On his return to Washington he urged the enactment of a law establishing
the Yellowstone Park as a government reservation. In this work he was
ably supported by Senators Anthony, of Rhode Island, Edmunds, of
Vermont, and Trumbull, of Illinois, and also by Mr. Dawes, of
Massachusetts, then a member of the House of Representatives, who in an
excellent speech presented the matter so forcibly that the enabling act
passed the House without opposition.
The report of the Public Lands Committee of the House recommending the
passage of the act, after pointing out the worthlessness of the region
for agricultural purposes or for settlement, closes with this expression
of opinion, valuable in the light in which the Park is now held by the
civilized world:
The withdrawal of this tract, therefore, from sale or
settlement takes nothing from the value of the public
domain, and is no pecuniary loss to the Government, but will
be regarded by the entire civilized world as a step of
progress and an honor to Congress and the nation.
The organic law establishing the Park, after defining its boundaries,
states that the reservation is "dedicated and set apart as a public park
or pleasure-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people."
Exclusive control of the Park was given to the Secretary of the
Interior, with power to make the necessary rules and regulations for its
proper care and maintenance. He was authorized to "provide against the
wanton destruction of the fish and game found within said Park, and
against their capture or destruction for the purpose of merchandise or
profit." The act was approved by the President March 1, 1872.
It will thus be seen that from the very inception of the project for a
grand National Park, the preservation of the game was contemplated,
although it is evident that absolute prohibition of shooting was not
then intended. Probably this was not deemed necessary in such a remote
and unfrequented region, to say nothing of its working a hardship upon
those who were ready to penetrate its forests and search for fresh
wonders.
At that time the country included within the Park was practically an
inaccessible region, which, owing to the rough and rugged nature of its
barriers, had defied all earlier attempts at exploration. It stood out
alone as a broad unknown mountain mass when the surrounding country had
been fairly well explored. It had been visited only by a few venturesome
pioneers, mining prospectors, and fur-hunters, who found little or no
encouragement to seekers after wealth. Only one trans-continental
railway spanned the Rocky Mountains, crossing Wyoming far to the south
of the Park, the Union and Central Pacific having been opened to traffic
in 1869. At that time, wild animals roamed freely over prairie, plain,
and mountain slope, from the Canadian border to the Rio Grande. In
Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado, elk, deer, and antelope abounded in
favorable localities. In the North Park in northern Colorado, I saw
almost daily numerous bands of antelope, hundreds in each, grazing along
the shallow bottom-lands. Over the Laramie plains, antelope and deer
might be seen almost any day from the railway. Buffalo roamed the great
plains in vast numbers. In 1872 I saw buffalo in the North Park, but
they long since left that ideal grazing-ground. The Upper Missouri and
Yellowstone valleys were the homes of magnificent herds; now they have
disappeared forever. I never had the good fortune to see such enormous
herds as frequently wandered over western Kansas; but I well remember
one autumn afternoon, when seated in a railway car, book in hand,
glancing out upon the prairie, as I turned the pages, I scarcely looked
up from the volume but the shaggy forms of buffalo were visible; and
this continued until darkness cut off the view. To-day none are to be
seen. Except under protection, buffalo have practically become extinct.
Elk, moose, deer, antelope, and mountain sheep are gradually retiring to
more and more secluded mountain recesses. Year by year game areas become
more restricted, even in the mountain regions. The lumberman and
railway-tie cutter, the advance-guard of a constantly increasing
civilization, are steadily encroaching upon the haunts of game.
Large areas of the Rocky Mountain country are timberless and in great
part waterless during portions of the year. In such sections the bare
rocks carry very little soil and afford an insufficient food-supply for
game. In many instances where the natural conditions would otherwise be
favorable, the mountains rise as long narrow ridges between relatively
broad valleys. On the occupation of the lowlands by a steadily
increasing population, such game-resorts became easily accessible to
butchers and skin-hunters. The game was either soon killed off, or the
instinct of self-preservation taught the animals to abandon their haunts
for more secluded pastures. No better instance of the quickness with
which animals perceive danger need be mentioned than their migration
from the Big Horn Mountains, when that once admirable game-country was
suddenly invaded by hunters from all parts of the world. It is true that
the game was slaughtered in vast numbers, but it is equally true that
the animals migrated to less disturbed regions. For years the Big Horn
Mountains have been known as a gameless country; "shot out" was the
expressive phrase applied to them by hide and horn hunters. The urgent
necessity for game-preservation, if it is desired to protect our larger
animals from extermination, is apparent.
At the time the Yellowstone Park was set aside, the country was almost a
_terra incognita_; its boundaries were ill defined. Since then it has
become famous throughout the world, and is annually visited by thousands
of people, attracted there by many scientific and scenic features.
Gradually its importance became known, both as a national forest
reservation and as a natural storage reservoir, which, if properly
protected, will supply through broad rivers the arid regions below with
much-needed waters. Its fitness for a grand national game reservation
soon became manifest to a few people familiar with the far West, and
with the disappearance elsewhere of our large Rocky Mountain animals.
The necessity for rules against the shooting of any and all animals was
early recognized, and for several years such rules have been strictly
enforced with beneficial results.
In recent years, with a better understanding of the country, its timber,
water supply, the picturesqueness of its scenery, and its natural
advantages for game, an effort has been made to enlarge the reservation
on the south and east and to clearly mark its boundaries. By this
proposed enlargement, the sources of the Yellowstone and Snake rivers,
and the greater part of the Absaroka Range on the east, would be
included within the Park. It is believed that this additional territory
will before long be made a part of the Park reservation by the action of
Congress, as it has already been set aside as a timber reservation and
placed in charge of the superintendent of the Park. In speaking,
therefore, of the superior advantages of the region as a home for
animals, the timber reservation will be meant as well as the Park
itself.
The area of the Yellowstone Park, as at present defined, is somewhat
more than 3300 square miles. The central portion is a broad volcanic
plateau between 7000 and 8500 feet above sea-level, with an average
elevation of 8000 feet. Surrounding it on the south, east, north, and
northwest, lying partly within and partly without the Park lines, are
mountain-ranges with culminating peaks and ridges rising from 2000 to
4000 feet above the general level of the inclosed table-land. Beyond
the mountains the country falls away on all sides, the lowlands and
valleys varying in altitude from 4000 to 6000 feet. The entire region
stands out as a bold mountain mass, measuring approximately 75 miles in
width by 60 miles in length, which rises high above the adjoining
country.
Although it is commonly so called, the central portion of this mass is
not, strictly speaking, a plateau; at least it is by no means a level
region, but an undulating country, broken by abrupt escarpments and long
table-like ridges of gently inclined rocks. It is accidented by shallow
depressions and valleys of varied outline, the irregularities of lava
flows adding much to the diversity of surface forms and features. Deep
canyons and gorges cut the plateau, and penetrate nearly to the base of
the accumulated lavas. These nearly horizontal lavas rest against the
steeper slopes of the encircling mountains. The foot-hills, in contrast
with the plateau, afford a more broken character, the intermontane
valleys become deeper, the country gradually growing rougher until the
higher summit of the ranges present an indescribable array of crags and
precipices reaching far above the timber-line. The Rocky Mountains
nowhere offer a rougher tract of country than the Absaroka Range
bordering the Park on the east. Such an elevated mass naturally becomes
a storm center, attracting moisture-laden clouds. The concentration and
precipitation of this moisture in the form of rain and snow furnishes
during the year an amount of water exceptionally large for the Rocky
Mountains. An abundant supply of rain and snow favors a forest growth,
which in turn aids to conserve the water. In consequence a luxuriant
growth of nutritious grasses springs up, accompanied by a varied
undergrowth of bush and shrub. Observation of mountain, valley, and
plateau shows that about 84 per cent. of the Park is forest-clad. Over
the greater part of the timber reservation the proportion of forest is
not quite so great, much of the higher mountains being above
timber-line, or else in the southern part more open and park-like, with
long stretches of grass-lands dotted here and there with groups of
picturesque pines.
Across the plateau, with a very sinuous course, stretches the
Continental Divide, separating the waters of the Atlantic from those of
the Pacific. On the plateau on both sides of this divide lie magnificent
sheets of water, notably the Yellowstone, Shoshone, Lewis and Heart
lakes, forming a most characteristic feature of the country. This part
of the Park has been designated the "lake region." Hundreds of smaller
lakes and ponds occupy depressions either in the ancient lava flows or
in basins of glacial origin. Scattered over plateau and mountain are
bogs, marshes, and meadows in marked contrast to most of the Rocky
Mountain country. Innumerable perennial springs reach the surface from
beneath the rocks. Around the borders of these lakes and ponds stretch
fringes of alpine meadows, affording excellent grazing-grounds.
Yellowstone Lake, with a shore-line of nearly 100 miles, is encircled by
old lake terraces and glacial benches covered with bunch grass and
capable of supporting large herds of wild animals. To one familiar with
the plateau along the continental watershed it is possible to travel for
miles keeping clear of timber by following from one to the other the
open, winding glades and long stretches of meadows and shallow
drainage-channels which carry the melting snows to the sources of the
Yellowstone and Snake rivers. It is in these secluded nooks and
sheltered spots that one finds the game.
A reservation for the protection and maintenance of our large game under
natural conditions requires an extensive region unbroken by an area
adapted for the abode of man or subject to the disturbances of a
continuous traffic. With the rapid encroachments of civilization in the
Rocky Mountains, these conditions demand that the country set apart
should be unfit for agricultural purposes, and free from mineral
resources to tempt the cupidity of the advance-guard of settlers. The
Yellowstone Park meets the requirements of such a natural reservation
better than any other locality that could be selected. The severity of
its climate during the greater part of the year renders the region a
forbidding one for settlement and permanent occupation by man. On the
other hand, the broad expanse of forest incloses sequestered nooks, and
enticing grassy parks, with absolute seclusion in mountain recesses
admirably adapted for the homes of wild animals. It is the great
diversity of its physical features, offering within a restricted area
all the requirements for animal life, which fits it for the home of big
game. Abundant food supply, shelter from wind and weather in winter,
cool resorts on the uplands in summer, favorable localities for breeding
purposes and the rearing of young, all are found here. The Park supplies
what is really needed--a zoological reservation where big game may roam
unmolested by the intrusion of man, rather than a zoological garden
inclosed by fences, and the game fed or sustained more or less by
artificial methods. To most travelers who make the accustomed tour and
seldom leave the beaten track, it is a surprise and regret that they see
so little game, and they are apt to question its existence in any
considerable numbers. In summer the game seldom frequents the geyser
basins or places of popular resort, but wanders about undisturbed by the
throng of pleasure-seekers. If one wishes to see game he must leave the
dusty roads and noisy stages, and travel by pack-train the unfrequented
trails into the secluded portions of the Park. Few care to take this
trouble, as the rules, rigidly enforced, prevent the trying of their
skill with the rifle, when they meet the objects of their search. For
game protection scouts, foresters, and gamekeepers are required. These
could not well be supplied, except at great expense, were it not that
the natural wonders of the region, which each season attracts such large
crowds, demand for the maintenance of peace and order that United States
troops be stationed there for the protection of the Park, and the
observance of the necessary rules and regulations. All the large game
animals of the northern Rocky Mountains are known in the Park except the
white goat (_Mazama montana_) and the caribou (_Rangifer tarandus_), and
it seems probable that the former, if introduced, would remain, as their
favorite haunts, mountain fastnesses, are not unlike the Absarokas. Elk,
moose, deer, antelope, mountain sheep, buffalo, and bears are found. Of
all the game, elk most abound, roaming over mountain, plateau, and
valley alike, the higher portions in summer, the lower in winter. For
elk, the park is an ideal country. They frequent the alpine meadows and
grassy terraces, passing freely from one to the other of the open
uplands. Where streams flow through these openings, or ponds occupy
shallow depressions, the elk resort to them in large numbers during
summer and autumn. The accompanying picture gives an excellent
illustration of such a favorite haunt.
In midsummer cows and calves frequent the picturesque park-like country
near the sources of the Snake River. In my opinion, the head waters of
the Snake furnish one of the best breeding grounds for elk anywhere to
be found. In winter they descend to the broad valley-bottoms, where food
is accessible and shelter easily obtained. In traveling over the country
about these feeders to the Snake, I have been impressed by the apparent
absence of elk, yet the first heavy autumnal snow will drive them from
the mountains to the lowlands, the freshly fallen snow being tramped
down by hundreds of elk tracks coming from all directions. In the more
rugged portions of the country along the summit of the ridges, elk are
seldom seen, although well-worn trails traverse the passes of the range
at high altitudes, and may be safely followed by travelers as the
easiest routes across the mountains.
[Illustration: A Mountain Pasture.