The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1878-01-26
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The National Park.

The National Park.
In the northwestern corner of the ter
ritory of Wyoming, bordering on Mon
tana and Idaho, lies a tract Of country
about ifty-ive by sixty-fve miles in ex.
tent, possessing a greater combination Of
remarkable features than any other known
area Of like dimensions under the sun. II
contains 3,57S square miles Its eleva.
tion above the sea level is from 6 1000 to
$4,000 feet. 1t lies mainly, but not en-
tirely on the east side of the main range
of the Rocky Mountains. By an act Of
Congress, approved March l, 1872, this
tract was withdrawn for ever from sale
and set apart as a permanent pleasure
ground for the amusement and instruction
of the people, under the designation of the
Yellowstone National Park. The gran
deur and variety of its scenery, the salu-
brity of its summer climate, and the
health-giving qualities of its thermal wa
ters will, within few years, make it the
Mecca of the tourist, pleasure seeker, and
invalid from all parts of the civilized
world. Among its innumerable attrac-
tions are some OF the sFaAaest cataTacts,
cascades, canons, and mountain SUBMITS
on the continent. Its spOuting geysers,
in number and magnitude, exceed all 9th
crs known. Its numerous mud springs,
solfataras, fumeroles, and beautifully ter
raced hot springs are beyond description
in the magnitude and splendor of their
decoration and action The sources of
the Columbia, the Colorado, and the Mis-
souri, rivers are all said to lie within this
pleasure ground of the nation. Its noun
tain SUBMITS are covered with eternal
SHOWS, while many of the valleys are made
radiant with the sparkle Of lakes whose
waters are clear as crystal
The most magnificent of the lakes is
the Yellowstone, the source of the river,
lying nearly in the central portion Of the
park. It's form is similar to that of the
human hand with the palm to the front
and the fingers pointing downward. The
altitude of the lake is z ,427 feet above tide
water, and its present depth is about 800
feet. 1t is fed by the SHOWS on the lofty
mountains that flank it on all sides. The
length of this beautiful sheet of water is
about % miles, and the width 10 to Is
miles Professor Hayden declares that
there is nothing on the continent that
equals it in the brilliant hues of its waters
and the splendor of its surroundings. The
clear green shading Of the mountain slopes,
with the ultramarine tint of its shining
surface, produce an effect upon the obser-
yer which can neither be imagined nor
adequately described. The temperature
is that of cold spring water. In the early
part of the day its surface is usually calm,
and its varied hue, from livid green, shad-
ing of into a deep ultramarine, presents a
picture of beauty that is dazzling to be-
hold. During the later hours a strong
wind sometimes arises, stirring the calm
lake into all the fury of an ocean storm.
The amount of vegetation produced in the
depths of Yellowstone Lake is immense,
vast ridges of it lining the shores at GER
tain seasons after high wind has swept
over the surface The only fish found in
the lake and in the neighboring streams
is the trout, whose numbers are said to be
inconceivable Most of the fishes in the
lake are afflicted with the presence in the
bodies of peculiar intestinal worm which,
for the time being, renders them unfit for
use. The presence of hot springs, with
their cones rising above the surface, is a
singular fact, the water within the cones
being almost boiling hot Trout have
been caught by persons standing upon
these cones and cooked in the hot water
without being removed from the hook, as
declared by the United States Geologist,
Professor L. " Hayden.
But the most wonderful objects of in
terest in this region are the cataracts and
canons of the Yellowstone, with the spout
ing gcysers in the valley of the Fire Hole
river. Neither language nor :he painters
genius and skill are adequate to describe
either. The lower falls are more than 800
feet high. The walls of the grand canon
are some 1900 feet in depth, and are col
ored by hues so various aud brilliant that
human art despairs of any attempt to re-
produce them. "The wealth of red and
yellow, brown and orange, pink and green,
black, gray, and white fascinates and be-
wilders every beholder," according to Pro
fessor Marshall, seeming to reproduce
before his admiring gaze all the ravished
splendors of very gorgeous sunset, whose
charms, no longer evanescent, are here not
painted but dyed through and through
these mighty cliffs, and made as eternal
as the everlasting mountains they but
tress." The geysers are even more grand
and magnificent, because accompanied by
much of the pomp and circumstance of
elemental war in the spouting of immense
columns of hot water to the height of 80
to $50 feet or more, in the shooting up Of
vast columes of steam to an occasional
altitude of l 900 or 800 feet, and in the
rumbling sound and vibrating motions
that accompany the earthquake shock
There are three known geyser basins, but
two of which have, however, been explored
These are in the valley of the Fire Hole
already referred to, and lie to the west
ward of Yellowstone Lake, from which
they are reached by a tolerably well worn
trail. Some of the ori6ces of the geyser
cones are twenty feet in diameter, and
during an eruption a column Of hot water,
filling this orifce, rushes outward and up
ward with terrific force, and to attitudes
varying from Is to 275 feet in some cases.
The cones, rims, and basins formed by the
deposits from the springs and geysers are
among the most magnificent of their at
fractions. Many of them have all the
beauty of finish and brilliancy of coloring
of the finest porcelain, while the waters
within the rims and basins of many of the
springs are so perfectly transparent that
the smallest objects may be seen at the
depth of forty or fifty feet.-We Educa-
tionaI Weekly.