Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1876-09-28
THE YELLOWSTONE.
One Of the Most Remarkable
Streams on the
Continent.
from Chicago Tribune Correspondence


This river is, in every particular the most
remarkable stream On the American cohlI-
rent. | speak whereof l know from MANY
years eyDerience on the Ohio and Mississippi
and their tributaries, and from actua! Obser-
yations on this stream. Except when swollen
by summer rains, it is as clear as the Ctlnloer-
land: it has as rapid IA current as the upper
Missouri it has the clearly-deiined banks,
prayeI-beIs. ard bars Of the Tennessee; me
steady, unChanging channel OF the Red, ana
is as handsome q stream as ever flowed. te-
ceiyng its supply from the winters snow
fall in the Big Horn, Wolf, Powder ana
smaller ranges Of mountains, it attalna IT'S
maximum depth il June, at time when
other western naviGabic streams are generally
ut their lowest stages and the regularity and
slowness with which the snow dissolves serve
to keep a steady flow until August The June
freshes usually brings good deal OF sand,
decomposed vegetable matter, and nlkaii-dust
from the ravnes and bad lands, which slight
" fill up the channels; but, as to the river re-
cedes and false channels close up, the rapid
ity Of the current soon cuts away oil OOslfuc-
tons, and the channel becomes clearly de-
fined. Consequently the depth OF water in
the main channel is often
AS GREAT N AUGUST AS IN JUNE,
being so this year, when three and four feet
are marked on the rapids. The currents run
regularly from foot OF bend to pont-shadoW;
that is. the crossings are natural, and AL
pilot has to DO is to locate middle bars, false
points and rocks. There are no snags III the
Yellowstone, and the only hazardous Obstruc-
tons are reefs Of rocks which sometimes a.
land slide has thrown out into bend. Mid
die bars and islands occur at frequent inter
walls; bat good pilot can always tell where
the lraught Of water is. OF course there are
no woodyards on the river, but WoOdlng
places are never out of reach. The points
and islands are usually skirted with the tim
Der, drift, deadencd and standing. A crew
will wood up in forty minutes out OF twelve
hours, which is about as well as some wood
| yards on the Cumberland or Tennessee can
| offer.
From Buford to Eastern Montana the route
via the Yellowstone is and will continue to be
TUE SHORTEST AND MOST ACCESSIBLE ONE
The ''Far West las demonstrated this sea-
son that the Yellowstone is navigable later
than the Upper Missouri. From PryOr's S
creek to the mouth, there cannot be less than
twenty-four inches, and the shoal places are
only two or three in distance of 4G1 miles.
There are a dozen different rapids on the
Yellowstone; but clear-cut channel of fifty
feet wide and four and five deep is always
found. To Fort Ellis, Bozeman, and the fur
and ore producing regions of Montana, the
Yellowstone is the best route. This season
the Far West, Carroll, Josephine, and E. IL.
Durfee have been running on the Yellow
stone; and, although each boat has carried
full tonnage Gin the dog-days of August,) L
have vet to hear of either boat Wetting spar,
In fact, with ordinary care and discretion, a
boat need never get aground from the open
ing to the close of navigation. Captain Grant
Marsh has run the Far West night and day
on the upper Yellowstone, and he and Camp
bell and Thompson, pilots, say it is the east
est and best stream to navigate they ever
were on Foulke and Vardy, the engineers,
say it is the better water for making steam
than the Missouri or lower Mississippi, don't
scale up SO much nor scour out packing.
To-day the Carroll, Captain Burleigh, Jose
phine, Captain Martin Coulson, and the Vel
lowstone, Captain John Massie, are at the
landing, giving the river quite business-like
! appearance.