filling them, upon the selection by our party of a name for the creek;
but after going into camp at Tower fall, the matter of selecting a name
was forgotten. A few years later the stream was named Lost creek.]
[Footnote G: In making a copy of my original diary, it is proper at this
point to interpolate an account of the circumstances under which the
name "Tower" was bestowed upon the creek and fall.
At the outset of our journey we had agreed that we would not give to any
object of interest which we might discover the name of any of our party
nor of our friends. This rule was to be religiously observed. While in
camp on Sunday, August 28th, on the bank of this creek, it was suggested
that we select a name for the creek and fall. Walter Trumbull suggested
"Minaret Creek" and "Minaret Fall." Mr. Hauser suggested "Tower Creek"
and "Tower Fall." After some discussion a vote was taken, and by a small
majority the name "Minaret" was decided upon. During the following
evening Mr. Hauser stated with great seriousness that we had violated
the agreement made relative to naming objects for our friends. He said
that the well known Southern family--the Rhetts--lived in St. Louis, and
that they had a most charming and accomplished daughter named "Minnie."
He said that this daughter was a sweetheart of Trumbull, who had
proposed the name--her name--"Minnie Rhett"--and that we had unwittingly
given to the fall and creek the name of this sweetheart of Mr. Trumbull.
Mr. Trumbull indignantly denied the truth of Hauser's statement, and
Hauser as determinedly insisted that it was the truth, and the vote was
therefore reconsidered, and by a substantial majority it was decided to
substitute the name "Tower" for "Minaret." Later, and when it was too
late to recall or reverse the action of our party, it was surmised that
Hauser himself had a sweetheart in St. Louis, a Miss Tower. Some of our
party, Walter Trumbull especially, always insisted that such was the
case. The weight of testimony was so evenly balanced that I shall
hesitate long before I believe either side of this part of the story.
N.P. LANGFORD.]
[Footnote H: Now Called Inspiration Point.]
[Footnote I: The above quotation is from a poem by John Keats.]
[Footnote J: Dr. P.V. Hayden, geologist in charge of the U.S. Geological
Survey, first visited this region in the summer of 1871--the year
following the visit of the Washburn party, whose discoveries and
explorations are recorded in this diary. Dr. Hayden, on his return,
graphically described the various wonders which he saw, but had very
little to say concerning the mud volcano. This fact was the more
inexplicable to me for the reason that the Washburn party thought it one
of the most remarkable curiosities to be found in that region, and I was
greatly surprised to find that Dr. Hayden made so little allusion to it.
In 1872, the year following Dr. Hayden's first visit, I again visited
the volcano, and the omission by Hayden was explained as soon as I saw
the volcano in its changed condition. The loud detonations which
resembled the discharges of a gun-boat mortar were no longer heard, and
the upper part of the crater and cone had in a great measure
disappeared, leaving a shapeless and unsightly hole much larger than the
former crater, in which large tree-tops were swaying to and fro in the
gurgling mass, forty feet below--the whole appearance bearing testimony
to the terrible nature of the convulsion which wrought such destruction.
Lieutenant Doane, in his official report to the War Department, thus
describes the volcano as it appeared in 1870:
"A few hundred yards from here is an object of the greatest interest. On
the slope of a small and steep wooded ravine is the crater of a mud
volcano, 30 feet in diameter at the rim, which is elevated a few feet
above the surface on the lower side, and bounded by the slope of the
hill on the upper, converging, as it deepens, to the diameter of 15 feet
at the lowest visible point, about 40 feet down. Heavy volumes of steam
escape from this opening, ascending to the height of 300 feet. From far
down in the earth came a jarring sound, in regular beats of five
seconds, with a concussion that shook the ground at 200 yards' distance.
After each concussion came a splash of mud, as if thrown to a great
height; sometimes it could be seen from the edge of the crater, but none
was entirely ejected while we were there. Occasionally an explosion was
heard like the bursting of heavy guns behind an embankment, and causing
the earth to tremble for a mile around. The distance to which this mud
had been thrown is truly astonishing. The ground and falling trees near
by were splashed at a horizontal distance of 200 feet. The trees below
were either broken down or their branches festooned with dry mud, which
appeared in the tops of the trees growing on the side hill from the same
level with the crater, 50 feet in height, and at a distance of 180 feet
from the volcano. The mud, to produce such effects, must have been
thrown to a perpendicular elevation of at least 300 feet. It was with
difficulty we could believe the evidence of our senses, and only after
the most careful measurements could we realize the immensity of this
wonderful phenomenon."
The visitor to the Park who has read the description given by Washburn,
Hedges, Doane or myself, of the mud volcano as it appeared in 1870, will
readily perceive that it has undergone a great change since the time of
its first discovery.
In my account of my trip made in 1872, published in Scribner's (now
Century) Magazine for June, 1873, I say, concerning this change: "A
large excavation remained; and a seething, bubbling mass of mud, with
several tree-tops swaying to and fro in the midst, told how terrible and
how effectual must have been the explosions which produced such
devastation. I could not realize that in this unsightly hole I beheld
all that was left of those physical wonders which filled this
extraordinary region. * * * Great trees that then decorated the hillside
were now completely submerged in the boiling mass that remained."
The trees with their green tops, which were visible in 1872, have now
entirely disappeared. Can any one conjecture what has become of them?]
[Footnote K: Lieutenant Doane, on page 19 of his report to the War
Department, says with reference to this surgical operation:
"I had on the previous evening been nine days and nights without sleep
or rest, and was becoming very much reduced. My hand was enormously
swelled, and even ice water ceased to relieve the pain. I could scarcely
walk at all, from excessive weakness. The most powerful opiates had
ceased to have any effect. A consultation was held, which resulted in
having the thumb split open. Mr. Langford performed the operation in a
masterly manner, dividing thumb, bone, and all. An explosion ensued,
followed by immediate relief. I slept through the night, all day, and
the next night, and felt much better. To Mr. Langford, General Washburn,
Mr. Stickney and the others of the party I owe a lasting debt for their
uniform kindness and attention in the hour of need."]
[Footnote L: Repeated efforts to ascend the Grand Teton, made prior to
the year 1872, all terminated in failure. On the 29th day of July of
that year the summit was reached by James Stevenson, of the U.S.
Geological Survey, and Nathaniel P. Langford, the writer of this diary.
An account of this ascent was published in Scribner's (now Century)
Magazine for June, 1873. The next ascent was made in 1898 by Rev. Frank
S. Spalding, of Erie, Pennsylvania, and W.O. Owen, of Wyoming, and two
assistants. This ascent was accomplished after two failures of Mr. Owen
in previous years to reach the summit. Mr. Owen then asserted that the
summit of the mountain was not reached in 1872 by Stevenson and
Langford. His efforts--in which Mr. Spalding had no part--to impeach the
statement of these gentlemen failed utterly. Mr. Spalding, who was the
first member of his party to reach the summit, writes: "I believe that
Mr. Langford reached the summit because he says he did, and because the
difficulties of the ascent were not great enough to have prevented any
good climber from having successfully scaled the peak, * * * and I
cannot understand why Mr. Owen failed so many times before he
succeeded."]
[Footnote M: The bay here referred to is at the "Thumb" Station.]
[Footnote N: Captain Raynolds wrote on May 10, 1860: "To our front and
upon the right the mountains towered above us to the height of from
2,000 to 3,000 feet in the shape of bold, craggy peaks of basaltic
formation, their summits crowned with glistening snow. * * * It was my
original desire to go from the head of Wind river to the head of the
Yellowstone, keeping on the Atlantic slope, thence down the Yellowstone,
passing the lake, and across by the Gallatin to the Three forks of the
Missouri. Bridger said, at the outset, that this would be impossible,
and that it would be necessary to pass over to the head waters of the
Columbia, and back again to the Yellowstone. I had not previously
believed that crossing the main crest twice would be more easily
accomplished than the travel over what in effect is only a spur; but the
view from our present camp settled the question adversely to my opinion
at once. Directly across our route lies a basaltic ridge, rising not
less than 5,000 feet above us, the walls apparently vertical, with no
visible pass nor even cañon. On the opposite side of this are the head
waters of the Yellowstone."]
[Footnote O: Later, in 1833, the indomitable Captain Bonneville was lost
in this mountain labyrinth, and, after devising various modes of escape,
finally determined to ascend the range.
Washington Irving, in his charming history, "Bonneville's Adventures,"
thus describes the efforts of General Bonneville and one of his comrades
to reach the summit of this range:
"After much toil he reached the summit of a lofty cliff, but it was only
to behold gigantic peaks rising all around, and towering far into the
snowy regions of the atmosphere. He soon found that he had undertaken a
tremendous task; but the pride of man is never more obstinate than when
climbing mountains. The ascent was so steep and rugged that he and his
companion were frequently obliged to clamber on hands and knees, with
their guns slung upon their backs. Frequently, exhausted with fatigue
and dripping with perspiration, they threw themselves upon the snow, and
took handfuls of it to allay their parching thirst. At one place they
even stripped off their coats and hung them upon the bushes, and thus
lightly clad proceeded to scramble over these eternal snows. As they
ascended still higher there were cool breezes that refreshed and braced
them, and, springing with new ardor to their task, they at length
attained the summit."]
[Footnote P: Soon after the return of our party to Helena, General
Washburn, then surveyor-general of Montana, made in his office for the
Interior Department at Washington, a map of the Yellowstone region, a
copy of which he gave to me. He told me that in recognition of the
assistance I had rendered him in making a fair outline of Yellowstone
lake, with its indented shore and promontories, he had named for me the
mountain on the top of which I stood when I made the sketch of the south
shore of the lake. I called his attention to the fact that Lieutenant
Doane had been my comrade in making the ascent, and suggested that
Doane's name be given to the adjoining peak on the north. He approved of
this suggestion, and the map, with these mountains so named, was
transmitted to the Interior Department.
Dr. Hayden, the geologist in charge of the United States geological
survey, made his first visit to this region the following year (1871),
and on the map which he issued in connection with his 1871 report, the
name "Mount Langford" was given to another mountain far to the
northeast. Since that time my name has again been transferred to a
mountain on the southeast. I think that Dr. Hayden must have been aware
at that time that this mountain bore my name; for he had read the
account of the Washburn exploration, which was published in Scribner's
Magazine for May, 1871, accompanied by a copy of the map made by General
Washburn.
The significance of connecting my name with this mountain is centered in
the circumstance that it was intended to mark or commemorate an
important event--that of giving to the public a very correct outline map
of Yellowstone lake. In confirmation of the fact that the first outline
of the lake approximating any degree of accuracy was made from the
mountain-top, I here quote from page 21 of Lieutenant Doane's report to
the War Department.
"The view from this peak commanded completely the lake, enabling us to
sketch a map of its inlets and bearings with considerable accuracy."
On page 23 of this report Lieutenant Doane speaks of this mountain as
"Mount Langford." The map last published previous to that made by
General Washburn was that of Captain Raynolds, of which I here present a
copy, as well as a copy of the map made by me.]
[Footnote Q: On our return to Helena, Walter Trumbull published, in the
Helena Gazette, some incidents of our trip, and from his narrative I
copy the following account of our hunt for the grizzly:
"Some of the party who had gone a short distance ahead to find out the
best course to take the next day, soon returned and reported a grizzly
and her two cubs about a quarter of a mile from camp. Six of the party
decorated themselves as walking armories, and at once started in
pursuit. Each individual was sandwiched between two revolvers and a
knife, was supported around the middle by a belt of cartridges, and
carried in his hand a needle carbine. Each one was particularly anxious
to be the first to catch the bear, and an exciting foot-race ensued
until the party got within 300 yards of the place where the bear was
supposed to be concealed. The foremost man then suddenly got out of
breath, and, in fact, they all got out of breath. It was an epidemic. A
halt was made, and the brute loudly dared to come out and show itself,
while a spirited discussion took place as to what was best to do with
the cubs. The location was a mountain side, thickly timbered with tall
straight pines having no limbs within thirty feet of the ground. It was
decided to advance more cautiously to avoid frightening the animal, and
every tree which there was any chance of climbing was watched with
religious care, in order to intercept her should she attempt to take
refuge in its branches. An hour was passed in vain search for the
sneaking beast, which had evidently taken to flight. Then this
formidable war party returned to camp, having a big disgust at the
cowardly conduct of the bear, but, as the darkie said, 'not having it
bad.' Just before getting in sight of camp, the six invincibles
discharged their firearms simultaneously, in order to show those
remaining behind just how they would have slaughtered the bear, but more
particularly just how they did not. This was called the 'Bear Camp.'"
Mr. Trumbull was one of the party of hunters whose efforts to capture
the bear he so well describes.]
[Footnote R: Our subsequent journeying showed that Lieutenant Doane was
right in his conjecture.]
[Footnote S: The Honorable Granville Stuart, of Montana, in his book
"Montana as It Is," published in 1865, says that there is another root
found in portions of Montana which I have never seen. Mr. Stuart says:
"Thistle-root is the root of the common thistle, which is very abundant
in the bottoms along nearly all the streams in the mountain. They grow
to about the size of a large radish, and taste very much like turnips,
and are good either raw or cooked with meat."
Captain William Clark, of the famous Lewis and Clark expedition, dropped
the final _e_ from the word cowse, spelling it c-o-w-s. Unless this
error is noticed by the reader, he will not understand what Captain
Clark meant when he said that members of his party were searching for
the _cows_.]
[Footnote T: Lieutenant Doane, in his official report to the War
Department, says, concerning this episode:
"Washburn and Langford * * * became entangled in an immense swampy
brimstone basin, abounding in sulphur springs. * * * Mr. Langford's
horse broke through several times, coming back plastered with the white
substance and badly scalded."]
[Footnote U: The location of this camp is what is now called the "Thumb"
station on the stage route.]
[Footnote V: Analyses of the various specimens of mud taken from the
springs in this locality, made on our return to Helena, gave the
following results:
White Sediment. Lavender Sediment. Pink Sediment.
Silica......... 42.2 Silica ........ 28.2 Silica ........ 32.6
Magnesia....... 33.4 Alumina........ 58.6 Alumina........ 52.4
Lime........... 17.8 Boracic acid.... 3.2 Oxide of calcium 8.3
Alkalis......... 6.6 Oxide of iron... 0.6 Soda and potassa 4.2
------ Oxide of calcium 4.2 Water and loss.. 2.5
100.0 Water and loss.. 5.2 -----
----- 100.0
100.0
These analyses were made by Professor Augustus Steitz, assayer of the
First National Bank of Helena, Mont.]
[Footnote W: On our return home, finding that no tidings of Mr. Everts
had been received, Jack Baronette and George A. Prichett, two
experienced trappers and old mountaineers, were provided with thirty
days' provisions and dispatched in search of him, and by them Mr. Everts
was found on October 16th, after wandering in the forest for
thirty-seven days from the time he was lost. From the letter of Mr.
Prichett addressed to Mr. Gillette, myself and others, I quote: "We
found him on the 16th inst. on the summit of the first big mountain
beyond Warm Spring creek, about seventy-five miles from Fort Ellis. He
says he subsisted all this time on one snow bird, two small minnows and
the wing of a bird which he found and mashed between two stones, and
made some broth of in a yeast powder can. This was all, with the
exception of thistle roots, he had subsisted on."
The narrative of Mr. Everts, of his thirty-seven days' sojourn in the
wilderness (published in Scribner's Magazine for November, 1871, and in
volume V. of the Montana Historical Society publications), furnishes a
chapter in the history of human endurance, exposure, and escape, almost
as incredible as it is painfully instructive and entertaining.]
[Footnote X: Our general line of travel from the southwest estuary of
the lake (Thumb) to the Firehole river was about one mile south of the
present stage route. The tourist who to-day makes the rapid and
comfortable tour of the park by stage, looking south from Shoshone
Point, may catch a glimpse of a portion of the prostrate forest through
and over which we struggled, and thus form some idea of the difficulties
which beset us on our journey from the lake to the Firehole river.]
[Footnote Y: Called now Kepler's cascade.]
[Footnote Z: An incident of so amusing a character occurred soon after
my return to Helena, that I cannot forbear narrating it here. Among the
specimens of silica which I brought home were several dark globules
about the size of nutmegs. I exhibited these to a noted physician of
Helena, Dr. Hovaker, and soon after the return of Mr. Gillette from his
search for Mr. Everts, I called upon him at his store and exhibited to
him these specimens of silica. At the same time I took a nutmeg from a
box upon the store counter, and playfully asked Gillette, in the
presence of Dr. Hovaker, if he had found any of those singular
incrustations. Dr. Hovaker, believing of course that the specimen I held
in my hand came from the Yellowstone, took the nutmeg, and with wonder
exhibited in every feature, proceeded to give it a critical examination,
frequently exclaiming: "How very like it is to a nutmeg." He finally
took a nutmeg from a box near by, and balanced the supposed incrustation
with it, declaring the former to be the lighter. Asking my permission to
do so, he took the nutmeg (which he supposed to be an incrustation) to a
jeweler in the vicinity, and broke it. The aroma left him no doubt as to
its character, but he was still deceived as to its origin. When I saw
him returning to the store, in anticipation of the reproof I should
receive, I started for the rear door; but the Doctor, entering before I
reached it, called me back, and in a most excited manner declared that
we had discovered real nutmegs, and nutmegs of a very superior quality.
He had no doubt that Yellowstone lake was surrounded by nutmeg trees,
and that each of our incrustations contained a veritable nutmeg. In his
excitement he even proposed to organize a small party to go immediately
to the locality to gather nutmegs, and had an interview with Charley
Curtis on the subject of furnishing pack animals for purposes of
transportation. When, on the following day, he ascertained the truth,
after giving me a characteristic lecture, he revenged himself by good
naturedly conferring upon the members of our party the title, by which
he always called them thereafter, of "Nutmegs."
N.P. LANGFORD.]
[Footnote AA: James Bridger was famous for the marvelous stories he was
accustomed to relate of his mountain life and experiences. He once told
me that he had seen a river which flowed so rapidly over the smooth
surface of a descending rock ledge in the bottom of the stream, that the
water was "hot at the bottom." My experience in crossing the Firehole
river that day, leads me to believe that Bridger had had, at some time,
a similar experience. He well knew that heat and fire could be produced
by friction. Like other mountain men, he had doubtless, many a time,
produced a fire by friction; and he could not account for the existence
of a hot rock in the bed of a cold stream, except upon the theory that
the rapid flow of water over the smooth surface evolved the heat, by
friction.
N.P. LANGFORD.]
[Footnote AB: This lake is now called "Hell's Half-acre;" and from the
lower lake the "Excelsior" geyser has burst forth.]
[Footnote AC: The fountain and jets here referred to are those of the
Lower Geyser Basin, and the larger column of water which we saw is
undoubtedly the "Fountain" geyser, named by Dr. Hayden in 1871.]
[Footnote AD: In the course of a recent correspondence with Mr.
Stickney, I asked him if he recalled this incident. Under date of May
20, 1905, he wrote me from Sarasota, Florida: "The maple sugar incident
had almost faded from my memory, but like a spark of fire smouldering
under rubbish it needed but a breath to make it live, and I recall my
reflections, after my astonishment, that you did so many quaint things,
that it was quite in accordance with them that you should produce maple
sugar in a sulphurous region."
N.P. LANGFORD.]
[Footnote AE: This stream was afterwards named "Gibbon river."]
APPENDIX.
It is much to be regretted that our expedition was not accompanied by an
expert photographer; but at the time of our departure from Helena, no
one skilled in the art could be found with whom the hazards of the
journey did not outweigh any seeming advantage or compensation which the
undertaking promised.
The accompanying sketches of the two falls of the Yellowstone, and of
the cones of the Grand and Castle geysers, were made by Walter Trumbull
and Private Moore. They are the very first ever made of these objects.
Through an inadvertence in the preparation of the electroyped plates for
the printer, they did not appear in their proper places in this diary.
Major Hiram M. Chittenden, in his volume "The Yellowstone Park," says of
the two sketches made by Private Moore: "His quaint sketches of the
falls forcibly remind one of the original picture of Niagara, made by
Father Hennepin, in 1697."