The wonderful transparency of the water surpasses anything of the
kind I have ever seen in any other portion of the world. The sky,
with the smallest cloud that flits across it, is reflected in its
clear depths, and the ultramarine colors, more vivid than the sea,
are greatly heightened by constant, gentle vibrations. One can
look down into the clear depths and see with perfect distinctness
the minutest ornament on the inner sides of the basin; and the
exquisite beauty of the coloring and the variety of forms baffle
any attempt to portray them either with pen or pencil.
These waters repose in basins that have in miniature all the beauty of
the Mammoth Cave. The basins and their rims are formed of
minerals--mostly of silica--deposited by the water. The rims are
fittingly beautiful; the lines of internal construction are
harmonious. Many springs have built up their basins with precipitated
minerals until they rest on mounds. All these are picturesque, and
some are beautiful.
Morning-Glory Spring is like a gigantic morning-glory set in the
earth. The Firehole, with a black fissured bottom, has at times
flamelike colors which create such an illusion that the fiery interior
of the earth appears to be on exhibition.
Prismatic Lake, a spring large enough to be called at least a lakelet
or pond, is a combination of the artistic and the spectacular. It has
built up for itself a rounded mound, and down the gently curving
slopes flow its waters in thousands of interlacing rivulets. Over the
pool hangs a cloud of steam, often tinted red by reflection from the
waters below.
[Illustration: MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK]
At Mammoth Hot Springs, close to Fort Yellowstone, the water bursts
from the mountain-side with an enormous mineralized flow. Here lime
in solution is quickly precipitated, forming basins and terraces and
slopes of exquisite design, the whole adorned with intricate and
fantastic fretwork of pink, brown, yellow, and white.
While the deposits here are chiefly lime or travertine, those of the
geysers and of the other hot springs are silica. The two kinds of
deposits differ greatly. The Mammoth Hot Springs' deposits are soft
and frequently change their form. The silica deposits of the geysers
are hard as flint. Without this hardness, the geyser action would be
impossible, as the lime and travertine formations would not withstand
the explosive violence. A curious fact in this connection is that the
color in and around the geysers and hot springs is in part due to the
presence of algæ, a minute vegetable growth.
The geyser is one of Nature's strangest freaks. These in the
Yellowstone Park are the largest, most spectacular, and most artistic
in the world. The geyser may be described either as a large
intermittent hot-water fountain or as a small water-and-steam volcano.
There are scores of these eruptive springs in the Yellowstone, and
their irregularities form part of their fascination. The place and
method of applying the heat, the diameter and shape of the tube, and
the point of inflow and the quantity of the water are all matters
affecting their activities. Apparently they, as well as the springs in
general, have no underground interconnection, since the play of one
geyser has no effect upon others close by.
The eruptions are irregular as to intervals. Black Warrior and
Hurricane do a continuous performance. Constant pauses from twenty to
fifty-five seconds between gushes. Grand is active at intervals of
from one to four days, and Turban plays intermittently for twenty-four
hours following Grand. Giantess rests from five to forty days at a
time. Lioness played once in each of the years 1910, 1912, and 1914.
Splendid, which formerly threw a ten-minute gush to a height of two
hundred feet, has not played since 1892.
There is equal variation in the duration of the gush. The Minute Man's
activity lasts but from fifteen to thirty seconds. Giant stops work
promptly at the end of an hour. Giantess, after her long rest, plays
from twelve to thirty-six hours.
The quantity of water erupted varies from a few gallons in the small
geysers to thousands of barrels in the large ones. The water is
generally thrown vertically, though some of the tubes lie at an angle.
The Fan, as its name suggests, throws its water in a fan-like shape.
Geysers vary in the height of their gush as in everything else, and
the gush of each is seldom twice the same. Jewel varies from five feet
to twenty, and Great Fountain from seventy-five to one hundred and
fifty feet.
The highest stream is thrown by Giant, which has a minimum of two
hundred and a maximum of two hundred and fifty feet. Excelsior, which
sometimes threw its water three hundred feet into the air, has not
played since 1888.
This geyser action is novel, picturesque, and weird. It appeals to the
imagination. It goes on day and night, summer and winter, throughout
the years. While many of the geysers are comparatively new, others are
centuries old. Some may have been playing since prehistoric times.
Old Faithful, in the Upper Geyser Basin, is in most respects the most
wonderful geyser in the Park. Its action is almost uniform; its usual
interval is seventy minutes. It plays for four minutes and sends its
water up from sixty to one hundred and twenty feet. It gives ample
warning before each play and gets into action by sending its water
higher and higher with graceful ease.
[Illustration: OLD FAITHFUL GEYSER
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK]
But in some particulars Great Fountain, in the Lower Geyser Basin, may
be put at the head of the geyser list. Its waters issue from a vast
low mound, and the basin has attractive ornamentation. It spouts an
enormous volume of water, sometimes to a height of one hundred and
fifty feet, and plays from forty-five to sixty minutes, at intervals
of eight to eleven hours.
Castle Geyser, in the Upper Geyser Basin, throws only a moderate gush
about seventy-five feet in height, but it has built up a most imposing
crater. It is quiet for from four to seven days; it then plays three
or four times at half-hour intervals.
Other geysers that the visitor may well see are Grand and Beehive,
both in the Upper Geyser Basin. Grand plays for about an hour at
intervals of from one to four days and throws a column of steaming
water smoothly to a height of two hundred feet. Of all the geysers,
Beehive perhaps approaches nearest to artistic perfection. From a
small, beehive-like mount it sends up a slender column of water
vertically and symmetrically two hundred feet.
Yellowstone Lake lies at an altitude of 7741 feet above sea-level. Its
area is about one hundred and thirty-nine square miles, and its
irregular shore-line has a length of one hundred miles. In places the
lake is three hundred feet deep. There are thirty-six other lakes, of
which Shoshone, Heart, and Lewis are the largest. Each has its own
peculiar and delightful wilderness boundary and beauty.
There is a close network of streams, of which one hundred and
sixty-five have names. Among the more important are Yellowstone,
Lamar, Snake, Gardiner, and Firehole Rivers. There are numerous
waterfalls and cascades. The extensive water-flow abundantly supplies
the headwaters of the Missouri, Yellowstone, and Snake Rivers. In Two
Ocean Pass, among other places, is a lakelet upon the very summit of
the Continental Divide whose waters flow to both the Atlantic and the
Pacific. The altitude here is 8150 feet, and the lakelet completes a
continuous waterway of nearly six thousand miles from coast to coast.
A map that I carried showed Two Ocean Pond on the Continental Divide
to the west of the Thumb. There is a Two Ocean Pond on the Divide at
that place as well as one to the south of the lake. But my map did not
show that the Divide was horseshoe-shaped, and it located the pond on
the wrong arm of this horseshoe. Consequently I had a long search
before I found the pond, and much confusion with the topography and
watersheds after I had discovered it.
One day in 1891 I had the good fortune to come upon General Hiram M.
Chittenden. He was directing the cutting of trees at a place that has
since become famous as Lake View, from which, perhaps, the best view
of Yellowstone Lake is to be had. General Chittenden spent many years
in the Park and developed its existing scenic road system. He was the
first to propose that the excess of elk and other game in this and
other parks be distributed over the country at cost.
What is the greatest feature in this wonderland whose history began at
a camp-fire? The Lower Falls thrilled me more than any other waterfall
I ever have seen. The Yellowstone Cañon may be called the greatest
attraction in this Park. But to me the supreme attraction is the
petrified forests.