Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1886-09-25
ressGrfg.ta nEaerrs
ssas1islss. i - I /. /. j.
The Beauties Of Wonderland Depicted
IN Il Ianner Both Pleasing and
Instructive.
Scenes and Incidents Oh the Road
From the Hot Springs to Grand
Canyon.
Pilgrims Progress.
For lie T,'52,3,ne.

For he IfthitHe.
expect that the TRIBUNE readers have
had d surfeit OF the National Park ard PHI
grim, hut have rot to keep s;tyin. some
thing ahout it or no one will believe that I
was there. So for giRdic.:tion I will con
after ogr arrival at Hot Springs nearly all
Of tile members OF the association took
coaches for Cinnahar ell route home prin-
cipa1ly for the reasen that there were not
sufficient transportation facilities The
rush of the grand army excursionists was
far in excess of the expectations of the
managers. The latter did all IN their pow
er to satisfy tourists but they We're simply
overwhelmed. | never saw so much kick
ing III half an hour as / did that morning
when the coaches were being loaded for
the trip through the Park. | had no rea-
son to complain for I had no ticket but
stood with oyereoat in hand ready to take
the first vaca1t seat. Fortune favored ME
at last and secured me q place in one Of J.
4. Clark livery rigs with four high school
principals from Chicago and a railroad
| President from st. Louis. As had once
| taught country school and had always
aspired to the presidency Of some gstael
! highway | Of course felt perfectly at home
in that party. | intended to palm myself
off for a Wall street king and and ex-army
officer, but in al evil moment I had for
gotten to remove my press association
badge. They saw it and so there was
nothing left for me but TO acknowledge
my guilt and indigence. However, they
seemed to think better Of me when in
formed them that / had not been in the
business long, and hadn't become totally
depraved as yet.
After leaving A.-nnoth Hot Springs We
Immediately con1nys@ed the ascent Of a
mountain. The road is carved out Of the
rocks and as We slowly wound around the
great mass and looked t3ov.3 ;,1+o the deep
canyon on our left Ya s,,sEe forci15ly re
minded OF oaT in>i@nisioaBca Had the
horses become unraly a1sG tipped us 100
near those awful depths. my accident poll
cy would have been CT some use. But we |
had q good driver who WasE. t trying to see
how near he coald come 20 the edge WITH
os:t going over. Towering sloEt Il un-
spoat-abe grandeur IS q TIL reed nlountain
:.eress the gorge, ii marked contrast TO the
gentle little Rustic Falls which sparEzles |
and plays At il feet. Up through the gold
en Gate. which j. 4 narrow pass through
tie rocks ana probably takes It's t2.sle from
its gilded coloring Out GA the level, !
open plain for Il while we occasionally
e4tcll sight Of isolated snow drifts, hiding
away II the gloomy pockets Of the moan
ta:ns to getaway from the Witherln@ breath
OF old 81. We pass Beaver Lake which
a>Eits narne indicates. IS formed by those
hessE builders o. reservoirs ana dams They
did a good job on this one and put on the
touches by setting out beautiful
liFpads for border thereby lntil<:fsci 1t at
tractiVe for ducks. reese and other f0yzi.
which were holding a NATIONAL confer
ence there when we passed by: With
glance 1T Mineral Lake we move on to the
cliffs, stopping occasionally by the
assayside t. refresh ourselves with cooiinr
drinks from the crystallin rills. which here
and there, burst slniiiagly forth from the
smitten rocks. The 03,sidian Cliffs amount
to nothing less than a mountain Of glass.
They rise In almost vertical columns from
The shore Of Beaver Lake. They are of
course. Of volcanic origin and the guide
book says that they are from $50 to $50
feet in height and 1000 feet in length.
The road is worked ont at the base Of the
cliffs. It was my first drive over q GLASS
highway. The best quality Of the obsilian
IS perfectly black with no white speehs.
If anyone goes there expecting to see g
clean clear mountain of glass that he can
zee into or see himself in he will of course
be disappointed, but these cliffs are prom
nent among the wonders OF the Park and +;
ire unequaled by any volcanic glass cliffs
n the world. When the sun shines uron .
hem the effect is dazzling. We halted
sor dinner at the Norris Geyser Basin !,
where we found that our ravenous apne~ ,
ties We're to be appeased only with the ,
srumbs which had ..falled from the table,
# the ubiquitousEFsG. A. r. excursionist
The hotel proprietor did the best he could J.
lnder the circumstances, but the circum-
tances were tough. When a tip to a wait
# won't bring anything it is pretty certain | /
he larder IS empty. After dinner we were
olted over a corduroy road for distance |
It about twenty-five miles, through dense i
crest. Nothing Of interest can be seen {
long this monotonous, rough road i
5ut it is cruel old hurricane that blows q