Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, October 28, 1923, Page 3

WONDERS OF THE YELLOWSTONE AS TOLD BY PIONEER TRAVELER Third Chapter of Story Written Half Century Ago ~_, Relates Interesting Discoveries in Visit to Great Wonderland BY N. P. LANGFORD, Scribner’s Magazine, May 1871) ‘ CHAPTER IIL Crossing this stream the next morning, we passed over several rocky ridges into a valley which, for a long distance was crowded with the spires of protruding rocks, which gave it such a dismal aspect that we named it “The Valley of Desolation.” The trail was so rough and mountainous that we were able xo sravel Dut six miles before the usual hour for camping. Much of t! “|cipline, is seldom borne in mind. A tance was through fallen timber, al- aeaeie most impassable by the pack train. bapa hays coetay Naa? A mile before camping we discover- ed on the trail the fresh tracks of], P70 the summit of a command: (From ing range, which separated the unshod pontes, indicating that a . party of Indians had recently passed| acy Cf ,Antelope and Tower oven ae Lieutenant Doane, with We descended through a pic- one of our company, had left us in the morning, and did not come into camp this evening. One of our horses broke his lariat during the night and galloped through the Pp, rousing the sleepers, who grasped their guns, supposing the Indians were really upon them. We started early the next morn- ing and soon struck the trail which had been traveled the preceding day ‘by Lieutenant Doane. It led over ® more practicable route than the one we left. The marks made in the soil by the travats (lodge-poles) jon the alde of the trail showed that it had been recently traveled by a number of lodges of Indians—and a Aittle colt, which we overtook soon fter making the discovery, con- ‘iInced us that we were in thelr im: Imediate vicinity. Our party was weparated, and if we had been at- ‘acked, our pack-train, horses, and tores would have been an easy inquest. Fortunately we were un- pmolested, and, when again united, ade a fresh resolution to travel as much in conipany as possible, All Precautionary measures, however, nless enforced by the sternest dis- turesque gorge, lending our horses to a small stream flowing into the Yellowstone. Four miles of travel, @ great part of it down the Precipi- tous slopes of, the mountain, brought us to the banks of Tower creek, and within the volcanic re- sion, where the wonders were sup. posed to commence. On the right of the trafl our attention was first attracted by a small hot sulphur spring, a little below the boiling point in temperature. Leaving the spring we ascended a high ridge, from which the most noticeable feature, in a landacape of great ex tent and beauty, was Column Rock stretching for two miles along the eastern bank of the Yellowstone At this distance from which we saw it, we could compare it in appear- ance to nothing but a section of the Giant's Causeway. It was composed of successive pillars of basalt over- lying and underlying a thick stratum of cement and gravel re- sembling pudding-tone. In both rows, the pillars, standing in close proximity, were each about 30 feet high and from three to five feet in diameter. This interesting object. more from novelty of its formation | and its beautiful surroundings of mountain and river scenery than anything grand or impressive in its appearance, excited our attention, until the gathering shades of eve- ning reminded us of the necessity of selecting a suitable camp. We descended the declivity to the banks of Tower Creek, and camped on a rocky terrace one mile distant from, and four hundred feet above the ‘Yellowstone. Tower creek !s a mountain torrent flowing through a gorge about 40 yards wide. Just below our camp it falls perpendicularly over an even ledge 112 feet, forming one of the most beautiful cataracts in the world. For some distance above the fall the stream is broken into a great number of channels, each of which has worked a tortuous course through a compact body of sha'e to the verge of the precipice, where they re-unite and form the falls. The countless shapes into which the shale has been wiought by the ac- tion of the angry waters, add a feature of great interest to the scene. Spires of solid shale, capped with slate, beautifully round and Polished, faultless in symmetry, raise their taperiug forms to. the height of from 80 to 150 feet all over the plateau above the cataract. Some resemble towers, others the spires of churches, and others stil) shoot up as lithe and slender as minarets of a mosque. Some of the loftiest of these formations, standing like sentinels upon the very brink of the fall, are accessible to an ex- pert and adventurous climber. The Position attained on one of their narrow summits, amid the uproar of waters and at a helght of 250 feet above the boiling chasm, as the writer can affirm, requires a steady head and strong nerves; yet the view which rewards the temerity of the exploit is full of compensations. Below the fall the stream descends in numerous rapids, with fright- velocity, through a gloomy gorge, to its union with the Yellowstone. Its bed {a filled with enormous boulders, against which the rushing waters break with great fury. he Casper Many of the capricious formations wrought from the shale excite merri- ment as well as wonder, Of this kind especially was a huge mass 60 feet in height, which, from its sup- posed resemblance to the prover- bial foot of his Satanic Majesty, we called the “Devil's Hoof.’ The scenery of mountain, rock, and forest surrounding the falls is very beautiful, Here, too, the hunter and fisherman can indulge their tastes with the certainty of ample reward. As a half-way resort to the greater wonders still farther up the marvel- ous river, the visitor of future years will find no more delightful resting- Place. No account of this beautiful fall has ever been given by any of the former visitors to this region. The name of “Tower Falls,” which we gave it, was suggested by some of the most conspicuous features of the scenery. Early the next morning several of our company left in advance, to explore a passage for our pack- train over the mountains, which were very steep and lofty. We had been following a bend in the river— but as no sign of a change in its course was apparent, our object was —by finding a shorter route across the country, to avoid several days of toileome travel. The advance party ascended a lofty peak—by barometrical measurement, 10,580 feet above ocean level,—which in honor of our comamnder, was called Mount Washburn. From its sum- mit, 400 feet above the line of per- petual snow, we were able to trace the course of the river to its source in Ye'lowstone lake. At the point where we crossed the line of vege- tation the snow covered the side of the apex of the mountain to the depth *of 20 feet, and seemed to be as solid as the rocks upon which it rested. Descending the mountain, we came upon the trail made by the pack-train at its base, which we followed into camp at the head of a small stream flowing into the Yellowstone. Following the stream in the direction of its mouth, at the distance of a mile below our camp, we crossed an immense bed of voleanic ashes, 30 feet deep, ex- tending 100 yards along both sides of the creek. Less than a mile be- yond, we suddenly came upon a hideous-looking glen fil'ed with the sulphurous vapor emitted from six or eight boiling springs of great size and activity. One of our com- pany aptly compared it to the en- Sunday Cribune trance to the infernal regions. tt! which yielded the least, but which looked like nothing earthly we had ever seen, and the pungent fumes which filled the atmosphere were not unaccompanied by a disagreeable sense of possible suffocation. Enter- ing the basin cautiously, we found the entire surface of the earth covered with the incrusted sinter thrown from the springs. Jets of hot vapor were expedded thriugh a hundred natural orifices with which it was plerced, and through every fracture made by passing over it. The springs themselves Were as diabolical in appearance as the witches caldron in Macbeth, and needed but the presence of Hecate and her weird band to realize that horrible creature of Poetic fancy. They were all in a state of violent ebullition, throwing thelr liquid contents to the height of three or four feet. The largest had a basin 20x40 feet in diameter. Its greenish-yellow water was covered with bubbles, which were constantly rising, bursting, and emitting sulphurous gas from var- jous parts of its surface. The cen- tral spring seathed and bubbled like @ boiling caldron. Fearful volumes of vapor were constantly escaping it. Near it was another, not 80 large, but more Infernal in appear. ance. Its contents, of the consist ency of paint, Were in constant, noisy ebulition. A stick thrust into it, on being withdrawn, was coated with lead-colored slime a quarter of an inch in thickness, Nothing flows from this spring. Seemingly, it is boiling down. A fourth spring, which exhibited the same physical features, was partly covered by an overhanging ledge of rock. We tried to fathom jit, but the bottom was beyond the reach of the longest pole we could find. Rocks cast Into it increased the agitation of its waters. There were several other Springs inthe group, smaller in size, but presenting the same charac- teristics, ‘The approach to them was unsafe, the incrustation surrounding them bending in many places beneath our weight—and from the fractures thus created would ooze a su'phury slime of the consistency of mucilage. It was with great difficulty that we obtained specimens from the natural apertures with which the crust {s filled,—a feat which was accomp- Ushed by one only of our party, who extended’ himself at full length upon that portion of the _incrustation was not sufficiently strong to bear his weight im an upright position, and at imminent risk of sinking into the infernal mixture, rolled over and over to the edge of the opening, and with the crust slowly bending and sinking beneath him, hurriedly secured the coveted prize. There was something so revolting in the gen appearance of the springs and their surroundings—the foulness of the vapors, the infernal contents, the treacherous incrusta- tions, the nolsy ebullition, the gen- eral appearance of desolation, and the seclusion and wildness of the location—that, though awestruck, we were not unreluctant to continue our journey without making them a second visit. They were probably never before seen by white man. The name of “Hell Broth Springs,” which we gave them, fully expressed our appreciation of thelr character. oo Information Asked Of Wreck Victim Any person having any informa- tion relative to Feines E. Causey, one of the victims of the Cole creek railroad wreck, is asked to gom- Have Youa Cold or Cough? Read What This Woman Says: Blair, Nebr—‘In my younger years I had very weak lungs and as I grew older seemed to become sus ceptible to weather conditions to such an extent that I always seem ed to have a cough or cold. I took Dr. Pierce's Golden Medical Discovery as a tonic and builder and found {t to be so helpful to me that I used no other medicine or doctoring for a period of about seven years. I did not take it continuous- ly but just whenever my system seemed to require a tonic. That was twenty-five years ago and my lungs are in good condition today.” —Mrs. L. H. Lothrop, 211 East Lin- coln St. | When run-down you can quickly pick up and regain vim, vigor, vital- ity by obtaining this Medical Dis-| covery of Dr. Pierce's at your near-| est drug store in tables or Nauia| Advertisement. VANS RID HG d fi He Ht Huy TAREE gatas . Fm EW PCE elit be Wes evry Have you bought your Riverview Acre? Only 24 miles of Casper’s postoffice, 14 North and South Railroad and the proposed round house and shops, 4 We are selling 1 acre tracts that will cut up into exactly six 50- foot lots, and we are selling them from $50 to $600 per acre, or an average of $300 per acre. ii f it, $300 an acre, and six 50-foot lots to the acre, would atardag els’ eb Who ever heard of a 25-foot ye in eae r selling for less than $150, and we are giving 560x140 foot lots, wae in, stan average of only $50.00 per lot, and surrounded by average only $50 per lot. land that you can’ right now. Look at Jimsville sold in city Look at Home Gardens sold f Look at Stewart’: SS er HERE | — THI OMIT LE RUPEE TERT AUVITINAT EY | SHEMERDOE ig SESS Ggh == == 00/661 0 0 ae | | HAS Aw) 1 1 Q $ S PAGE THRE? 1 Sa ee HUNTERS ATTENTION municate it to Claude Moore, gen- eral delivery. Mr. Moore, who {s an old friend of the Causey family in Taft, Cal., particularly desires to know where Causey was employed during his residence here and where he lived. Causey was an oll field worker by HAIR. ""Snmpinc tace JACK C. MILES~400 16” ST. | occupation. ————< For results try a Tribune Classik London has & woman bookmaker. fled Ad. Pigeon's Fresh Roasted Coffee a Tastes Better—Goes Farther—Always Good 228 East Second St. Phone 623 || | = = ~. met A favored gift for Mother, Father, Husband, Wife, Daughter, Son or Friend. A GRUEN WATCH oe DIAMONDS Our reputation is behind every diamond we sell. For gifts we have an exclusive collection of artistically set stones. A Small Deposit Will Hold Any Gift Until Miele ART JEWELER tik OS. I. SCHWART. DIAMONDS Zz 9S999-0-09-49946-0-04-6404-9-06-1-0-04-9-346-6-0-00--04-4-0-09000. °° NY REFINERY Raye} O Anni in UHH] | mile off the pavement on the Alcova road 4 miles of the Southwest Casper school, and as we have done with with our customers. $500 to $600 acre lots $50 cash and $20 per month. $300 to $400 acre lots, $25 cash and $15 per month. Don’t wait on the weather.. Come to the office and make your selection off the map. Look at your lot an your money back. noe JOHN M. ENGLAND REALTY CO. *t buy for less than $1,000 to $2,000 per acre, lots at an average of $1,200 per acre. ‘or $1,000 to $1,500 per acre, 8 Addition sold for $1,000 per acre. Look at the location on the map, all much farther out than River- view. $ 50 acre lots, $5 cash Look at Ca: foot lots $3¢ 00 to $400 each or If you are looking for a speculation you can’t beat Riverview in Casper or the west today. will be worth two years hence, when Casper has tion, and on our terms there is not a workingman or woman who mile south of *he Midwest Refinery and the new all our additions, we are dividing the melon rey’s Addition adjoining Riverview on the north, 50- $1,500 to $2,000 per acre. Think what your acre, six 50-foot lots 0,000 popula- cannot afford to own 1 or more acres. $100 to $200 acre lots, $10 cash and $ 5 per month. and $5 per month, ytime in two weeks, and if not satisfied select some other lot, or ask for