YELLOWSTONE LAKE.
"Such a vision," exclaims the sober-minded chief of the Geological
Survey, "is worth a lifetime; and only _one_ of such marvellous beauty
will ever greet human eyes."
"Secluded amid the loftiest peaks of the Rocky Mountains," writes Mr.
Langford, "possessing strange peculiarities of form and beauty, this
watery solitude is one of the most attractive natural objects in the
world. Its southern shore, indented with long narrow inlets, not unlike
the frequent fiords of Iceland, bears testimony to the awful upheaval
and tremendous force of the elements which resulted in its creation.
The long pine-crowned promontories, stretching into it from the base
of the hills, lend new and charming features to an aquatic scene full
of novelty and splendor. Islands of emerald hue dot its surface, and
a margin of sparkling sand forms its jewelled setting. The winds,
compressed in their passage through the mountain gorges, lash it into
a sea as terrible as the fretted ocean, covering it with foam. But now
it lay before us calm and unruffled, save by the gentle wavelets which
broke in murmurs along the shore. Water, one of the grandest elements
of scenery, never seemed so beautiful before. It formed a fitting
climax to all the wonders we had seen, and we gazed upon it for hours,
entranced with its increasing attractions."
The beautiful sheet of water so enthusiastically yet fittingly
described, is somewhat more than twenty miles long and fifteen broad,
with an irregular outline, presenting some of the loveliest shore-lines
that water ever assumed. Its form has been compared to that of an
outspread hand, the northern portion representing the palm, the
southwestern a swollen thumb, the first and second fingers aborted, the
third and fourth disproportionately large. A glance at the map will
show that a juster comparison would be to the head and shoulders of
some grotesque animal with two slender ears and a pair of huge knobby
horns--the head facing the north. The greatest stretch of water extends
from the end of the heavy lower jaw (the outlet of the Yellowstone) to
the top of the upper horn, where the Upper Yellowstone comes in; while
the great body of the water lies between the forehead and the base of
the shoulder. The superficial area of the lake is about three hundred
square miles; its greatest depth 300 feet, and its elevation above the
sea 7,427 feet. In the last respect it has but one rival, Lake Titicaca
in South America.
[Illustration: YELLOWSTONE LAKE.]
Lying upon the very crown of the continent, Yellowstone Lake receives
no tributaries of any considerable size, its clear cold water coming
solely from the snows that fall on the lofty mountain ranges that
hem it in on every side. In the early part of the day, when the air
is still and the bright sunshine falls on its unruffled surface, its
bright green color, shading to a delicate ultramarine, commands the
admiration of every beholder. Later in the day, when the mountain
winds come down from their icy heights, it puts on an aspect more in
accordance with the fierce wilderness around it. Its shores are paved
with volcanic rocks, sometimes in masses, sometimes broken and worn
into pebbles of trachyte, obsidian, chalcedony, cornelians, agates, and
bits of agatized wood; and again, ground to obsidian-sand and sprinkled
with crystals of California diamonds. Here and there hot-spring
deposits show wave-worn bluffs of the purest white; and in sheltered
bays, clay-concretions and casts from mud-puffs strew the beach with
curious forms, that exploring trappers mistook for the drinking cups,
stone war-clubs, and broken idols of some extinct race.
Vegetation is abundant in the lake as well as around it. Several
species of plants grow far out into the deep waters, living thickly on
rocks twenty feet below the surface. After a severe storm their uptorn
stems strew the beach like kelp on the seashore, and the water is
discolored with vegetable matter for several yards from the shore. The
water swarms with trout, but there is no other kind of fish, no shells,
no shell-fish,--nothing but trout. Of these, Mr. Carrington, the
naturalist of the Geological Survey, reports the following interesting
observations:
"Although I searched with diligence and care in the neighboring
streams and waters around the Yellowstone Lake, I was unable to find
any other species of fish except the salmon-trout; their numbers are
almost inconceivable; average weight, one pound and a half; color, a
light-grey above, passing into a light-yellow below; the fins, all
except the dorsal and caudal, vary from a bright-yellow to a brilliant
orange, they being a dark-grey and heavily spotted. A curious fact, and
one well worthy of the closest attention of an aspiring icthyologist,
is connected with these fish, namely, that among their intestines, and
even interlaced in their solid flesh, are found intestinal worms,
varying in size, length, and thickness, the largest measuring about six
inches in length. On cutting one of these trout open, the first thing
that attracts your attention is small oleaginous-looking spots clinging
to the intestines, which, on being pressed between the fingers, break
and change into one of these worms, small, it is true, but nevertheless
perfect in its formation. From five or six up to forty or fifty will
be found in a trout, varying, as I said before, in size, the larger
ones being found in the solid flesh, through which they work their way,
and which, in a very short while, becomes almost putrid. Their number
can generally be estimated from the appearance of the fish itself; if
many, the trout is extremely poor in flesh, the color changes from the
healthy grey to a dull pale, it swims lazily near the top of the water,
losing all its shyness and fear of man; it becomes almost savage in its
appetite, biting voraciously at anything thrown in the water, and its
flesh becomes soft and yielding. If, on the other hand, there are few
or none, the flesh of the fish is plump and solid, and he is quick and
sprightly in all his motions. I noticed that it was almost invariably
the case when a trout had several scars on the outside of his body that
it was free from these worms, and I therefore took it for granted that
the worms finally worked their way through the body, and the flesh,
on healing up, leaves the scars on the outside; the trout, in a short
while, becomes plump and healthy again. The only way that I can account
for the appearance of these worms is, that the fish swallows certain
bugs or insects, and that the larvæ formed from them gradually develop
into the full-grown intestinal worm. But even if this explanation of
their appearance was received, does it not seem a little strange that
while all the fish above the Upper Falls are more or less affected by
them, that below and even between the Upper and Lower Falls such a
thing as wormy trout is never heard of? Being unable, with my limited
knowledge of icthyology, to arrive at any definite conclusion in regard
to their appearance, I submit the above facts to those who are more
learned than myself in this most interesting branch of natural history."
Waterfowl make up in number and variety for the lack of life within the
lake. The surface fairly swarms with them. Lieutenant Doane enumerates
swans, pelicans, gulls, geese, brants, and many varieties of ducks
and dippers; also herons and sand-hill cranes. The pelicans are very
plentiful, immense fleets of them sailing in company with the majestic
swan, and at nightfall the low, flat islands in the lake are white with
them. The gulls are of the same variety as those of San Francisco
Harbor. Eagles, hawks, ravens, ospreys, prairie chickens, grouse,
mocking-birds and woodpeckers are common in and around the lake basin.
Mention is also made of a guide-bird, whose habits correspond with its
name. It resembles the blackbird, but is larger. Lieutenant Doane says:
"I saw but one of these--the day I went to the bottom of the Grand
Cañon; it hopped and flew along from rock to rock ahead of us during
the whole trip down, waited perched upon a rock while we were resting,
and led us clear to the summit again in the same manner, making
innumerable sounds and gestures constantly to attract attention. Others
of the party remarked birds of the same kind and acting in the same
manner."
Herds of deer, elk, and mountain sheep, throng the forests and mountain
meadows about the lake. Buffalo signs, grizzly bears and California
lions are far from uncommon, while the smaller lakes and creek-valleys
of the basin are fairly alive with otter, beaver, mink, and muskrats.
Lieutenant Doane observed several unnamed and undescribed species of
squirrels and weasels, and doubtless there are many other new varieties
of animal life peculiar to this little-known region. One department of
natural history, however, is happily unrepresented in the basin. There
are no snakes, though rattlesnakes are plentiful down the Yellowstone.
There are but two considerable islands in the lake--Stephenson's and
Frank's--each about a mile long, narrow and covered with a thick growth
of pines. Dot Island, near Frank's, a small lozenge-shaped mud-bank,
not over a third of a mile long, and half a dozen of smaller size,
usually near the shore, complete the list.
The first explorers constructed a rude raft for the purpose of visiting
these islands and exploring the shore-line of the lake, but it was
speedily wrecked by the choppy waves beat up by the sudden gusts
from the mountains. The Geological Expedition took the precaution to
carry from Fort Ellis the framework of a little craft, twelve feet
long, three and a half feet wide, and twenty-two inches deep, which,
covered with well-tarred canvas, made a very serviceable boat for
fair-weather navigation. "Our little bark, whose keel was the first
to plow the waters of the most beautiful lake on the continent," says
Dr. Hayden, "was named by Mr. Stephenson in compliment to Miss Anna L.
Dawes, the amiable daughter of Hon. H. L. Dawes. My whole party," he
adds, "were glad to manifest, by this slight tribute, their gratitude
to the distinguished statesman, whose generous sympathy and aid had
contributed so much toward securing the appropriation which enabled
them to explore this marvellous region."
[Illustration: THE FIRST BOAT ON YELLOWSTONE LAKE.]
The little craft rode the waves well and performed excellent service.
Its first voyage was to Stephenson's Island, named after the first
assistant of the expedition.