WEST SHORE.
109
GRAND FALLS AND CANYON OF THE YELLOWSTONE.
Above all the beauties and wonders of the famous National Park of the
Yellowstone, nothing so much commands both the awe and admiration of
the beholder as the grand canyon through which the Yellowstone river
poors its impetuous flood. One may marvel at the giant geysers, look with
curiosity upon the fumarolee, salfaUras, hot springs, paint pots, mud
springs, silica terraces and sulphur baths, view with surprise the hoodo
rocks, obsidian cliffs and natural bridge, and admire the many waterfalls,
the grandeur of the mountains and the quiet beauty of the peaceful lake;
but when he stands in the grand canyon and see its many-colored cliffs
sparkle daulingly in the rays of the sun, while the roar of the falls is ever
In his ears, and the leaping water, with its floating clouds of spray, ever
before his eyes, he experiences all these sensations combined. Truly, It
is a sight worth going thousands of miles to behold, and would render a
trip to the park a lifelong remembrance, even were the many other attrac
tions unknown.
Few people need any information as to the location and nature of this
wonderful park; but for their benefit It well to state them briefly. It is a
tract of about 60x70 miles lying in the very heart of the Rocky mountains,
where the three states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming Join, and was set
apart for a perpetual national park by an act of congress approved March 1,
1872. Within its limits are a greater number of the eccentric manifesta
tions of natural forces and more scenes of enchanting beauty and Imposing
grandeur than in any similar region in the world. Nature seems to have
chosen these mountain summits, the great dividing ridge of the continent,
as a fitting place wherein to place the masterpieces of her handiwork.
Three great rivers, the Snake, the Yellowstone and the Missouri find their
sources within its boundaries, and within a few miles of each o'her, the for
mer discharging its waters through the mighty Colombia into the Pacific
ocean, and the latter two through the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico.
It is Impossible, at this time, to describe more than that portion of the park
which is the subject of the large engraving on the next page. The park Is
reached by a branch line of the Northern Pacific railroad from Livingston,
Montana.
Yellowstone river flows quietly from the northern end of the lake and
soon becomes lost In the windings of a huge canyon, whose walls hem it In
and echo the roaring of the imprisoned waters as they plunge over rocks
and huge precipices. There are two large falls In Its course of a few miles
below the lake. Half a mile above the upper falls and with nothing to sug
gest the scene soon to burst upon the vision, the peacefully-Sowing river
suddenly breaks into a series of dashing rapids. The water roBhes along
impetuously until it plunges over the brink of the upper falls upon the rocks
140 feet below. The channel is narrowed to 100 feet, and the water so deep
ened that with the great force accumulated In the rapids, It is hurled over
the edge and breaks into detached masses of glistening white, blending into
the cloud of spray that rises from below, through which It darts like arrows,
rebounding from the sloping sides of the rocky masses at the bottom. From
here the river flows swiftly on, receiving into its bosom the waters of the
Carcade creek, which plunge over the edge of the canyon at Crystal cas
cades 129 feet above. Spreading out to considerable width, It suddenly con
tracts to about 100 feet when a quarter of a mile has been traversed, and
hurls itself over a precipice 350 feet high into the bottom of the canyon.
Says Professor Ilayden : " The waters seem to gather themselves Into one
compact mass, and plunge over the descent 350 feet in detached drops of
foam as white as snow. Some of the large globules of water shoot down
like the contents of an exploded rocket. The entire mass falls Into a circu
lar basin which has been worn Into the hard rock, so that the rebound is
one of the grand features of the scene."
The grand canyon which opens out In its greatest magnitude below the
lower falls, extends down the river for twenty miles, and the walls vary
from 1,000 to 3,000 feet in perpendicular height. The falls and canyon are
thus described by Col. William Ludlow: " The view o( the grand canyon
from the point where we stood, is perhaps the finest piece of scenery In the
world. I can conceive of no combination of pictorial splendors which could
nnUe more potently the two requisites of majesty and beauty. Close at
hand, the river, narrowed In its bed to a width of some seventy feet, and
with a depth of four or five feet, through the pure, deep green of which the
hardly wavering outlines of the brown bowlders beneath are distinctly visi
ble, springs to the crest with an intensity of motion that makes its clear
depths fairly seem to quiver. Just before making the plunge, the stream la
again contracted, and the water is thrown In from both aides toward the
center, so that two bold, rounded prominences or buttresses, as it were, are
formed where green and white commingle. Lying prostrate and looking
down into the depth, with the cold breath of the canyon fanning the fare,
one can see that these ribs continue downward, the whole mass of the fall
gradually breaking into spray against the air, nntil lost In the vast cloud of
vapor that hides its lowest third, and out of which, 350 feet beneath, comes
np a mighty roar that shakes the hills and communicates a strange vibra
tion to the nerve. From far below this cloud emerge a narrow, green rib
bon, winding and twisting, In which the river is hardly recognisable, so
dwarfed Is It, and creeping with so oily and sluggish a current, as though
its fall had stunned It. On either hand the walls of the canyon curve back
from the plunging torrent, and rise, weltering with moisture, to the level of
the fall, again ascending 500 or 600 feet to the pine-fringed margin of the
canyon; pinnacles and towers projecting far into the space between, and
seeming to overhang their bases. These details are comparatively easy to
give, but how find words which shall suggest the marvelous picture as a
whole 1 The sun had come out, after a brief shower, and, shining nearly
from the meridian straight Into the canyon, flooded it with light, and Illu
minated it with a wealth and luxuriance of color almost supernatural. The
walls appeared to glow with a cool, Inward radiance of their own, and gave
back tints of orange, pink, yellow, red, white and brown, of a vividness and
massiveness hopeless to describe, and which would overtax the powers of
the greatest artist to portray. The lower slopes, wet with spray, were dec
orated with the rich hue of vegetation, while through the mist, the river,
of a still more brilliant green, far below, pursued Its tortuous course, and
the eye followed It down through this ocean of color until, two or three
miles away, a curve in the canyon hid It from view, and formed Its own ap
propriate background."
A. A. Sweet is the name of a telegraph operator, who, up to some time
last summer, was employed in the Western Union office In Helena. For
ten years past Sweet has been working at telegraphing In the winter and
prospecting in the summer. What he made during the winter fitted him
out for bis prospecting trips snd kept him going until the time when cold
weather drove him back to the key. Last summer Sweet located a placer
claim In Lemhi county, Idaho. It struck him as such a rich piece of prop
erty that he bought up adjoining claims till he was the possessor of 1,600
acres. Then he looked around for a purchaser, Ex-Senator Tabor, he of
the f350 night shirt fame, was the person Sweet approached. Tabor prom
ised to look Into the matter, and sent out experts to examine and report on
the value of the find. They brought back glowing reports to the ex-senator,
who at once closed with Sweet for 1100,000 for the 1,600 acres. Subsequent
development shows that the ground Is very rich in gold, and some estimates
place the value of Tabor's purchase as high as $15,000,000. Sweet Is a
brother of the man who, some years ago, bought a large tract of land near
Council Bluffs, Iowa, and which afterwards became the present town of
Sweetsville. The Idaho property which Sweet let go (or $100,000 la situated
about 140 miles from Salmon City. Bikna Imlejxnilent.
The Columbia River & Puget Sound Navigation Company has been In
corporated under the laws of Oregon, with a capital stock of $500,000, for
the purpose of maintaining lines of rapid transit passenger steamers be
tween Portland and Astoria on the Columbia, and between the various port
on the sound. The company now owns and operates the Ttkphont on the
Portland and Astoria route, the Baiky Galierl on the route between Olym
pla and Seattle, and the Fleetwood between Seattle and Port Townsend. A
new steamer, the Flyer, is now being built at Portland at a cost of $00,000,
for the route between Seattle and Victoria. Although the vessels now run
ning are very fast boats, the new steamer is expected to be the fastest ever
put on the waters of the Pacific coast and to make twenty-two knots an hour.
Two other steamers of equal speed, one for the river and one for the sound,
are in contemplation. The promoters of this enterprise are practical steam
boatmen and capitalists of Portland and Seattle, and this is one of the first
instances where these two cities have joined hands In promoting mutual
Interests.
The Columbia River Telegraph Co. was organised at Cathlamet, Wash.,
last week, for the purpose of building a line along the north bank of the
river to give that region telegraphio connection with the rest of the world.
Work will be commenced at Oak Point immediately.
The discovery of an extensive ledge of tin ore near Elgin, Oregon, is re
ported. Tests made have not yet been sufficient to determine Its quality.
Should It prove to be what 1 hoped, Oregon will have a resource more val
uable than any yet found beneath her toll.
A town to be named " Hamburg," 1 being laid out on the Coqullle riv
er tome distance above Bandon, Oregon. It I the proposed point of crow
ing for a railroad.
Arrangement are being made to give Waltsburg, Wash., a water
work system and an electric light plant.