Part 17

Still more bewildering is the attempt to measure the canon in periods of time. There were two great periods in its history--first, the period of upheaval, and second, that of erosion. When the geologic movement was in process which created the continent, with the Rocky Mountains for its backbone, this entire region became a plateau, vastly higher than at present, with its greatest elevation far to the north. Then the rivers began to carry the rains and snows to the sea, carving channels for themselves through the rocky surface. The steep decline caused the waters to flow with swiftness. The little streamlets united to form larger ones, and these in turn joined their waters in still greater streams. The larger the stream and the swifter the flow, the faster the channel would be carved. The softer rocks gave slight resistance, but when the granite or harder formations were encountered, the streams would eddy and whirl about in search of new channels, the hard rocks forming a temporary dam. In this way the hundreds of buttes were formed. The Green River and the Grand unite to form the Colorado, the entire course of this great waterway stretching for two thousand miles. The two streams carry down a mighty flood--in former ages it was far mightier than now--which in its swift descent has ground the rocks into sand and silt and with resistless force carried them down to the sea. Those great buttes and strangely sculptured temples, each a formidable mountain, were not thrown up by volcanic forces, but have been carved out of the solid earth by the erosion of the waters. That river five miles away, of which we see only glimpses here and there, was the tool with which the Great Sculptor carved all this wondrous chasm. Major Powell has calculated that the amount of rock thus ground to pieces and carried away would be equivalent to a mass two hundred thousand square miles in area and a full mile in thickness. Think of excavating a mile deep the entire territory of New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia, and dumping it all into the Atlantic. Then think that this is the task the Colorado River and other geologic forces have accomplished, and pause to wonder how long it took to complete the process! If the Egyptian kings who built the pyramids had come here for material they would have seen the chasm substantially as we see it!

The geologic story of the canon's origin is too far beyond our comprehension. Let us turn to the Indian account. A great chief lost his wife and refused to be comforted. An Indian God, Ta-vwoats, came to him and offered to conduct him to a happier land where he might see her, if he would promise to cease mourning. Then Ta-vwoats made a trail through the mountains to the happy land and there the chief saw his wife. This trail was the canon of the Colorado. The deity made the chief promise that he would reveal the path to no man, lest all might wish to go at once to heaven, and in order to block the way still more effectually he rolled a mad surging river through the gorges so swift and strong that it would destroy any one who dared attempt to enter heaven by that route.

I have often been asked which is the greater wonder, the Grand Canon of the Colorado River or the Yellowstone National Park. The question is unanswerable. One might as well attempt to say whether the sea is more beautiful than the sky. If mere size is meant, the Grand Canon is vastly greater. If all the geysers of the Yellowstone were placed down in the bottom of the Grand Canon at the level of the river, and all were to play at once, the effect would be unnoticed from Hopi Point. The canon of the Yellowstone River, impressive as it is, would be lost in one of the side canons of the Colorado.

The Grand Canon and the Yellowstone are creations of a totally different kind.

The Yellowstone is a garden of wonders. The Grand Canon is a sublime spectacle.

The Yellowstone is a variety of interesting units. The Grand Canon is a unit of infinite variety.

The Yellowstone contains a collection of individual marvels, each wondrous in structure and many of them exquisite in beauty. The Grand Canon is one vast masterpiece of unimagined architecture, limitless grandeur, and ever-changing but splendidly harmonious brilliancy of color.

The Yellowstone fills the mind with wonder and amazement at all the varied resources of Nature. The Grand Canon fills the soul with awe and reverence as one stands in silence upon the brink and humbly reflects upon the infinite power of God.

THE END

INDEX

INDEX

Alcott, A. Bronson, 192, 193.

Alcott, Louisa M., 193.

Aldrich, Thomas Bailey, 207-20.

Amiel, Henri Frederic, 118; 124-27.

Anderson, Mary, 110, 112, 113.

Appledore, 222, 223, 232.

Arbury Hall, 20-28.

ARIZONA, THE GRAND CANON OF, 271-96.

Arnold, Thomas, 52, 98, 99.

Arona, 156.

Authari, the Long-haired, 164.

Ayrshire, 46-48.

Bashkirtseff, Marie, 132, 133.

Bastien-Lepage, 133.

Battlefield of Concord, 186, 187.

Belgirate, 155-56.

Bellagio, 168.

Borromeo, Carlo, 156, 161.

Borromeo, Count Vitaliano, 154.

Bruce, Robert, 85, 90, 91.

Burns, Robert, 43-48.

BURROUGHS, JOHN, A DAY WITH, 233-50.

Burroughs, John, 227, 228.

Byron, Lord, 143, 144.

Cadenabbia, 158, 159.

Canon of the Yellowstone, the, 267-69.

Carlyle, Thomas, 41, 44, 66.

Caroline, Queen, 168.

Catskill Mountains, 237, 238, 239, 242, 243, 246.

Channing, Ellery, 186.

Coleridge, Hartley, 62.

Coleridge, Samuel T., 51, 61, 62.

Colorado River, the, 282-88; 293-95.

Colvin, Sir Sidney, 19-21.

Como, City of, 165, 168.

Como, Lake, 95-98; 137; 138; 150; 158-68.

Concord, Massachusetts, 179-95.

Deffand, Marquise du, 140.

De Quincey, Thomas, 52, 59, 63, 64.

Drummond, William, 77-84.

Ecclefechan, 41-44.

Eliot George, 20-35.

Ellastone, original of "Hayslope," 31.

Emerson, Lidian, 188, 190.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 17; 181-92; 249.

Esk, Vale of the, 75-92.

Esthwaite, Lake, 56.

Evans, Rev. Frederick R., 28-29.

Fields, James T., 199, 200.

Gaeta vase, 170.

Gallio, Cardinal, 168.

Gould, Jay, 236, 237.

GRAND CANON OF ARIZONA, THE, 271-96.

Grant, Gen. U. S., 244.

Grasmere, 59, 60, 61, 65, 66.

Gravedona, palace of Cardinal Gallio, 168.

GREAT BRITAIN, LITERARY RAMBLES IN, 15-48.

Green, Thomas H., 117, 118, 122, 123, 124, 127.

Haines, George, 170-74.

Hawthorne, Elizabeth, 198, 199.

Hawthorne, Madam, 198, 200.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel; in Concord, 179-95; in Salem, 196-206.

Hawthorne, Sophia Peabody, 180, 185; 198; 199.

HAWTHORNDEN TO ROSLIN GLEN, FROM, 73-92.

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 17.

"House of the Seven Gables, The," 196, 202-06.

Il Medeghino, 160-63.

Iron Crown of Lombardy, 165.

Isles of Shoals, the, 222-32.

Isola Bella, 152-55.

Isola dei Pescatori, 155.

Isola Madre, 155.

ITALIAN LAKES, A TOUR OF THE, 147-74.

Jonson, Ben, 81-84.

Lacus Larius. _See_ Como.

Lacus Verbanus. _See_ Maggiore.

"Lady Wentworth," scenes of, 220, 221.

Laighton, Oscar, 229.

Lamb, William and Caroline, 141-44.

Lasswade, 75-76.

Lecco, Lake, 95, 96.

Lespinasse, Julie de, 139-41.

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 17; 159; 220; 221.

Lowell, James Russell, 17; 55; 232.

Lugano, Lake, 96, 151, 157, 159.

Luino, 156, 157.

Maggiore, Lake, 96, 149, 150, 152-56, 159.

Mammoth Hot Springs, 255-57.

Medici, Gian Giacomo de (Il Medeghino), 160-63.

Melbourne, Lord, 141-44.

Menaggio, 160.

Minute-Man, the, Concord, 186, 187.

Monument, the, on battlefield of Concord, 186, 187.

Musketaquid, river at Concord, 185.

NEW ENGLAND, LITERARY LANDMARKS OF, 175-232.

Nuneaton, 20, 22, 29, 30.

Nutter House, the, 207-16.

Old Faithful, 254; 262-65.

Old Manse, the, 179-86.

Oxford, 99-100.

Passmore Edwards Settlement, London, 103-09, 127.

Pattison, Mark, 100; 117-21; 126, 127.

Peabody, Elizabeth Palmer, 198.

Peabody, Mary (Mrs. Horace Mann), 198.

Peabody, Dr. Nathaniel, 197.

Peabody, Sophia. _See_ Hawthorne, Sophia Peabody.

Pliny, the Elder, 160, 166.

Pliny, the Younger, 166, 167.

Pogliaghi, Lombard decorator, 170, 171.

Portsmouth, N.H., 207-21.

Powell, Major John W., 283-87.

Ripley, Rev. Ezra, 182.

Ripley, Rev. Samuel, 182.

"Robert Elsmere," 102, 109, 110-27.

Roslin Castle, 86-88.

Roslin Chapel, 88, 90.

Roslin Glen, 75-92.

St. Clair family, of Roslin, 87, 88, 91, 92.

Salem, Massachusetts, 196-206.

Salpion, Greek sculptor, 170.

"Scarlet Letter, The," 201-02.

Scott, Sir Walter, 37, 38, 39, 45, 46, 75, 76, 89, 90, 239.

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, 187-89.

Southey, Robert, 51.

Thaxter, Celia, 221, 223-32.

Theodelinda, Queen of the Lombards, 163-65.

Thoreau, Henry D., 182-91; 228.

Tower of London, 18.

Tremezzo, 168.

Varenna, 163.

Victoria Monument, London, 40.

Villa Bonaventura, 169.

Villa Carlotta, 168, 169.

Villa d'Este, 168.

Villa Maria, 169-74.

Villa Pliniana, 167, 168.

Walden Pond, 191.

WARD, MRS. HUMPHRY, THE COUNTRY OF, 93-146.

Ward, Mrs. Humphry, scenes of novels, 36, 37, 111-17; 128-31; 134-38; 145; 169.

Washburn, Gen. Henry D., 253.

Wayside, the, Hawthorne's house in Concord, 193, 194.

Wentworth House, 220-21.

Westmoreland, 51-72; 98; 131; 134; 135; 136; 239; 241.

White, Gilbert, 228.

Wilson, John (Christopher North), 52.

Windermere, Lake, 54; 68; 70; 98.

Windermere village, 51.

WORDSWORTH'S COUNTRY, A DAY IN, 49-72.

Wordsworth, Dorothy, 41, 63, 64, 65.

Wordsworth, Mrs., 63.

Wordsworth, William, 41; 51-72; 98; 158; 239-43.

YELLOWSTONE, GLIMPSES OF THE, 251-69.

Yellowstone Lake, the, 261; 267.

Yellowstone National Park, the, 295, 296.

Yellowstone River, the, 267, 268.

The Riverside Press CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS U. S. A.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Lure of the Camera, by Charles S. Olcott