The Lake County star., 1877-11-08
The Yellowstone.

The Yellowstone. 8
GENERAL SHERMAN's DESCRIPTION
OF SOME OF THE WONDERS OF THIS
REMARKABLEV VALLEY-THE GREAT
FALLs-THE Hot SPRINas-THE
GEYsERs.
In his letter to the Secretary of War,
describing his visit to the Yellowstone
valley, General Sherman says:
Descending Mount Washburn, by
trail through the woods, one emerges
into the meadows or springs out Of
which Cascade creek takes Its water,
aud following 1t tn near its mouth, you
camp and walk to the Great falls and the
head Of the Yellowstone canyon. In
grandeur, majesty, coloring, etc., these
probably are equal to any on the eartli.
The painting by Moran In the capitol
Is good, but painting and words are
unequal to the subject. They must be
seen to be appreciated and felt.
Gen. Roe and found a jutting rock,
about mile below the Seron falls and
the canyon. The upper falls aregiven
at one hundred and twenty-five feet,
aud the lower at three hundred and
fifty. The canyon is described at two
thousand feet. IL Is not two thousand
Immediately below the SerOn falls, but
may be lower down, for this canyon Is
thirty miles long, and, whereit breaks
through the range abreast Of wash
burn, may he two thousand feet. Just
thousand feet would be nearer the ex-
act measurement; but It forms an ac-
tual canyon, the sides being almost YER
N N m ri m ~ TN a MI
o descent. 1t is not so much the form
of this canyon, though fantastic In the
extreme, that ELECTED my admiration,
but the cOloring. The soft rock
through which the waters have cut
away are of the most delicate coiors-
buff, gray and red-all SO perfectly
blended as to make picture of exquis-
ite finish. The fall and canyon of the
Yellowstone will remain to the end of
time object Of natural beauty and
grandeur to attract the attention of the
living.
Up to this time we had seen no geys-
ers or hot springs, but the next day,
eight miles up from the falls, we came
to Sulphur mountain, bare, naked,
repulsive hill, not of large extent, at
the base of which were hot bubbling
springs, with all the ponds crisp with
sulphur, and six miles from there up,
or south, close to the Yellowstone, we
reached and camped at the mud
springs. These also are hot, most of
them muddy. Water slushed around
as In q boiling pot. Some were muddy
water and others thick mud, putting
up just like a vast pot OF mush. Be
low the falls the Yellowstone is rap
id, bold current of water, so full of real
speckled trout, weighing from six
ounces to four and half pounds, that,
in the language of settler, 1t Ia 10
trick at all to catch Them They will
bite at an artificial fly, or better, live
grasshOpper, which abound here but
above the falls the river is quiet, flow.
ing between low, grassy banks, and
finally ending, or rather beginning, in
the Yellowstone lake, also alive with
real speckled trout. Below the falls
these trout are splendid eating, but
above, by reason of hot weather, some
of the fish are wormy and generally
obnoxious by reason thereof, though
men pretend to distinguish the &C cd
from the bad by the color Of the spots,
have no hesitation in prOnOuncing
the Yellowstone, from the Big Horn
to the source, the finest trout-fishing
stream on earth.
From the Mud spring the trail is
due west, and crosses the mountain
range which separates the Yellowstone
| from the Madison, both tributaries to
| the Missouri, descends this tributary
to the west fork of the Madison, and
here Is the lower geyser basin. 1t would
require volume TO describe these gey-
sers i'm detail. 1t must suffice now for
me to say that the lower geyser basin
presents series Of hot springs or basins
of water coming up from below hot
enough to scald your hand, boil ham,
eggs, or anything else, clear as crystal,
with basins of every conceivable shape,
from the size of q quill to actual lakes
one hundred yards across. In walking
through or around these one feels that
in moment lie may break through
and be lost In u species of hell.
Six miles higher up the West
Madison Is the upper geyser basin, the
spOuting geyser, the real object and aim
Of our visit. To describe these in de-
tail would surpass my ability, or the
compass of letter. They have been
described by Lieut.. Duane, Hayden,
Strong, Lord Dunran, and many
Others. The maps by Major Ludlow,
of the engineers, locate the several
geysers accurately. We reached the
upper geyser basin at IL m. one day,
and remained there till we saw the old
| Faithful perform at intervals, vary
ing from sixty-two minutes to eighty
minutes. The intervals vary, hut the
performance only varies with the wind
and sun. The cone or hill is of soft
decaying lime but immediately above
the hole, which Is irregular, about six
feet across, the incrustation Is hand
some, so that one can look In safely
when the geyser Is at rest. So regular
are its periods of activity that we
could foretell-its movements within q
| few minutes. Sometimes we stood
near enough to feel the hot spray, at
others we sat at our camp, about three
hundred yards away. Each eruption
was similar, preceded by about five
minutes of spluttering, and then would
arise column of hot water, steaming
and smoking, to theheight Of one hun.
dred and twenty-five or one hundred
and thirty feet, the steam going hum
dred or more feet high, according to
the state Of the wind. 1t was difficult
to say where the water ended and the
steam began, and this must be the rea-
son why different observers have re-
| pTeSeuVeu uiIeTenL TesultS. lne WnOie
performance lasts about five minutes,
when the column OF water gradually
sinks, and the spring assumes Its nor
NAL state of rest. This Is but one of
some twenty of the active geysers Of
this basin. For the time we remained
we were lucky, for we saw the Bee
Hive troyes In eruption. The Town
and Grotto were repeatedly I'm agita-
tion, though their Jets did not rise
more than twenty feet. We did not
see the Giant or the Grand in eruption,
but they seemed busy enough I'm bub-
bling and boiling. One Is fairly be
wildered by the variety, extent and ac-
tivity Of these boiling and bubbling
columns OF hot water. They do not
seem to me to be volcanic, but rather
the result of the chemical action UNDER
meath, which produces the heat and
L u III. IL e. al -