CHAPTER XIX.

A Tour of the Park.

_The Grand Cañon of the Yellowstone to Junction Valley._

Distance twenty-two miles.[BP] From the Grand Cañon north lies the true scenic portion of the tourist route. Hitherto, the main attractions have been the geyser basins, the Yellowstone Lake, and the Grand Cañon. The tourist has probably frequently expressed his disappointment at not finding as much rugged mountain scenery as he had expected. But from this point on he will have no cause to complain.

[BP] The distances given in this chapter are only approximate, the surveys for a wagon road from the cañon to Mammoth Hot Springs, via Mt. Washburn, not being yet completed.

_Mt. Washburn_ (12 miles) is the most celebrated peak in the Park, and the first to receive its present name. Its prominence justifies its notoriety, but the real cause of it is the fact that for eight years the main tourist route lay across it. From its summit the Washburn party received the first definite confirmation of the truth of the rumors that led them into this region. All reports and magazine articles which first gave a knowledge of the Park to the world were written by persons who had crossed this mountain. As the view from its summit is comprehensive and grand, covering almost the entire Park, it of course figured prominently in all narratives. Tourists fell into the custom established by the first explorers, of leaving their cards in a receptacle for the purpose on the summit. Many eminent names are to be seen there. It is a matter for congratulation that the progress upon the road system will soon restore this mountain to its former place in the tourist route.

_Tower Falls_ (20 miles) is perhaps the most graceful cataract in the Park, and should never be passed without a visit. It is on Tower Creek only a short distance back from the Yellowstone. Lieutenant Doane says in his report:[BQ]

"Nothing can be more chastely beautiful than this lovely cascade, hidden away in the dim light of overshadowing rocks and woods, its very voice hushed to a low murmur, unheard at the distance of a few hundred yards. Thousands might pass by within a half mile and not dream of its existence; but once seen, it passes to the list of most pleasant memories."

[BQ] Page 8, "Yellowstone Expedition of 1870." See Appendix E.

Near this point on both banks of the river are numerous sulphur fumaroles, the last evidence of subterraneous fire which the tourist will encounter on his trip. A little way above the mouth of the stream is the old Bannock Ford, the same by which Colter crossed in 1807. It is the only practicable ford within twenty miles in either direction.

_Junction Butte_ (22 miles) is on the right bank of the Yellowstone in the angle between that stream and the East Fork. It stands not only near one of the most important stream junctions in the Park, but also near a not less important road junction. It is a very striking object. Its summit is nearly flat, and its sides near the summit are perpendicular. Below this is a steep slope composed of enormous masses of finely broken stone disengaged from the cliff by the force of the elements. It is a fitting landmark for its important situation.

_Baronett's Bridge_ crosses the river immediately opposite Junction Butte. It is the first and only bridge yet (1895) built across the Yellowstone within the limits of the Park. It was built by the well known mountaineer, J. H. Baronett, in the spring of 1871, for the convenience of Clark's Fork miners. It was partially destroyed by the Nez Percés in 1877, but was repaired by Howard's command, and still further repaired the following year by Baronett and Norris. In 1880, it was replaced by a more substantial structure. At present it enjoys the unique distinction of being a private toll bridge on a government reservation.

_Junction Valley_,[BR] described elsewhere, is a name properly applicable to the valley inclosed by Crescent Hill, Mt. Washburn, Specimen Ridge, and the mountains north of Lamar River. This valley, and those of tributary streams, form the largest treeless tract in the Park.

[BR] The popular name for this locality is "Yancey's," from John Yancey, who has long held a lease in the Valley of Lost Creek at the foot of Crescent Hill. He has kept a sort of hotel or stopping place for the convenience of travelers to Cooke City, as well as for tourists between the Grand Cañon and Mammoth Hot Springs by way of Mt. Washburn.

_Amethyst Mountain_, _Specimen Ridge_, and the _Fossil Forests_ are names at once suggestive of the action of geological agencies which have been described in another chapter. Amethyst, limpid quartz, milky quartz, chalcedony, carnelian, prase, chrysoprase, banded agate, flint, jaspers of all colors, semi-opal, calcite, and many other varieties abound. The forest petrifactions present one of the most interesting scientific problems in the Park.

The _Lamar River Cañon_ (7 miles above Junction Butte) is a gorge about half a mile long, the chief characteristic of which is the enormous number and size of boulders which have fallen into it. These are almost spherical in shape, and, in many instances, are as smooth as if from the hand of a stone glazier. They are piled up like billiard balls, to such a depth that the stream flows entirely out of sight beneath them.[BS]

[BS] Above the head of this cañon are the remains of what seems to have once been a bridge, but no record concerning it has come to the writer's notice.

_Soda Butte_ (15 miles above Junction Butte) and _Soda Butte Cañon_, extending from Soda Butte to Cooke City, are worthy of much attention. The cañon in particular is as wonderful a bit of scenery as any mountains afford. It is every-where rugged, majestic and imposing, and there is no point in its twelve miles length that does not present a landscape deserving of the tourist's careful study. Mr. W. H. Weed, who has done much work in the Park, and particularly in this section, says of this valley:

"To the eastward Soda Butte Valley penetrates the heart of the rugged Sierra, whose high peaks rise in castellated forms. The visitor, disappointed perhaps in the mountain scenery of the Park, after traveling the usual route over the dusty roads of the Park plateau, will here find mountain views that are sure to fulfill his expectations, while the neighborhood is not lacking in curiosities that in another land would attract visitors from far and wide."[BT]

[BT] Fossil Forests of the Yellowstone. See Appendix E.

_Cooke City_ is a small mining camp just outside the north-east corner of the Park in the midst of the Clark's Fork mining district. It is of interest in this connection only on account of its notorious hostility to the Yellowstone National Park.

_Death Gulch_, reputed to exist in the valley of Cache Creek, is like Bridger's Glass Mountain, mostly a product of the imagination. It seems that some animals were once poisoned there, and that later, certain explorers, finding them, attributed their death to an escape of carbonic acid gas from the earth. The name has found its way into maps and reports of highest authority, but the object itself has no existence.

The _Hoodoo Region_ is near the head of Miller Creek just outside the original reservation, although within the Forest Reserve addition. This mysterious region furnishes probably the most striking example in existence of the effects of erosion and wind action upon masses of moderately soft rock. The region was discovered by miners in 1870, but was first explored and reported upon by Colonel Norris in 1880, who thus describes it:[BU]

"Nearly every form, animate or inanimate, real or chimerical, ever actually seen or conjured by the imagination, may here be observed. Language does not suffice to properly describe these peculiar formations; sketches may probably do something, and photographs more, to convey a conception of their remarkable character, but actual observation is absolutely necessary to adequately impress the mind with the wild, unearthly appearance of these eroded Hoodoos of the Goblin Land. These monuments are from fifty to two or three hundred feet in height, with narrow, tortuous passages between them, which sometimes are tunnels through permanent snow or ice fields, where the big-horn sheep hide in safety; while the ceaseless but ever changing moans of the wild winds seem to chant fitting requiems to these gnome-like monuments of the legendary Indian gods."

[BU] Page 8, Annual Report, Superintendent of the Park, for the year 1880.

Returning to Junction Valley, and following down the Yellowstone, the tourist soon arrives at the _Third Cañon_ (the third above Livingston, the Grand Cañon being fourth), which extends from the eastern limit of Junction Valley to the north boundary of the Park. Located anywhere else, away from the overshadowing splendor of the Grand Cañon, it would become celebrated. Some of the views, particularly from the high ground north of Mt. Everts, overlooking by nearly 2,000 feet the vast chasm through which the turbulent river flows, are among the most impressive in the entire region.

From the immediate vicinity of the Third Cañon, the road crosses the plateau of Black Tail Deer Creek to the valley of the East Gardiner. The tour terminates at Mammoth Hot Springs.