.

THE BLACK GROWLER GEYSER.

Yellowstone Park has many natural curiosities which entitle it to rank as the greatest museum of wonders in the world; but it is to be doubted if the geysers, formations of silica, and awe-compelling cañons can equal the marvel of Death Valley and the evidence which it supports of the glacial deluge that converted a sea of fire into a charmingly diversified wonderland. There is a grim connection between the fossil district in which the bones of so many extinct animals have been found so plentifully, and Death Valley, in which the remains of existent creatures attest the continued destructive result of the ice-flood. Truly, the ways of Providence are ways of mystery; and the more we contemplate them to satisfy the ambition of curiosity, the more we realize the incomprehensibility of the infinite, and that every advance step is an interrogation point in our lives.

LITTLE FIRE-HOLE FALLS.

AN ENCAMPMENT OF SIOUX INDIANS, DAKOTA.—This is a war-camp of Sioux Indians, photographed during the hostile era of Sitting Bull and his band of desperadoes. It shows the camp deserted by the warriors, and left in charge of the women, children and old men. Photographic reproductions of such scenes become more interesting and valuable as time goes by, for they will never again exist in reality. The hostiles have been driven to the Government reservations, and the places once occupied by their villages, and the prairies over which they roamed in quest of game or the trophies of war, are now covered with homes, farms and cities.

KEPLER’S CASCADE, FIRE-HOLE RIVER.

After making an examination of the petrified and fossil forests, we retraced our way and returned to Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel by the road that leads to Clark’s Fork Mines, a route which I cannot recommend to dyspeptics, for it is worse than a jolting stool. A few hours’ stop at the hotel to arrange our baggage, and we resumed our journey eastward over the Northern Pacific, which thereafter runs through the apparently boundless plains of North Dakota. The road follows the Yellowstone from Livingstone to Glendine, a distance of 175 miles, but there is little diversity in the landscape on the immediate line. Big Horn River intersects the road at Custer City, below which town, twenty miles, on the river, is Fort Custer; and the tragic field upon which Custer and his entire command were slaughtered by the Sioux Indians is only twenty-five miles southeast of the fort. Everything hereabout appears to be a rueful reminder of that terrible 15th of July, 1876, for the name of Custer greets us everywhere we turn until we get beyond Miles City. Between this latter point and the Missouri River are the Bad Lands, extending over a large tract of country that includes both Montana and Dakota, but the formations, while curious, are not nearly so wonderful as those in Wyoming, described in an earlier chapter. Although the mounds, monuments and pillars of earth are less lofty, the district acquires a particular interest from the fact that interspersed among the earthen columns are the erect bodies of petrified trees, scarcely distinguishable, at a little distance, however, from the fantastically eroded monoliths that are disposed like skirmishers over the otherwise level plain. These so-called Bad Lands, which reappear also in South Dakota, are not what the term would seem to signify for the land is not lacking in fertility, being frequently rich with loam, though more often extremely sandy or covered with soft sandstones that have been worn until they are round as cannon-balls. Indeed, Cannon-Ball River, which flows into the Missouri sixty miles south of Bismark, takes its name from the numerous round sandstones that are scattered along its banks. Five miles below is Standing Rock Agency of the Sioux, so called from a sandstone which stands some three feet tall, and by the Sioux is believed to be a petrified squaw. Thus for a considerable distance north and south, as well as east and west, peculiar formations characteristic of the Bad Lands are met with, furnishing proof that this area was once a forest, later a great salt sea, and then a plain, each representing a long period of time.

BLACKFEET INDIAN CAMP.—The Blackfeet were at one time the most powerful rivals and antagonists of the Sioux, even surpassing them in cunning, bravery and the slight advances which they had made in the art of constructing their villages. The wigwams in this photograph are more artistically erected than those of the Sioux on page 283; they are also arranged with more order and regularity, and seem to possess a larger degree of comfort, all of which are to be accepted as evidences of advancement along the lines of civilization and superiority in manhood. But the Blackfeet, as well as the Sioux, have been driven to their reservations, and they will never again appear as a powerful and independent tribe.

GIANT, CATFISH, AND YOUNG FAITHFUL CONES.

When we pass Jamestown, coming east, we enter the wheat belt of Dakota and pass fields of growing grain like that of Dalrymple’s, which is fifty thousand acres in extent. Here we come in contact with farming on a gigantic scale, and see the application of steam, not only for threshing, but for plowing, hauling and various other uses in which horses are generally employed.

Thence on to Minneapolis the route is through a level country, crossing the Red River of the North at Fargo, and by many pretty lakes to Brainard, where the road branches, one division leading to Duluth, and the other taking a southwest course to St. Paul.

PRAIRIE HOME OF A CREE INDIAN, NORTHERN MINNESOTA.—The Cree Indians are a small and constantly decreasing tribe. They have no record as great warriors, like the Blackfeet and the Sioux, but they seem to have held a secondary position throughout their entire history, so far as we have any information concerning them. Their villages were never so large and populous as those of other tribes, and their existence seems to be a dreary and unprofitable one. A more desolate home than the one photographed on this page could hardly be imagined. Even the dogs seem to regret that they were born.

FERRY ACROSS RED RIVER OF THE NORTH AT FARGO.—Red River of the North is a remarkable stream, because of its extreme narrowness, tortuous course and great depth. A few years ago there was a line of packets running on this river between Fargo, and Winnipeg, Manitoba. They did a very large business during the summer season, and assisted materially in settling up a large section of country rich in soil and mineral tributary thereto. The stream is so narrow, however, that two boats were unable to pass each other except at particular points where the banks were cut out for that purpose. It was like a single track line of street railway with turnouts. The ferry scene indicates the river’s width at Fargo, which was the southern terminus of navigation.

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