The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-01-02
A YELLOWSTONE BAROMETER.
How q Spring Tells What Kind of weaths
Is Coming.

NOW u SprAuk A6llS VndC ntuuO o w e6tn0E
Is Coming.
Major Jones. government engineer in
charge of the improvement of the upper
Mississippi and tributaries, and in charge
of the roads and waters of the Yellowstone
park, 10 just back from An exploring tour
through the Shoshone range of mountains.-
which skirts the park on the east, says the
st. Paul Globe. He wa shown by a ranoher
q barometer spring. and found it to be one
of the most wonderful freaks of nature ever
discovered. The major gives this account
of his trip and tho spring:
Sod butte 10 a mound OF tfavert1ne on
q small creek in the northeast portion of
the park. 1t was formed BY the deposition
of sediment from q oalcarsous spring SINH
lar to those at Mammoth Hot Springs. Tbs
spring Ia now dead, bnt along the creek
Just below are several small ones highly
charged with gases and salts OF sulphur,
soda, etc.
.One Of these has developed into a pecu-
liarity that is decidedly unique. Passing
by it recently in the midst of severe storm,
/ was struck with tho peculiar inky black
ness of the sediment upon the bottom of
the spring and the short outlet which leads
its waters into the creek. just then q
rancher came along, and seeing me, said:
See my barometer That spring is the
finest barometer in the United States.
When it's going to rain or raise h with
the weather that spring gives the hull snap
away by turning 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
svenin' kinder get mixed and mingled all
over 1t, and she's a daisy then. The bottom
turns whittier than a swan when it's going to
snow, redder than a volcano when it's going
TO be hot, areener than an emerald when
q tenderfoot looks in it,
II thought he was telling me a fairy
story. A month later found me again at
the spring. The day was semi-clesr. but
fine. Ominous little clouds were gathering
in the upper sky and it was getting to be
something of a question what was coming.
SNOW in tho mountains in November Is
something serious.
"'Going to have a little change in the
weather. suggested l to the rancher. who
stood near me.
mot much, partner; barometer says no.
II went to the 8 prinR. The blacknsss
was wholly gone. and in its place was the
pearly gray of the morning, while in the
outlet the gray was softly blended with del
icate hues OF pink and carmine. 1t was
beautiful to the eye, but the fumes Of the
hydro-sulphuric acid were unbeatable.
1T is q very curious fact that the sedi.
ment from this spring changes color with
the changes of weather.
"When mother earth wrinkled out the
Rocky mountains there was left a very soft
and tender spot in the region whore the
Yellowstone park o lies. Here her sur
face crust of rock was softened from close
contact with the heat which is supposed to
hold her interior in a fluid condition, and
there was a raging of volcanoes through
craters and 6ssurss many miles in length.
The face of nature must have been a lurid
show in those days. Great rivers of melted
rock flowed down the mountain sides
spread over great areas OF valley and plain
and incidentally piled up the greatest of all
the wonders OF tho park. the Shoshons
mountains. This range 10 a mass of peaks
in width about sixty miles, in length NOR.
than 100. which are almost wholly com
posed of lava. It lies in apparently hori-
zontal beds. ont into mighty canyons b,
the streams and peculiarly weathered into
the vertical cliffs which generally cap tn,
SUBMITS of the peaks. Ihavs measured {
thickness OF over 5000 feet OF lava amont
these lofty peaks. which roach with oonsid-
rable uniformity attitudes of IL, 900 to -
600 feet above the level of the sea. tn,
mountain walls are weathered into peculiar
shapes of colossal magnitude. making tn,
scenery novel and magnificent"