The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1877-11-02
GREAr NATIONAL PACK.
IntsrO.tInr Letter from Gen. sherman
Mountains, Falls, Geysers and Grand
Scenery

Big Horn here with two light spring
wagons and one light wagon, with six
saddle horses. Here we organized the
party, Col. r.. Bacon, my son and self,
three drivers, one packer, four soldiers
and five pack mules, making four of
ficers, four soldiers. one citizen and
tWenty-three animals. The packer
was also guide. We had good maps
of Captains Barlow and Hoop, of the
engineers, which we found very ac-
curate. Our route OF travel was about
20 miles a day or less.
Our first days travel took US south
east over the mountain range TO the
valley of the Yellowstone; the next
two days up the valley Of the Yellow
stone 70 the mouth OF Gardner's river.
Thus far we took our carriages, and
along the valley are scattered ranches,
at few Of which were fields Of pota-
tees, wheat and oats, with cattle and
horses. At the north of Gardner's
river begins the park, and up to that
point the road Is comparatively easy
and good, but here begins the real la
Dor, nothing but narrow trail, with
mountains and ravines so sharp and
steep that every prudent florsemAn
will lead instead of ride his horse, and
the actual labor Is hard. The first
day has nothing of interest but scene
~ Of the boldest mountain character,
the highest mountains marked with
snow patches, and the streams coming
from the real ice water. The sun at
midday had q tropic heat, while &C
night water freezes In the buckets, and
no reasonable amount of covering will
keep one warm.
There Is an abundance of pine wood
for fires, and the mountain passes are
excellent for the animals. The next
day Is consumed in slowly travelling
up Mount Washburn, the last thous-
and feet Of ascent on foot. This Is the
Lord Dunraven In q most excellent
book recently published under the
title Of the "GreaL Divide" Only his
lordship assumed Mount Washburn to
be the apex of this continent, which
iC Is not but from Mount Washburn is
plainly seen, as on a map at ones feet,
the whole of the National park, and
the mountains to the south of the Vel
lowstone lake, whence flow the waters,
east, west, north and south. This Is
demonstrated by Capt. Barlow's map,
but takes from the narration of Dun
raven not q particle of interest, for
anybody standing on Mount Wash
burn feels as though the whole world
was below him. The view Is simply
sublime, with the labor of reaching It
once, but not twice. I do not propose
70 try IL again.
Descending Mount Washington by
q trail through woods, one emerges
into tia meadows or springs out of
which Cascade Creek takes It's water,
and following 1t to near its mouth, you
camp and walk to the great falls, and
the head Of the Yellowstone canon.
In grandeur, majesty, colOring, etc.,
these probably equal any on earth.
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.
General Roe and l found a letting
rock about q mile below the LEVIN
falls, from which perfect view is had
of the LEVIN tails and the canon. The
upper falls are given at 125 feet, and
the lower at $50. The canon Is de-
scribed az 1000 feet. It Is not 1000
Immediately below the LEVIN falls, but
may be lower down, for this canon Is
thirty miles long; and when it breaks
through the range, abreast of Wash
burn, may be 200 feet. just below
the LEVIN falls think 1000 feet would
be nearer the exact measurement, but
IL forms an actual canon, the sides be-
ing almost vertical, and no one VEN
turing to attempt descent. 1t Is not
80 much the form OF this canon,
though fantastic In the extreme, that
elected my admiration, but the color
ing. The soft rock through which the
waters have cut away are of the most
delicate cOlors-tuff, gray and red-ali
so perfectly blended as to make a pic
ture of exquisite finish. The falls
and canon OF the Yellowstone will re-
main to the end of time objects OF
natural beauty and grandeur to at
tract the attention of the living.
Up 70 this hour we had seen geysers
er hOt springs, but the next day eight
miles up from the falls, we came to
Sulphur Mountain, bare, naked, re-
pulsIve, mot of large extent, and at the
base OF which were hot, bubling
springs, with all the pond crisp with
sulphur, and six miles from, up, or
south, close to the Yellowstone, we
reached and camped at Mud Springs.
These, also, are hot, most of them
muddy. Water slushed around as In
q boiling pot. Some were muddy wa
ter, and others thick mud, putting up
just like a vast kettle of mush.
Below the falls the Yellowstone Is a
rapid, bold current of water, so full of
real speckled trout, weighing from six
ounces to four and one-half pounds,
that In the language of q settler, 1t is
no "trick" at all to catch them. They
will bite at an artificial fly, or better
at q live grasshopper, which abound
here, but above the falls the river is
quiet, flowing 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 SPLEEN
did eating, but above by reason OF the
hot weather, some of the fish are
wormy, and generally obnoxious by
reason thereof, though men pretend to
distinguish the good from the bad by
the color of the spots. have no hesi-
ltation In pronouncing the Yellowstone,
from the Big Horn to Its source, the
iinest tront-flshlng stream on earth.
From the Mud Springs the trail was
due west, crosses the mountain range,
which separates the Yellowstone from
the Madison, both tributaries of the
Missouri; decends this tributary to the
west fork OF the Madison, and here is
the lower geyser basin. It would re-
quire a volume to describe these gey-
sers In detail. 1t must suffice now fol-
me to say that the lower geyser basin
presented q series of hot springs, OIL
basins OF water, coming up from be-
low, hot enough to scald your hand
boil a ham, eggs, or anything else
clear as crystal, with basins of every
conceivable shape, from the size of q
quill to actual lakes, q hundred yards
across. In walking among and arounC
these, one feels that in a moment b,
may break through and be lost in {
species Of hell. Six miles higher nj
the West Madison IL the upper geyse
basin
TIE SCOUTING oEYsERs
the real object and aim OF our visit
To describe these in detail woul d sur
pass my ability, or the compass of
letter. They have been described By
Lieut.. Duane, Hayden, Strong, Lord Du
ran, and others. The maps by Mai
Ludlow, OF the engineers, locate tn,
several geysers accurately. We reach
ed the upper Geyser Basin at II moor
of one day, remained there until 4 .
IN. of the next. During that tim
we saw the old Faithful" perform a
intervals varying from sixty-twO min
ates to eighty minutes.
The intervals vary but the perform
ance only varies with the wind anC
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