The Yellowstone National Park Part 5

"I can not doubt, therefore, that at no very distant day, the mysteries of this region will be fully revealed; and, although small in extent, I regard the valley of the Upper Yellowstone as the most interesting unexplored district in our widely expanded country."

Lieutenant Maynadier also contributes a few interesting observations upon this region. The vast importance of that extensive ma.s.s of mountains, as a reservoir of waters for the country round about, impressed him deeply. He says, somewhat ostentatiously:

"As my fancy warmed with the wealth of desolation before me, I found something to admire in the calm self-denial with which this region, content with barren magnificence, gives up its water and soil to more favored countries."

Of the Yellowstone River, he was told that it had its source "in a lake in the impenetrable fastnesses of the Rocky Mountains;" and that for some distance below the lake it flowed through a narrow gorge, up which "no one has ever been able to travel."

[Ill.u.s.tration:

MAP OF THE SOURCES of the YELLOWSTONE AS KNOWN BETWEEN 1860 AND 1870 FROM THE MAP _OF_ RAYNOLDS EXPEDITION OF 1860

_Opp. page 62._]

But it is the map prepared by Captain Raynolds that tells a more interesting story even than his written report. It reveals at once to the eye what was known as well as what was unknown of the Upper Yellowstone. Extending in a south-easterly and north-westerly direction, is a large elliptical s.p.a.ce, within which geographical features are represented by dotted lines, indicating that they are put in by hearsay only. In the midst of a surrounding country, which is already mapped with great accuracy, there is a region wholly unknown to the geographer. A cordon of mountains encircles it, and shows the limit of official effort to gain a correct knowledge of it. Within this enchanted inclosure lies the region approximately defined by the 44th and 45th parallels of lat.i.tude and the 110th and 111th meridians of longitude, which now const.i.tutes the Yellowstone National Park.

There one may catch glimpses, through the uncertain haze of tradition, of the geysers, hot springs, Lake, Falls, Grand Canon, Mammoth Hot Springs, and Two-Ocean Pa.s.s. This was the net result of fifty years'

desultory wandering in and about and over this "mystic" region.

Raynolds' report, it must be remembered, was the first official recognition in any form of the probable existence of extensive volcanic phenomena in the region of the Upper Yellowstone. Had it been published immediately after the expedition, and had not public attention been totally engrossed with other matters of overshadowing importance, this region must have become fully known in the early Sixties. But within a month after the return of Captain Raynolds to civilization there had taken place the national election which was the signal for attempted armed disruption of the Union. A year later found every officer of the Army called to new fields of duty. Western exploration entirely ceased until 1865, and was not vigorously resumed for some years thereafter. Captain Raynolds' report did not appear until 1868, although his map was published several years earlier in order to meet a demand for it by the new settlers in western Montana, Nothing transpired in the meantime to make the general public familiar with this region, and the picture here given is therefore substantially correct down to the date of the celebrated Washburn expedition.

CHAPTER VIII.

GOLD IN MONTANA.

Perhaps the most fascinating pages of American history are those which recount the annals of the discoveries of gold and silver. No one can appreciate the magnitude of those various movements by a simple perusal of statistics of the mineral wealth which they disclosed. He must pa.s.s through the mining belts and note how almost every rod of ground, over vast tracts of country, is filled with prospect holes that attest the miner's former presence. If the trapper carried the tools of his trade to haunts remote and inaccessible, the miner, with his pick and shovel, certainly outdid him. One can readily understand that, as soon as such a movement should be directed toward the region of the Upper Yellowstone, the wonders of that region would speedily be revealed.

The presence of gold in the mountains of Montana was first noticed as far back as 1852. Later, in 1858, the Stuart brothers, James and Granville, founders of Montana, discovered gold in the Deer Lodge Valley; but they were dest.i.tute of equipments, and so constantly exposed to the hostility of the Blackfeet, that they went to Fort Bridger in the south-west corner of Wyoming, and did not return until late in 1860.

It was in 1860 and 1861 that the rich mines on the Salmon and Boise rivers were discovered. In 1862 the tide of discovery swept across the mountains into Montana. The rich mines on Pioneer Creek, the Big p.r.i.c.kly Pear, the Big Hole River, North Boulder Creek, and at Bannock and other points, became known. Although there were scarcely a thousand people in Montana in the winter of 1862-3, the news of the great discoveries marshaled a host of immigrants ready to enter the territory in the following spring. These were largely re-enforced by adventurers from both the northern and southern states, who, with little credit to their courage or patriotism, sought in these remote regions exemption from the tributes and levies of war. The immigrants were welcomed in the spring of 1863 by the news of the discovery of Alder Gulch, the richest of all gold placers. The work of prospecting, already being pushed with vigor, was stimulated to an extraordinary degree by this magnificent discovery. Prospecting parties scoured the country in all directions, often with loss of life through the Indians, but rarely, after the first two or three years, with any substantial success. Some of these expeditions have a particular connection with our narrative because they pa.s.sed across portions of what is now the Yellowstone Park.

The most important of them occurred in August and September, 1863. It was led by Walter W. DeLacy, an engineer and surveyor of some distinction in the early history of Montana. The party at one time numbered forty-two men, although this number did not continue constant throughout the expedition. Its sole object was to "prospect" the country. Evidently nothing in the line of topographical reconnaissance was thought of, for Captain DeLacy says "there was not a telescope, and hardly a watch, in the whole party."

The expedition left Virginia City, August 3d; pa.s.sed south into Idaho until it struck the Snake River, and then ascended that stream to the region about Jackson Lake. Near the mouth of Buffalo Fork a halt was made, a corral was built to hold the stock, and a miners' meeting held at which rules were adopted to govern the miners in the contemplated examination of the country. The party then broke up into small groups and set out in different directions so as to cover as much ground as possible. The last four days of August were spent in this search, but with failure in every direction. This discouragement led to the abandonment of the expedition. Fifteen men set out for home by the way they had come, while DeLacy and twenty-seven men resolved to reach the Madison River and the settlements by going north. A day later this party entered the territory which is now the Yellowstone Park.

The route lay up the Snake River to its junction with Lewis River where the hot springs of that locality were discovered. Here another separation occurred. About half the party went back down the river to re-examine a locality where they thought they had found some fair prospects. They soon returned, however, unsuccessful. The main party under DeLacy ascended the hills to the west of the river to seek a more practicable route. They soon reached the summit of the plateau where they discovered what are now Hering and Beula lakes, and noted their divergent drainage. Thence they pa.s.sed north over Pitchstone Plateau until they struck the valley of Moose Creek. They descended this stream for a few miles and came to a large lake, which they supposed to be tributary to either the Madison or the Yellowstone Rivers. To their great surprise they found, upon rounding its southern point, that it drained _south_ into the Snake. This is what is now called Shoshone Lake.

From the outlet of the lake, DeLacy sent a man down stream to examine the river. This reconnaissance resulted in the discovery of Lewis Lake and the hot springs basin there. When DeLacy resumed his route, he followed along the east sh.o.r.e of the lake to its northern extremity, and then ascended the beautiful open valley of DeLacy Creek. He crossed the Continental Divide at the head of the valley, and camped on the evening of September 8th some miles beyond the Divide toward the Firehole River. The next morning, September 9, 1863, he came upon the considerable stream of hot water which flows down a mountain ravine into the Lower Geyser Basin close by the Great Fountain Geyser.

The reader will learn with some amazement that our party thought little enough of this wonderful locality to pa.s.s directly through it without halt or perceptible delay. Before the camping hour of the afternoon had arrived, they were many miles away at the junction of the Gibbon and Firehole rivers.

The other section of the party, which had gone down the Snake from its junction with Lewis River, soon returned, followed up the river to Lewis and Shoshone lakes, pa.s.sed around the western end of the latter lake discovering its extensive geyser basin, and thence crossed over to the Madison. This stream they descended through the geyser basins, and followed the main party to the settlements.

DeLacy might have pa.s.sed into history as the real discoverer of the Yellowstone wonderland, but for the fact that he failed to appreciate the true importance of what he saw. In that, however, he was no exception to the general rule of immigrants. The search for gold with them so far overshadowed all other matters, that it would have required something more than geysers to divert them, even momentarily, from its prosecution. Although DeLacy kept a daily journal of his expedition, and noted therein the various items of interest along his route, he did not publish it until 1876, long after public interest had been strongly attracted to the geyser regions. He did, however, publish a map of the country through which he pa.s.sed, and on this map he correctly noted the drainage of Shoshone Lake--something which the Folsom, Washburn, and Hayden (1871), expeditions all failed to do. He also noted the various hot springs localities through which the party pa.s.sed. In a letter published in Raymond's "Mineral Resources of the States and Territories West of the Rocky Mountains," in 1869, before the date of the Washburn Expedition, he called attention to the existence of geysers at the head of Shoshone Lake and on the Madison River.

DeLacy's account, as finally published, is an interesting early view of this region, and is remarkable for its general correctness. That he failed to publish his discoveries must be regarded as fortunate so far as the Park is concerned, for the time had not yet come when it was desirable that the real character of this country should be made known.

From 1863 to 1869 there were many other prospecting parties in the region of the Upper Yellowstone. In 1863 one of these parties, numbering thirty or forty men, ascended the Yellowstone and the East Fork to the mouth of Soda b.u.t.te Creek, and thence crossed an intervening ridge to the next northern tributary of the East Fork.

Here all their horses were stolen by Indians. There were left only one or two mules on which was packed all the baggage they could carry, the rest being concealed in a cache. The party then separated into two portions and prospected the country for several days in the vicinity of Clark's Fork. They finally returned, emptied the cache, and descended to the Yellowstone where they found fair prospects near the present north boundary of the Park. The expedition has no permanent interest for this narrative except that it left the two geographical names, "Cache Creek" and "Bear Gulch."

In 1864, a party of seventy-three men under James Stuart pa.s.sed from Deer Lodge, Montana, to the Yellowstone Valley, and thence around the east base of the Absaroka Range into the valley of the Stinkingwater.

The object of this expedition was to punish the Indians for outrages of the previous year, and also to prospect the country for gold. At the Stinkingwater, Stuart was compelled to return home. The party then separated into groups that gradually worked their way back to the Montana settlements. One of these small parties went as far south as the Sweet.w.a.ter River, then crossed to the Green and Snake Rivers, and re-crossed the Continental Divide at Two-Ocean Pa.s.s. They descended the Yellowstone, past the Lake and Grand Canon, and beyond the present limits of the Park. Norris found remnants of their camp debris seventeen years afterward.

In 1866, a party under one George Huston left Virginia City, Montana, and ascended the Madison River to the geyser basins. Thence they crossed to the Yellowstone at Mud Geyser, ascended the river to the lake, pa.s.sed completely around the latter, discovering Hart Lake on their way, and then descended the Yellowstone by the Falls and Canon, to Emigrant Gulch. Here they were interviewed by a newspaper reporter, and an account of their travels was published in the _Omaha Herald_.

They had seen about all there was to be seen in the whole region.

At least two parties traversed the Park country in 1867. One of these gave names to Crevice, h.e.l.l-roaring and Slough Creeks. An account of the wanderings of the other party appeared in the _Montana Post_ of that year.

Many other parties and individuals pa.s.sed through this region during the Montana mining craze. Their accounts appeared now and then in the local papers, and were reprinted throughout the country. By 1869, probably very few of the reading public had not heard rumors of a strange volcanic region in the Far West. In Montana, particularly, repeated confirmation of the old trappers' tales was gradually arousing a deep interest, and the time was fast approaching when explorations for the specific purpose of verifying these rumors were to begin.

CHAPTER IX.

DISCOVERY.

The discovery of the Yellowstone Wonderland--by which is here meant its full and final disclosure to the world--was the work of three parties who visited and explored it in the years 1869, 1870, and 1871, respectively. The first of these expeditions was purely a private enterprise. It consisted of three men, and was the first party to enter this country with the express purpose of verifying or refuting the floating rumors concerning it. The second expedition was of a mixed character, having semi-official sanction, but being organized and recruited by private individuals. This was the famous "Yellowstone Expedition of 1870"--the great starting point in the post-traditional history of the Park. The third expedition was strictly official, under the military and scientific departments of the government. It was a direct result of the explorations of 1870, and was intended to satisfy the public demand for accurate and official information concerning this new region of wonders. It was the final and necessary step in order that the government might act intelligently and promptly for the preservation of what was believed to be the most interesting collection of wonders to be found in the world.[Y]

[Y] For diagram of routes, see Historical Chart, p. 11.

THE EXPEDITION OF 1869.

The question of setting definitely at rest the constantly multiplying rumors of wonderful volcanic phenomena around the sources of the Yellowstone, began to be seriously agitated among the people of Montana as early as 1867. An expedition was planned for that year but came to nothing. A like result attended a similar effort the following year. In 1869, the proposition came near materializing, but fell through at the last moment owing to the failure to obtain a military escort. There were three members of this proposed expedition, however, who refused to be frightened off by any dangers which the situation at that time promised. They had already provided themselves with an elaborate equipment, and were determined, with escort or without it, to undertake the trip. The names of these men were David E. Folsom, C.

W. Cook, and William Peterson, the last named being a native of Denmark. Armed with "repeating rifles, Colt's six-shooters, and sheath-knives," with a "double-barreled shot gun for small game;" and equipped with a "good field-gla.s.s, pocket compa.s.s and thermometer,"

and utensils and provisions "for a six weeks' trip," they set out from Diamond City on the Missouri River, forty miles from Helena, September 6, 1869.

The route lay up the Missouri to the Three Forks; thence _via_ Bozeman and Fort Ellis to the Yellowstone River; and thence up the Yellowstone to its junction with the East Fork inside the present limits of the Park. From this point they crossed to the east bank and followed up the river, pa.s.sing through the many groups of hot springs to be found east of the Grand Canon. On September 21st, they arrived at the Falls of the Yellowstone, where they remained an entire day. Some distance above the rapids they re-crossed to the west sh.o.r.e and then ascended the river past Sulphur Mountain and Mud Volcano to Yellowstone Lake.

They then went to the extreme west sh.o.r.e of the lake and spent some time examining the surpa.s.singly beautiful springs at that point.

Thence they crossed the mountains to Shoshone Lake, which they took to be the head of the Madison, and from that point struck out to the north-west over a toilsome country until they reached the Lower Geyser Basin near Nez Perce Creek. Here they saw the Fountain Geyser in action and the many other phenomena in that locality. They ascended the Firehole River to Excelsior Geyser and Prismatic Lake, and then turned down the river on their way home. They were absent on the expedition thirty-six days.

It is said that these explorers were so astonished at the marvels they had seen that "they were, on their return, unwilling to risk their reputations for veracity by a full recital of them to a small company whom their friends had a.s.sembled to hear the account of their explorations." But Mr. Folsom later prepared a most entertaining narrative of his journey which was published in the _Western Monthly_, of Chicago, in July, 1871.[Z] This article deserves a high rank in the literature of the Park. It is free from exaggeration and contains some descriptions unsurpa.s.sed by any subsequent writer. The article, and personal interviews with the author and his companions, had a strong influence in leading to the important expedition next to be described.

[Z] It is only through the undiminished loyalty of Mr. N. P. Langford to every thing pertaining to the welfare of the Yellowstone National Park that this article has been saved from oblivion. The office of the _Western Monthly_ was destroyed by the great Chicago fire of 1871, and all the files of the magazine were lost. Mr. Folsom had lost or given away all copies in his possession. So far as is known there is but one remaining copy of this issue and that is owned by Mr. Langford. In 1894, Mr. Langford caused the article to be reprinted in handsome pamphlet form, with an interesting preface by himself, and it will now receive the recognition which it justly deserves.

THE EXPEDITION OF 1870.

The Yellowstone Expedition of 1870, more commonly known as the Washburn-Doane Expedition, was the culmination of the project of discovery to which frequent reference has already been made. At this time the subject was exciting a profound interest throughout Montana, and the leading citizens of the territory were active in organizing a grand expedition. General Sheridan, who pa.s.sed through Helena just prior to his departure for the scene of the Franco-German War, spent some time in arranging for a military escort to accompany the party.

The project did not a.s.sume definite shape until about the middle of August, and when the time for departure arrived, Indian alarms caused a majority of the party to repent their decision to join it. Finally, their were only nine persons who were willing to brave all dangers for the success of the undertaking. These nine were:

General Henry D. Washburn, Surveyor-General of Montana, chief of the expedition, and author of a series of valuable "notes" describing it.[AA]

[AA] See Appendix E.