Dodge City times., 1890-11-21
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL
PARK.

PARK.
The following interesting letter was received
sometime ago, but was not published for want of
space. II is from the Den Of Jesse Bratley. Ford
| county boy.
The writer has just made two
weeks trip to the Yellowstone Nation
al Park, and thinking description OF
the many interesting things to be seen
there, might be of interest to the read
ers of The Times, short accounts OF
some of the objects seen, are here CIV
en-.
l Joined company Of four. We
had wagon to haul our provisions and
bedding, and also horses to ride, as We
could not drive to every point Of inter-
est. Where roads we're not made they
were reached only by trails, and We in
tended seeing everything worth looking
at. We entered the park about twen-
ty yards from Gardiner City, Mont.
and followed up the Gardiner river six
miles to the Mammoth Hot Springs
composed Of terraces, one above anoth'
er, built up of water formations to great
heights, the colors being from a bright
red to a snow white. The water runs
quietly over these terraces, year by year
adding one-twentieth of an inch each
year. BY laying wood, leather or met
al in the waaer, the surface will in a
short time, become coated. The Dew
lis Kitchen, a cave forty-eight feet
deep, entered by ladder, then Liberty
Cap, an extinct geyseer cone, standing
about fifty feet high and tie Bath Pool
which we tested and found excellent
together with several other interesting
offsets were found here.
After leaving the Mammoth Springs
about three miles on our way to Nor
ris. we pass by the Golden Gate, a SOL
id wall of rock standing more than per-
pindlcular over the passers-by head, to
the height of 300 feet, and the canon
below about 200 feet, the rocks being
covered with yellow moss. Passing
out at the west end of the gate, the
Rustic Falls are seen, dropping sixty
feet over rocky wall and disappearing
under the rocks below. The roads
leads through narrow valley, from
where, ten miles distant may be seen
a range of mountains covered with
snow. About twelve miles from Mann
moth Springs Obsidian Cliff is passed;
it is mountain of deep ulack but clear
and beautiful colored glass. It takes
its name from Obsidius who first found
the glass in Ethiopia. The wagon
road by it was built in peculiar way.
1t was done when blasting powder was
little if any used. They built fires ov-
er the glass, and when hot poured wa
ter over it, and it would fly in many
pieces. Passing on through forests of
stately pine, we pause by the roadside
and witness the boiling of clear water,
splashing and steaming continually.
which we thought quite wonder; but
only few miles more, and We were in
the Norris Geyser Basin, which has sew
eral geysers, spouting to the height Of
25 to 30 feet and the Mammoth which |
throws water to the height of 100 feet.
On getting up in the morning and look
ing over to the hill towards the geysers
it seems as if large manufacturing |
city was there, from the clouds Of steam
arising. From here tourists can 60 two
ways-one by the geyser basins or by
the Yellowstone Falls, the last being
preferable, as the steep mountain be-
tween the lake and lower basin is gone
down, instead Of up, by the latter way.
Twelve miles from Norris, We beheld
the granduer of the Yellowstone Falls
and Grand Canyon. The upper falls
are $50 feet, while the lower falls are
800 feet. A horse ran in the river
above the falls and the current carried
him over both; he was never seen after
passing the last falls. The river is
quite wide above the cataracts, but it
narrows down until it looks like sill
yer cord below the falls. The Grand
Canon begins at Lower Falls and is
about 10 miles in length, its huge walls
from l, 200 to 1900 feet in height
composed of all the various colors the
mind can conceive, and at each hour Of
the day, the visitor can see new sights
and yet remain in the same place. An
eagles nest on high pinnacle Of rock
was to be seen, and at the time Of our
visit, we could see the younger eagles
and the old bird, soaring around ard
around above. We could not spend all
our time viewing the canon, SO We
started on towards the lake, passing
Sulphu, Mountain, so named on &C.
count of sulphur in an almost pure
state is found here. We passed Jupi-
ter's bath and then mud geysers, throw
ing mud about the consistency Of mush
and person seems to want to stay
longer until they understand it better.
Passing on up the Yellowstone River
about seven miles, We beheld Yellow.