The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-01-20
IN DEATHS VALLEY
Description Of the Yellowstone Ma
tional Parks Fatal Gulch.
SKELETONS BY THE SCORE
Noxious Gases Which Are De-
structive of All Animal Life
with Which They May
Come In Contact.

The accounts that were once current
regarding the deadly nature of the
upas tree of Java are well known. The
exhalations from this tree were sup
posed to be so deadly that nothing
could live within a radius of 10 or IL
miles from 1t. Foersch, a celebrated
Dutch surgeon, says that such was
the virulence of the poison that there
are no fish in the waters, nor rat,
anouse or other vernin have been seen
there, and when any birds fly so near
this tree that the effiuvia reaches
them, they fall a sacrifice to the eff
fects of the poison"
Out of a population OF / 800 persons
who were compelled on account of civil
dissentions to reside within IL or IA
miles of the tree. not more than 300
remained dn less than two months.
But these ancient fables have been
found, like many a travellers tale, to be
a highly colored and greatly exagger-
ated account of "a natural phenomenon.
The upas tree is known to have a poi
sonous sap, but the deadly effects at
tending a visit TO 1t are now readily
explained in quite a different manner.
This tree occasionally grows in certain
low valleys in Java, rendered unwhole-
some by an escape of csrbonic acid gas
from crevices in the ground, and which
Is given off In such abundance as 90
be fatal to enimals that approach too
closely. These valleys are connected
with numerous volcanos in the island,
and the escape of noxious gases may
be traced directly to them. The famous
Death Valley of Java was one of these.
Therein every living thing which pen
etrated the valley falls down dead,
and the soil is covered with the car
cases of tigers, deer birds, and even
the bones of men, all killed by the
exhalathons of carbonic acid gas with
which the bottom of the valley is
filed
The accounts OF this Death Valley
have been shown by Junghuhn, a re-
cent Investigator, to be much eXag-
gerated, for the valley" instead of
being half a mile across, is a funnel
shaped depression hardly over 100 feet
in diameter. In the middle of this de-
preston is a hole some 10 feet I'm diam
eter from which gaseous emanations
are given of, which sometimes accu-
mulate TO a depth sufficient to enveIop
and suffocate animals on the bottom of
the hollow Junghuhn's visits extend
ed over a period of IL years, and he
was thus enabled to study 1t thorough
ly. He found that the amount of gas
varied greatly at disenent times, but
rarely rose over two and a half feet
above the bottom. On one of his Wis
its ne found the body of a Javanese
native in the depression, and on Wis
iting it Is months later the same body
was there, and still undecomposed, ow-
ing TO the preventative action of the
layer of gas.
In the Yellowstone National park,
however, there is a locality that is in
many ways worthy to rank with the
famous Javaese Death Valley. This
place, TO which was given the appro-
pirate name of Death Gulch, was dis
covered in July. 1888. by w. II. Weed
of the geological survey and the writer
IT is situated in the extreme northeast
ern portion of the park, on Cache
creek, several miles above its conflu-
ence with Lamar river, or the east
fork of the Yellowstone, as II is often
called. 1t is easily reached by a horse
back ride of about five miles from Soda
Butte. the mail station on the route
between the Mammoth Hot Springs
and the little mining town of Cooke
City, Mont.
In the center of the former hot
spring area of Cache creek, the creek
makes a broad pool. which "boils" flu
riously from the action of escaping
gas. and is, in fact, a natural soda
water fountain. Small particles of sui
phur are also floating in the water, and
are being deposited about the edge of
the pool. Just above the pool the creek
has cut through a bank of sulphur
and gravel, and a few yards beyond is
the deboushtre of a small lateral gully
or gulch coming down from the mount
ain side. Following up this gulch we
come WITHIN a quarter of a mile to the
end. or rather beginning. which Is a
scoop" or basin about two hundred
feet above the creek. The sides of the
gulch, except at the head, are very
steep. and in the bottom flows a tiny
stream of cold, clear water, sour with
sulphuric acid.
We were making our way up this
gulch. and had just entered the termi-
nal portion, when our attention was
directed to a huge silver-tip grizzly
bear within 20 yards of us. He was
in such a natural position that we sup
posed him TO be asleep, but a closer in
spection showed him 10 be dead. The
body was perfectly fresh, and could
hardly have been dead two hours. We
examined the body very carefully for
bullet holes or other marks of injury.
but beyond a few drops of blood un-
der the nose there was not the slight
est trace of violence. But during this
examination We were conscious of the
near presence of other decomposing
animal matter. and a short examina-
ton revealed the presence of the more
or less decomposed bodies OF four more
bears. an elk, several squirrels. rock
hares. besides numerous dead butter
flies and other insects. one OF the
bears was "A gOod-sized cinnamon bear.
and was in an advanced stage OF de-
composition. The other skeletons We're
almost denuded Of flesh. although the
claws and much of the hair remained.
At first. We We're unable TO account
for this strange accumulation Of dead
bodies Of animals until choking SEN
sation OF the lungs suggested the pres
ence OF noXious gases. and the death
or the animals by asphyxiation. The
hoiloWs were tested with lighted ia
pers Tor the presence OF carbonic acid