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WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER.
Vol. 4 No. "38.
Lincoln, Nebraska, October 7, 1904.
Whole Number 194
THE WONDERS OF THE WEST
A summer trip to the Rocky Mountain re
gion answers a three-fold purpose; it gives rest
and recreation to those who are weary; it re
pays the tourist .who is in search of the rare,
the beautiful and the sublime in nature, and it fur
nishes an inspiration and a moral Stimulus that
the fertile prairies, the growing cities and oven
the boundless ocean can not supply.
A fourth reason for a mountain trip can bo
found in the altitude, if one needs the tonic fur
nished by the rarer air, for to those who suffer Irom
any sort of pulmonary trouble the breezes of the
mountains bear healing in their wings. During
the past seven years I have spent three brief
vacations in the Rockies and they have not only
been invigorating but they have furnished to my
family and to myself an opportunity to view the
wonders of the west.
YELLOWSTONE PARK.
In 1897 we made a tour of Yellowstone park.
Leaving the Union Pacific in eastern Idaho at a
little station near Beaver Canon, we spent sev
enteen days in making the trip to and tnrcugh
the government reservation known as Yellow
stone park. About Half 'way "between the railroad
"and 'thev park we found, the hospitable home of
Hon. A. S. Trudo, the eminent Chicago lawyer,
and made a brief stop there. His commodious
cottage is on the bank of Snake river which at that
point is a beautiful, tiansparent stream, about
waist deep. The fishing is excellent there, and
the same may be said of the hunting. In one
day devoted to sport we secured a number of
wild ducks, and about thirty sage chickens and
a good string of trout.. I say we, but my shooting
was really not very satisfactory as Mr. Trude's
father, a man past eighty and bereft of one eye,
killed about two-thirds of the chickens.
We made our next top at Dwelle's ranch,
which is located near the edge of the park. Here,
too, fish and game were abundant. In the park
itself no hunting is allowed but fishing is per
mitted, and I never saw trout caught with such
ease and rapidity as in the Yellowstone river,
just as it leaves the lake.
Yellowstone lake is itself an object of inter
est, being one of the largest of the mountain
lakes. A small steamboat takes the tourist a
picturesque trip around its shores. It is in the
edge of this lake that the famous hot spring is
located. The spring is encased in a wall that seems
to have been formed by a deposit of lime and is
surrounded by the water of the lake. Here, the
guide boons tell us, one can catch a trout and
without moving from the spot cook the fish in
the water of this spring.
Not far from the edge of the lake there is
a mud geyser, as it is commonly called. It is a
funnel shaped hole and contains several feet of
thin mud. Every few moments a puff of gas com
ing up from below spatters the mud against the
sides of the hole and by the time the mud has
fallen back Into the pit, it is again blown out.
When I visited the mud geyser the campaign of
1896 was "fresh injny.mind, and the working plan
of the mud geyser recalled the editorial policy of
some of the opposition papers, especially the New
York Tribune.
The hot water geysers of the Yellowstone are
to many the chief attraction. Of these Old Faith
ful is the most constant though not the largest.
One can not visit this section of the park, look
upon these intermittent pillars of Boiling wator
and thread his way among tho smoking hot pools,
without feeling that in spite of tho altitude ho
is close to tho infernal regions, and this impres
sion is strengthened by tho names that have been
given to various localities and objects of iuteiest.
One place is called Hell's Half Acre, and it has
earned the appelation for it not only contains, a
number of hot pools and geysers, but it Is en
crusted with a sediment from the hot springs that
gives forth a hollow sound and makes ono feel
that there is but a thin crust between him and
raging fires beneath. A cave in this vicinity is
called the Devil's Kitchen, while a small spring
which flows at intervals is called tho Devil's Ink
stand. The Devil is also the recognized owner of
a frying pan, some paint pots and other articles
of ornament and utility. Some ot: the 'pools -of
hot water are strikingly beautiful, reflecting from
their depths all the colors of tho rainbow, tho
principal of these being called tho Morning Glory.
In some instances the- springs issuing from tho
hillside have formed terraces covering acres of
ground. These terraces are richly colored by
the various mineral deposits.
The canyon of the Yellowstone is ono of tho
principal features of the park. The deep gorge
with its brilliantly colored, sloping walls, the falls
with dashing spray, the stream which in the dis
tance looks like a tiny thread of green or white
according to tho rapidity of the current, and the
fringe of verdure at the top of the canyon all
these combine to impress the view ' upon one's
memory.
There are hotels at tho principal points of
interest, so that the tourist can find lodging and
food at convenient hours. The animals in the
park, protected from danger, hare become very
tame, so that it is not unusual to see both deer
and bear. From a window of one of the hotete
we saw a large black bear and two cubs eating
the scraps from the table. They were frightened
away by some horses and after waiting awhile
for the danger to pass, the old bear arose upon
her hind feet to take a survey of the field. The
cubs followed her example and the three pre
sented a picture that made me wish for a kodak.
While wo entered the park from the west in a
private conveyance, tho most convenient entrance
is from the north. The Northern Pacific has a
branch from Livingston to Cinnabar, from which
point coaches make a tour of the park at rales
fixed by the government.
YOSEMITE.
In 1899 wo made our. summer vacation include
a trip to Yosemlte valley. While It is difficult to
compare two things as dissimilar as Yellowstone
Park and Yosemlte, it may be said of them that
of intorest whilo tho latter is built upon a moro
stupendous scale.
Tho Yosomito is In central California and (a
reached by tho S'anta Fo and tho Southorn Pacific.
Leaving tho main lines of thc8o roads at Morcod,
tho traveler takes a branch road to Raymond and
from that point reaches the valloy by stage. Tho
ride is an Interesting ono, and ono is conetantly
wondering at tho magnitude of the trees. Enor
mous sugar pines, some of them eight or ten feet
in diamctor, line tho way and prepare on for the
giant red woods of the Mariposa group, which
are but a short distance from tho Yosemlte road.
These aro tho big trees of California, but they aro
so symmetrical that one can hardly believe his
oyes or credit tho measurements which he him
self takes. Tho largest of these trees is moro
than thirty feet In diameter nearly ono hun
dred feet in circumference Some idea of the
size of tho trees can be formed when one knows
that a roadway has been cut through tho base
of one of tho trees and that when a four horso,
three-seated, coach Is drivon through, the coach'
and the wheel horses aro concealed within the
tree.
Tho road to tho valloy leads through a mining
camp which bears the cuphomlous title of Grub
Gulch. When we arrived here we found a ropo
stretched across tho road and tho citizens drawn
up in line They boro a banner which cd tilled
to tho fact that I had carried tho precinct by a
largo majority three years before and they in
sisted that they were entitled to a speech from tho
candidate, as a return for their partiality At
Wawona, the half-way house, we stopped for tho
night Tho hotel nestles in a little valley by the
side of a fertile meadow and the plnc-cldd hilla
which hem it In make tho spot so picturesque that
we were 3orry to resume our journey About noon
on the second day we reached the point where the
trail leading to the rim of tho canyon leaves the
wagon road. While the stage carried our baggage
to tho valley, wo mounted the mules" and horsca
and followed the path to Glacier Point, here
tho night was spent. From this point the view
of the valley Js enchanting. Looking down the
walls of the canyon to the bottom of the valley,
moro than three thousand feet below, one seea
a picture so beautiful that it hardly seems eal.
Five streams pour their waters, or ratner their
spray, into the valley, for the distance is so great
that the water does not fall en masse The Bridal
Veil Falls greet one as he enters tho valley and
tho name is not Inappropriate, for the wind sway
ing the falling spray gives It the appearance of a
fluttering veil. The falls of the Yosenilto, the
stream which has impressed Its name upon the
valley, were a disappointment, tho water at that
time being exceedingly low. These falls are at
their best during the early summer months, when
the snow is melting.
The most striking feature of tho valley i
the famous promontory known as El CaplUn. It
is a massive piece of granite a little more than
half a mile high and considerably more than half a
mite in width, without a crack or seaiiL II la
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