Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-08-03

THE MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS BASIN AND ITS
woNDERs-THE TERRACES AND THE SPRINGS
SOME OF THE FORMATIONS"


SOME OF THE "FoRMArIoNs."
tFrom New York Times Letlcr.l
As the Mammoth Hot Springs basin is des
tined to become the focal point for all tourists
in the Yellowstone Park, a sketch of the to.
pography, extent and appearance of the
springs and terraces is OF special interest
Let the tourist in fancy see succession OF
hills rolling down from long, craggy line Of
mountains, stretching from nor theast to south
west, the highest point being known as Sep
ulchre Mountain. On the east lies a walled
range called Evarts's Mountain, rising almost
perpendicularly for 1900 to 1900 feet from the
canon Of the Gardiner river, whose brawline
noise as it foams and plunges toward the Vel.
lowstone four miles away can be plainly heard
over the mile Of distance that intervenes be.
tween it and the Hot Springs. On the south,
and trendiDg away southwestorly 80 as to con-
verge with the distant ridges of Sepulchre
Mountain, is the craggy range known as the
Sheepeater cliffs, crowned by the green but
snow-streaked dome OF Benson's Peak. Over
the crest of this ridge may be seen peeriug at
all times the cold, snowy face of Mount Wash
burn, nearly II 200 feet high and % miles
distant. The fall or decline of the basin or
valley in which the springs rise is castwardly
from SepuIchre toward the Gardiner river and
the foot of Evartss Mountain and the west
fork of the Gardiner, which brawls down
among the rocks at the base Of Sheepeater
cliffs.
The remarkable calcareous deposit of lime,
magnesia, sulphur and other precipitates, left
by the action and evaporation of the Hot
Springs, extends down and has filled up a con
siderable part Of this basin from Sepulchre
Mountain to the river and Judge its length
to be certainly not less than three miles and a
half. 1t would be wild for any one not sci
enlist to express an opinion as to the length
of time required to produce this gigantic for
nation. With scientist, even, much would
be conjectural The foothills and mounds
have been enveloped in the chalky deposit, aud
the dels and depressious leveled up bv it to a
| great extent. The result is the erection of
some five or six main terraces, varying from
perhaps $50 feet to 80 feet in elevation above
each other. The accretion of chemicals has
| gone slowly onward for centuries, until OH
some of the terraces pine mud cedar trees, 40
| " ~ lbtN III htlBul, uNNt btcn submerged so
that now only their topmost branches, wither.
ed and white, crop out above the surface In
many places the trees have undoubtedly been
completely covered. The lofty terraces men.
toned are sCamed and ridged and divided up
into smaller ones, so that the ascent Of the
bluHs at their faces can only be made by climb
ing on zigzag paths Viewed from in front
the terraces look much like hillsides, one be.
hind another, covered with snow Iu many
places they are streaked down their faces with
various shades of ochre, brown, gray yellow
and bluish-whte. The prevailing color is
dngy white, set off at Irregular intervals by
bands of the purest snowy hue, and the other
tints | have named. Here and there all over
the formation, as the terraces are called
here, cedar and other trees of the fir family
have taken root and given rise to wonder as
to the source of their slstenance.
The lowest terrace, which is probably the
Oldest one, begins down near the banks of the
Gardiner river and extends upward several
hundred feet on tho incline TO the level of the
plateau of the basin in which Uncle" Rufus
Hatch's new and splendid hotel is building
The front Of this terrace is of a granite gray
color, and in form resembles a vast cascade
that had become petrfied. It's whole surface
is marked with the waved lines of the ripping
waters that once flowed here But the entire
pumice like structure is now dry and hard as
stone aud covered with trees At the foot
of the terrace, lying on a grassy bottom, is
lakelet apparently covered with red, white,
yellow and blush spume. One may walk on
its suriaceRhowevor, with perfect safety, OK
cept at its southerly end, where two boiling
springs are at work pumping up the water
which makes the overflow and leaves the spu.
my surface.
Ascending tho front Of this terrace is tire
some task, but gaining the top the plateau,
half mile long and 500 yards wide, is reach
ed. On the left is a nobby hill covered with
grass on the summit Of which stands the
headquarters Of the superintendent Of the
park, Major Couger. The surface Of this
plateau is covered with a brownish white
gravelly grit worn by the wind and weather
from the substratum In many places there
are found irregular curved rims OF lava-like
material marked by wavy ripples. These are
the old basins Of extinct hot springs, and
here and there running down the plateau are
deep trenches through which large streams of
boiling water once flowed. There is yet
much thermal activity beneath the crust of
the plateau, which is fairly honeycombed with
caves and fissures In some of these trenches
there are now small steam holes from which
hot vapors are constantly arising. Halfway
up the plateau there il steam vent from
whose black mouth, some three feet wide and
of unknown depth, steam issues in great vol
ume ard intensely hot Fifty yards further
on the black, yawning mouth of McCartney's
cave lies open on the level. This great chasm
is cool, and has depth of not less than $50
feet. Beyond this, and in front of and about
the hotel, are dozen craters of extinct gey-
sers, one of them LOG feet across. They vary
from 20 to GO feet in depth. They must have
fallen in many years ago, for since then huge
trees have grown on tho debris down in the
pits
The white and red terraces, where the ae-
tive hot springs lie, begin just west of these
oraters The lower tier rises foot by foot
above the plain, and is composed of magne-
sia SO soft in most places that it yields readily
to the tread. Hot springs, richly mpregnat-
cd with sulphur, lie on either hand. In the
foreground are two great columns built by
now defunct springs-one AZ feet high and y
feet in diameter, known as the Liberty Cap,
and the other, not so large, called the DEVILS
Thumb Directly behind these columns the
terraces are piled up one above the other in
steep cliffs, and the ascent is no longer easy.
On the plateaus of all these terraces there are
active hot springs, the greatest display being
made above the lofty red cliff called the Pull
pit Terraces Standing on some one of the
snowy knobs that arise near the little chalky
gorge called Antony's Gate, and looking down
on these crystal-clear pools the eye and the
senses are charmed by the soft beauty, the
varied outlines, and the exquisite blendings
of color which they present had seen
some of Moran's paintings of these hot pools
and always had a suspicion that he had gone
just little wild in his appetite for color eff
feet Now that have seen the springs, I
know that he stopped short of the reality.
The pools are of every possible form, and
vary from an inch to 80 feet in depth. To