The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1917-08-17
THE TOURIST WILL SEE SHOS-
HONE DAM, LARGEST IN
THE WORLD.
BUFFALO BILLS HOME
Read Lies Through Shoshone Can
yon, With Its Fantastic Red
Sandstones.

stone National Park is called the
Cody entrance, because at Cody
Wyo.. the traveller leaves the train
for a ride of sixty-three miles by
automobile to the park boundary
Cody was founded many years ago
by the famous scout, the late Col
VIM. F. Cody. Buffalo Bill" and is
a typical western plains town. 1t is
situated on a bench or shelf above
the Shoshone River and below the
table-land that stretches away to-
ward the east. 1t is therefore in
visible to the traveller on the roads
from Thermopolis, Basin, Powell
and other Wyoming towns to the
eastward until he comes very near
the limits of the town.
Leaving Cody for the trip to
Yellowstone Park, the road leads into
the Shoshone Gorge, across the Sho-
shone River, and thence to the Bur-
lington station on the plain opposite
the town. From here the road turns
southwestward through the plains
and runs for several miles through
an arid, treeless waste. The sui
phur mill on the east side OF the
river stands out prominently short
distance from Cody.
The wonders of the trip to the park
begin with the entrance to the Sho-
shone Canyon, the stupendous gorge
through which the Shoshone River
takes it's course. On the right lies
Rattlesnake Mountain and on the
left Cedar Mountain. The two con-
stituted a single mountain until the
river cut a deep, narrow cash through
it's center of solid rock. The walls
of the canyon are nearly perpendic-
ular, and yet along the face of Rattle,
snake Mountain the Reclamation Ser
vice OF the Department of the Inter
ior blasted from the solid rock a
splendid road eight miles long.
Great Engineering Feat.
tunnels in the granite walls. This i:
the road that is travelled through tbs
gorge and out to the park. The Gov
eminent found it Necessary to con
struct this road through the ap
parently inaccessible canyon in order
to provide the means of transporting
materials to construct the great dan
of the Shoshone reclamation project
At the upper end of the canyon the
Shoshone Dam itself is reached. This
dam is the second highest in the
world, 32S feet from the lowest
foundation to the top of the parapet
being As feet higher than the Flat.
iron Building in New York. At its
base it is 10S feet thick up and down
stream and only so feet long. On
top it is $50 long and 10 feet thick
The cost of its construction was
$1,356, 5S5, but the value of the crops
raised by the use of the stored water
in 1916 was S601 900, and only about
one-sixth of the irrigable area was
cropped last year. The irrigation
system is being rapidly extended and
several thousand acres will be thrown
open to homesteaders during the au-
tumn
Leaving the dam, the road follows
the shore of the beautiful Shoshone
Lake which was formed by closing,
with the great wedge of concrete, the
narrow cash in the rock walls of the
canyon. Scientists state that this
lake occupies the basin of an ancient
body of water which existed thou
sands of years ago. Where this lake
overflowed the water gradually wore
a passageway through the solid gran
lite mountain, and in the course of
numberless centuries formed the Sho-
shone Gorge.
Wonders of the Gorge.
At the upper end of the lake the
road turns into the valley of the
North Fork of the Shoshone River
and skirts the boundaries of several
large ranches, many of which are
favorite resorts of the big game hunt
err. As the road continues westward
beyond the ranch lands, very noun
famous region appears. The Sho-
shone National Forest is entered at
a point where the valley suddenly
narrOws to a deep canyon. High
mountains on each side of the river
stand like huge sentinels at the gates
of the forest.
Proceeding into the canyon, many
wonderful natural features appear on
every side. The mountains are COM
posed principally of red sandstone
and have been carved into million
fantastic shapes by wind and water
erosion.
Signs attract the attention of yisi-