ejected from a crevice of irregular form, and about four feet long by
three wide, a column of water of corresponding magnitude to the height
of one hundred feet. Around this crevice or mouth the sediment is piled
in many capricious shapes, chiefly indented globules from six inches to
two feet in diameter. Little hollows in the crust filled with water
contained small white spheres of tufa, of the size of a nutmeg, formed
as it seemed to me around some nuclei.[Z]
We gave such names to those of the geysers which we saw in action as we
think will best illustrate their peculiarities. The one I have just
described General Washburn has named "Old Faithful," because of the
regularity of its eruptions, the intervals between which being from
sixty to sixty-five minutes, the column of water being thrown at each
eruption to the height of from eighty to one hundred feet.
The "Fan" has a distorted pipe from which are projected two radiating
sheets of water to the height of sixty feet, resembling a feather fan.
Forty feet from this geyser is a vent connected with it, two feet in
diameter, which, during the eruption, expels with loud reports dense
volumes of vapor to the height of fifty feet.
[Illustration: OLD FAITHFUL. NAMED BY GENERAL WASHBURN.]
The "Grotto," so named from the singularly winding apertures penetrating
the sinter surrounding it, was at rest when we first discovered it.
Externally it presented few indications of its character as a geyser.
Private Williamson, one of our escort, crawled through an aperture and
looked into the discharging orifice. When afterwards, he saw it belching
forth a column of boiling water two feet in diameter to the height of
sixty feet, and a scalding stream of two hundred square inches flowing
from the cavern he had entered a short time before, he said that he felt
like one who had narrowly escaped being summarily cooked.
The "Castle" is on the summit of an incrusted elevation. This name was
given because of its resemblance to the ruins of some old tower with its
broken down turrets. The silicious sinter composing the formation
surrounding it takes the form of small globules, resembling a ripe
cauliflower, and the massive nodules indicate that at some former period
the flow of water must have been much larger than at present. The jet is
sixty feet high by four feet in diameter, and the vent near it, which is
in angry ebullition during the eruption, constantly flows with boiling
water.
One of the most wonderful of the springs in this basin is that of
ultra-marine hue directly in front of the "Castle" geyser. It is nearly
round, having diameters of about twenty and twenty-five feet, the sides
being corrugated and funnel-shaped, and at the depth of thirty feet
opening out into a cavern of unfathomable depth, the rim of the spring
having beautifully escalloped edges. It does not boil over, but a very
small stream of water flows from it, and it is not affected in its
appearance by the spouting of the geyser in its immediate proximity.
There is evidently no connection between this spring and the geyser.
The "Giant" is a rugged deposit presenting in form a miniature model of
the Colosseum. It has an opening three feet in diameter. A remarkable
characteristic of this geyser is the duration of its discharges, which
yesterday afternoon continued for more than an hour in a steady stream
about three feet in diameter and one hundred and forty feet high.
Opposite our camp, on the east side of the Firehole river, is a
symmetrical cone resembling an old-fashioned straw beehive with the top
cut off. It is about five feet in diameter at its base, with an
irregular oval-shaped orifice having escalloped edges, and of
twenty-four by thirty-six inches interior diameter. No one supposed that
it was a geyser, and until this morning, among so many wonders, it had
escaped a second notice. Suddenly, while we were at breakfast this
morning, a column of water shot from it, which by quite accurate
triangular measurement proved to be two hundred and nineteen feet in
height. Our method of triangulation was as follows: A point on the
surface of the ground was marked, which was in a direct line with a
branch of a tree near by, and of the top of the column of water when at
its greatest height. Having obtained the perpendicular height of the
branch of the tree from the ground, and the distance from this
perpendicular to the point of observation and to the geyser cone, we
were enabled to make a very accurate calculation of the height of the
column of water. We named this geyser the "Bee Hive."
Near by is situated the "Giantess," the largest of all the geysers we
saw in eruption. Ascending a gentle slope for a distance of sixty yards
we came to a sink or well of an irregular oval shape, fifteen by twenty
feet across, into which we could see to the depth of fifty feet or more,
but could discover no water, though we could distinctly hear it gurgling
and boiling at a fearful rate afar down this vertical cavern. Suddenly
it commenced spluttering and rising with incredible rapidity, causing a
general stampede among our company, who all moved around to the windward
side of the geyser. When the water had risen within about twenty-five
feet of the surface, it became stationary, and we returned to look down
upon the foaming water, which occasionally emitted hot jets nearly to
the mouth of the orifice. As if tired of this sport the water began to
ascend at the rate of five feet in a second, and when near the top it
was expelled with terrific momentum in a column the full size of the
immense aperture to a height of sixty feet. The column remained at this
height for the space of about a minute, when from the apex of this vast
aqueous mass five lesser jets or round columns of water varying in size
from six to fifteen inches in diameter shot up into the atmosphere to
the amazing height of two hundred and fifty feet. This was without
exception the most magnificent phenomenon I ever beheld. We were
standing on the side of the geyser exposed to the sun, whose sparkling
rays filled the ponderous column with what appeared to be the clippings
of a thousand rainbows. These prismatic illusions disappeared, only to
be succeeded by myriads of others which continually fluttered and
sparkled through the spray during the twenty minutes the eruption
lasted. These lesser jets, thrown so much higher than the main column
and shooting through it, doubtless proceed from auxiliary pipes leading
into the principal orifice near the bottom, where the explosive force is
greater. The minute globules into which the spent column was diffused
when falling sparkled like a shower of diamonds, and around every shadow
produced by the column of steam hiding the sun was the halo so often
represented in paintings as encircling the head of the Savior We
unhesitatingly agreed that this was the greatest wonder of our trip.
Mr. Hedges and I forded the Firehole river a short distance below our
camp. The current, as it dashed over the boulders, was swift, and,
taking off our boots and stockings, we selected for our place of
crossing what seemed to be a smooth rock surface in the bottom of the
stream, extending from shore to shore. When I reached the middle of the
stream I paused a moment and turned around to speak to Mr. Hedges, who
was about entering the stream, when I discovered from the sensation of
warmth under my feet that I was standing upon an incrustation formed
over a hot spring that had its vent in the bed of the stream. I
exclaimed to Hedges: "Here is the river which Bridger said was _hot at
the bottom_."[AA]
How many more geysers than those we saw in eruption there are in this
remarkable basin, it is impossible to determine. We will be compelled
reluctantly to leave it before it can be half explored. At least a
thousand pipes rise to the plain, one or two hundred of which, to all
appearances, are as likely to be geysers as any we have seen.
This entire country is seemingly under a constant and active internal
pressure from volcanic forces, which seek relief through the numberless
springs, jets, volcanoes and geysers exhibited on its surface, and which
but for these vents might burst forth in one terrific eruption and form
a volcano of vast dimensions. It is undoubtedly true that many of the
objects we see are of recent formation, and that many of the
extinguished craters recently ceased their condition of activity. They
are constantly breaking forth, often assuming new forms, and attesting
to the active presence of volcanic force.
The water in some of the springs presents to the eye the colors of all
the precious gems known to commerce. In one spring the hue is like that
of an emerald, in another like that of the turquoise, another has the
ultra-marine hue of the sapphire, another has the color of the topaz;
and the suggestion has been made that the names of these jewels may very
properly be given to many of these springs.
The packers with the pack train and several of our party broke camp at
9:30 this morning, a few of us remaining for an hour, hoping to have
another view of an eruption of the "Giantess;" but in this we were
disappointed, for it gave no sign of an eruption, save that the water,
visible generally at a depth of about twenty feet, would rise suddenly
eight or ten feet in the well, and as suddenly fall again.
We moved down the river on the east bank, part of the way through an
open valley and part through fallen timber. At about eight miles we came
upon an enormous spring of dark blue water, the largest we have seen.
Mr. Hauser measured it, and says it is four hundred feet in diameter.
The mineral solution has been deposited by the overflow on all sides for
two hundred yards, the spring itself being thirty feet above the general
level of the valley. Out near the center of the lake the water boils up
a few feet, but without any especial violent action. The lake has no
well-defined outlet, but overflows on many sides, the water flowing down
the slopes of the incrusted mound about one-quarter of an inch deep. As
we stood on the margin of this immense lake a small flock of ducks came
sailing down as if to alight; but as they skimmed the water a few inches
above the surface, they seemed to scent danger, and with rapid flapping
of their wings, all except one rose into the air. This one, in his
descent, had gained too great an impetus to check his progress, and
came down into the water, and his frantic efforts to rise again were
futile, and with one or two loud squawks of distress, which were
responded to by his mates who had escaped, he was in a moment "a dead
duck." We gave no name to this lake.[AB]
About one hundred yards from the lake on the side towards the river, the
incrustation breaks off perpendicularly, and another large lake is
formed, the surface of which is about fifteen feet below the upper and
larger lake. There are a few other springs near the river farther down
the stream.
Jake Smith, for the first time on this trip, selected at this large lake
a curious specimen of tufa. It was a circumstance so unusual that Hedges
called our attention to it, but as Smith was riding along holding his
treasure carefully in his hand, his horse stumbled, and he accidentally
dropped his specimen, and with a remark which I will not here record,
and which is at variance with his own Bible instruction, he denounced as
worthless all the specimens of the party which he had seen, and
inveighed against the folly of spending any time in gathering them.
From this point we passed down the valley close by the bank of the
river. The valley on our right was very marshy, and we saw at a
considerable distance one very large fountain of water spouting into the
atmosphere to a considerable height, and many steam jets, but, owing to
the swampy character of the ground, we did not visit them.[AC]
When we left Helena on August 17th, we believed that twenty-five days
would be the limit of time which would be consumed before our return;
but to meet all exigencies we laid in a thirty days' supply of
provisions. We have now been absent thirty-four days, and as we cached
some of our supply on Yellowstone lake for Mr. Everts' relief, we are
now on short rations, but the fish we dried while camped on Yellowstone
lake are doing good service.
While riding to-day alongside of Stickney and bemoaning the lack in our
larder of many articles of food, such as sugar, coffee and tea, the
supply of which has become exhausted, I asked him if he was fond of
maple sugar, and would like a lump of it. He requested me not to
tantalize him by mentioning the subject, whereupon I astonished him by
producing a goodly sized cake which I had brought with me from Helena,
and which for five weeks I had preserved untouched in my seamless sack.
It was enjoyed by all who shared it, but Stickney was especially
grateful for his division of the sweet morsel, and received it
gratefully and gracefully, and seemingly without reluctance, at the same
time remarking, "You are always doing something to make me laugh!" and
added, "You always seem to have another card up your sleeve when an
emergency arises." By this last figure of speech he delicately suggested
to me the methods adopted by Jake Smith in playing poker.[AD]
We have traveled to-day about eighteen miles, crossing just before the
day closed a timbered ridge, and we are now camped at the junction of
the Firehole river with a stream coming into it from the east nearly as
large as the Firehole, but to which we have given no name.[AE]
Tuesday, September 20.--We broke camp at half past nine o'clock,
traveling along the rocky edge of the river bank by the rapids, passing
thence through a beautiful pine wood and over a long stretch of fallen
timber, blackened by fire, for about four miles, when we again reached
the river, which here bends in a westerly direction. Lieutenant Doane
and I climbed to the top of one of the two prominent hills on our
course, and had a fine view of the country for the distance of thirty
miles.
Last night, and also this morning in camp, the entire party had a rather
unusual discussion. The proposition was made by some member that we
utilize the result of our exploration by taking up quarter sections of
land at the most prominent points of interest, and a general discussion
followed. One member of our party suggested that if there could be
secured by pre-emption a good title to two or three quarter sections of
land opposite the lower fall of the Yellowstone and extending down the
river along the cañon, they would eventually become a source of great
profit to the owners. Another member of the party thought that it would
be more desirable to take up a quarter section of land at the Upper
Geyser Basin, for the reason that that locality could be more easily
reached by tourists and pleasure seekers. A third suggestion was that
each member of the party pre-empt a claim, and in order that no one
should have an advantage over the others, the whole should be thrown
into a common pool for the benefit of the entire party.
Mr. Hedges then said that he did not approve of any of these plans--that
there ought to be no private ownership of any portion of that region,
but that the whole of it ought to be set apart as a great National Park,
and that each one of us ought to make an effort to have this
accomplished. His suggestion met with an instantaneous and favorable
response from all--except one--of the members of our party, and each
hour since the matter was first broached, our enthusiasm has increased.
It has been the main theme of our conversation to-day as we journeyed. I
lay awake half of last night thinking about it;--and if my wakefulness
deprived my bed-fellow (Hedges) of any sleep, he has only himself and
his disturbing National Park proposition to answer for it.
Our purpose to create a park can only be accomplished by untiring work
and concerted action in a warfare against the incredulity and unbelief
of our National legislators when our proposal shall be presented for
their approval. Nevertheless, I believe we can win the battle.
I do not know of any portion of our country where a national park can be
established furnishing to visitors more wonderful attractions than here.
These wonders are so different from anything we have ever seen--they are
so various, so extensive--that the feeling in my mind from the moment
they began to appear until we left them has been one of intense surprise
and of incredulity. Every day spent in surveying them has revealed to me
some new beauty, and now that I have left them, I begin to feel a
skepticism which clothes them in a memory clouded by doubt.
Wednesday, September 21.--We broke camp soon after 9 o'clock, traveling
northwesterly down the stream, which at six miles entered a cañon
extending ten miles in a very tortuous course, the stream gradually
bending to the west. The sides of the cañon are steep, and a great many
small lateral streams flow into it, forming cascades of remarkable
beauty. There are also many springs gushing out from the sides of the
cañon afar up. Below the cañon we traveled over a high ridge for the
distance of ten miles, and camped in a deep coulee, where we found good
water and an abundance of wood and grass. Mr. Hauser and Mr. Stickney
all through the day were a few miles in advance of the rest of the
party, and just below the mouth of the cañon they met two men who
manifested some alarm at sight of them. They had a supply of provisions
packed on riding saddles, and were walking beside their horses. Mr.
Hauser told them that they would meet a large party up the cañon, but we
did not see them, and they evidently cached themselves as we went by.
The Upper Madison in this vicinity is said to be a rendezvous for horse
thieves. We have traveled about twenty-five miles to-day.
As the outcome of a general conversation to-night, I will leave the
party to-morrow morning, and start for Virginia City, where I have a
forlorn hope that some tidings may be had of Mr. Everts. We think that
Virginia City is not more than thirty miles distant; but, as we are not
now on any trail leading to it, I shall have to take my chances of
finding it.
Jake Smith to-day asked me if I expected that the readers of my diary
would believe what I had written. He said that he had kept no diary for
the reason that our discoveries had been of such a novel character, that
if he were to write an account of them he would not be believed by those
who read his record, and he would be set down as a liar. He said that he
did not mind being called a liar by those who had known him well for
many years, but he would not allow strangers that privilege. This
ambiguous remark indicates that Jake has more wit and philosophy than I
have given him the credit of possessing.
Thursday, September 22, Virginia City.--With a small supply of needed
creature comforts (lunch, etc.), I left the party early this morning,
uncertain as to the time which would be required to take me to Virginia
City. About noon I met a horseman who had left Virginia City this
morning, who directed me to the trail leading to the town. He paused
long enough to let me scan a newspaper which he had, from which I
learned of the capitulation of the French at Sedan. I asked him to hand
the newspaper to General Washburn, whose party he would meet in the
Madison valley. He said that he would stop at the cabin of "Bannack
George."
The distance from our morning camp to this place is much farther than we
thought, and it was 9 o'clock this evening before I reached Virginia
City. Nothing has been heard of Mr. Everts, and his friends are shocked
at the intelligence of his loss from our party.
Owing to the late hour of my arrival I have met but few of my old
acquaintances, but these are greatly interested in the result of our
explorations, and I have promised to remain here another day before
starting for Helena, and give them a further description of what I have
seen. I have enjoyed one good square meal.
Tuesday, September 27, Helena.--I reached Helena last night. The
intelligence of my arrival in Virginia City, and of the loss of Mr.
Everts from our party, had been telegraphed to Helena from Virginia
City, and on my arrival I was besieged by many of the friends of Mr.
Everts for information concerning the manner in which he became
separated from our party. I have spent the larger part of this day in
describing the many wonders which we found on our trip, and I shall be
most glad to have a few days' rest and put on some of my lost flesh. At
the outset of this journey I tipped the beam of the scales at a little
over one hundred and ninety (190) pounds, and to-day I weigh but one
hundred and fifty-five (155) pounds, a loss of thirty-five (35) pounds.
One of my friends says that I may consider myself fortunate in bringing
back to civilization as much of my body as I did. I have already
received several invitations from householders to meet their families
and friends at their homes, and tell them of our trip, but the present
dilapidated condition of my toilet renders it necessary for me to
decline their hospitalities until some future period. My first duty to
myself and my fellow citizens is to seek a tailor and replenish my
wardrobe. Jake Smith is the only one of our party who has returned with
a garment fit to wear in the society of ladies.
My narrations to-day have excited great wonder, and I cannot resist the
conviction that many of my auditors believe that I have "drawn a long
bow" in my descriptions. I am perfectly free to acknowledge that this
does not surprise me. It seems a most natural thing for them to do so;
for, in the midst of my narrations, I find myself almost as ready to
doubt the reality of the scenes I have attempted to describe as the most
skeptical of my listeners. They pass along my memory like the faintly
defined outlines of a dream. And when I dwell upon their strange
peculiarities, their vastness, their variety, and the distinctive
features of novelty which mark them all, so entirely out of the range of
all objects that compose the natural scenery and wonders of this
continent, I who have seen them can scarcely realize that in those
far-off recesses of the mountains they have existed so long in
impenetrable seclusion, and that hereafter they will stand foremost
among the natural attractions of the world. Astonishment and wonder
become so firmly impressed upon the mind in the presence of these
objects, that belief stands appalled, and incredulity is dumb. You can
see Niagara, comprehend its beauties, and carry from it a memory ever
ready to summon before you all its grandeur. You can stand in the valley
of the Yosemite, and look up its mile of vertical granite, and
distinctly recall its minutest feature; but amid the cañon and falls,
the boiling springs and sulphur mountain, and, above all, the mud
volcano and the geysers of the Yellowstone, your memory becomes filled
and clogged with objects new in experience, wonderful in extent, and
possessing unlimited grandeur and beauty. It is a new phase in the
natural world; a fresh exhibition of the handiwork of the Great
Architect; and, while you see and wonder, you seem to need an additional
sense, fully to comprehend and believe.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote A: In his diary under date of August 22d General Washburn
wrote: "Stood guard. Quite cold. Crows (Indians) near."]
[Footnote B: On August 23d General Washburn wrote: "Indians of the Crow
tribe."]
[Footnote C: Near where Livingston is now located.]
[Footnote D: Lieutenant Doane in his report to the War Department under
date of August 24th writes: "Guards were established here during the
night, as there were signs of a party of Indians on the trail ahead of
us, all the members of the party taking their tours of this duty, and
using in addition the various precautions of lariats, hobbles, etc., not
to be neglected while traveling through this country."]
[Footnote E: Under date of August 25th Lieutenant Doane writes: "From
this camp was seen the smoke of fires on the mountains in front, while
Indian signs became more numerous and distinct." Under date of August
25th General Washburn wrote in his diary: "Have been following Indian
trails, fresh ones, all the way. They are about two days ahead of us."]