Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1914-07-03
HISTORY Of THE
YELLOWSTONE PARK.
Lloyd LehrbaS, Who IS Spending the Summer in
the Park, Writes of the Early History of
That Wonderful Region,

located in the heart Of the Rocky
Mountains, in. the north western
corner of Wyoming with a small
area in Idaho and Montana. The
park is So miles east and west and
62 miles north and south, making
altogether an area pf 2,142, ,72O
acres.
The lowest altitude In the park is
5000 feet, some of the peaks in and
adjacent to the park are Ia 900 feet
high. The district was included in
the Louisiana purchase from France
in 1903.
Legends have been handed down
from generation tp generation
among the Indians Of a wonderfully
strange place in the mountains, near
a glittering river Of yellow stone, :"
where boiling springs spouted forth
spirals of water and where birds,
trees and animals were of stone, and
many other mysterious things, but
being very superstitious, they would
not go into that particular region.
The trappers and hunters had re-
told these legends at the outposts OF
civilization, but no white man ever
saw the wonderful park until John
Coulter, Missouri trapper, left the
famous Lewis and Clark expedition
in 1903 and started on a trapping
trip to the north country. He en-
tered thru the southwestern corner
of what is now the park, discovered
an immense tar spring, passed thru
the geyser and hot spring districts
leaving thru the northeastern cor
ner. He returned 10 st. Louis anC
told of his wonderful travels anC
the strange sights he had seen
The people refused to believe tn
tales he told and called the place h
described "Coulter's Hell' an,
Hell's Acres" and attributed hi
wonderful stories to his vivid imaQ
ination.
The first written account of tn
geyser regions was a description I
the upper and lower geyser basir
by w. A. Ferris, an adventuresom
fur trader who visited the distriC
in 1843.
In 1853 the famous scout, Jil
Bridger. visited the park region ar
wrote an interesting extensive a
count of the park phenomenon. F
was the best informed man of b
time on the park. Bridger had
national reputation as liar al
many of his tales are extravagant
exaggerated. One of his stori
runs about as follow:
He was out hunting in the pa
one day when he spied an el
Quickly raising his trusty rifle
took careful aim and fired. lima
inc his surprise when the elk {
not drop. He fired several me
times with the same results q
then crept cautiously on the e
Suddenly he came in contact W
huge cliff of glass thru which
elk, which was three miles aw
had been magnifed. lThere is
monstrous cliff of glass in the p
called the Obsidian cliff, but
nothing like Bridger's descriptio
Again he SWAN his horse thrr
river Of alum which shrunk
horses legs to nearly nothing
shrunk the return trip to half
outward journey.
Another stoTy.was about Ia
tract of petrifed sagebrush.
the leaves and branches in per
condition. which were loaded y
priceless jewel ls-diamonds, rut
emeralds and sapphires as large
walnuts. and The rabbits and Of
animals petrifed as natural a
life.
DIR. F. v. Hayden, chief Of
United States Geological sur
made an extensive authoritative
ploration Of the park, IN I
greatly adding to the goVernm'
information of the park.
II 1871 a party composed Of
Washburn. surveyor general
Montana: Hon. N. P. Lang
..;.,te,,Aant of tho