GARDINER'S RIVER TO GRAND CAÑON.
About a mile above the springs, Gardiner's River separates into three
branches--the East, Middle, and West Forks, which rise high up in the
mountains, among perpetual snows. They wind their way across a broad
plateau covered mostly with a dense growth of pines, but with some
broad, open, meadow-like spots, which, seen from some high mountain
peak, lend a rare charm to the landscape. After gathering a sufficient
supply of water, they commence wearing their channels down into the
volcanic rocks, deeper and deeper as they descend. Each one has its
water-fall, which would fill an artist with enthusiasm. From the high
ridge between the East and Middle Forks a fine view is obtained of the
surrounding country.
Far to the southwest are lofty peaks covered with snow, rising to the
height of 10,000 feet, and forming a part of the magnificent range
of mountains that separates the Yellowstone from the sources of the
Gallatin. From this high ridge one can look down into the chasm of the
Middle Fork, carved out of the basalt and basaltic conglomerates to
the depth of 500 to 800 feet, with nearly vertical sides. In the sides
of this cañon, as well as those of the East Fork, splendid examples of
basaltic columns are displayed, as perfect as those of the celebrated
Fingal's Cave. They usually appear in regular rows, vertical, five and
six sided, but far more sharply cut than elsewhere seen in the West,
though occasionally the columns are spread out in the form of a fan.
Sometimes there are several rows, usually about fifty feet high, one
above the other, with conglomerate between.
The cañon is about 500 yards from margin to margin at top, but narrows
down until on the bottom it is not more than forty yards wide. At one
point the water pours over a declivity of 300 feet or more, forming a
most beautiful cascade. The direct fall is over 100 feet. The constant
roar of the water is like that of a train of cars in motion. The pines
are very dense, usually of moderate size, and among them are many open
spaces, covered with stout grass, sometimes with large sage-bushes.
Upon the high hills the vegetation is remarkably luxuriant, indicating
great fertility of soil, which is usually very thick, and made up
mostly of degraded igneous rocks. Above the falls the rows of vertical,
basaltic columns continue in the walls of the cañon, and they may well
be ranked among the remarkable wonders of this rare wonder-land. The
lower portion of the cañon is composed of rather coarse igneous rocks,
which have a jointage and a style of weathering like granite. The West
Fork rolls over a bed of basalt, which is divided into blocks that give
the walls the appearance of mason-work on a gigantic scale. Below the
falls the river has cut the sides of the mountain, exposing a vertical
section 400 feet high, with the same irregular jointage.
South of the hot springs is a round dome-like mountain, rising 2,100
feet above them, or 8,500 feet above the sea. Its summit commands a
prospect from thirty to fifty miles in every direction. To the north
and west stands a group of lofty peaks over 10,000 feet above the
sea, and covered with huge masses of snow. These peaks form a part of
the range that separates the waters of the Gallatin from those of the
Yellowstone. Farther on to the southward are the peaks of the head
of the Madison, and in the interval one black mass of pine forest,
covering high plateaus, with no point rising over 8,500 feet above the
sea--the whole region being more or less wavy or rolling, interspersed
here and there with beautiful lakes a few hundred yards in diameter;
and here and there a bright-green grassy valley through which little
streams wind their way to the large rivers. In one of these lakes the
explorers saw the greatest abundance of yellow water-lily, which blooms
in great profusion on the surface of all the mountain lakes of the
Yellowstone Basin. On the east side of Gardiner's Cañon, and west of
the Yellowstone, is a sort of wave-like series of ridges, with broad,
open, grassy interspaces, with many groves of pines. These ridges
gradually slope down to the Yellowstone, northeast. Far to the east and
north is one jagged mass of volcanic peaks, some of them snow-clad,
others bald and desolate to the eye. Far to the south, dimly outlined
on the horizon, may be seen the three Tetons and Madison Peak--monarchs
of all the region. A grander view could not well be conceived.
Leaving Gardiner's River, Dr. Hayden's party ascended the broad slope
of the dividing ridge between that river and the streamlets which flow
into the Yellowstone. Immense boulders of massive granite, considerably
rounded, are a marked feature of the country about the entrance of
the East Fork. One of these, a mass of red feldspathic granite, is
twenty-five feet thick and fifty feet long. The high wavy ridge,
9,000 feet above the sea, is composed of beds of steel-gray and brown
sandstone and calcareous clay, in which are numerous impressions
of deciduous leaves. Vast quantities of silicified wood of great
perfection and beauty are scattered all over the surface. In some cases
long trees have been turned to agate, the rings of growth as perfectly
shown as in recent wood. The soil is very thick, and covered with
luxuriant vegetation.
"We were travelling through this region in the latter part of the month
of July," writes Dr. Hayden, "and all the vegetation seemed to be in
the height of its growth and beauty. The meadows were covered densely
with grass and flowers of many varieties, and among the pines were
charming groves of poplars, contrasting strongly by their peculiar
enlivening foliage with the sombre hue of the pines. The climate was
perfect, and in the midst of some of the most remarkable scenery in the
world, every hour of our march only increased our enthusiasm.
"The climate during the months of June, July, and August, in this
valley, cannot be surpassed in the world for its health-giving powers.
The finest of mountain water, fish in the greatest abundance, with
a good supply of game of all kinds, fully satisfy the wants of the
traveller, and render this valley one of the most attractive places of
resort for invalids or pleasure-seekers in America."
From the summit of the ridge the party descended to the valley of the
Yellowstone, nearly opposite the mouth of the East Fork of that river.
The road was a rough one. During the period of volcanic action in this
region, the sedimentary rocks were crumpled into high, sharp, wave-like
series of ridges; from innumerable fissures, igneous matter was poured
out over the surface cooling into basalt; and from volcanic vents was
also thrown out, into the great lake, rock fragments and volcanic dust,
which were arranged by the water and cemented into a breccia. Deep into
these ridges the little streams have cut their channels, forming what
should be called valleys, rather than cañons, with almost vertical
sides. These ravines, 500 to 800 feet deep, covered mostly with grass
or trees, occur in great numbers, many of them entirely dry at present,
but attesting the presence and power, at no very remote period, of
aqueous forces compared with which those of the present are utterly
insignificant.
Before studying this portion of the Yellowstone Valley, it may be well
to retrace our steps to the mouth of Gardiner's River, to explore the
Third Cañon of the Yellowstone, so far as possible, and the rest of its
interesting valley up to this point.
As already noticed, the country about the mouth of Gardiner's River
is desolate and gloomy. The hill-slopes are covered with sage brush,
the constant sign of arid soil, and grass is scarce. This is the
first poor camping-place on the route. The cañon being impassable,
the trail passes to the right, crossing several high mountain-spurs,
over which the way is much obstructed by fallen timber, and reaching
at last a high rolling plateau. This elevated tract is about thirty
miles in extent, with a general declivity to the north. Its surface is
an undulating prairie, dotted with groves of pine and aspen. Numerous
lakes are scattered throughout its whole extent, and great numbers of
springs, which flow down the slopes, are lost in the volume of the
Yellowstone. The river breaks through this plateau in a winding cañon
over 2,000 feet in depth--the middle cañon of the Yellowstone rolling
over volcanic boulders in some places, and in others forming still
pools of seemingly fathomless depth. At one point it dashes to and fro,
lashed to a white foam on its rocky bed; at another, where a deep basin
occurs in the channel, it subsides into a crystal mirror. Numerous
small cascades are seen tumbling from the rocky walls at different
points and the river appears from the lofty summits a mere ribbon of
foam in the immeasurable distance below. Standing on the brink of the
chasm the heavy roaring of the imprisoned river comes to the ear only
in a sort of hollow, hungry growl, scarcely audible from the depths.
Lofty pines on the bank of the stream "dwindle to shrubs in dizziness
of distance." Everything beneath, says Lieut. Doane, has a weird and
deceptive appearance. The water does not look like water, but like oil.
Numerous fish-hawks are seen busily plying their vocation, sailing
high above the waters, and yet a thousand feet below the spectator. In
the clefts of the rocks down, hundreds of feet down, bald eagles have
their eyries, from which one can see them swooping still farther into
the depths to rob the ospreys of their hard-earned trout. It is grand,
gloomy, and terrible; a solitude peopled with fantastic ideas; an
empire of shadows and of turmoil.
The plateau formation is of lava, generally in horizontal layers, as it
cooled in a surface flow, yet upheaved in many places into wave-like
undulations. Occasionally granite shafts protrude through the strata,
forming landmarks of picturesque form. Like dark icebergs stranded in
an ocean of green, they rise high above the tops of the trees in wooded
districts, or stand out grim and solid on the grassy expanse of the
prairies.
[Illustration: EXTINCT GEYSER, EAST FORK OF THE YELLOWSTONE.]
Near the head of the Third Cañon a stream flows into the Yellowstone
from the northeast, bearing the sonorous title, Hell-Roaring River. It
is quite a large stream, rising high among the mountains, and flowing
with tremendous impetuosity down the deep gorges. The mountains on
either side come close down to the channel of the Yellowstone, and
are among the most rugged in this rugged region. A huge peak of this
sort, composed of stratified gneiss, with deep strata of massive red
and grey granite, stands at the mouth of Hell-Roaring River, and takes
to itself the same imposing name. A short distance above the mouth of
Hell Roaring River, the East Fork of the Yellowstone comes in from
the southeast. Its sources are high up among the most rugged and
inaccessible portions of the basaltic range, several jagged peaks which
rise from 10,000 to 11,000 feet above the sea.
"The summits of these high peaks," observes Mr. Hayden, "are all close,
compact trachyte, while all around the sides are built up walls of
stratified conglomerate. It is plain that all of them are the nuclei
of old volcanoes. The trachyte may sometimes be concealed by the
conglomerates, but I am inclined to think that each one has formed a
centre of effusion. Large quantities of silicified wood are found among
the conglomerates, mostly inclosed in the volcanic cement, evidently
thrown out of the active craters with the fragments of basalt. My
impression is, that when the old volcanoes disgorged their contents
into the great lake of waters around, they threw out also portions
from the sedimentary formations, and thus the silicified wood comes
from the Tertiary or Cretaceous beds, which may have formed the upper
part of the walls of the crater. At any rate, these woods belong to
the Coal Series of the West, and they are scattered profusely among
the conglomerates. Interlaced among the massive beds of volcanic
conglomerates are some layers of a light-grey or whitish sandy
clay, which show that the whole breccia or conglomerates, with the
intercalated layers of clay or sand, were deposited in water like any
sedimentary water rocks."
Interesting ruins of ancient springs abound in this valley. Mr. Hayden
describes one, a very curious mammiform mound of calcareous deposit,
about forty feet high, built up by overlapping layers like those of
Liberty Cap on Gardiner's River.
"This cone is a complete ruin. No water issues from it at the present
time, and none of the springs in the vicinity are above the ordinary
temperature of brook-water; sulphur, alum, and other chemical deposits
are abundant. This old ruin is a fine example of the tendency of the
cone to close up its summit in its dying stages. The top of the cone
is somewhat broken; but it is eighteen feet in diameter at this time,
and near the centre there is a hole or chimney two inches in diameter,
plainly a steam-vent. This marks the closing history of this spring.
The inner portions of this small chimney are lined with white enamel,
thickly coated with sulphur, which gives it a sulphur-yellow hue. The
base upon which the cone rests varies in thickness. On the east side
huge masses have been broken off, exposing a vertical wall twenty feet
high, built up of thin horizontal laminæ of limestone. On the west side
the wall is not quite as high, perhaps eight or ten feet. It would
seem, therefore, that it was at first an overflowing spring, depositing
thin horizontal layers until it built up a broad base ten to twenty
feet in height; then it gradually became a spouting spring, building
up with overlapping layers like the thatch on a house, until it closed
itself at the top and ceased."
In the tongue that runs down between the junction of the East Fork and
the Yellowstone, there is a singular _butte_ cut off from the main
range, which at once attracts the traveller's attention. The basis or
lower portion of the _butte_ is granite, while the summit is capped
with the modern basalt, and the _débris_ on the sides and at the base
is remarkable in quantity, and has very much the appearance of an
anthracite coal-heap. This _butte_ will always form a conspicuous
landmark, not only on account of its position, but also from its
peculiar shape and structure.
Just below the junction of the East Fork the first and only bridge
across the Yellowstone was constructed in 1870 for the accommodation
of miners bound for the "diggings" on Clark's Fork. It was a work of
considerable boldness, as the river is some two hundred feet wide, and
flows with great rapidity over its narrow and rocky channel.
A short distance above the bridge, on the west side of the Yellowstone,
is a splendid exhibition of black micaceous gneiss, forming a vertical
wall on the right side of a little creek, while on the left the entire
mass of the hills for miles in extent is composed of the usual igneous
rocks. Through these rocks the stream, now not more than four feet wide
and six inches deep, has cut a channel from two hundred to four hundred
yards wide, through the hardest rocks to a depth varying from five
hundred to a thousand feet!
Further up the Yellowstone, on the same side, are a number of wonderful
ravines and cañons carved in like manner into the very heart of the
mountains. Most conspicuous of these is the Cañon of Tower Greek.
Before reaching that stream, however, Column Rock, a noticeable
feature in a landscape of great extent and beauty, demands at least a
passing notice. Column Cliff would be a more appropriate name, since
it extends along the east bank of the river upwards of two miles. Says
Mr. Langford, whose observations were made from the west side: "At
the distance from which we saw it, we could compare it in appearance
to nothing but a section of the Giant's Causeway. It was composed of
successive pillars of basalt overlying and underlying a thick stratum
of cement and gravel resembling pudding-stone. In both rows, the
pillars, standing in close proximity, were each about thirty feet high
and from three to five feet in diameter. This interesting object,
more from the novelty of its formation and its beautiful surroundings
of mountain and river scenery than anything grand or impressive in
its appearance, excited our attention, until the gathering shades of
evening reminded us of the necessity of selecting a suitable camp."
Tower Creek rises in the high divide between the valleys of the
Missouri and the Yellowstone, and flows for about ten miles through
a cañon so deep and gloomy that it has earned the appellation,
"Devil's Den." About two hundred yards above its entrance into the
Yellowstone, the stream pours over an abrupt descent of one hundred
and fifty-six feet, forming one of the most beautiful falls to be
found in any country. These falls are about 260 feet above the level
of the Yellowstone at the junction, and are surrounded with columns of
volcanic breccia, rising fifty feet above the falls and extending down
to the foot, standing like gloomy sentinels, or like gigantic pillars
at the entrance of some grand temple. "One could almost imagine," says
Dr. Hayden, "that the idea of the Gothic style of architecture had been
caught from such carvings of nature."
Speaking of the symmetry of some of these columns, Mr. Langford says:
"Some resemble towers, others the spires of churches, and others still
shoot up as lithe and slender as the minarets of a mosque. Some of
the loftiest of these formations, standing like sentinels upon the
very brink of the fall, are accessible to an expert and adventurous
climber. The position attained on one of their narrow summits, amid the
uproar of waters and at a height of 250 feet above the boiling chasm,
as the writer can affirm, requires a steady head and strong nerves;
yet the view which rewards the temerity of the exploit is full of
compensations. Below the fall the stream descends in numerous rapids,
with frightful velocity, through a gloomy gorge, to its union with the
Yellowstone. Its bed is filled with enormous boulders, against which
the rushing waters break with great fury.
Many of the capricious formations wrought from the shale excite
merriment as well as wonder. Of this kind especially was a huge mass
sixty feet in height, which, from its supposed resemblance to the
proverbial foot of his Satanic Majesty, we called the "Devil's Hoof."
The scenery of mountain, rock, and forest surrounding the falls is very
beautiful. Here, too, the hunter and fisherman can indulge their tastes
with the certainty of ample reward. As a half-way resort to the greater
wonders still farther up the marvellous river, the visitor of future
years will find no more delightful resting-place. The name of "Tower
Falls," which we gave it, was suggested by some of the most conspicuous
features of the scenery."
[Illustration: THE DEVIL'S HOOF.]
The sides of the chasm are worn into caverns lined with
variously-tinted mosses, nourished by clouds of spray which rise
from the cataract; while above, and to the left, a spur from the
great plateau rises over all, with a perpendicular front of 400 feet.
The fall is accessible both at the brink and at the foot, and fine
views can be obtained from either side of the cañon. In appearance
it strongly resembles Minnehaha, but is several times as high, and
the volume of water is at least eight times as great. In the basin a
large petrified log was found imbedded in the débris. "Nothing," says
Lieutenant Doane, "can be more chastely beautiful than this lovely
cascade, hidden away in the dim light of overshadowing rocks and woods,
its very voice hushed to a low murmur, unheard at the distance of a few
hundred yards. Thousands might pass by within a half mile and not dream
of its existence; but once seen, it passes to the list of most pleasant
memories."
Along the Yellowstone, near the mouth of Tower Creek, is a system
of small mineral springs distributed for a distance of two miles in
the bottom of the deep cañon through which the river runs. Several
of these springs have a temperature at the boiling point; many are
highly sulphurous, holding, in fact, more sulphur than they can carry
in solution, and depositing it in yellowish beds along their courses.
Several of them are impregnated with iron, alum, and other substances.
Their sulphurous fumes can be detected at the distance of half a mile.
The excess of sulphur in the rock-walls of the cañon give a brilliant
yellow color to the rocks in many places. The formation is usually very
friable, falling with a natural slope to the edge of the stream, but
occasionally masses of a more solid nature project from the wall in
curious shapes of towers, minarets, and the like; while over all the
solid ledge of trap, with its dark and well-defined columns, makes a
rich and beautiful border inclosing the pictured rocks below.
This is the mouth of the Grand Cañon of the Yellowstone.