The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1893-10-13
A RAMBLE OVER UNCLE SANS TERRI
TORY.
NUMBER THREE.

surprisingly large number of people
go through the park in wagons or on
horseback, taking along camping outfits;
numerous camp sites are marked with
signs for such people. No standing
timber is allowed to be cut, but campers
can use for their fires all they choose of
what has fallen. This is the best, for
the climate is so dry the wood is as well
seasoned as if put in kiln; rotten log
is a great rarity The park is heavily
wooded with a peculiar sort of pine that
has few branches and grows perfectly
straight, and there is no underbrush
whatever The soil is so thin that the
roots do not penetrate over foot, but
spread around just under the surface, so
that high wind sweeps them down like
ten pins, they lie in windrows every
where; those in one locality all falling
one way; each root showing broad but
very thin matt. Fire is very strictly
guarded against, as when we'll started it
is apt to sweep over large district.
Every where are warnings to campers TO
extinguish all fires when they leave the
last camp; if they do not each man will
be marched to the park entrance on foot,
60 miles possibly, between two mounted
troopers, and his outfit confiscated. One
party was so treated just before we
reached their camp. When fire starts
the soldiers have to turn out and fight it,
a long and disagreeable job, and they
naturally do not like the prospect. The
formations at all the geysers and springs
are carefully guarded by the soldiers,
nothing must be broken or removed, and
no names written anywhere. Occasion
ally one of those strange beings who is
filled with the idea that the great world
especially wants to know that John
Smith has been to some particular place,
contrives to write his name on some for
nation and yet not be observed; favor
ite place for such scribblers is on the
bottom of one of the shallow transparent
pools. He thinks he has done wonder
full thing, and later he finds he has, for
the guard discovers the name, it is tele-
graphed to the Mammoth, and when,
his trip finished he arrives there and
registers, the troopers at that point are
notified of his arrival, whereupon he is
Immediately invited to take walk back
so or 60 miles between two of them
mounted, get down on hands and knees
and clean off his name from whatever
place he had put it. One man was routed
out of bed in one of the hotels at a. IN.
and compelled to get down and erase his
wonderful name from one of the forma-
tions. No one person is allowed to do
anything to mar the comfort of the great
visiting public. We reached the Nam
moth at noon, found large and airy rooms,
and after lunch spent the afternoon in
viewing the wonderful terraces, which
are the finest in the world since those OF
New Zealand were destroyed by an earth
quake few years ago. Close to the ho-
tel is the cone of an extinct hot spring
which is supposed to have been hun
dreds of years in process of formation
1t is about fifteen feet in diameter, 40 in
height, and resembles giant club. The
terraces are perhaps 100 feet high, anC
$50 to 300 feet wide, circular in shape
closely resembling giant waves flowing
down from the hills back of them. The
top is a gOod-sized level space, where
several hot springs pour out steaminl
water which fills numerous small basins
and then tlickles slowly down the face o
the great mass, staining it in various
colors, according 20 the mineral in th,
water of the different springs. The eff
feet is somewhat like colored marble, a
the main substance is pure white, will
ribbons of color of varying width, run
ming down 1t.
There are a number of terraces whicl