Omaha daily bee., 1889-07-14
DAME NATURES DEATH TRAP
A eulch in whlShIwild Animals Fall
by Thousands.
SMALL AND GREAT ARE THERE.
Forest Denizens of All Sizes and De
scrip,ions Once within the
Grasp of the Deadly Gas
Never Escape Alive.

Another Yellowstone Park Wonder.
The story of Death gulch and its re-
markable discovery is told for the first
time outside of the department at Wash
ington by Henry w. Mcintyre, who ar
rived here short time ago from Mon
tana. says the San Francisco Examiner.
Mr.. Mcintyre has just completed geo.
logical examination of this natures
wonderland for Arnold Hagus, the emi-
nent geologist, in charge OF the survey
! Of the Yellowstone park.
81 have been in Yellowstone park for
over two years now," said Geologist
! Mcintyre, land l have seen many
strange things there in that time, but
! perhaps the strangest OF all Is an actual
death gulch, where large wild beasts,
| birds and insects have perished in at
! tempting to cross it. Myself and others
F., OF the survey discovered it on the 18th
OF last month, while completing our
Z work.
death gulch is a CHASTITY region,
where poisonous gases escape in such
| quantities tha, they kill whatever they
|
about fourteen miles south of the mail
route from Lamar river to the little
mining camp of Butte City, and is only
about three miles from Soda Butte
| creek.
| suLPHURoUs oDORs
GAS you approach Death gulch the
odor of sulphur becomes very notice.
| able, and as you get near to it you eX-
| perience a decided irritation of the
lungs. The gulch ends in scoop
about two hundred and fifty feet above
Cache creek, a phenomenal stream that
winds its way over bed Of natural
glass.
SIN the lower end of the depression
which is V-shaped trench about sew
enty-five feet deep, we found the fresh
body of a large silver-tip grizzly. Be-
side him was Il smaller bear of the same
species in an advanced stage OF decom-
position. Only few feet away, and
scattered at intervals, were the skele-
tons of five more bears and the bones of
an elk. ig.M
"This was not all that was discovered,
however. In the bottom of the pocket
were found the fresh remains of several
rock hares, number of squirrels, and
other small animals. There were myr-
lads of dead butterflies around, too,
and number of other mountain insects.
NO MARKS OF INJURY.
''We looked the grizzlies over care
fully, but could not. find any bullet holes
or other marks Of injury. There were
no marks of violence. The only thing
was few drops of blood on the nose of
the more recently dead bear.
''There was afcinnamon bear about
thirty feet away from him. on the other
side of the gulch.s The body was pcetty
| fo, ha nf hn nfb
were almost denuded of flesh.
1T was very plain from the smell of
the gas about that they had been as
phyXated, just as a man is in a room
where the gas is turned on. 1t smelt
just like the gas from defective pipe
in the street, only stronger. We no
tlced the effect, and began to have a
dull, heavy feeling, which we overcame
at intervals by going up the sides of
the depression for better air.
VARIABLE DENsENESs OF THE GAS.
1T is a well known fact that this gas
lies close to the ground. A man walk
ing across the gulch would not teel the
effect half so much as bear. But if
he stopped down or walked on all fours,
then he would instantly notice the gas,
and die in a mighty short time.
None of us ventured to go clear
across on our hands and feet. We were
fully persuaded that we could not stand
it, but that, like the bears, we would be
asphyxiated unless rescued by our COM
panions.
I'VE were too much surprised and
too much in awe of the horrible Death
gulch to then make all the tests we
could have done. We could, for in
stance, have lighted match and tested
the qualities of the gas, but we were
afraid. We thought it might burn up
the region, or that there might be an
explosion. The matter SO weighed
upon us, howev YER, that on the Goth ult.
we walked more than fifteen miles back
from our camp to take another look at
the gruesome place.
A STRUGGLE FOR LIFE.
"There was a deer in the gulch this
time, and he could not have been dead
more than a day. From the deep inn
prints of his feet in the bottom of the
gulch it was evident he had foundered
around in a vain attempt to get out. The
body of the once-fresh grizzly had ad-
vanced in decomposition, and was
slightly offensive. Some more dead
rock hares were also found.
''The gas, however, was not escaping
SO strongly as when we first discovered
the place. The exudations did not af-
sect us SO much. Then we tested the
hollows for carbonic acid gas with
lighted tapers, but there was not
enough to catch fire. There was
strong wind prevailing at the time, and
this may have had something to do
with it. Our tapers were blown out
and the gas, as we. believe, was blown
| away. tar
''There was still strong smell of
sulphur and a choking sensation of the
lungs, however, especially when we
| stopped down.
From what We saw we were per-
suaded that the gas came forth in ir-
regular volumes. Sometimes there
would be lot of gas, and sometimes
there would not be nearly so much.
"a visit to the grounds below the
scoop, too, was productive of an impor-
tant discovery. We found there sew
eral scattered remains of wild animals,
which had evidently been washed down
the scoop by freshets. These fresnets
occur every spfipg, and sometimes
oftener, owing 70 the variableness of
the season, and when they come they