Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1870-11-11
aHE GREAT FALLS OF THE YEL-
LOWSTONE.
A Graphic Picture Of their Gcandc"'
and Beauty.

|
meet the general interest OF this
community, by giving more fully
some of the results Of our recent ex-
petition, l will commence with a
brief description OF the Falls of the
Yellowstone These falls two in
number. are not more than half Il
mile apart, perhaps not as much in
Il direct line. The upper falls are
not more than twenty-five miles from
the lake, and it can hardly be more
than fifty miles, by the course we
went, from the lower falls to the
mouth of the grand canyon, where
we were forced to leave the river
and take the trail over the mount
aims. BY baromctric measurement
we found the altitude of the lake to
be s.337 feet; the altitude at the
point where the river issues from
the CANYON we did not positively de-
te mine, but are certain that 1t VIII
be found to be between 5000 and T.
feet less. Such is the tremen-
Gus fall of this river in that short
distance. From the lake to the up
per falls, the river generally flows,
with moderate current, between
wooded banks, with occasional OPP
cnin"s, gently sloping to the waters
ed. e. In only one point above the
upper fails did we notice any con
siderable rapids, and from the gen
eral character of the country | am
satisfied that there cannot be any
great amount of fall between those
two points. This then, would leave
almost all this vast amount of river
! fail to be accounted for in the short
distance of fifty miles. | confess
that this fact leads me to wish that
we had explored that ca on to
greater distance, though | hardly
think any greater falls would be
found than those to which we at
tachcd the name of the Great Falls,
which we ascert:linca, by careful
measurement, to be $50 feet perpen-
dicular plunge. The upper falls
were ll5 feet, with no very strong
| rapids between the two falls. But
below the Great Falls, for Il distance
of three or four miles that we eX
plore,l, the descent was very great
bv a succession of falls from twelve
TO twenty feet, and continuous,
foaminr series Of RI apils. At one
point. from which | uld command
the view of perhaps thrce-quartcrs
of Il mile of the rivers surface, |
counted no less than twelve of these
smaller falls. And should this tea-
ture extend along the entire tortur-
Gus course Of the river through the
CANYON, it would he enough to ac-
count for all this great decent. Still
it NAV be that at some point below
our explorations, there is greater
fall than any yet seen. The wild,
floating stories about falls 900 fert
in height are no doubt cNaggcrati"ns
as applied to the main stream. That
| there are small streams from the
high plateau above the brink of the
canyon that fall the distance of ,ooo
feet or more, perpendicular, is true.
and such were seen by some of ouf
party. Every stream 'i.., "c''"'"
ed in our course around the cany"'
when explored, was certain to hrin:
us to cascades, several OF which W
saw Of surprising beauty, from 81 to
is feet in height. The river lust
above the upper falls, for the dis
tance of onc-fourth Of Il mile, breaks
down into strong rapid, and cir
clcs in foaming eddies about the
base ofseveral huge, black bouIders,
that Law scattered through the dist
ance at irregular intervals. The
growing uproar of the waters
through this part of It's course, lt
minded me Of the wild chant Of TIN
Indian before starting out on tn
war path. 1t is the death song be
fore the fatal leap.
The sides of the river converge
as the water approaches the brink,
and rise into bold, rocky bluffs, the
one from the west, stretching out as
if to forbid any further advance,
gives the stream Il turn to the north
east, and then, as if conscious of its
folly, stops short i'll perpendicular
face, past which the crowding WA
ters, trct,ing at restraint, shoot like
an arrow, reel for moment as e,
feel their foothold falling, then,
blanching into foam, plunge down,
down, till they seem but a mass OF
aomn in the surging bed below. The
distance between the rock bluffs that
stand sentinel over this ceaselcsS
carnival Of waters, cannot be above
200 feet. tancicd | could see in
the dim distance of few seasons
an iron swing bridge, with bright,
happy eyes gazing wondrously upon
this beauty of nature in water col
olors. The west bank, upon which
we stood, presents wonderful tacili-
ties for seing the falls to the great
est advantage. The most convenient
ledge, with surface accommoda-
ton for twenty persons, and easily