Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1915-08-27
A WONDROUS LAND.
The Yellowstone Region as lanes
Bridger Saw 1t.
AND He WAS A TRUTHFUL MAN

His Adventure With an Elk at the Fa-
nous obsidian Cliff and the Effect
of Ride Through Alum Creek-Sto-
ry of the Mountain That Was Cursed.
| As a teller Of tales Munchausen had
worthy rival in James Bridger, the
celebrated hunter, trader and guide.
whose name and career are part of the
pioneer history Of the west. Bridger
was thoroughly familiar with the re-
gion now comprised In the Yellowstone
park as far back as $780,
In his book, 1.-The Yellowstone Park"
the author, Hiram Martin Chittenden,
brigadier general United States army,
retired, sets down some of the yarns
Bridger told about that land of Won
ders. Many of the Yellowstone coun-
vived to this day, probably because
they have never been capped. The
first story General Chittenden tells re
lates to the celebrated Obsidian cliff,
mass of black volcanic glass with
which all the tourists are familiar. Its
discovery by Bridger was the result of
hunting trip. and it happened in this
way:
Coming one day in sight of mag
nificent elk, he took careful aim at the
unsuspecting animal and fired. To his
amazement the elk not only was not
wounded but seemed not to have heard
the noise of the rifle. Bridger drew
considerably nearer and gave the elk
the benefit Of his most deliberate aim,
but with the same result as before. A
third and fourth, effort met with simi-
lar fate. Utterly exasperated, he seized
his rifle by the barrel, resolved to use
it as club. since it had failed as a
firearm. Rushing madly toward the
elk, he suddenly crashed into an i'm
movable vertical wall which proved to
be mountain of perfectly transparent
glass, on the farther side of which,
still in peaceful security, the elk was
quietly grazing.
stranger still, the mountain was not
only of pure glass, but was perfect
telescope lens, and, whereas the elk
seemed but few yards off. it was In
Another of Bridger's discoveries was
an ice cold spring near the summit of
lofty mountain, the water from
which flowed down over a long,
smooth slope, where it acquired such
velocity that it was boiling hot when
it reached the bottom. This, later in
vestigator of the Firehole river found,
was case in which a hot spring dis
charged into the river bed.
Alum creek, tributary of the Vel
lowstone. received its name from an
accidental discovery by Bridger. One
day he forded the creek and rode out
several miles and back. He noticed
that the return journey was only a
small fraction of the distance going
and that his horses feet had shrunk
to mere points which sank into the
solid ground so that the animal could
scarcely hobble along. Seeking the
cause, he found 1t to be in the astrin-
gent qualities of the water, which was
saturated with alum to such an extent
that it had power to pucker distance
itself.
Bridger also found fine place to
fish: Somewhere along the shore an
immense boiling spring discharges its
overflow directly into the lake. The
specific gravity of the water is less
than that Of the lake, owing to the ex-
pansive action Of heat, and 1t floats in
a stratum of three or four feet thick
upon the cold water underneath. When
Bridger was in need of fish 1t was to
this place that he went Through the
hot upper stratum he let fall his bait
to the subjacent habitable zone and.
having hooked his victim. cooked him
on the way outr'
The visitor to the region of petrifica-
tions in the northeast corner OF the
park and to various points in the hot
springs districts will have no difficulty
in discovering the base material out of
which Bridger contrived the following
picturesque yarn:
"a mountain in the park was once |
cursed by a great medicine man of the
Grow nation. Everything on the noun
tain at the time of this dire event be-
came instantly petrified and has re-
mained so ever since. All forms of
life are standing about in stone where
they were suddenly caught by the
petrifying influences. even as the in
habitants of ancient Pompeii were sur
prised by the ashes of Vesuvius. Sage
brush. grass, prairie fowls. antelopes,
elks and bears may there be seen as
perfect as in actual life. Dashlng tor
rents and the spray mist from them
stand forth in arrested motion as II
carved from rock by sculptor's chisel. |
Even flowers are blooming in colors of
crystal, and birds soar with wings |
spread in motionless fight. wfrile the
air floats with music and perfumes |
siliceous, and the sun and moon shine
with pertrified lightr' 1t is denied, |
though. that Badger was responsible
for the story that even the laws Of |
gravitation were petrified in the region