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[O] A singular and striking coincidence at once discloses itself to any one who compares maps showing the territories operated in by these three companies, and those which belonged to the three great families of Indians mentioned in a preceding chapter. By far the larger part of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s territory, as far west as the main range of the Rocky Mountains, was Algonquian. The American Fur Company’s territory was almost entirely Siouan, and that of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, Shoshonean.

Nor did any company maintain an exclusive monopoly of its peculiar methods of conducting business. The American Fur Company frequently held rendezvous at points remote from its trading posts; and the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in later years resorted to the Missouri River as its line of supplies. In fact, the interests of the two companies finally became to such an extent dependent upon each other that a union was effected, in 1839, under the firm name of P. Chouteau, Jr.

The records of those early days abound in references to the fierce competition in trade which existed between these great organizations. It led to every manner of device or subterfuge which might deceive a rival as to routes, conceal from him important trapping grounds, undermine the loyalty of his employes or excite the hostility of the Indians against him. It often led to deeds of violence, and made the presence of a rival band of trappers more dreaded than a war party of the implacable Blackfeet.

The vigor and enterprise of these traders caused their business to penetrate the remotest and most inaccessible corners of the land. Silliman’s Journal for January, 1834, declares that—

“The mountains and forests, from the Arctic Sea to the Gulf of Mexico, are threaded through every maze by the hunter. Every river and tributary stream, from the Columbia to the Rio del Norte, and from the Mackenzie to the Colorado of the West, from their head waters to their junctions, are searched and trapped for beaver.”

That a business of such all-pervading character should have left a region like our present Yellowstone Park unexplored would seem extremely doubtful. That region lay, a sort of neutral ground, between the territories of the rival fur companies. Its streams abounded with beaver; and, although hemmed in by vast mountains, and snow-bound most of the year, it could not have escaped discovery. In fact, every part of it was repeatedly visited by trappers. Rendezvous were held on every side of it, and once, it is believed, in Hayden Valley, just north of Yellowstone Lake. Had the fur business been more enduring, the geyser regions would have become known at least a generation sooner.

But a business carried on with such relentless vigor naturally soon taxed the resources of nature beyond its capacity for reproduction. In regions under the control of a single organization, as in the vast domains of the Hudson’s Bay Company, great care was taken to preserve the fur-bearing animals from extinction; but in United States territory, the exigencies of competition made any such provision impossible. The poor beaver, as at a later day the buffalo, quickly succumbed to his ubiquitous enemies. There was no spot remote enough for him to build his dam in peace, and the once innumerable multitude speedily dwindled away. The few years immediately preceding and following 1830 were the halcyon days of the fur trade in the United States. Thenceforward it rapidly declined, and by 1850 had shrunk to a mere shadow of its former greatness. With its disappearance the early knowledge of the Upper Yellowstone also disappeared. Subsequent events—the Mormon emigration, the war with Mexico, and the discovery of gold—drew attention, both private and official, in other directions; and the great wonderland became again almost as much unknown as in the days of Lewis and Clark.

CHAPTER V.

EARLY KNOWLEDGE OF THE YELLOWSTONE.

On the west bank of the Yellowstone River, a quarter of a mile above the Upper Falls, in a ravine now crossed by a lofty wooden bridge, stands a pine tree, on which is the oldest record, except that of Colter, of the presence of white men within the present limits of the Park. It is an inscription, giving the initials of a name and the date when inscribed. It was discovered in 1880 by Col. P. W. Norris, then Superintendent of the Park. It is now practically illegible from overgrowth, although some of the characters can still be made out. Col. Norris, who saw it fifteen years ago, claims to have successfully deciphered it. He verified the date by counting the annual rings on another tree near by, which bore hatchet marks, presumably of the same date. The time that had elapsed since these cuts were made corresponded well with the inscribed date. The inscription was:

J O R

Aug 19 1819

Efforts have been made to trace this inscription to some of the early noted trappers, but the attempt can hardly succeed. Even if an identity of initials were established, the identity of individuals would still remain in doubt. Nothing short of some authentic record of such a visit as must have taken place can satisfy the requirements of the case. In the absence of any such record, the most that can be said is that the inscription is proof positive that the Park country was visited by white men, after Colter’s time, fully fifty years before its final discovery.

Col. Norris' researches disclosed other similar evidence, although in no other instance with so plain a clue as to date. Near Beaver Lake and Obsidian Cliff, he found, in 1878, a cache of marten traps of an old pattern used by the Hudson’s Bay Company’s trappers fifty years before. He also examined the ruins of an ancient block-house discovered by Frederick Bottler at the base of Mt. Washburn, near the Grand Cañon of the Yellowstone. Its decayed condition indicated great age. In other places, the stumps of trees, old logs used to cross streams, and many similar proofs, were brought to light by that inveterate ranger of the wilderness.

The Washburn party, in 1870, discovered on the east bank of the Yellowstone, just above Mud Geyser, the remains of a pit, probably once used for concealment in shooting water fowl.

In 1882, there was still living in Montana, at the advanced age of one hundred and two years, a Frenchman by the name of Baptiste Ducharne. This man spent the summers of 1824 and 1826 on the Upper Yellowstone River trapping for beaver. He saw the Grand Cañon and Falls of the Yellowstone and the Yellowstone Lake. He passed through the geyser regions, and could accurately describe them more than half a century after he had seen them.

A book called “The River of the West,” [P] published in 1871, but copyrighted in 1869, before the publication of any modern account of the geyser regions, contains the record of an adventure in the Yellowstone three years after those of Ducharne. The book is a biography of one Joseph Meek, a trapper and pioneer of considerable note. The adventure to which reference is made took place in 1829, and was the result of a decision by the Rocky Mountain Fur Company to retire from competition with the Hudson’s Bay Company in the Snake River Valley. In leaving the country, Captain William Sublette, the chief partner, led his party up Henry Fork, across the Madison and Gallatin Rivers, to the high ridge overlooking the Yellowstone, at some point near the present Cinnabar Mountain. Here the party was dispersed by a band of Blackfeet, and Meek, one of its members, became separated from his companions. He had lost his horse and most of his equipment and in this condition he wandered for several days, without food or shelter, until he was found by two of his companions. His route lay in a southerly direction, to the eastward of the Yellowstone, at some distance back from the river. On the morning of the fifth day he had the following experience:

"Being desirous to learn something of the progress he had made, he ascended a low mountain in the neighborhood of his camp, and behold! the whole country beyond was smoking with vapor from boiling springs, and burning with gases issuing from small craters, each of which was emitting a sharp, whistling sound. When the first surprise of this astonishing scene had passed, Joe began to admire its effect from an artistic point of view. The morning being clear, with a sharp frost, he thought himself reminded of the City of Pittsburg, as he had beheld it on a winter morning, a couple of years before. This, however, related only to the rising smoke and vapor; for the extent of the volcanic region was immense, reaching far out of sight. The general face of the country was smooth and rolling, being a level plain, dotted with cone-shaped mounds. On the summit of these mounds were small craters from four to eight feet in diameter. Interspersed among these on the level plain were larger craters, some of them from four to six miles across. Out of these craters, issued blue flames and molten brimstone." [Q]

[P] See Appendix E.

[Q] Page 75, “River of the West.”

Making some allowance for the trapper’s tendency to exaggeration, we recognize in this description the familiar picture of the hot springs districts. The precise location is difficult to determine; but Meek’s previous wanderings, and the subsequent route of himself and his companions whom he met here, show conclusively that it was one of the numerous districts east of the Yellowstone, which were possibly then more active than now.

This book affords much other evidence of early knowledge of the country immediately bordering the present Park. The Great Bend of the Yellowstone where Livingston now stands, was already a famous rendezvous. The Gardiner and Firehole Rivers were well known to trappers; and a much-used trail led from the Madison across the Gallatin Range to the Gardiner, and thence up the Yellowstone and East Fork across the mountains to the Bighorn Valley.

In Vol. I, No. 17, August 13, 1842, of The Wasp, a Mormon paper published at Nauvoo, Ill., occurs the first, as it is by far the best, of all early accounts of the geyser regions prior to 1870. It is an extract from an unpublished work, entitled Life in the Rocky Mountains. Who was the author will probably never be known; but that he was a man of culture and education, altogether beyond the average trader, is evident from the passing glimpse which we have of his work. He apparently made his visit from some point in the valley of Henry Fork not far west of the Firehole River, for, at the utmost allowance, he traveled only about sixty or seventy miles to reach the geyser basins. The evidence is conclusive that the scene of this visit was the Upper Geyser Basin. It fits perfectly with the description, while numerous insuperable discrepancies render identification with the Lower Basin, which some have sought to establish, impossible. Following is this writer’s narrative:

"I had heard in the summer of 1833, while at rendezvous, that remarkable boiling springs had been discovered on the sources of the Madison, by a party of trappers, in their spring hunt; of which the accounts they gave, were so very astonishing, that I determined to examine them myself, before recording their description, though I had the united testimony of more than twenty men on the subject, who all declared they saw them, and that they really were as extensive and remarkable as they had been described. Having now an opportunity of paying them a visit, and as another or a better might not occur, I parted with the company after supper, and taking with me two Pend d’Oreilles (who were induced to take the excursion with me, by the promise of an extra present,) set out at a round pace, the night being clear and comfortable. We proceeded over the plain about twenty miles, and halted until daylight, on a fine spring, flowing into Camas Creek. Refreshed by a few hours' sleep, we started again after a hasty breakfast, and entered a very extensive forest, called the Pine Woods; (a continued succession of low mountains or hills, entirely covered with a dense growth of this species of timber;) which we passed through and reached the vicinity of the springs about dark, having seen several lakes or ponds on the sources of the Madison, and rode about forty miles; which was a hard day’s ride, taking into consideration the rough irregularity of the country through which we traveled.

"We regaled ourselves with a cup of coffee, the materials for making which we had brought with us, and immediately after supper, lay down to rest, sleepy and much fatigued. The continual roaring of the springs, however, (which was distinctly heard,) for some time prevented my going to sleep, and excited an impatient curiosity to examine them, which I was obliged to defer the gratification of until morning, and filled my slumbers with visions of waterspouts, cataracts, fountains, jets d’eau of immense dimensions, etc., etc.

"When I arose in the morning, clouds of vapor seemed like a dense fog to overhang the springs, from which frequent reports or explosions of different loudness, constantly assailed our ears. I immediately proceeded to inspect them, and might have exclaimed with the Queen of Sheba, when their full reality of dimensions and novelty burst upon my view, ‘the half was not told me.’

"From the surface of a rocky plain or table, burst forth columns of water, of various dimensions, projecting high in the air, accompanied by loud explosions, and sulphurous vapors, which were highly disagreeable to the smell. The rock from which these springs burst forth was calcareous, and probably extends some distance from them, beneath the soil. The largest of these beautiful fountains projects a column of boiling water several feet in diameter, to the height of more than one hundred and fifty feet, in my opinion; but the party of Alvarez, who discovered it, persist in declaring that it could not be less than four times that distance in height—accompanied with a tremendous noise. These explosions and discharges occur at intervals of about two hours. After having witnessed three of them, I ventured near enough, to put my hand into the waters of its basin, but withdrew it instantly, for the heat of the water in this immense cauldron was altogether too great for my comfort; and the agitation of the water, the disagreeable effluvium continually exuding, and the hollow unearthly rumbling under the rock on which I stood, so ill accorded with my notions of personal safety, that I retreated back precipitately to a respectful distance. The Indians, who were with me, were quite appalled, and could not by any means be induced to approach them. They seemed astonished at my presumption in advancing up to the large one, and when I safely returned, congratulated me upon my ‘narrow escape.’ They believed them to be supernatural and supposed them to be the production of the Evil Spirit. One of them remarked that hell, of which he had heard from the whites, must be in that vicinity. The diameter of the basin into which the waters of the largest jet principally fall, and from the center of which, through a hole in the rock, of about nine or ten feet in diameter, the water spouts up as above related, may be about thirty feet. There are many other smaller fountains, that did not throw their waters up so high, but occurred at shorter intervals. In some instances the volumes were projected obliquely upward, and fell into the neighboring fountains, or on the rock or prairie. But their ascent was generally perpendicular, falling in and about their own basins or apertures.

“These wonderful productions of nature are situated near the center of a small valley, surrounded by pine-covered hills, through which a small fork of the Madison flows.”

Here we have a description, as from the pen of some earlier Doane or Langford, free from exaggeration and true to the facts. No one who has seen the Upper Geyser Basin will question its general correctness. The writer then goes on to relate what he has learned from others, but here exaggeration creeps in and this part of his narrative is less reliable. It continues:

"From several trappers who had recently returned from the Yellow Stone, I received an account of boiling springs that differ from those seen on Salt River only in magnitude, being on a vastly larger scale; some of their cones are from twenty to thirty feet high, and forty to fifty paces in circumference. Those which have ceased to emit boiling, vapor, etc., of which there were several, are full of shelving cavities, even some fathoms in extent, which give them, inside, an appearance of honey-comb. The ground for several acres extent in vicinity of the springs is evidently hollow, and constantly exhales a hot steam or vapor of disagreeable odor, and a character entirely to prevent vegetation. They are situated in the valley at the head of that river near the lake, which constitutes its source.

"A short distance from these springs, near the margin of the lake, there is one quite different from any yet described. It is of a circular form, several feet in diameter, clear, cold and pure; the bottom appears visible to the eye, and seems seven or eight feet below the surface of the earth or water, without meeting any resistance. “What is most singular with respect to this fountain is the fact that at regular intervals of about two minutes, a body or column of water bursts up to the height of eight feet, with an explosion as loud as the report of a musket, and then falls back into it; for a few seconds the water is roily, but it speedily settles and becomes transparent as before the effusion. A slight tremulous motion of the water, and a low rumbling sound from the caverns beneath, precede each explosion. This spring was believed to be connected with the lake by some subterranean passage, but the cause of its periodical eruptions or discharges, is entirely unknown. I have never before heard of a cold spring, whose waters exhibit the phenomena of periodical explosive propulsion, in form of a jet. The geysers of Iceland, and the various other European springs, the waters of which are projected upwards, with violence and uniformity, as well as those seen on the head waters of the Madison, are invariably hot.”

The cold water geyser above described, although, apparently a myth, may not have been so after all. In many places along the west shore of the Yellowstone Lake there are visible protuberances in the water surface where boiling springs from beneath force the cold water upward. It is quite possible that this spring was so connected with the lake as to keep constantly filled with cold water to a considerable depth; and that the eruptive energy of the spring was expended in lifting the superincumbent mass without giving any visible indication of the thermal action below.

The whole article forms the most interesting and authentic reference to the geyser regions published prior to 1870. It proves beyond question that a knowledge of this region existed among the early trappers, and confirms our previous deduction that the wide range of the fur business could not have left it unexplored.

In a letter addressed by General Bonneville to the Montana Historical Society, [R] since the creation of the Yellowstone Park, he states that, at the time of his sojourn in the mountains, in 1831–4, the geyser regions were known to his men, although he had not personally seen them. He also remembered having seen the trader Alvarez, referred to in the above article.

[R] See Appendix E, “Transactions Montana Historical Society.”

In 1844, a large party of trappers entered the Upper Yellowstone Valley from the south, passed around the west shore of the Yellowstone Lake to the outlet, where they had a severe battle with the Blackfeet Indians, in a broad open tract at that point. The remains of their old corral were still visible as late as 1870.

There are numerous other interesting, though less definite, references to an early knowledge of the Yellowstone; but those we have given show their general character. The important fact to remember is that this knowledge was barren of result. For the most part it existed only in the minds of illiterate men, and perished with them. It never caught the public ear and did not in the least degree hasten the final discovery. Historically interesting these early adventures will always be; as are also the Norse voyages to America; but they are very far from being the Columbus voyage of discovery.

CHAPTER VI.

JAMES BRIDGER.

Of the early characters whose names are closely linked with the history of the Yellowstone, the most distinguished is James Bridger, a sketch of whose life is given in Appendix A, under “Bridger Lake.” That he had often been in the region of the Yellowstone Park, and was familiar with its unique features, is now well known. His first personal knowledge of them is believed to date from 1824, when he is supposed to have been upon the upper Yellowstone. It is certain that before 1840 he knew of the existence of the geysers in the Firehole Valley, although at that time he had probably not seen them himself. Between 1841 and 1844 Bridger was leader of a grand hunting and trapping expedition, which for upward of two years, wandered over the country from the Great Falls of the Missouri to Chihuahua, Mexico. At some time during this expedition he entered the region of the upper Yellowstone and saw most of its wonders. His descriptions of the geysers and other remarkable features of that locality can be traced back nearly to this period and present an accuracy of detail which could come only from personal observation.

Among the records of these descriptions the earliest is that by Captain J. W. Gunnison, of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, who was associated with Captain Howard Stansbury, of the same corps, in the Salt Lake Expedition of 1849–50. The record is found in Gunnison’s History of the Mormons, [S] and dates back to this expedition. It reads:

“He [Bridger] gives a picture, most romantic and enticing, of the head waters of the Yellow Stone. A lake, sixty miles long, cold and pellucid, lies embosomed among high precipitous mountains. On the west side is a sloping plain, several miles wide, with clumps of trees and groves of pine. The ground resounds with the tread of horses. Geysers spout up seventy feet high, with a terrific, hissing noise, at regular intervals. Water-falls are sparkling, leaping and thundering down the precipices, and collect in the pool below. The river issues from this lake, and for fifteen miles roars through the perpendicular cañon at the outlet. In this section are the ‘Great Springs,’ so hot that meat is readily cooked in them, and as they descend on the successive terraces, afford at length delightful baths. On the other side is an acid spring, which gushes out in a river torrent; and below is a cave, which supplies ‘vermillion’ for the savages in abundance.”

[S] Page 151, Gunnison’s History of the Mormons. See Appendix E.

In this admirable summary we readily discover the Yellowstone Lake, the Grand Cañon, the Falls, the geyser basins, the Mammoth Hot Springs, and Cinnabar Mountain. Prior to 1860, Bridger had related these accounts to Captain Warren, Captain Raynolds, Doctor Hayden, and others, and although he seems to have convinced these gentlemen that there was something in his stories, they still attributed less to fact than to fancy.

In his efforts to disseminate a knowledge of this region, Bridger was as determined as Colter had been before him, and with little better success. He tried to have his narratives published, but no periodical would lend itself to his service. The editor of the Kansas City Journal stated editorially in 1879 that Bridger had told him of these wonders fully thirty years before. He prepared an article from Bridger’s description, but suppressed it because his friends ridiculed the whole thing as incredible. He later publicly apologized to Bridger, who was then living at Westport, Missouri. [T]

[T] Of interest in this connection is the following extract from a recent letter to the writer by the present managing editor of the Kansas City Journal:

“The interview had with Bridger was in the year 1856. He told Col. R. T. Van Horn, Editor of the Journal, which was published at that time, the story of the Park with the geysers, and at the same time, drew with a piece of charcoal on a piece of wrapping paper an outline of the route necessary to be taken by a railroad should it ever cross the continent, which route is exactly on the line that is now crossed by the Union Pacific.

In this conversation, he told the Colonel about the mud springs and the other wonders of that part of the country, or to use his own expression, ‘it was a place where hell bubbled up.’

The Colonel was much interested in the matter at the time and took notes of the account, but did not print it because a man who claimed to know Bridger, told him that he would be laughed out of town if he printed ‘any of old Jim Bridger’s lies.’ ”

The persistent incredulity of his countrymen, and their ill-concealed suspicion of his honesty, to say nothing of his mental soundness, were long a cloud upon Bridger’s life; but, more fortunate than his prototype, Colter, he lived to see himself triumphantly vindicated. Whether from disgust at this unmerited treatment, or because of his love of a good story, Bridger seems finally to have resolved that distrust of his word, if it must exist, should at least have some justification. He was in fact noted for “drawing the long bow to an unparalleled tension,” and for never permitting troublesome scruples of conscience to interfere with the proper embellishment of his yarns. These were generally based upon fact, and diligent search will discover in them the “soul of truth” which, according to Herbert Spencer, always exists “in things erroneous.” These anecdotes are current even yet among the inhabitants of the Yellowstone, and the tourist who remains long in the Park will not fail to hear them.

When Bridger found that he could not make his hearers believe in the existence of a vast mass of volcanic glass, now known to all tourists as the interesting Obsidian Cliff, he supplied them with another glass mountain of a truly original sort. Its discovery was the result of one of his hunting trips and it happened in this wise.

Coming one day in sight of a magnificent elk, he took careful aim at the unsuspecting animal and fired. To his great amazement, the elk not only was not wounded, but seemed not even to have heard the report of the rifle. Bridger drew considerably nearer and gave the elk the benefit of his most deliberate aim; but with the same result as before. A third and a fourth effort met with a similar fate. Utterly exasperated, he seized his rifle by the barrel, resolved to use it as a club since it had failed as a firearm. He rushed madly toward the elk, but suddenly crashed into an immovable vertical wall which proved to be a mountain of perfectly transparent glass, on the farther side of which, still in peaceful security, the elk was quietly grazing. Stranger still, the mountain was not only of pure glass, but was a perfect telescopic lens, and, whereas, the elk seemed but a few hundred yards off, it was in reality twenty-five miles away!

Another of Bridger’s discoveries was an ice-cold spring near the summit of a lofty mountain, the water from which flowed down over a long smooth slope, where it acquired such a velocity that it was boiling hot when it reached the bottom. [U]

[U] This story, which is taken from the report of Captain W. F. Raynolds, was one of Bridger’s favorites, and it is even said that he did not regard it as pleasantry at all, but as plain matter of fact. Mr. Langford, who often heard him relate it, says that he generally described the stream as flowing over the smooth surface of a rock, and reasoned that, as two sticks rubbed together produce heat by friction, so the water rubbing over the rock became hot. In proof, he cited an instance where the water was hot only in close proximity to the rock and not at the surface. Mr. Langford found a partial confirmation of the fact, but not of the theory, in fording the Firehole River in 1870. He passed over the smooth deposit of an active hot spring in the bed of the stream, and found that the stream bottom and the water in contact with it were hot.

An account, in which the “soul of truth” is not so readily apparent, is that of a mining prospector of this region, who, in later times, met a unique and horrible fate. He had for days been traveling with a party toward a prodigious diamond set in the top of a mountain, where, even at noonday, it shone with a luster surpassing the sun. He arrived at length on the top of the mountain only to see the diamond on another summit apparently as far away as ever. Disheartened and weary, he thought to save the labor of descent by taking advantage of an extremely smooth face of the mountain, and accordingly sat down upon his shovel, as upon a toboggan, and let slide. There was a vacant place around the camp-fire that evening, and next day the rest of the party, passing along the base of the mountain, found an infusible clay pipe and the molten remains of a shovel. Warned by the fate of their comrade, the superstitious survivors forbore any further search for the diamond.

To those who have visited the west shore of the Yellowstone Lake, and know how simple a matter it is to catch the lake trout and cook them in the boiling pools without taking them from the line, the ground work of the following description will be obvious enough. Somewhere along the shore an immense boiling spring discharges its overflow directly into the lake. The specific gravity of the water is less than that of the lake, owing probably to the expansive action of heat, and it floats in a stratum three or four feet thick upon the cold water underneath. When Bridger was in need of fish it was to this place that he went. Through the hot upper stratum he let fall his bait to the subjacent habitable zone, and having hooked his victim, cooked him on the way out!

In like manner the visitor to the region of petrifactions on Specimen Ridge in the north-east corner of the Park, and to various points in the hot springs districts, will have no difficulty in discovering the base material out of which Bridger contrived the following picturesque yarn. According to his account there exists in the Park country a mountain which was once cursed by a great medicine man of the Crow nation. Every thing upon the mountain at the time of this dire event became instantly petrified and has remained so ever since. All forms of life are standing about in stone where they were suddenly caught by the petrifying influences, even as the inhabitants of ancient Pompeii were surprised by the ashes of Vesuvius. Sage brush, grass, prairie fowl, antelope, elk, and bears may there be seen as perfect as in actual life. Even flowers are blooming in colors of crystal, and birds soar with wings spread in motionless flight, while the air floats with music and perfumes siliceous, and the sun and the moon shine with petrified light!

In this way Bridger avenged himself for the spirit of distrust so often shown for what he had related. The time presently came, however, when the public learned, not only how large a measure of truth there was in his stories, but also how ingenious a tale he could weave from very inadequate material.

CHAPTER VII.

RAYNOLDS' EXPEDITION.

On the 13th of April, 1859, Captain W. F. Raynolds, of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, U. S. A., was ordered to explore “the region of country through which flow the principal tributaries of the Yellowstone River, and the mountains in which they, and the Gallatin and Madison Forks of the Missouri, have their source.” This was the first government expedition [V] directed to the precise locality which is now embraced in the Yellowstone National Park. It is interesting to us, not for what it accomplished—for it fortunately failed to penetrate the Upper Yellowstone country—but because it gives an admirable resumé, in the form of a report and a map, of the geographical knowledge of that country down to the date of actual discovery.

[V] Accompanying this expedition as geologist was Dr. F. V. Hayden, whose name is so intimately connected with the history of the Yellowstone Park. James Bridger was guide to the party.

Captain Raynolds was in the field during the two seasons of 1859 and 1860; but it was only in the summer of 1860 that he directed his efforts toward the country in which we are particularly interested. In May of that year the expedition left its winter quarters at Deer Creek, Wyo., and marched to the junction of the Wind River and the Popo Agie where these streams unite under the name of Bighorn River. Here the party divided. One division under Captain Raynolds was to ascend the Wind River to its source and then cross to the head waters of the Yellowstone. This stream they were to follow down to the Great Bend, and then cross over to the Three Forks of the Missouri. The other party, under Lieutenant Maynadier, was to skirt the east and north flanks of the Absaroka Range and to join the first party at the Three Forks, if possible, not later than July 1st.

Captain Raynolds was charged with other instructions than those mentioned in his order, which must be kept in mind in order properly to account for the final outcome of the expedition. A total eclipse of the sun was to occur on July 18th of that year, and its line of greatest occultation lay north of the British boundary. It was desired that Captain Raynolds should be present in that locality in time to observe the eclipse. This condition, rather than impassable mountains or unmelted snows, was the chief obstacle to a thorough exploration of the Upper Yellowstone.

The two parties separated May 24th. Captain Raynolds, according to his programme, kept up the Wind River valley, and with much difficulty effected a crossing by way of Union Pass—which he named—to the western slope of the mountains. He then turned north seeking a passage to the head waters of the Yellowstone. When nearly opposite Two-Ocean Pass, he made a strenuous effort to force his way through, spending two days in the attempt. But it was still June and the snow lay deep on the mountains. It was a physical impossibility to get through at that point, and the risk of missing the eclipse forebade efforts elsewhere. The Captain was deeply disappointed at this result. He writes:

“My fondly cherished schemes of this nature were all dissipated by the prospect before us; … and I therefore very reluctantly decided to abandon the plan to which I had so steadily clung.”

It seems not a little singular that so experienced a guide as Bridger should not have conducted the party up the valley of the Snake River and thence over the low divide between that stream and the Yellowstone Lake—a route which was perfectly practicable even as early as June. But the plan does not appear to have been entertained, and the expedition passed around the Park region to the west, arriving at the Three Forks on the 29th of June.

Lieutenant Maynadier wisely made no attempt to cross the Absaroka Range, which rose continuously on his left. Had he done so, the deep snow at that season would have rendered his efforts futile. He kept close to the flank of the mountains until he reached the valley of the Yellowstone north of the Park, and then hastened to join his commanding officer at the appointed rendezvous. He reached the Three Forks on the 3d day of July.

The expedition had now completely encircled the region of the Upper Yellowstone. At one point Captain Raynolds had stood where his eye could range over all that country which has since become so famous; but this was the limit of his endeavor. The Yellowstone wonderland was spared the misfortune of being discovered at so early a day—a fact quite as fortunate as any in its history.

It will be interesting now to survey this region as known at the time of the Raynolds Expedition. Nothing of importance occurred to increase public knowledge of it until 1870, and Captain Raynolds' [W] Report is therefore the latest authentic utterance concerning it prior to the date of actual discovery. In this report Captain Raynolds says:

"Beyond these [the mountains south-east of the Park], is the valley of the Upper Yellowstone, which is as yet a terra incognita. My expedition passed entirely around, but could not penetrate it. … Although it was June, the immense body of snow baffled all our exertions, and we were compelled to content ourselves with listening to marvelous tales of burning plains, immense lakes, and boiling springs, without being able to verify these wonders. I know of but two men who claim to have ever visited this part of the Yellowstone Valley—James Bridger and Robert Meldrum. The narratives of both these men are very remarkable, and Bridger, in one of his recitals, described an immense boiling spring, that is a perfect counterpart of the geysers of Iceland. As he is uneducated, and had probably never heard of the existence of such natural wonders elsewhere, I have little doubt that he spoke of that which he had actually seen. … Bridger also insisted that immediately west [X] of the point at which we made our final effort to penetrate this singular valley, there is a stream of considerable size, which divides and flows down either side of the water-shed, thus discharging its waters into both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans."

[W] See Bibliography. Appendix E, “Explorations of the Yellowstone,” etc.

[X] Actually north-east.

The Captain concludes this particular part of his report as follows:

“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 mass 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.”

Opp. page 62.

Click on image to view larger size.

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 space, 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 latitude and the 110th and 111th meridians of longitude, which now constitutes the Yellowstone National Park. There one may catch glimpses, through the uncertain haze of tradition, of the geysers, hot springs, Lake, Falls, Grand Cañon, Mammoth Hot Springs, and Two-Ocean Pass. 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 pass 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 destitute 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 Boisé rivers were discovered. In 1862 the tide of discovery swept across the mountains into Montana. The rich mines on Pioneer Creek, the Big Prickly 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 passed 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; passed 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 passed 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 shore 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 pass 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, passed 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 passed 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 passed, 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 passed. 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 Butte 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 passed 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 Sweetwater River, then crossed to the Green and Snake Rivers, and re-crossed the Continental Divide at Two-Ocean Pass. They descended the Yellowstone, past the Lake and Grand Cañon, 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, passed completely around the latter, discovering Hart Lake on their way, and then descended the Yellowstone by the Falls and Cañon, 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, Hell-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 passed 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]