News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-09-12
A VALLEY OF DEATH.
A Ravine in Yellowstone Park Which
is Fatal to Animals.

Animated and exaggerated descrip-
tions of mysterious opening in the
Yellowstone Park, known us the valley
of death, have occupied considerable
space i'll the papers of the country.
George d. McCreary, Vice President
of the Market Street National Bank,
who has Just returned from visit to
the great National Park. said yesterday:
- can tell you good deal about the
sub. Get which has really not been
brought out or published, and my in
formant is no less person than Prof.
Hague, who himself discovered the
Valley OF Death, so called. Our party
spent some time camping out there
We had heard considerable about the
valley i'll quest'on and one day we came
across Prof. Hague, who is in charge of
Yellowstone Park, who, with his survey
ing party, was encamped at the Yellow
stone Lake. We asked him about the
mysterious valley of which we had heard
So much. and his story in substance WIS
as follows
"'Thcrc is a valley or rather ravine
of that kind which is undoubtedly death
to auimas, and under some crcum-
fessor. Il know it, and for the best of
reasons myself discovered it. It was
under these circumstances. Tn COM
pany with my corps [ was exploring
the Park, and we suddenly came across
a deep and dark ravine which we had
never before noticed. A little distance
away there stood huge bear, and no
matter how easy it may look on paper
a a.. l. 4
siderable GOODNESS and strategy. We
laid our plans, therefore, and disposed
ourselves according to the best known
rules of strategy, dis sretion being by no
means omitted, and at length advanced
on bruin from ali practicable quarters.
TO our chagrin, we found on arriving
near him that he was dead, and closer
inspection showed that he had been
dead two or three weeks, though he was
wonderfully well preserved. AS there
were no signs Of any wounds that could
have caused his death, the sight set us
to thinking, and We proceeded to follow
it mp. We then searched carefully in
the ravine, and soon found bones in
large numbers some very large, indi-
eating the presence almost of prehistoric
animals, while numbers of bones of
ordinary sizes abounded ON every side.
We came to the conclusion that there
must be poison of some kind in the
ravine, as there seemed no other way to
account for the animals death, so we
returned to the camp to procure the
means of discovering if such were the
fact. Supplying ourselves with litmus
paper, we again entered the rayine and
followed it up. As we held the litmus
paper high or were at certain attitudes
no change was noticed, but when lower
down or when the paper was placed
near the ground it showed at once the
effects of poison, and by its chemical
changes indicated conclusively the pres
ence of carbonic acid gas. As animals
in general are low in the body and hold
their heads down they undoubtedly feel
and suffer from the effects of the poison
where n human being standing erect
would not. OF course there is no vege-
tation of any kind, and it is simply an
arid surface. A better name for it
would be the valley of Bones" for it
isfull of them, and were it not for the
Winter SHOWS and the Summer storms
which wash them away the bones and
skeletons in the ravine would be simply
innumerable.
"Such, in substance" said Mr.. Nc
Creary, twas the Professors statement
to our party, and you can rest assured
that none of us thought it would be
wise thing to take his afternoon nap
there and give somebody beneath a
chance OF promotion. - Philadelphia
Enquirer.