heretofore seen. They extend for the distance of nearly a mile along the
shore of the lake, and back from the beach about one hundred yards. They
number between ninety and one hundred springs, of all imaginable
varieties. Farthest from the beach are the springs of boiling mud, in
some of which the mud is very thin, in others of such a consistency that
it is heaped up as it boils over, gradually spreading under its own
weight until it covers quite a large surface. The mud or clay is of
different colors. That in some of the springs is nearly as white as
white marble; in others it is of a lavender color; in others it is of a
rich pink, of different shades. I have taken specimens of each, which I
will have analyzed on my return home.[V] In close proximity to these are
springs discharging water nearly clear and apparently odorless, the
bottoms and sides of which, as well as of the channels of the streams
running from them, are covered with soft deposits of some substance they
contain in solution. These deposits and the hard incrustations around
the edges of the springs are of various colors, in some cases being dark
red, in others scarlet, in others yellow, and in still others green.
Along the shore of the lake are several boiling springs situated in the
top of incrusted craters, but which do not boil over, the sediment which
has been deposited around them forming a wall or embankment, holding
back the water.
But the most remarkable of all the springs at this point are six or
seven of a character differing from any of the rest. The water in them
is of a dark blue or ultra-marine hue, but it is wonderfully clear and
transparent. Two of these springs are quite large; the remaining five
are smaller, their diameters ranging from eight to fifteen feet. The
water in one of these latter is thrown up to the height of two feet.
The largest two of these springs are irregular in their general outline
of nearly an oval shape, the larger of the two being about twenty-five
feet wide by forty long, and the smaller about twenty by thirty feet.
The discharge from each of them is about one gallon per minute. The
sides of the springs are funnel-shaped, and converge until at the depth
of thirty feet, the opening is about eight feet in diameter. From the
surface or rim down to the lowest point of convergence where the opening
enlarges, the sides of the funnel (which are corrugated and very uneven
and irregular) are covered with a white deposit or incrustation which
contrasts vividly with the dark opening at its base, which is distinctly
visible at the depth of forty feet. These two springs are distant from
each other about twenty yards, and there is a difference of about four
feet in the elevation or level of the water. One peculiar feature of all
these springs is that they seem to have no connection with each other
beneath the surface. We find springs situated five or six feet apart, of
the same general appearance but of different temperatures, and with the
water upon different levels. The overflow from these springs for a great
number of years has formed an incrusted bank overlooking the border of
the lake, rising to the height of six feet; and, as the streams running
from the springs are bordered with incrustations of various hues,
depending upon the nature of the deposit or substance in solution, so
the incrusted bank, which has been in process of formation for ages,
exhibits all of these varied colors. In a number of places along the
bank of the lake, this incrusted deposit is broken down and has crumbled
into small pieces, upon which the waves have dashed until they have been
moulded into many curious shapes, and having all the colors of the
deposits in the springs--white, red and white blended, yellow and green.
Cavernous hollows which fill the shore incrustation respond in weird
and melancholy echoes to the dash of the billows.
The bottoms of the streams flowing from the deeper springs have for some
distance a pure white incrustation; farther down the slope the deposit
is white in the center with sides of red, and still farther down the
white deposit is hidden entirely by the red combined with yellow. From
nearly all these springs we obtained specimens of the adjoining
incrustations, all of which were too hot to be held for more than a
moment even with the gloved hand.
Between the springs all along the border of the lake were small craters
from which issued hot steam or vapor, besides which there were many cold
craters. Along the edge of the lake, out in the water from ten to thirty
feet from the shore are to be found springs with the water bubbling up a
few inches above the surface. None of the springs in this locality
appeared to be very strongly impregnated with sulphur. Some of the
incrustations on the beach are as white and delicate as alabaster. These
are the springs which we observed on September 5th from our camp on the
eastern shore of the lake.
Our explorations of the Yellowstone will cease at this point, and
to-morrow we start in our search for Firehole Basin. Our journey around
Yellowstone lake in close proximity to the beach is doubtless the first
ever attempted; and, although it has been attended with difficulty and
distress, these have been to me as nothing compared with the enjoyment
the journey has afforded, and it is with the greatest regret that I turn
my face from it homewards. How can I sum up its wonderful attractions!
It is dotted with islands of great beauty, as yet unvisited by man, but
which at no remote period will be adorned with villas and the ornaments
of civilized life. The winds from the mountain gorges roll its placid
waters into a furious sea, and crest its billows with foam. Forests of
pine, deep, dark and almost impenetrable, are scattered at random along
its banks, and its beautiful margin presents every variety of sand and
pebbly beach, glittering with crystals, carnelians and chalcedony. The
Indians approach it under the fear of a superstition originating in the
volcanic forces surrounding it, which amounts almost to entire
exclusion. It possesses adaptabilities for the highest display of
artificial culture, amid the greatest wonders of Nature that the world
affords, and is beautified by the grandeur of the most extensive
mountain scenery, and not many years can elapse before the march of
civil improvement will reclaim this delightful solitude, and garnish it
with all the attractions of cultivated taste and refinement.
Strange and interesting as are the various objects which we have met
with in this vast field of natural wonders, no camp or place of rest on
our journey has afforded our party greater satisfaction than the one we
are now occupying, which is our first camp since emerging from the dense
forest. Filled with gloom at the loss of our comrade, tired, tattered,
browned by exposure and reduced in flesh by our labors, we resemble more
a party of organized mendicants than of men in pursuit of Nature's
greatest novelties. But from this point we hope that our journey will be
comparatively free from difficulties of travel.
Mr. Hauser's experience as a civil engineer has been an invaluable aid
in judging of the "lay of the land," and so in giving direction to our
party in its zig-zag journeying around the lake. In speaking of this,
Hauser says that he thinks that I have a more correct idea of mountain
heights, distances and directions, and can follow a direct course
through dense timber more unerringly than any man he knows, except James
Stuart--a compliment which I accept most graciously. Some of our party
declare that they would have had no expectation of finding their way
back to camp, if they had ventured into the forest in search of Mr.
Everts.
I recited to Washburn and Hauser to-night an extract from "The Task," by
the poet Cowper, which, in my younger days, I memorized for declamation,
and which, I think, is at once expressive of our experience in the
journey around the lake and of our present relief.
"As one who long in thickets and in brakes
Entangled, winds now this way and now that,
His devious course uncertain, seeking home,
Or having long in miry ways been foiled
And sore discomfited, from slough to slough
Plunging, and half despairing of escape,
If chance at length he finds a green-sward
Smooth and faithful to the foot, his spirits rise.
He chirrups brisk his ear-erecting steed,
And winds his way with pleasure and with ease."
It is a source of great regret to us all that we must leave this place
and abandon the search for Mr. Everts; but our provisions are rapidly
diminishing, and force of circumstances obliges us to move forward. We
still indulge the hope that he may have found and followed down some
branch of the Madison river and reached Virginia City, or down Snake
river and reached some settlement in that valley; and but for our
anxiety to reach home and prove or disprove our expectations, we might
have devoted much more time to visiting the objects of interest we have
seen, and which we have been obliged to pass by.
Mr. Hauser has eaten nothing to-day, and this evening he told me that he
felt sick. Such an acknowledgment from him means far more than it would
coming from many another man, for I know from intimate association with
him for eight years that there is no man in our party who will more
uncomplainingly reconcile himself to the hardships and privations of
such a journey as this, and if he is too ill to travel to-morrow
morning, and if the rest of our party think that they ought to take up
the journey homeward, I will remain with him here for a day, and as the
others will have to search out a path through the fallen timber, we can
make their two days' journey in one by following their beaten trail
without obstacles, and overtake them by the time they reach the Firehole
river, if they find it at all.
Saturday, September 17, morning.--We were awakened before daylight this
morning by loud roaring sounds proceeding from the hot springs close by
our camp, some of which were in violent action, though entirely
quiescent yesterday. Some of them in which the surface of the water,
last night, was several feet below the rim, are now overflowing.
My saddle horse broke his lariat, frightened by the roaring of the
springs, and plunged along too near one of them, when the surrounding
incrustation gave way and he sank down to his body, but frantically
extricated himself without standing upon the order of his
extrication;--but he has cut his foot so badly that I do not think it
will be prudent to ride him to-day. In his stead I will ride my smaller
pack horse, who has nearly recovered from the effects of the scalding he
received on my trip to Brown mountain. The hair has come off his legs in
several places as the result of that mishap, yet his wonderful vitality
always leaves him in a cheerful frame of mind and ready for any duty.
This has been a gloomy morning in our camp, for we all have been
depressed at the thought of leaving the lake and abandoning the search
for Mr. Everts. We have discussed the situation from every point of
view, and have tried to put ourselves in his place and have considered
all the possibilities of fate that may befall him. At one moment he may
be buoyed up with hope, however faint--at another weighed down by
despair and fear, with all their mental terrors. Has he met death by
accident, or may he be injured and unable to move, and be suffering the
horrors of starvation and fever? Has he wandered aimlessly hither and
thither until bereft of reason? As I contemplate all these
possibilities, it is a relief to think that he may have lost his life at
the hand of some vagabond Indian.
As the result of this conference we have decided upon a final plan of
action. We will give to Gillette from our remnant of provisions, ten
days' rations, and Lieutenant Doane will detail Privates Moore and
Williamson, with ten days' rations, and the three will continue the
search from this point. Mr. Gillette says that with the ten days'
rations they can devote five days to a continuous search, and the
remaining five days will be sufficient, with forced traveling, for them
to overtake us.
Hauser has endeavored to throw a little cheer into the conference by
saying to Gillette:
"I think that I should be willing to take the risk of spending
ten days more in this wilderness, if I thought that by so
doing I could find a father-in-law." This provoked an uproarious
shout of laughter, for we well understood that
Hauser alluded to the many social courtesies which Gillette,
in Helena, had extended to Miss Bessie Everts, the charming
daughter of our lost comrade, and one of the most attractive
of Montana belles. This sally of Mr. Hauser gives to me
the assurance of his own convalescence; and, if it so happens
that Gillette finds Mr. Everts, we will have the realization
of another image in "Childe Harold," "A rapture on the
lonely shore."[W]
Saturday, September 17, evening.--Gillette, Moore and Williamson left
us this morning about 9 o'clock on their final quest for Mr. Everts, and
the rest of our party soon resumed our journey. We have traveled about
twelve miles to-day, about one-half of the distance being through open
timber, and the other half over prostrate pines unmarked by any trail,
and through which we found it difficult to make our way, although the
obstructions were not so formidable as those on the south shore of
Yellowstone lake.[X] About noon we crossed a high ridge which we had
reached by a steep ascent, and on descending the opposite side we saw
upon our left a large lake which Lieutenant Doane and some others of our
party think is at the head of Firehole river, and they suggested that we
make our way to this lake and take as a guide to the Firehole the stream
which they believe will be found flowing from it. They argued that by
so doing we would be relieved from all uncertainty concerning the course
to be pursued in order to reach the Firehole river; but they were easily
persuaded that if the Firehole does take its rise in that lake, we can
as certainly strike that river by pursuing our present westwardly
direction as if we followed the plan suggested by them. Hauser and I
feel sure that this large lake is the head of Snake river.
In the afternoon we passed another ridge and descended into a small open
valley where we found a spring of good water, and where we are now
camped, near a very small creek, which runs in a direction a little
north of west, and which I believe flows to the Firehole or the Madison
river. Our direction of travel to-day has been governed somewhat by our
compasses, but we have neglected to make allowance for the variation of
the magnetic needle, which I think is about twenty degrees east of the
true meridian. Therefore in trying to follow a westerly course, we have
in reality taken a course about twenty degrees north of west.
As we passed the large lake on our left to-day, I observed that there
was no ridge of land between us and the lake; therefore I believe that
it is in the Snake river valley, and that we have to-day twice crossed
the main range of the Rocky Mountains. The fact that the Snake river
valley is so readily accessible from Yellowstone lake, gives me hope
to-night that Mr. Everts may have made his way out of the forest to some
settlement in the Snake river valley.
There is still four or five inches of snow on the ground, but there is
plenty of long grass under it, and our horses are faring tolerably well,
and will soon fill themselves with either grass or snow. There is no
clear space large enough for us to pitch our tent. We have had our
supper--an indifferent and scanty meal--and each man is now seeking with
varied success a dry spot beneath the sheltering branches of the pines
whereon to spread his blankets.
Some of our party seem terribly fatigued, and others mentally depressed.
The question of our present locality is still unsolved in their minds,
and has been intensified by the discussions in camp to-night as to
whether or not the large lake we saw discharges its waters into the
Snake river, and they ask: "If it does so, have we re-crossed the main
range to the eastern slope?" For myself I do not know of any day since
we left home when I have been in better spirits. I am sure we are on the
right course and feel no anxiety.
The sky to-night is clear and cloudless, but the snow is melting fast,
and there is a peculiar odor in the air that gives assurance of rain
before morning. Hedges (my bed fellow) and I have selected our sleeping
place, and I have placed over it a ridge-pole, supported by branches of
a tree, and have erected a "wickiup" of green pine boughs overlapping
like a thatched roof, which will turn off the rain if it comes, and I
have advised the others of our party to make similar preparations for a
rain. Hedges says that he feels worried and very much discouraged.
Sunday, September 18, 8 o'clock a.m.--There occurred a half hour ago the
first serious mishap affecting the welfare of the entire party; and
while the packers, Bean and Reynolds, are repairing the damage resulting
therefrom, I will go back a few hours and chronicle in the order of
their occurrence the events of the early morning.
Mr. Hedges and I, sleeping securely under the sheltering roof of our
pine-thatched wickiup, were aroused from our sweet dreams of home about
4 o'clock this morning by several members of our party, who sought
shelter from the rain which came down abundantly, or, as a Westmoreland
deacon used to say, "in cupious perfusion." The rain storm broke about 3
o'clock in the morning, and all of the party except Hedges and myself
were well drenched, as their only protection from the rain was their
blankets. An effort had been made by some of the party to kindle a fire
under the shelter of a large standing tree, but with indifferent
success. Hedges and I crawled out of our dry blankets, and sat upright,
so as to make as much room as possible for the others, and we welcomed
all our comrades to our dry shelter. General Washburn, who is suffering
somewhat from a cold, was especially grateful for the protection from
the storm, which continued until about 7 o'clock. The roof of our
wickiup had completely protected Hedges and myself from the rain except
at one spot directly over Hedges' exposed ear, where a displacement of
the pine leaves allowed a small stream to trickle through the roof,
filling his ear with water, much to his discomfort.
Some members of our party, at our early breakfast this morning, sitting
upon logs at various distances from our camp fire in their half-dried
clothing, and eating their scanty meal in silence, presented a sorry
appearance. Some are disappointed that we did not, last night, reach the
Firehole river, or some large branch of the Madison, which may guide us
homeward, and are wondering if we are moving in the right direction. I
feel so perfectly confident that we are traveling the right course that
I am in the best of spirits. It may be that my cheerfulness is owing, in
some degree, to my having dry clothing and a dry skin, which few of my
comrades have, but I see no reason for discouragement. I think that Mr.
Hauser is the best and most accurate judge of distances, of heights of
mountains, and direction of travel, of any man I know, and he does not
doubt that we are moving in the right direction. It is a satisfaction to
have my opinion confirmed by his judgment.
[Illustration: Nathaniel P. Langford]
We had just finished our breakfast a half hour ago when something--some
wild animal, or, perhaps, a snake--moving in the brush near where our
horses were picketed, frightened three of them, and in their violent
plunging they pulled up the iron picket pins attached to their lariats,
and dashed at a gallop directly through our camp, over the campfire, and
upsetting and scattering hither and thither our cooking utensils. The
iron picket pins flying through the air at the lariat ends narrowly
missed several of our party, but became entangled with the only two
sound pack saddles remaining of the entire number with which we started,
and dashed them against the adjacent trees, tearing off the side pieces
of the saddletrees, and rendering them useless. Our first thought was
that the damage done was beyond repair. We had, however, a few thin
boards, the remnants of our canned goods boxes, and from my seamless
sack of personal baggage I produced two gimlets, a screwdriver, a pair
of nippers, some wrought nails and two dozens of screws of various
sizes. When all these things were laid out, my comrades expressed great
surprise, for not one of them or the packers had any idea that there
were any tools or screws in our "outfit." On the other hand, it is a
matter of surprise to me that I am the only member of our party who has
a rubber coat, or a pair of oil-tanned water-proof boots, or who has
brought with him any medicines, tools, screws, etc.; and, except myself,
there is but one member of our party (whom I will not "give away" by
here recording his name) who had the foresight to bring with him a flask
of whiskey. I think we will be known among those who will hereafter
visit this marvelous region as "The Temperance Party," though some of
our number who lacked the foresight to provide, before leaving Helena, a
needed remedy for snake bites, have not lacked the hindsight required in
using it.
Bean and Reynolds have just announced that the pack saddles have been
repaired, and that preparations are being made for the start, so on
this hint I suspend my record until night.
Sunday, September 18, evening.--We left our morning camp about 9
o'clock, pursuing our uncertain course through fallen timber for a
distance of about three miles, when we had all our fears of misdirection
relieved by coming suddenly upon the banks of the Firehole river, the
largest fork of the Madison, down which we followed five miles, passing
several groups of boiling springs and a beautiful cascade[Y] (to which
we gave no name), when we emerged from the dense forest into a
sequestered basin two miles above the union of the Firehole river with a
stream which comes in from the southwest, the basin extending to the
width of a mile, and traversing the river until contracted between
proximate ranges two miles below our camp.
I have spent the entire afternoon and part of this evening in examining
the geysers and springs, but will not further record the explorations of
to-day until we are ready to leave the basin.
Monday, September 19.--When we left Yellowstone lake two days ago, the
desire for home had superceeded all thought of further explorations.
Five days of rapid travel would, we believed, bring us to the upper
valley of the Madison, and within twenty-five miles of Virginia City,
and we indulged the remote hope that we might there find some trace of
Mr. Everts. We had within a distance of fifty miles seen what we
believed to be the greatest wonders on the continent. We were convinced
that there was not on the globe another region where within the same
limits Nature had crowded so much of grandeur and majesty with so much
of novelty and wonder. Judge, then, of our astonishment on entering this
basin, to see at no great distance before us an immense body of
sparkling water, projected suddenly and with terrific force into the air
to the height of over one hundred feet. We had found a real geyser. In
the valley before us were a thousand hot springs of various sizes and
character, and five hundred craters jetting forth vapor. In one place
the eye followed through crevices in the crust a stream of hot water of
considerable size, running at nearly right angles with the river, and in
a direction, not towards, but away from the stream. We traced the course
of this stream by the crevices in the surface for twenty or thirty
yards. It is probable that it eventually flows into the Firehole, but
there is nothing on the surface to indicate to the beholder the course
of its underground passage to the river.
On the summit of a cone twenty-five feet high was a boiling spring seven
feet in diameter, surrounded with beautiful incrustations, on the slope
of which we gathered twigs encased in a crust a quarter of an inch in
thickness. On an incrusted hill opposite our camp are four craters from
three to five feet in diameter, sending forth steam jets and water to
the height of four or five feet. But the marvelous features of this
wonderful basin are its spouting geysers, of which during our brief stay
of twenty-two hours we have seen twelve in action. Six of these threw
water to the height of from fifteen to twenty feet, but in the presence
of others of immense dimensions they soon ceased to attract attention.