The Sully County watchman. (Clifton, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1894, 1893-02-10
THE YELLOWSTONE REGION.
A Living Sprlng That II IN Unfaniar r
wonder.

A Living sprlng That Is an Unf.nias
| wonder.
Mai. Jones, Government Engineer in
charge Of the improvement of the Up
per Mississippi and tributaries, and In
charge of the roads and waters of the
Yellowstone Park, is just back from an
exploring tour through the Shoshone
range of mountains, which skirts the
park on the east. He was shown by
rancher barometer spring and found
it to be one of the most wonderful
fresks of nature ever discovered. The
Major yesterday gave this account of
his trip and the spring:
Soda Butte is mound of traver-
tine on a small creek in the northeast
portion of the park. 1t was formed
by the deposition of sediment from a
calcareous spring similar to those at
Mammoth Hot Springs The spring is
now dead, but along the creek just be-
low are several small ones highly
charged with gases and salts of sulphur,
SOda, etc. ..
"One of these has developed. into a
peculiarity that is decidedly unique.
Passing by it recently in the midst of
severe storm, | was struck with the
peculiar inky blackness of the sedi-
ment upon the bottom of the spring
and the short outlet which leads its
waters into the creek. just then a
rancher came along and, seeing ME.
said:
"'See my barometerp That spring
is the finest barometer in the United
States. When it's going to rain or
raise hi with the weather that spring
gives the hull snap away by turnn'
black all over its bottom. Otherwise.
its bottom is all the same as the lilies
of the field mister. The gray of the
mornin' and the roses and pinks of the
evenin' kinder get mixed and mingled
all over it, and she's daisy then. The
bottom turns whittier than the swan
when it's going to snow, redler than a
volcano when it's goin to be hot,
greener than an emerald when 8 ten
derfoot looks in it..
Il thought he was telling me fairy
story. A month later found me again
at the spring. The day was semi
clear, but fine. Ominous little clouds
were gathering in the upper sky, and
it was getting to be something Of a
the mountains in November is some
thing serious.
"'Going to have title change in the
weather. suggested to the rancher,
who stood near me.
mot much, partner; barometer saws
no.,
Il went to the spring. The black
ness was wholly gone and in its place
was the pearly gray of the morning,
while in the outlet the gray was softlv
blended with delicate hues of pink and
carmine. 1t was beautiful to the eve,
but the fumes Of the hydro-sulphuric
acid were un bearable.
1T is a very curious fact that the
sediment from this spring changes
color with the changes Of weather
Nv hen mother earth wrinkled out
the Rocky Mountains there was left a.
very soft and tender spot in the region
where the Yellowstone Park now lies:
Here her surface crust of rock was
softened from close contact with the
heat which is supposed to hold her in
terror in & fluid condition, and there
was a raging Of volcanoes through
craters and assures many miles in
length The face of nature must have
been q lurid show in those davs.
Great rivers of melted rock flowed
down the mountain sides, spread over
great areas Of valley and plain, and in
cidentally ly piled up the greatest of all
the wonders of the park, the Shoshone
Mountains. This range is mass of
peaks, IN width about sixty miles, in
length more than 100, which are al
most wholly composed Of lava. 1t lies
IN apparently horizontal beds, cut into
mighty canons by the streams and
peculiarly weathered into the vertical
cliffs which generally cap the SUBMITS
OF the peaks. have measured thick
cess of over 5000 feet of lava among
these lofty peaks, which reach. with con-
siderable uniformity attitudes of 10, ,Oog
TO $4,000 feet above the level Of the sea.
The mountain walls are weathered in
to peculiar shapes of colossal magni-
tude, making the scenery novel and
magnificent.
The record Of the rocks shows no
place in all the earth where so much
volcanic energy has been expended and
the geysers and springs now in action
are considered to be part of the dying
throes of the pent-up spirit of volca-
noes. st. Pdut Globe