Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1873-01-08

|
hundred feet in diameter large numbers
being from 2 to 10 feet in diameter. The
principal geysers are named from their
| general appearance or from association.
| One is called the Grotto, being large
mass of silcious rock, with many grotto-
| like openings, through which the boiling
water and steam are thrown in every d.
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 q stream of water two
or three feet in diameter, no to 175 feet in
heighth, continuing some six and a-half
minutes and then subsiding to faithfully
resume his work again in another 65 min
utes. The largest one is the
GRAND GEYsER.
1t throws up q stream of water 10 to 10
feet in diameter, $50 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 q picture
beautiful almost beyond imagination.
Yellowstone Lake is Z ,427 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 1l5 feet, and after some rapids 352 feet
more making in all about five hundred
foof of &c hon n H.,
fore. Mr., Moran has made painting of
these falls, which has been purchased by
the Government for about 1000, and is
now in the Capital at Washington. On
the top of Mt. Madison, Prof, Bradley
counted AIS 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 ofinterest. 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
Ono half in hai
ing evidences of approaching winter, we
hurried on, and reached Fort Hall on 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
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 1t does
now; had, in fact, been a great in
land sea, for evidences of au old shore line
are discernable for hundreds of miles, 700
feet above the present level of the lake.
Its present length is l25 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.
SALT LAKE CITY.
Salt Lake City is situated l6 miles from
| the southeastern borders of the lake, and
contains about $1,000 inhabitants. 1t is
| the principal Mormon city in the world,
| but there are several smaller cities and viii
| lagos in the same country.
From this point the Doctor took, in
company with Prof. Bradley, 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 tC
Congress in the spring