Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1873-01-04

One is called the Grotto, being a large
mass of silicious rock, with many grotto-
like openings, through which the boiling
water and steam are thrown in every di-
rection another the Crater; one the Cas-
tie, bearing q striking resemblance to an
ancient Castle. Others are named the
Beehive, the Giant the Giantess, the Fan,
&C., &c. Old Faithful is so called because
he belches forth his boiling water and
steam with faithful regularity every 65
minutes throwing stream of water two
or three feet in diameter, 140 to 175 feet in
heighth, continuing some six and a-half
minutes and then subsiding to faithfully
resume his work again in another % min
utes. The largest one is the
GRAND GEYsER.
1t throws up stream of water, 10 to II
feet in diameter, 80 to 800 feet and steam
many hundreds of feet higher. The wa
ter from these geysers and springs is high
ly siliceous and deposits the slick or flint
around the springs forming large mounds
or even considerable hills. These siliceous
deposits are Of all forms and colors, and
| being as smooth as glass make a picture
| beautiful almost beyond imagination.
| Yellowstone Lake is 1927 feet above the
level of the sea, being the highest lake of
| its size in the world. 1t is very cold and
abounds in most excellent trout. Some OF
the party fishing in the lake, witout TAX
| ing the fish from the hook, dropped them
| into boiling spring near by and cooked
them. Below the lake the run. has three
| canyons whose perpendicular hight is over
1000 feet. Near one of these the river
falls lis feet, and after some rapids S52 feet
more making in all about five hundred
feet, of this, however, | have spoken be-
fore. Mr., Moran has made painting Of
these falls, which has been purchased by
the Government for about $4,000, and is
now in the Capital at Washington. On
the top of Mt. Madison, Prof, Bradley
counted 475 prominent mountain peacks.
There are many basins but the principal
ones are the upper and lower Fire Hole.
The Madison River while running through
these basins is known as the Fire Hole
River, In this region We stayed about
twenty-five days making examinations
and collections which were very rich and
full Of interest. The whole region abounds
in
including bison, Rocky Mountain
sheep, mountOin lion, bear elk, antelope,
&c. The principal timber is pine, and Or
binary grass grows in the vallies.
Red huckleberries and some strawberries
were also found
On the return we CAME along Snake
Valley, on the east side of the Tetons.
Here Prof. Bradley discovered evidences
of glacial action and lakes formed by the
terminal mOrains. The
NATURAL SCENERY
of this region is grand beyond description.
The photographs give you but little idea
of its real beauty and grandeur. AT one
time we camped at the foot of a mountain
one and half miles in height. Discover
ing evidences of approaching winter, we
hurried on, and reached Fort Hall Oh the
10th of October, when the expedition was
disbanded for the present season.
The Doctor went from Fort Hall to
SALT LAKE
and spent a few days among the |
Mormons. Asking him his opinion of the |
Mormon question, he said that Mormon
ism was evidently on the wane, and that
in few more years its power would be SO
much diminished as to be insignificant.
In speaking of the country, he said that |
Salt Lake was only remnant of what |
it once was; that it had evidently once |
covered a much greater area than it does
now; had, in fact, been a great in
land sea, for evidences Of an old shore line |
are discernable for hundreds of miles, 700 |
feet above the present level of the lake.
Its present length is 125 miles. There are
several rivers running into it but none out |
of it, evaporation alone keeping it within
its present limits. The constituents of its
water are about the same as those of the
Dead Sea. Four barrels of water will
make, it is said, one barrel of salt. For
the last two years it has been falling some
what, but, for the ten years previous, the
annual rise had been about Is inches.
.r..., SALT LAKE CITY. ..
Salt Lake City is situated 16 miles from
the southeastern borders of the lake, and
contains about $4,000 inhabitants. 1t is
the principal Mormon city in the world,
but there are several smaller cities and vii
lagos in the same country.
From this point the Doctor took, in
company with Prof. Bradley, a brief tour
through California. Thence he returned
to Boston, stopping at Chicago and other
places. From Boston he came to this city,
making brief calls at New York, Philadel-
phia and Washington, where he was well
coined by host of warm friends.
He proposes to stay but few days longer
with us, returning to Washington to work
up the large amount of material collected
during the expedition for his report to
Congress in the spring.