Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1886-12-31
IDAHO VOLCANOES.
Nature n the Western Wonderland Sudden
Changes in the Bad Lands Mysterious Dis
appearances.

IDAHO VOLCANOES.
Changes in the Bad Lands Mysterious Dis
appearances.
Denver TribuI.e-Republican.
The extraordinary volcanic eruptions
in New Zealand have given an impetu
to the study of such phenomena in our
own country and else where, writes
Boise City, Idaho, corresp ondent. Be-
sides the technical interest which these
outbreaks of nature have aroused, the
masses have been profoundly impressed
by the published accounts of them. and
the volcanic centers have been the sub
jects of much speculation in regard to
the probability of similar eruption.
Fire Hole basin. in the Yellowstone Ma
tlonal park, has been the main cause of
this solicitude. Here the physical con-
| ditions are a counterpart of those at the
aAtipodes. We have similar geysers and
boiling springs, embryo cFaters, and mud
| pots in all stages of action aud all the
| varied results of a slow but long contin-
ued aqua-volcanic disturbance. What
ever may be the probability of a serious
outburst in this locality in the future,
| the evidences of past eruptiUns are not
wanting. Some of these must have been
| stupendous, for, gagged by the outpour-
| ing of volcanic matter, the late eruptions
| in New Zealand sink into insignifcance.
| Within a radius of five hundred miles the
| evidences of severe convulsionsare every
where abundant and extendidg toward
| the west as far as the Sierra Nevadas a
volcanic strip may be seen, following the
natural decliyity of the continent, and,
although of varying depth and area,
| possessing the same lgneous characters
tics throughout. That these flows have
| proceeded from different though closely
| allied sources is unquestioned, and that
the Fire Hole basin has been the central
| and most active of these seems equally
| certain.
The area of disturbances have been
| proportionally large, and included the
| surrounding bad lands, which may be
said to have. scarcely cooled. Here
the springs still retain their warmth be-
coming occasionally agitated from below,
and the varieg ated soil, of soft volcanic
mud, is still under the Influence of sub
| terIanean action. These bad lands are
| experiencing steady and often sudden
| cnange, lake sometimes marking ths
! spot where hill stood the day before
ths whole having apparently sunk into
| the bowels of the earth and Its place filled
| by the subterranean waters. Horse and
rider have been engufed while pursuing
| their journey through this region, and
| many of those who have mysterlously
! disappeared have been traced to the bad
| lands where all signs of them have been
lost. The regions about the headwaters
of the Madison, j Jefferson and Wind riv-
ers in Montana and Wyoming Offers in
addition, the most favorable conditions
| for fosilization, the amorphorous strata
being prImeval geological paradise.
This wonderland is too well known to
! need any description here. Passing west
| over the Rocky mountains we come IN
| der the headwaters of the Snake river
| Here beyond the granite axis of the
main range, we encounter the same vol
| canic eruptions. First, as scattered lava
| boulders which become more numerous
| until they form a thin lava sheet through
which the streams have cut their way
| deep into the country rock. The over
| flow, howevr, Is In patches, until the
| great bend of the Snake river Is reached'
| BY reference to the map it will be seen
| that this great bend commences at Eagle
| Rock, Idaho, and extends through the
| southern part of that state as far as the
| month of the Burnt river, in Oregon.
on the globe, known as the great Snake
river lava desert. Occupying surface of
10000 square miles it covers the entire
country with lava blanket varying in
depth from ten to one hundred feet. The
| region however is not entirely desert, as
its name would imply, but on the con-
trary large portions are as diversified as
the fertile valley of CaifUrnIg. Several
rivers which take their rise in the snow
capped SawUooth range course through
the country, INTO which they have cut
deep gorges, and finally disappear from
view. These ''lost rivers" as they are
called are the GASES of the desert, and af-
ter their disappe arance they may be heard
rumbling beneath the lava for many
miles.
The general aspect of the country is
weired in the extreme. The lava rises to
the view, taking every conceivable form
the fantastic in nature being here exGm-
plified without limit. Deep assures in
tersect it at frequent intervals and many
of those that have been sounded are faith
omless. A falling bowlder can be heard
reverberating against the sides of the
chaSm for minute or more, and until
the sound dies away in the depths. This
fact has led many to the local assure
theory of the flow, and although several
reports have been published claiming
that some of these assures are still III ac-
ton, they have not as yet been verified
and are perhaps groundless.
Toward the foothills, where the flow has
been arrested, the lava Is curved and lash
ed into pillows, upon which the wa7eiets
can be seen with remarkable dlstinctness.
Their one can draw fauciful figure of
n,,It l ono
short dashed waves of fire rise in an end
less succession as far as the eye eau
reach, crest upon crest, its torn and visit
ed bosom the spot OF the furious TEN pest
raging above. An Atlantic storm in fire
could then be seen, and as now we sit up
ON the hilltop, We have the picture trans
fixed in all its awful grandeur and fury,
This lava upheaval oyeriays in great
part gravel deposit which Is OF the same
nature as the present ben of Snake river
The Oregon Short Line railway traverses
the desert from American Falls to Shes
hone, distance of one hundred miles.
The engineers have pierced the lava for
water, which has been encountered in the
gravel beneath at depth of from $50 to
800 feot. Gold was discovered in this
gravel when the wells were sunk, aud the
variety is much courser than the flour
gold found in Snake river. There is lit
tie doubt that this gravel, now so far be-
meath the surface, will some day form
the basis of profitable mining industry.
Tie difficulty of prospecting the deposits
has drawn attention from them, but the
theory that the Snake river gold has been
leeched from this source, and the easy
railway communication, promises al ear
ly development of this deep gravel min
ing district.
The lava desert is visited in the winter
season by copious showers, which collect
in large pools, but in the other SEASONS
it is dry and parched. Only the
hardy sage-brush thrives the year
round, but during the rainy period, and
until early spring, buffalo grass sprouts
from the crevices, forming feed for the
deer antelope, and ether game, which,
driven from the snow bound mountains
of the north here find secure retreat
during the winter. In fact, the lava is
then the sportsman's paradise. The
dikes and lodges from a convenient shelf
er, and one can approach the game walk
ing for several miles through circuito7s
lanes of lava. At every clearing the game
will be found quietly browsing on the