Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1868-01-01
Montana.
= Fei1se1 Iieil ''-fT,v Spri,syr VALLEY and
Pass Of HeN-the Yelled Internal Re
,1ODy

gionS.
\ correspondent of the Cincinnati Com
mercial, writing from the - Headquarters
Of the Yellow Stone, Montana" gives the
following description of the Valley and
Pass of He'll" in that Territory
And here, from the spot on which [
stand, with my companions on this explor-
ing expedition, tracing my notes, | drink
in the views, so weird, SO passing strange,
that even in my widest dreams never
aught like this was seen. As daylight is
dying on the Yellowstone hills. the sun
melting down into the verge of the hori-
zon, shooting his slanting rays far into the
gloom of grotesque cliffs, and lingering
upon the loftier peaks, converting their
rugged surfaces into purple and gold, the
islands in the river swell bold and beauti
ful in the rosy light, while yonder distant
cone-iike hill stands against the sky con-
spicuous mass fringed with fire. The gi-
gantic mountains to the west east their
shadows far down into the silent valley at
our feet. while the silvery Yellowstone
flows on its whispering way breaking the
sombre aspect of the plain with the line of
its cleaning waters. In this valley mys-
terious wonders have been visible from
time immemorial, Of which the mobile
Saxon never heard. The Indians in the
vicinity tell US it has always been thus
Out Of this plain, or valley, rather, which
extends over an area of fifty miles, issue
million sharp jets of bluish-white fame,
interspersed with ftful pufFs of pearly va
por, which sail upward in endless turbina
ted convoutions, until reaching high al
titude, they dissolve and blend with the
f1uctuating cloud which hangs over the
valley, as if TO shield it from mortal eyes.
The plain is dotted with innumerable
.ump,, Gvn whcnce these vapory and merry
columns are emitted. In their formation
they resemble miniature volcanoes. Fire
springs like these may be found in China );
and the gevsers of Iceland are but results
of volcanic action of the same nature,
though of greater force and power than
the hot springs in the valley of the Yel-
lowstone. One cannot help thinking that
fercest fires rage somewhere below the ex-
ternal envelope of the plain, to thus fan
and force flames above the surface. A
gentleman and sdrant connected with
our party ascribes these igneous streams to
gases escaping from " velled hell" An
other speciality of volcanic action may be
observed by closer investigation of the
conical hills which loom up from the sur
face in every direction. Though there are
deep craters in their SUBMITS, it is an easy
matter to detect a gentle hollow in each,
more or less deep, covered with crumbling
particles of lava-like rock. The base and
sides are also thickly strewn with the like
porous deposts-some of very large size,
like enormous cindery cakes, the refuse OF
foundry furnace. sulphurous order
is in the atmosphere, reminding one of our
companions of his experience of a choke
damp. Surrounding the entire plain are
lofty calciferous rocks, eroded and skele-
tonized by he action of rains or shifting
bodies OF water, which now bear the APP
pearance of inverted pyramids, prisms
and various other contigurations. Besides
preparing detritus which lay piled in heaps
at the foot of the cliffs, frequent torrents
had so corroded and dismanted the rocks
that one would imagine destructive fire
had ragged and burnt up city, by the
quantity of fallen columns which lay scat
tered around in the most indescribable con-
fusion. In the intersties of the debris
there bubbled numerous saline springs, and
continuing our examination further, we
discovered several hot-water springs, from
whence vapory columns continually as
cended On testing the warmth with
Fahrenheit's thermometer, the murcury,
which stood previously at eighty degrees,
shot up to one hundred and eighty degrees
The tread of our horses feet sounded hol-
low, while the noise seemed to reyerberate
along the earth like an echo. Not blade
of grass was to be seen, excepting along
the margin Of the tiny streams. The
whole aspect Of the plain was arid In the
extreme. Ghastly relics Of animal life
covered the ground along the stream.
This was evidently caused by the gathering
of the bufaloes in the fall to cross the
Sweet Grass, where they luxuriated for a
season, protected by the rising hills from
the bleak winds, which with the force OF
simoons sweep over the northern prairies,
until the severity of the season and the
scarcity of grass compelled them to leave,
when they found their egress prevented by
the deep snow in the passes, and they must
have perished from hunger and cold, leav-
ing their bones to be picked by hungry
wolves, and to be bleached in the sun and
rain. No language can give any idea OF
the fearful desolation of this wonderful val
ley. 1t struck our hearts with nameless
dread Not wolf infested the cham.
bered cavities of the cliffs not a buzzard
lowered over the vicinity. All was silen,
in this valley of death One of the party
of explorers bestowed upon it the signif
cant appelation of :. He'll 1t is a ricf
field, however, for the geological sauar,t
and though famous travellers love to de
scribe the splendors of Alpine scenery
dwell upon the classic heights of Olymupu
dilate upon Lebanon, Mount of glory, ant
foster their imagination among the Scrip
tural mountains of Judah, there are gran
der scenes by far in this new born world Q
ours-with valleys far more idyllic tha
any old Europe can boast, and rivers {
greater depth and larger volume. Ira,