Roanoke Rapids herald. [volume] (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1914-192?, 1920-09-03
"A &ZAA AH AE7eO
Photo BY aKLrsk

at Norris and at Thumb the hot water mas
brought to the surface quantities of white min
eral deposits which build terraces Of beautifully
incrusted basins high up into the air. often ell
quilting trees Of considerable size. over the edges
OF these carved basins p0urs the hot water. MI
croscopie plants called agae grow on the edges
and sides of these basins painting them hues OF
red and pink and blush gray. which glow bril-
liantly At many other points lesser hot springs
occur, introducing strange, almost uncanny, ele-
mems into wooded and otherwise quite normal
landscapes.
The Grand Canyon Of the Yellowstone affords
Il spectacle worthy of a national park were there
no geysers Standing upon Inspiration Point,
which pushes out almost to the center of the can
yon, one seems TO hook almost vertically down
upon the foaming Yellowstone river. To the south
a waterfall twice the height of Niagara PUSHES
seemingly out Of the pineclad hills and pours
downward TO be lost again in green From that
point two or three miles to where you stand ana
beneath you widens out the most glorious kaeid0
scope of color you will ever see In nature Inc
steep slopes dropping on either side 1000 feet ana
more from the pne-topped levels above, are ncon'
ceivably carved and fretted by the frost and the
erosion of the ages.
The fossil forests of the Yellowstone National
park cover an extensive area In the northern por
ton of the park being especially abundant along
the west side of Lamar river for about ~ niles
above its junction with the Yellowstone One
traversing the valley of the Lamar river may see
nj many places numerous upright fossil trunks IN
the faces of nearly vertical walls. These trunks
are not I'LL at particular level but occur ut trreg
ular heights In fact section cut down through
these 1000 feet of beds would disclose n success
sion of fossil forests. That is TO say. after the
first forest grew and was entomhed, there was
time without volcanic outburst--a period long
enough to permit second forest to grow above
the first. This in turn was covered by volcanic
material and preserved, to be followed again by II
period of quiet and these more or less regular al
formations of volcanism and forest growth contn-
ued throughout the time the beds In process
of formation.
The Yellowstone National park Is the larges;
and most successful wild animal refuge in the
world. 1t is Also for this reason, the best and
most accessible field for mature study. Its $500
square miles Of mountains and valleys remain
nearly as nature made them, for the 200 miles of
roads and the four hotels and many camps are as
nothing in this immense wilderness. No tree has
been cut except when absolutely necessary for
road or trail or camp. No herds invade its val
leys Visitors for the most part keep to the beat
ell road and the wild animals have learned In the
years that they mean them no harm. To be sure
they are not always seen by the people In the
automobile stages which whrl from point to point
daily during the season; but the quiet watcher on
the trails may see deer and bear and elk and an
telope to his hearts content, and he may even see
mountain sheep moose, and bison by journeying
on foot or by horseback into their distant retreats
1t is an excellent bird preserve also; 200 spe
cies live natural, undisurbed lives. Eagles are
found among the crags.
Trout fishing in Yellowstone waters Is unex-
celled All three of the great watersheds abound
In trout, which often attain large size Yellow
stone lake is the home of large trout, which are
taken freely from boats, and the Yellowstone riv-
er and its tributaries yield excellent catches to the
skillfu angler
The criticism often made by persons who have
visited granite countries that the Yellowstone re-
gon lacks the supreme grandeur of some others
of our national parks win cease to have weight
when the magnificent Teton mountains just south
of the southern boundary are added to the park.
These mountains begin at the foot of the Pitch
stone plateau a mile or two below the southern
gateway and extend south and west They Dor
der Jackson lake on its west side, rising rapidly
In series of remarkably tOothed and jagged peaks
until they reach sublime climax, 80 miles south
of the park, in the Grand Teton, which rises ca
hedral-lke to an altitude of 1874 feet.
These amazing mountains are, from their ma
ture, component part of the Yellowstone Ma
tonal park, whose gamut of majestic scenery they
complete and no doubt would have been included
within its original boundaries had their supreme
nagnfcence been then appreciated Already Vel.
owstone visitors have claimed IT, and automobile
stages run to Moran and back on regular schedule
In time no doubt part of 1t viii be added formally
to the park territory.