River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1882-03-30
THE BIG HORN CANON.


FoRT KEoGH, Montana, March d.
! In view of the fact that each year wit
nesses a steady increase in the process.
sion of tourists and sight-seers who fee
inclined to avail themselves of the
, growing security and comfort of trip
through the north western territories, II
may be of interest to describe the i'm
pressions produced by experience IN
one of the most wonderful features oil
Montana-th most wonderful, aside
from those in the National park.
refer to the canon of the Big Horn
river.
1t is safe to predict that, at no very
distant day, the picturesque surround
| ings of this spot, and its proximity to
the very best hunting grounds "A the
country, will attract thousands Of visit,
| ors, DESTROYS of feasting their minds
with the contemplation of nature in
her grandest aspects, seeking rest from
the excessive fatigue of busy life, and
restoration of strength not to be had IN
the utter monotony of a fashionable
j watering place.
This canon formed by the course of
the Big Horn river through the lowest
range of the mountains bearing the
same name, is about seventeen miles
long, measuring from outlet to outlet.
It's average width at the bottom is 40
feet, at top about 600 feet, and it is in
many places over ], 800 feet deep. The
sides are for the most part formed of
rough sandstone and granite rock, the
formation resembling successive steps
or terraces with but small horizontal
distances between the vectual planes
of adjacent rock faces, this distance be-
ing in most cases filled in, as it were,
by piles of loose stones. Generally the
perpendicular faces, of rock are from
fifty to two hundred feet sheer up,
their height being greater near the top
of the canon.
From the crevices and among the
heaps of loose rock grow clumps of
stunted cedars and pines. Viewed
from the top, there is nothing particu-
larly interesting or beautiful in the APP
pearance of the canon. 1t seems sim-
ply an immense vent in the earth, with
steep, almost overhanging, sides. To
realize its grandeur one must descend
carefully by one of the few game trails
as yet discovered to be practicable. Ere
the tourist reaches the bottom safely,
the very best of these tracks will de-
mand from him the free exercise of all
the qualities which constitute success
full Alpine explorer, the care, quickness
of eye, and steadiness OF nerve which
stand the hunter of the chan ois in
such good stead and insure the footing
of the Indian. A single misstep, the
turning of loose stone under the foot,
may prove fatal. That this descent
may be accomplished in safety is
proved by the fact that there are no
accidents recorded. Let us suppose it
accomplished. You stand near the
bottom. The Notwithstanding brook
seen from the top has widened gradu-
ally as you descend, till now it has as
sumed formidable proportions. 1t is a
rushing torrent, eighty feet wide and
from four to five feet deep, whose
waters roar and fill your ears with
sound like that of great cataract in
some immense vaulted chamber.
Cast your eyes upward, and you are
astounded. No combination of pictor-
ial splendors which could unite more
potently the two requisites of beauty
and majesty can be conceived. The
upper parts of the walls fairly glow
with cold radiance of their own, and
one sees tints of orange, pink, red, vel
| low, and brown of q massiveness
aud harmonious blending hopeless to
describe, and which the powers of the
greatest artist must fail to portray.
Lower down, there is pile upon pile of
lowering rocks resembling the walls of
some huge castle, whose damp and
somber shadows contrast wildly with
the briliancy above. This sudden con-
trast, the deatening roar of the waters,
the chillness of place that the sun
light seldom penetrates, produce upon
oae's senses an effect never to be for
gotten, and to describe which there are
no words sufficiently powerful. And
this is but a single glimpse among
many thousand. Following along this
canon for miles, and at every turn
there is constant recurrence of some
thing equally grand, yet never exactly
similar. From a tour of this canon
one returns with vivid conception of
the greatness CT nature, and the utter
| insignifcance of mans competition
| with her.
Joining the main canon, about four
miles south from its northern outlet, is
another of lesser extent but of equally
artistic beauty. 1t is called the Black
or Abzarka canon, formed by the course
of comparatively small stream from
its source in the mountains TO the Big
Horn river. Its direction is practical
ly at right angles to that of the large
canon. Its length is not more than
seven miles. Its depth varies from six
hundred to nine hundred feet. It's
width at bottom is not more than 20
feet, and at top about 800 feet. The
| faces of this canon are less severe.
There is quite as much light coloring
and more foliage, less perpendicular
| facing of rock, and much more of the
broken formation in the sides, which
are therefore more easy of descent. This
furnishes probably the safest route into
| the larger canon, since after descending
into it one may easily follow along its
bottom until the junction is reached.
These canons have since their forma-
ton been perfect paradise for noun
tain sheep, and refuge for bear.
In the atumn of 1880 the writer stood
on the brink of the Black canon, when
the great reverberation produced by
the discharge of q rifle was sufficient to
start from shelter several mountain
sheep, which, bewildered and perplex-
ed by the volume of sound climbed
straight up the canon side to the very
muzzle of the hunters gun; and on the
same occasion, near the point of juno
ton of the two canons, the same cause
proved sufficient to start from lairs
about halfway down the sides of the
large canon no less than four bears
two black and two brown. These, fly
ing wildly along the narrow lodges in
search of safety, where literally filed
with lead from dozen riders fired
from the cliffs above them, and fell
dead or wounded into the torrent of the
Big Horn, never knowing whence came
their death or its laundering roar
which accompanied it.
The hunting near the vicinity is the
best in the west; the foothills and the
park country ON the summit of the