The Yellowstone National Park Part 11

It was throughout a most fortunate combination of circ.u.mstances that made this consummation possible. A Superintendent thoroughly devoted to the care of his important charge, and fearless in the execution of his duty; a scout who had the nerve to make an arrest full of peril to himself; the existence of a winter telephone line to the heart of that inaccessible region; the presence at Mammoth Hot Springs of a representative of that journal which holds first rank among the protectors of the Park; and uncommon good, luck in minor details, caused this important event to cast its influence into the national councils almost before the echo of the poacher's rifle shots had died away among the mountains. Howell's act was a misfortune--a grievous misfortune--to the game interests of the Park; but its immediate result in legislation will prove a benefit of far greater consequence.

Howell was brought to Mammoth Hot Springs and was there imprisoned in the Fort Yellowstone guardhouse, and his case reported to Washington.

As there was no law for his trial and punishment, the Secretary of the Interior in due time ordered his release. He was accordingly put out of the Park and forbidden to return without permission. But with his habitual disregard of authority, he came back during the following summer and was discovered by the Superintendent in a barber's chair at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. He was promptly arrested and tried under the new law for violating the orders of the Superintendent in returning. He was convicted and sentenced to one month's imprisonment and fifty dollars fine. He thus became the Park Haman--first to be hanged upon the gallows of his own building.

Howell appealed the case to the U. S. District Court sitting at Cheyenne, Wyoming, and was released upon the technical ground that, as the prohibition against returning to the Park was merely an order from the Superintendent, and not explicitly authorized by the regulations of the Secretary of the Interior, the offense did not come within the purview of the law. This defect in the regulations has since been remedied and the conviction of Howell, therefore, notwithstanding his final release, has all the force of precedent.

PART II.--Descriptive.

CHAPTER I.

BOUNDARIES AND TOPOGRAPHY.

At the time when the bill creating the Yellowstone Park was before Congress there had been no detailed survey of that region, and the boundaries, as specified in the bill, were to some extent random guesses. The exploring parties of 1870 and 1871 had seen all the more important points of interest. To include these in the proposed reservation, the framers of the bill pa.s.sed two lines due east and west, one through the junction of the Yellowstone and Gardiner Rivers, and one through a point ten miles south of the most southerly point of the Yellowstone Lake; and two lines due north and south, one through a point ten miles east of the easternmost point of Yellowstone Lake, and one through a point fifteen miles west of the most westerly point of Shoshone (then called Madison) Lake. The nearly rectangular area thus resulting was found to lie mainly in the north-west corner of Wyoming, with narrow strips, two or three miles wide, overlapping into the Territories of Montana and Idaho. The mean dimensions of the Reservation were 61.8 miles by 53.6 miles, giving an area of 3312.5 square miles.

By presidential proclamation, dated September 10, 1891, a large area to the east and south of the Park was set apart as a Forest Reserve, under the provisions of an Act of March 3, 1891, and was placed in charge of the Superintendent of the Park. By this action the area reserved from settlement around the sources of the Yellowstone was increased to about 5,000 square miles. It should be remembered, however, that this additional reserve is not a direct creation by Act of Congress, and it therefore does not stand upon the same substantial footing as the original Reservation.

The chief topographical features of the Park are as follows:

DRAINAGE AREAS.

Three great rivers receive the waters of the Yellowstone Park--the Yellowstone, the Missouri, and the Snake. The first two rivers are on the Atlantic slope; the third is on the Pacific slope. The areas drained by them are approximately:

By the Yellowstone. 1,900 square miles.

By the Missouri, 730 square miles.

By the Snake, 682 square miles.

The Yellowstone River has its source in the snow drifts of Yount Peak, twenty-five miles south-east of the Park. It enters the Reservation six miles west of the south-east corner; crosses it in a direction somewhat west of north, and leaves it at a point about nineteen miles east of the north-west corner. Near the center of the Park it flows through the celebrated lake of the same name, and further north pa.s.ses through two remarkable canons before it leaves the Reservation. Its princ.i.p.al tributaries within the Park are the Lamar River (commonly called the East Fork), from the east, and Gardiner River from the west. The Lamar River rises nearly due east of the outlet of Yellowstone Lake and flows north-westerly, joining the main stream near Junction b.u.t.te. Its princ.i.p.al tributary is Soda b.u.t.te Creek, which rises just outside the north-east corner of the Park and joins the Lamar River near the extinct hot spring cone from which it derives its name.

Gardiner River is the second largest tributary of the Yellowstone, and drains the extensive area between the Washburn and Gallatin Mountains.

The low-water discharge of the Yellowstone River, as measured by the writer, in 1891, a little below the lake outlet, is 1,598 cubic feet per second; as measured by the United States Geological Survey, in 1886, 1,525 cubic feet. The discharge at the north boundary of the Park can not be less than 2,000 cubic feet.

The Missouri River drainage flows into the Gallatin and Madison forks of that stream. The Gallatin drains only a small area in the extreme north-west corner of the Park. The Madison is formed by the junction of the Gibbon and Firehole Rivers, about twelve miles east of the west boundary of the Park. The Gibbon takes its rise a few miles west of the Falls of the Yellowstone, and flows in a south-west direction. The Firehole rises in Madison Lake, and flows north to its junction with the Gibbon. Its princ.i.p.al tributaries are the Little Firehole River and Iron Creek on the west, and Nez Perce Creek on the east.

The Snake River drains the south-west portion of the Park. It rises about fifteen miles south of Yellowstone Lake, just outside the Park.

It then takes a northerly circuit into the Park, receiving the waters of Hart and Lewis Rivers, and leaves the Reservation just north of Jackson Lake. Its princ.i.p.al tributary is the Lewis River, which drains Shoshone and Lewis Lakes. Several large streams, Bechler and Falls Rivers among them, cross the south-west boundary of the Park and join the main Snake further south.

The line of separation between this water-shed and those of the Yellowstone and the Missouri, is the Continental Divide, the irregular course of which can be readily understood by consulting the map.

In the entire Park there are about thirty-six named lakes with a total area of nearly 165 square miles. Of these lakes, twenty-one, with an area of 143 square miles, are on the Yellowstone slope; eight, with an area of perhaps two square miles, are on the Missouri slope; and seven, with an area of about twenty square miles, are on the Snake River slope. The four princ.i.p.al lakes--Yellowstone, Shoshone, Lewis, and Hart--are cl.u.s.tered near the Continental Divide at its lowest point, the first being on the Atlantic slope, and the others on the Pacific.

There are upon the various streams of the Park no fewer than twenty-five interesting water-falls, where the streams descend from the Park plateau to the lower surrounding country.

MOUNTAIN SYSTEM

As the Yellowstone River is the most important stream in the Park, so the Absaroka Range, in which it has its source, is the most important mountain system. It extends north and south along the entire eastern border. To the south it is prolonged under the name of the Sierra Shoshone Mountains as far as the Wind River Valley, while north of Soda b.u.t.te Creek it extends to the Great Bend of the Yellowstone under the name Snowy Range. The various larger summits are remarkably uniform in elevation. From Index Peak on the north to Yount Peak on the south, there are more than thirty named mountains with an average alt.i.tude of 10,400 feet. The variation from this mean is slight. The range, throughout its length, is full of n.o.ble views, and, as seen from across the Yellowstone Lake, is one of the finest exhibitions of mountain scenery on the continent.

The next most important range is the Gallatin, situated in the north-west corner of the Park, at the head of the Gallatin River. It has about seventeen named peaks, with an average alt.i.tude of 9,800 feet. The highest peak, Electric, is the loftiest mountain in the Park.

The Washburn Range, a detached mountain system, originally known as the "Elephant's Back," is situated between the Grand Canon of the Yellowstone and the Gardiner River. It has seven christened summits, with an average alt.i.tude of 9,800 feet. The most conspicuous peak of the range, as well as the most noted mountain of the Park, is Mt.

Washburn.

The Red Mountain Range is a small, detached group of mountains between Hart and Lewis Lakes. Its princ.i.p.al summit, Mt. Sheridan, affords probably the finest view to be had in that entire region.

The Teton Range lies mainly outside the Park, its northern spurs barely touching the southern boundary. It extends north and south along the west sh.o.r.e of Jackson Lake, and is a very noted range of mountains. Its highest summit, the Grand Teton, has no compet.i.tor for alt.i.tude nearer than Fremont Peak, seventy-five miles distant.

The Big Game Ridge lies along the south boundary of the Park, and is the source of the Snake River. It has six named peaks, with an average alt.i.tude of 9,800 feet.

Besides these various groups of mountains, there are a few detached peaks worthy of note, which can not be conveniently cla.s.sified with any of the princ.i.p.al ranges.

PLATEAUS.

A considerable portion of the Park area is composed of what may be termed plateaus, elevated tracts of land, not so high as the mountain ranges, but much higher than the valleys. Ordinarily, these are to be found along the divides between the larger streams. The more important are the Pitchstone Plateau, between the Snake River and the head waters of the Bechler and Fall Rivers, with a mean alt.i.tude of 8,500 feet; Highland Plateau, between the Yellowstone and the Madison Rivers, alt.i.tude 8,300 feet; Mirror Plateau, between the Yellowstone and the Lamar Rivers, alt.i.tude 9,000 feet; Mt. Everts Plateau, between the Yellowstone and the Gardiner, alt.i.tude 7,000 feet; and the Madison Plateau, west of the Lower Geyser Basin, alt.i.tude 8,300 feet.

VALLEYS.

These form an exceedingly important part of the Park topography. The largest is Junction Valley, including its branches along the Yellowstone and the Lamar Rivers. It is an extensive, gra.s.sy tract, stretching well back upon the mountain sides, and forming a fine pasturage for game. For scientific research, its fossil forests and other features make it an extremely interesting section.

Hayden Valley is the next in size and importance, and occupies an important tract along the Yellowstone River, between the Lake and Falls, mostly on the west side, in the vicinity of Alum Creek.

The Madison Valley, and its extensions up the Firehole and Gibbon Rivers, are chiefly noteworthy as being the locality of the three great geyser regions of the Park.

The Swan Lake Flats, Willow Park, the Shoshone and Falls River Basins, are other important examples of typical mountain valleys.

ALt.i.tUDES.

The lowest point in the Park is at the junction of the Yellowstone and the Gardiner Rivers, 5,360 feet above sea level; the highest is the summit of Electric Peak, six miles distant, 11,155 feet. To give a general idea of the alt.i.tudes of different points in the Park, particularly of those which the tourist visits, the following list is presented:[AT]

Gardiner, Mont. 5,400 feet.

Mammoth Hot Springs hotel 6,215 "

Glen Creek Bridge above Golden Gate 7,245 "

Indian Creek Bridge 7,275 "

Beaver Lake 7,360 "

Norris Road Junction 7,470 "

Gibbon Meadows 7,315 "

Gibbon and Firehole Rivers, junction of 6,780 "

Lower Geyser Basin (mouth of Nez Perce Creek) 7,125 "