New-York tribune., 1874-01-02
" THE SWITZERLAND OF AMERICA"

Surely no American should be deficient in
knowledge of his own country. The proven.
bal ignorance of foreigners in respect to this
continent, and moro particularly as to its
geography. is measurably excusable. The
country is new, and much of the information
about it is recent; the ways of Europe old.
the channels of knowledge sluggish, and only
here and there man is found who keeps
himself abreast with the news of the day.
But no such excuses are admissible in the
case of the American. He is expected and he
expects, to supplement- the knowledge he
obtained at school or college with continual
accesslOns Of general information. so far az
these accessiOns should consist of new
knowledge of facts that the world did
not previously possess. whether IN the
mere record of current events, or IN any art
or science; whether classed as matters of his
tory or geography or of literature or religion
he has the right to demand that he should
be supplied with them, in greater or less full
ness according to their interest and value, by
hio daily newspaper. Our knowledge rospeot-
ing many parts of this continent has been very
largely enhanced within the last dozen years
this new information is finding its way into
the textbooks and will be taught to our
children, or at all events to our grandchildren.
But meanwhile if, for instance, the average
educated American were asked to give names,
attitudes. and localities of the half dozen
highest mountains in the United States, he
would probably reply that ho could answer
that question as to Europe or even Asia or
Africa more readily than as to his own cOun-
try; unless, indeed, he had been careful
TRIBUNE reader, and was familiar with the
story of Western explorations in 1873.
The previous expeditions of tho United
States Geological Survey of tho Territories,
under the management of Prof. Hayden, had
penetrated the wonderland which has since
been set apart by act of Congress as the Yel-
lowstone National Park. No description can
do justice to that region, where Nature has
exhibited her most fantastic mood. The gey-
sers, surprising in grandeur those of Iceland,
have an infinite variety; although so numer-
Gus that they have scarcely yet been counted,
there are no two alike. The scenery is equally
strange and varied, and there are many series
of basins of graceful shapes, lined with bril-
liant yet delicate cOlors, filled with waters OF
every degree of temperature, from cold to boil
ing. Selecting that which suits him best, the
bather plunges at will into some teDid basin,
and those who have enjoyed this luxury de-
clare that there is sOftness communicated to
the skin by these pleasant baths which gives
rise to the belief that there Is peculiar
virtue in the waters. In short, 1t was a tale
of fairy land; and however delightful when
first told, would not bear repeating too ire
ouently. So for 1873 Prof. Hayden gives u'
instead of the story of the Yellowstone, that
of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
To the tourist who would contrast the wonders
of foreign travel with those within our own
shores, we could point to the grandeurs oi
Niagara and Yosemite, and to the varied at
fractions of the Yellowstone Park. But what
had we to offer in comparison with Alpine
adventure, and the naughty crags OF the
Jungfrau and the Matterhorn Even Agassiz
speaks somewhat doletully of the absence OF
glaciers in the mountains east OF the
Mississippi But last years explora
tions of Prof Hayden have given
us the land of snow and ice above the
CLOUDS in the mountains of Colorado. Ihere
are the glaciers there are hundreds OF noun
tain peaks difficult to climb many of them
have never been assembled, many have not
even received q name. To the adventurous
traveller to whom nothing is more distasteful
than the beaten track, this new-fOund noun
tain land offers singular attractions. In the
letters of Prof w. ID. Whitney, written during
the progress of the expedition OF 1873, we
brought before our readers many OF its vivid
scenes, To-day we present, from the pen OF
DR.. F. V. Hayden, a complete and detailed
account of the expedition. AS it was entirely
under his charge, no one was so well lifted &c
review it as himself and his description vii
be found to contain not merely the dry detailt
of the work, but most interesting account
of the dangers and difficulties met and over
come. and of the exceedingly valuable results
obtained for the advancement Of both sclen
ti6c and material interests.