Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1877-07-25

zIII fH71l. i. MtTSUttt " L It1IHO"fy' -t''o'''
psblic Lecturer and Publisher of SereoS-
sepic and Other Photographs Of The
ferk.
1lnr national government, by an act OF
press which passed both Houses by a
ss.animous vote and was approved March |
872. has Withdrawn from sale and
se apart MS perpetual pleasure ground
81 area of 100000 acres, or nearly one
bsIf the size of Massachusetts, embracing
sS oountry about the head-waters of the
kIaaison and Gallatin Rivers-the eastern
aaa middle of the three streams which
.aite TO form the Missouri-and the Sho
lone Fork of the Snake River and also a
sssyt of the upper valley though not the
sxlreme headwaters of the Yellowstone
RIVER. ,c,,
will give your readers brief sketch
"A the location and characteristic features
~ this marvellous region, having lived
zssm 1866 to 1875 Mt Virginia City, Mon
Ina Territory, which is the nearest town
q the Park, and having with my wife and
aahohter made two trips through it; one
III 1873 and the other in 1915, and having
siudied with care everything OF conSe-
atience written abont it.
or course, no full account can be writ
ten (even if your space would allow OF It's
publication), of country so large and SO
ahounding with wonders, which does not
contain single permanent habltatlon Of
utilized man, much of which is rs yet
wholly unexplored, through nearly all OF
whicht the travel must be no horseback along
hridle trails, u large portion of which is
eovered with prmeval forests, and all Of
uhich is mountainous country, its val
ssFs averaging some hundreds OF feet
bipher thar the SUBMITS Of Mt. Washing
tor and Mt. Black, the eliminating points
If The eastern half of the continent. 1t
located (as any good atlas pub
iisbed in the last two years Will show,
n the northwest corner of wyoming
Ferritory, but is surrounded by such
INV and rugged mountains on the
santh and southeast that the only practi-
oAble routes for entering it are through
8Iontana Territory. About sixty-five by
EItv.tive miles in extent, situated between
fofIv. four degrees and forty-five degrees
norih latitude, at an elevation above the
~ of from six thousand to thirteen thou
md feet, and lying on both sides of the
min range Of the Rocky Mountains,
sbough mostly on the east side, its altitude
IN latitude make it worthless for agrlcul-
t0ral purposes, and being n volcanic dls'
rial it contains no metals or minerals sui
lIciently valuable to pay for their transpor-
alton out of so rugged a country. lhe
ollowing specially wonderful and unique
eatures of the Park, ut some not far dis
htnt day will make it among the most Ia,
nous. as it is now the most marvellous OF
n known regions:
Fjrst-The Geyser Basins, with then
thousands of hot springs and numerous
mud geysers, rs well us the grandest wa
fer gevsers in the world, grandcst IN TIC
7olume of water they throw, and the enor'
nous heght to which it is projected, an(
also in the wonderful beauty of the craters
basins and vents through which they dis
eharee, with their delicate ornamentatlor
md brilliant coloring, built up and adorn
a bv the minerals deposited by the no
ailiceous waters. There are three of thes'
Eeyser Basins, one (ncver visited by tour
ists because there is no trail to lD situated
bn the west side of the main range, on th'
shoshone Fork of the Snake River, AM
lie other two ON the Fire Hole FORK OF tL
Madison. They contain more geyser
than are known to exist in all the worl'
Besides. and spout columns Of boiling wa
ser varying from IL few inches to twehl
seet in diameter, to different heights iron
i've to two hundred and fifty feet, ut intel
fals of from sixty.hve minutes to seVeri
davs, with noise of subterranean thunde
and series of conclusions that shake III
ground for long distance.
Second-The sofataras, fumaroleS an
salses which through their thousands {
vents, especially at Birthstone Mountain
on the divide separating the HelloWsloh
valley from the Madison valley, ut numel
ous points about Yellowstone Lake, and
Mud Volcanoes and Crater Hills in II
Yellowstone River boil and spout mu
thick as hasty pudding, or thin as mus
with much roaring Of steam and shaKlh
Of the ground, or pour out steam ch"r9e
with suIphuretted hydrogen ana o'h'
Substances commonly emitted from vo ca
ic craters. About these vents are deposl
ed beautiful incrustations of flowers
sulphur, of Il light buff color, or sol
Sheets, or delicate, leathery, trost-llke cry
tails, of bright yellow sulphur, with nIu
and other volcanic products Near the
The earth is blasted, bare and burne
Bounding hollow beneath the tread, oil!
cracking under ones feet and letting HI
sink half shoe deep in the hot, volcan
ashes, while the sitting odors, each mo
punoent and far less delightful than g" l
spicy breezes from Araby the Blest
would soon drive the visitor far away we
it not that he finds himself charmed WI
the beauty of the crystals and other form
tions, and intensely Interested In stuuyl
the phenomena attending the depoSltCiioh
the subimed minerals, now immediate
over tiny openings where pretty little cor
thrust Their yellow points up through
brown earth like mushrooms breaking
soil after shower, now in some hu
rroUment of rock which the scaIdlng
pors have SO softcned and decomposed IL
it can be easily cut or broken open, n'
around the mouth of some great n
which seems, with its steaming and d.
inc and Kissing. as though it might be
vcry portal of the Internal regions, a
now in the trunk Of some tree long sll
fallen (but whose presence Dctrays
comparative ncwness of the activity att
particular region), and in which the Wo
tecomposed and wholly destroyed
places, is replaced here and there by
phur, but without any traces OF that pl
eryation of the cellular structure VIII
characterizes the true petrllaclloh
wood.
Third-The Yellowstone Lake, seN
thousand seven hundred and elghty-el
feet above the sea, covering nearly III
hundred square miles, having shore
Of about one hundred and seventy
miles, adorned with islands, surroun'
with some of the grandest mountains
North America, of so irregular form
to rive an uncommon beauty to It's DC
lines, its waters in places three huno
feet deep gIistening with the rich Dlu'
the deep sea, its shores, sometimes q"
but more generally timbered, ABOUND
with gan {, and its waters swarmlhS
trout, it would be we'll worthy p
amon1 the most remarkable lakes IN
world without taking note OF the nul
GUS and wonderful groups OF hot spri
and mud geysers which are scattered Ill
It's shores In one place hot spring
built its rocky cone up in the lake lI'
SO that standing on it, one may eaten u
from the cool water of the lake, and'
out moving from his tracks, turn aro
and cook them in the boiling sprung "