Another Summer Part 1

Another Summer.

by Charles J. Gillis.

CHAPTER I.

THE START FOR ALASKA.

Our long trip to Alaska and return, nine thousand miles in all, commenced on June 17, 1892, at the Grand Central Station, New York.

Arriving at Chicago the next afternoon, we obtained a good view of the great exposition buildings from our car windows as we pa.s.sed along the lake front. Shortly afterward we were dumped down at the wretched sheds of the Michigan Central Railroad. It rained very heavily, and ourselves and hand baggage were somewhat wet pa.s.sing a short distance to a carriage. We soon crossed the Chicago River to the Northwestern Depot, boarded the train, which left at 11 P.M., and arrived at the beautiful modern city of St. Paul at 1 P.M. the next day. The Hotel Ryan was found to be very comfortable, and everything in and around the city is bright and cheerful. Great business activity, and immense and costly buildings are especially noticeable.

Running along the streets are great numbers of s.p.a.cious and elegant cars drawn by cables. We hailed a pa.s.sing one, got in, and went slowly and carefully through the crowded streets, up and down hills, with great speed and ease, into the country for some miles, pa.s.sing many elegant private residences, as costly and fine as any to be seen in any city in the world--notably one built and occupied by Mr. Hill, president of the Great Northern Railroad, now about completed to the Pacific Ocean, whose name you hear mentioned often as one of the great railroad magnates of the West. The streets are clean, the sidewalks wide, the front yards of the houses crowded with beautiful plants and flowers, and in all respects we concluded that St. Paul is a most delightful city.

CHAPTER II.

ON THE WAY TO THE YELLOWSTONE.

LIVINGSTON, MONTANA, June 22, 1892.

We left the city of St. Paul at 4.25 P.M. on the 20th, by the Northern Pacific Railroad, and arrived here at 8 A.M. this morning. A section on the sleeping-car had been previously engaged, and we found it and the dining-room car attached to the train all that could be desired, so that we thoroughly enjoyed the entire trip. Pa.s.sing through the Bad Lands was a wonderful experience. Great mountains of clay or stone, in all sorts of grotesque shapes and of many colors, constantly attracted our attention until we reached the Yellowstone River, which was higher than it had been for many years. Here things began to look serious, as frequently the dirty and rushing flood came near to the track, and the rise of a foot or so would have caused a wash-out, and have stopped our progress; but for many miles before we reached this station, the engineer moved the train of ten cars very carefully, and we were only two hours behind time. There has been a bridge burned beyond this place, and some bad wash-outs are reported by pa.s.sengers coming East, who say that they had to travel around six miles on foot, through a country infested with rattlesnakes, leaving their baggage behind; but we expect that all will be clear on Monday, when we shall have been through the park, and will be ready to go on from here West.

There was the usual crowd of "all sorts and conditions" of men on the train--young ranchmen, bright eyed, intelligent, and alert, one of them being an English lord, but I did not know this until he left the car at a way station. All had tales to tell of life in these parts, one of which was that the stage running from one of the stations at which we stopped was "held up" three times last week, and the pa.s.sengers robbed. This town is a new one, with a lot of small wooden houses and stores, but as the hotels did not look very attractive, we took our breakfast on the dining-car attached to a train about to start for Cinnabar, on a branch road, and an excellent meal we had.

CHAPTER III.

YELLOWSTONE PARK.

MAMMOTH SPRINGS HOTEL, YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, June 23, 1892.

Leaving Livingston at 9 A.M., we travelled by rail forty-two miles to Cinnabar, the entrance to the National Park. We pa.s.sed along the valley of the Yellowstone River, now a much swollen, turbulent, and rushing stream, hemmed in by mountains reaching their lofty heads thousands of feet high. In one place there had been a land-slide some hundreds of feet long, which had carried down all the earth and trees into the valley, leaving the rock bare, and presenting a very rugged appearance. There were numerous farms and ranches on the route, with cattle and cultivated fields. The road bed was in good order, the cars excellent, and the trip exceedingly interesting and enjoyable. At Cinnabar, we took a stage for eight miles to this hotel. The road is a very good one, pa.s.sing over rushing streams and along the bases of great mountains, amidst magnificent scenery. Beautiful flowers line the way and are in the fields, while the mountains are partly covered with snow. We hear that the road to the lake is blocked with snow, and impa.s.sable. This hotel is an excellent one, the food, attendance, and rooms are good, and for a day we are resting preparatory to commencing the tour of the park. Here are located the barracks for the United States soldiers in charge of the reservation, these being now two hundred mounted men, who act as police, and constantly patrol the roads, watching for poachers, and generally keeping everything in order. From the front of the hotel we look upon the hot springs, which have been throwing out hot water and steam, no doubt for ages, and have formed a large terraced hill of soda or lime-like material, the surplus water finding its way, partly through subterranean pa.s.sages, to the river.

CHAPTER IV.

THE GEYSERS AND PAINT POT.

FOUNTAIN HOTEL, YELLOWSTONE PARK, June 23, 1892.

This morning at eight o'clock we left the Mammoth Spring, in a strongly built and comfortable wagon drawn by four horses, with eight pa.s.sengers and a careful driver, and soon commenced to see the wonders of this remarkable park. The road ran near three lakes, each measuring a hundred acres or more--one green in color, one blue, and one yellow--the like of which cannot, I think, be seen anywhere else on earth. On examination, I found that the water was clear, and that the p.r.o.nounced and brilliant colors came from chemical deposits on the bottom of the lakes. We did not linger long to look at these remarkable phenomena, but drove on, and were soon pa.s.sing over a road made of natural gla.s.s, by the side of a great mountain of the same material. I picked up several pieces of this gla.s.s, and found that it was green in color, and looked like any other gla.s.s, while alongside the road and up the mountain we saw large ma.s.ses of the same material.

The only conclusion we could arrive at was, that in some prehistoric time the materials of which gla.s.s is composed must have been in juxtaposition, and were fused into their present form by a volcanic eruption. It is safe to say that nowhere else on earth is to be found a roadway made of gla.s.s.

We reached this hotel at 6 P.M., and saw near by the first of the geysers, spouting hot water fifty feet high. We made our way over a thin crust to see this geyser, so thin that it seemed as if we might break through and disappear forever, reminding me of a former experience, when walking along the edge of a volcano in j.a.pan, a place was pointed out where two guides who had wandered from the path, broke through the crust and were lost. We pa.s.sed on to examine what I consider the most extraordinary natural phenomenon to be seen on the face of the earth. It is called the Paint Pot, and is a depression of about thirty by forty feet, with walls of hardened clay three or four feet high. In this so-called pot are half a dozen or more cones, much like inverted flower pots, about six inches in diameter at the top, and two or three feet high. From the centres of these there are constantly flowing streams of hot clay, each stream of a different color, varying from pure white to brown. In other parts of the big pot the soft clay was coming slowly up from centres and overflowing, forming figures like flowers, very beautiful to look at. The soldier who escorted us was very polite, but would not permit us to carry away a bit of the clay, though there were tens of thousands of tons lying about. We could see, near by and at a distance, several other geysers, spouting water fifty or more feet high, and we learned from the guide books that there are no less than ten or twelve thousand boiling springs and geysers within the reservation, which is sixty-five miles long by fifty-three wide, containing about three thousand four hundred and seventy-five square miles. We were informed that after sunset a bear came regularly, back of the hotel, to regale himself on the refuse thrown from the kitchen, and I went to see him; but the mosquitoes were very thick, and proved such an intolerable nuisance that I was obliged to go away without getting a look at the beast.

CHAPTER V.

THE UPPER GEYSER BASIN.

June 24, 1892.

After a good night's sleep, we left the hotel at half-past eight this morning for an excursion to the Upper Geyser Basin, forty miles distant. The roads were in bad order, very dusty, and the mosquitoes thick. Geysers and boiling springs were to the right and left, everywhere. At one place we got out of the wagon, and crossed a bridge over a small stream to what is called the Devil's Half Acre. There were really a dozen or more acres, containing great volumes of steam and hot water rushing up and around. Many little streams ran toward a big basin, some of them yellow, some green, and some blue, but on examination I found that the water itself was clear. The mud or clay which formed the bed of the streams, or was being carried along in the current, was colored. We thought the Devil's Half Acre a dangerous as well as a disagreeable place, and, recrossing the little stream, continued on our way, arriving at the hotel at the Upper Geyser Basin in four hours. We had just arrived when we were informed that the famous Old Faithful Geyser, which has spouted for many years every sixty-five minutes, would go off in a short time. It is situated a few rods from the hotel, and as we drew near, it commenced to spout up an immense column of water and steam one hundred and fifty feet or so in height. Then, in about five minutes, it subsided into a hole in the ground. We could hear the roar of the steam and water underneath, the commotion shaking the ground.

Soon after this exhibition, another geyser, called the Bee Hive, situated near the hotel, spouted, and made a splendid display. I think we saw in this basin as many as twenty large spouting geysers, and hundreds of boiling springs, many of them of surprising beauty. One, which attracted my attention particularly, was a slowly boiling spring which threw up colored clay, and looked exactly like a large sponge.

This was about three feet long, two feet wide, and as many high.

Driving along the road, we frequently saw signs put up by the Government: "Do not drive on here," and "Danger"; so one is impressed with the idea that some day the tremendous volcanic power underlying this entire valley may burst out and make one vast crater of lava, mud, water, and steam.

CHAPTER VI.

THE GRAND CANYON, AND THE FALLS OF THE YELLOWSTONE.

GRAND CANYON HOTEL, June 26, 1892.

We left the Upper Geyser Basin at half-past eight yesterday morning, stopped for lunch at Norris's at noon, and, branching off, arrived here at 3.30 P.M. The road was on the banks of or near the Gibbon River for many miles, and was very rough. Twice we forded the river, and once the pa.s.sengers were obliged to leave the wagon and remove a fallen tree from the way. At another place, a tree a foot in diameter had fallen across the road; the party all got out, and the driver had to jump the wagon over the obstruction, at the risk of breaking the vehicle. The road from Norris's was in good repair, and from it we had a fine view of the great Yellowstone Falls, and then drove on to find comfortable accommodations at this hotel, the views from which are very magnificent. Mrs. Marble and I, accompanied by a guide, and Mr.

and Mrs. Hunter, of Canada, took a walk toward the Grand Canyon, about half a mile off. Crossing some fields, we entered the pine woods. The whole park has been repeatedly burnt over, and there is everywhere an immense number of prostrate pine-trees, some of which are very large, and appeared, when we saw them, to have been lying on the ground many years. In this vicinity, however, there is quite a forest of new growth, all about the same size, from six to ten inches in diameter, and ten to a dozen feet apart, making a very pretty park. Here we came suddenly upon a big black bear lying down; he got up, took a look at us, and then in a leisurely way walked off. It was a fine specimen, weighing, we judged, about two hundred and fifty pounds, with long, clean black hair. Mr. Hunter ran on toward the animal, but we called to him to come back, and the bear, turning his head, gave us another look, and disappeared in the forest. We walked along to the banks of the rushing and roaring river, ascended a high cliff, and looked down upon the great falls and the tremendous canyon, the walls of which are several hundred feet high, colored bright green in some places, and in others red, yellow, or violet.

The whole scene was magnificent, grand, and gloomy. In the middle of the river, near where we stood, was a column of rock some hundreds of feet high, apparently ten yards in diameter at the bottom, and just large enough at the top for an eagle's nest. One had been built there, and we saw the young eagles stretching their necks, and opening their mouths, as all kinds of young ones do when hungry. The parents were soaring about, and evidently keeping a watchful eye upon us and their progeny, but the little ones were safe, as nothing but a ball from a rifle could reach that nest. From this point we had another fine view of the Falls of the Yellowstone, both lower and upper. The upper fall has been measured, and found to be one hundred and twelve feet high and eighty feet wide.

The wild animals in the reservation are carefully protected by the custodians, no one being allowed to use a gun, and consequently they have become comparatively tame, and have increased in numbers. Pa.s.sing along the roads, we saw on one occasion two deer, and at other times an elk and an antelope. The superintendent, in his official report, says that there are in the park four hundred head of buffalo, a few moose, numerous elk, estimated at twenty thousand, and large numbers of bears, which latter are sometimes troublesome. A herd of twenty or thirty elk was seen near this hotel on the morning before we arrived.

CHAPTER VII.

DOWN THE COLUMBIA RIVER TO PORTLAND.

PORTLAND, OREGON, July 1, 1892.

After spending six days in the Yellowstone Park, which would have been far more comfortable if there had been less dust, fewer mosquitoes, and better roads, we again returned to Livingston, and took the train coming from the East at 8.15 P.M. All the next day and night and the day following we were pa.s.sing through mountain scenery of wonderful beauty and grandeur, until at 11 P.M. we were landed at Pasco Junction, there being a cross-country railroad from that point to the Union Pacific, on the banks of the Columbia, where we wanted to go.

There was a large station at Pasco, but not a porter nor a carriage to be seen. Many drinking places were open, and I interviewed several of the patriots who were lounging about in their shirt sleeves--for the thermometer registered one hundred degrees--and they pointed out the way to Cook's Hotel, about a quarter of a mile off. Finally a porter came to our a.s.sistance and escorted us to the hotel, which was about as poor a one as could well be--close, hot, and uncomfortable. The beds were as hot as if there was a fire under them, and we, of course, slept but little. In the morning, after looking at a bad breakfast, which did not tempt our appet.i.tes, we got into the caboose of a freight train, and a very rough trip of two hours brought us to Wallula Junction, where the thermometer stood at one hundred degrees in the shade. Here we changed cars, and after two hours' more riding, reached the Union Pacific Railroad, where we once more enjoyed the luxury of seats in a Pullman. There was no dining-room car attached to this train, but it stopped at a station for half an hour, and we were supplied with an excellent dinner. The polite and kind conductor told us not to hurry, that he would not start until we had all the dinner we wanted. We were about eight hours running on or near the southern banks of the Columbia River. The water was very high, and often ran swiftly over rough rocks in the bed of the stream, and around the bends with great force. The river appeared much wider than the Hudson, about the same width as the Danube at Vienna. The great rivers of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America all have their attractive peculiarities, and I often recall my remembrances of the St. Lawrence, Hudson, Mississippi, Rhine, Elbe, Danube, Seine, Nile, and Ganges with the greatest pleasure and satisfaction, and am thankful that I have been permitted to see them; but I must acknowledge that the Columbia, in beauty and grandeur, far surpa.s.ses them all. For long distances, you look out upon the wide and rushing water, and up to the lofty mountains which border the banks and far beyond, some covered with snow, and as picturesque and beautiful as anything an artist could dream of.

One of the most interesting things to be seen on the trip down the river is the method of catching salmon, which, as is well known, are as fine as any in the world. They are caught in immense numbers and sent to all parts of the country. During the dry season, a wall is built about twenty-five feet from the sh.o.r.e, forming a ca.n.a.l through which the water rushes with great force. In this ca.n.a.l is placed a large wheel, something like those on a sidewheel steamer, under which the water pours, causing it to revolve in a direction contrary to the current. The salmon swimming up stream try to jump over this obstruction, and falling into the wheel, are tossed up on a platform, and thus captured.