The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1916-03-23
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MT stop. We want to see something
lively, and get our moneys worth. Now
in Seattle there was something going on
all the time.
However, having learned something
about the Yellowstone before we went
there, Will and | were in no wise alarm
ed by the fact that there seemed moth
ing doing" inside the Gardiner Gate, but
drove on, with great expectations.
The area of the Park, increased by
adjacent Government Forest Reserves is
something over 1000 square miles, and
the Circuit Road, over which the aver
age tourist makes his siXday coaching
trip. is about $50 miles long, and covers
but small proportion of the vast area
of Park territory. The wild animals.
deer, elk, bear. ETC., roam at will
throughout the entire Park, but are pro-
tected from all molestation, and conse
quently have no fear OF the traveller. and
and are to be seen in great numbers.
Our party in the four horse stage was
a merry one, and we quickly found that
the Wylie employees, "savages" though
they were, were jolly crowd of young
people, college girls and boys for the
most part, who were earning a little
money in their summer vacations. After
the seasons work was over they were
all anticipating free trip through the
Park, by the courtesy of the Wylie
management. We speedily learned that
the Park has a local vernacular all its
own. Besides the ''savages' and 'dudes'
aforesaid, we discovered that Scissor
bill" meant driver of two-horse rig,
that a ''skinner" drove four horses,
that the boys who built the fires and
carried water, and did the general err
rands about the tents were "pack-rats. !"
while those who took care of the stables
were entitled "barn-dogs. Further
more any ''spooning' on the part OF the
"savages, or any tendency to wander
off two by two in the evening, was speed
lily dubbed ''rotten-loggIng," a term
more descriptive than elegant. There
were many more expressions quite as
original as these, but save for learning
that a "swattie'' is a soldier. this was
as far as our education progressed. and
at that we felt that our vocabulary was
greatly enriched.
Soon after leaving the entrance be-
hind US, we found ourselves entering the
Gardiner Canyon. The road ran close
beside the rushing waters of the Gardi-
ner River, which it crossed four times
within mile, the steady up grade slow
ing the horses down to walk. On the
left rose tall pinnacle of rock, at the
apex of which balanced an eagles nest.
As we looked we fancied we saw the
craning necks of the eaglets with their
wide open beaKs awaiting the return of
the parent bird, who much to our disap-
pointment was not in sight. Electric
Peak, that we had seen from Bozeman,
lifted it's snow-covered head on our
right, towering far above the lesser
mountains that seemed to hem US in on
all sides.
The Boiling River, emptying into the
Gardiner, and easily distinguished from
it by the rising steam, gave us our first
| glimpse of a phenomenon that was tc
become a common sight within the next
few days. This river was fed by under.
ground waters from the MAMMOTH Hot
Springs, close at hand. A sharp turn ir
the road brought US out on a level plat.
eau, and we drove past Fort Yellow
stone, the military center of the Park,
and the Mammoth Hotel, not yet oper
for the season, to the Hot Springs Form
alton beyond. Liberty Cap, the extinct
crater of hot spring, tall grayish
white cone forty feet high, formed Of
overlapping layers of shale-like deposit,
was the outpost of the Formation, -
and shortly after passing it we came to
a stop at the foot of the Terraces.
Here we alighted from the stage tc
climb up to view of the Mammoth Hot
Springs at close range. The scramble
up over the grayish shale-like "forma.
ton" was strenuous one, lsrgely owing
to the altitude, the lowest valley in the
Park being something like 5000 feet
above sea level,-but the strange and
wonderful sights fully repaid the effort.
The terraced rock rose tier after tier,
covered with wonderful deposit of deep
creamy yellows and browns, and on each
tier the boiling, steaming water con.
stantIy OVERLOOKED, forming fantastic
stalactites of gorgeous cream and gold
The wonderful coloring is due to the con-
slant trickle of the water, with It's de.
posits of lime silica and sulphur, and il
the water for any reason ceases to flow,
the deposit quickly loses It's brilliant color
for the faded grayish white of the
surrounding Formation. We picked our