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SUPPLEMENT TO
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B News-Democrat
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VALEXTIXE , XEBHASKA , FKIDAY , OCTOBER 13 , 1899.
11
DR. W. I. SEYMOUR.
Wonders Fashioned by the Master
Hand in Yellowstone Park ,
AN OMAHA VISITOR IMPRESSED
Majestic Views of Mountain and Plain ,
Canyon und Lake. Spring * and
Spouters Wayside Scenes.
( Sunday Bee , Oct. 5. )
"The American people do not seem
to appreciate the many natural beau
ties of this country a0 much as they
should. " These remarks were ad
dressed to a Bee reporter by Dr. W. I.
Seymour of this city , who has just re
turned from an extensive trip through
the northwest.
"I have read much and heard a great
deal about the Yellowstone park , but
had a very dim conception of what a
visit to this fairyland of America real
ly meant until I actually visited it. I
left Omaha during the extremely hot
weather in August , my first stop being
In Deadwood , S. D. , where I remained
a few days , finding the-weather very
much cooler and pleasanter than one
would suppose at such a short distance
from here. Returning from Deadwood
to Hot Springs , S. D. , to remain there
over Sunday , I had the pleasure of
meeting several Omaha people , among
whom Mr. T. G. Rogers and wife , Mr.
F. J. Marsh , Mr. J. C. Holtorf , Mrs.
Cole and daughter , who were enjoying
the cool evenings and delightful plunge
baths , which constitute the principal
attractions of this little city. Leaving
Hot Springs , I continued my trip to
Sheridan , Wyo. , which is a pretty lit
tle city , beautifully located at the foot
of the Big Horn snow-capped moun
tains. Here again I had the pleasure
of meeting Dr. Brownrig and wife , Mr.
C. N. Dietz and Mrs. Victor White.
Mr. Dietz has a delightful summer
residence near the top of this range of
mountains , some 8,000 feet in altitude ,
where even in the hottest weather in
August the nights are cool and frosty.
Leaving here I went directly to Butte ,
Mont. , the most wonderful city of its
kind in the world.
"Joining a party of friends here , we
returned to the entrance of the Yellow
stone at Cinnabar , which is the gate
way to the park. Here we were met
by our camping outfit , which consisted
of carriages , a mess wagon , guides , a
cook , etc. , and we commenced our
journey of about 150 miles through the
park. Leaving Cinnabar in the morn
ing and entering the golden gate we
raised about 3,000 feet in a drive of
about ten miles. The sublime gran
deur of the scenery dawns as we enter
this natural gateway of rocks , which
on one side is a sheer precipice of
many hundred feet , the road being cut
out of solid rock along the side.
GOLDEN GATE.
NATURE'S TERRACES.
"The next point of interest is Fort
Yellowstone , situated at the Mammoth
Hot Springs , and does not differ from
many of our military posts except in
the location and the surroundings.
"Words are inadequate to express the
first impression of this beautiful nat
ural formation which , by the actions
of the water , have been in process of
construction for generations. Look
ing toward the springs from the Mam
moth Springs hotel one can hardly
imagine that these beautiful terraces
of marble white , tinted in places with
all the colors of the rainbow , were not
aided in their construction by human
hands. Terrace upon terrace of snowy
whiteness reaching the height of some
300 or 400 feet have been built by an
overflow of boiling water which carries
some sort of a lime sediment that
chemists have failed to analyze. This
constantly deposits itself at the edges
of the spring , building the walls higher
and higher each year , becoming in
time nearly as hard as rock , and the
little rivulets of water which flow
down the sides of this mountain of
whiteness form the most beautiful col
ors. Trees and shrubbery in the near
vicinity of the spring have become
coated with this whiteness until they
look like phantom images carved from
marble. Other springs in this vicin
ity , through the action of the soil or
certain rocks through which they flow ,
have become changed in color and as
sume most beautiful tints of orange ,
blue , etc. Some conception of the
number of these terraces can be under
stood when I say that it took us some
three hours moving from place to place
NATURE'S TERRACES.
in order to see the features of particu
lar interest.
"From here we continued our way to
the first camping ground , where our
tents had been pitched , and supper ,
consisting of hot biscuits , bacon and
eggs , canned fruits , vegetables , etc. ,
was served on long tables placed under
a large tree , all of which was thor
oughly enjoyed , as our appetites were
of the best. After supper a huge
campfire was built from great logs
brought from the mountains near by.
Seated on our camp stools we enjoyed
the evening telling stories and singing
songs and retired at an early hour to
pass a most restless night sleeping on
mattresses , laid upon the hard ground.
However , this feature of discomfort did
not trouble us after the first night , as
we all slept well , and the cook had
some trouble in getting us up at the
early hour necessary for us to have our
breakfast in order to cover the twenty
or twenty-five miles necessary for each
day's travel. Our next day's journey
led us through pine forests , through
deep ravines and along mountain
creeks , till we reached at about 3
o'clock in the afternoon a beautiful
plateau of grass-covered land with a
small river running through it , which
afforded us trout fishing and bathing , a
crude bathhouse having been con
structed over a warm spring which
flowed into the river.
REMINDERS OF THE INFERNO.
"The next day brought us to the first
of the wonderful geysers , which are
surely reminders of the Inferno , as the
place has been described in days gone
by , except in this case the founts are
water , for the odor of these springs is
strongly sulphurous , and until one be
comes accustomed to this feature are
quite disagreeable to many. Driving
on a little hillock we looked into a
basin covering some ten acres of
ground , perfectly white , here and there
little streams of hot water spouting up ,
in other places , some fifteen or twenty
feet across , boiling furiously. Coming
out of a rock near by is a most un
earthly roar of escaping steam , called
the "Growler. " The only comparison
I could think of would be the combined
roar of 1,000 railroad engines exhaust
ing steam at the same time. Passing
on the journey brings us to what is
considered by many the most wonder
ful part of the park. The action of the
hot water has formed many peculiar
features , and the whole region under
this field seems to be a boiling mass
of hot water , which spouts up from
time to- time at different points , consti
tuting , the different geysers. The prin
cipal geysers are all named and play
at regular intervals known to the
guides , enabling one to be prepared for
the grand eruption when it takes
place.
place.OLD
OLD FAITHFUL AT WORK.
"The one which I suppose has created
the most interest is "Old Faithful. "
While it is not as strong as some of
the others , yet the eruptions are very
regular. Old Faithful , when not in
action , has something the appearance
of a little crater , being built up on each
side with the usual white formation
to the height of about twenty feet.
This gradually slopes from the edge of
the crater off to either side , so that a
person can climb up and look into the
abyss. The first indications of an
eruptions are the gradual risings of
the waters , boiling most furiously and
throwing up little streams which
gradually come near the mouth of the
crater until enough force seems to
have been gathered , when there is a
grand explosion. The water shoots up
150 feet in a solid body the size of the
crater , and apparently remains sta
tionary in the air for about four min
utes. Millions of gallons are thrown
into the air with each eruption , most
of which drops directly back into the
crater , but considerable water is car
ried to the side by the wind and the at
mosphere soon condenses the vast
clouds of steam into a thick mist. It
strikes many as being peculiar that
these wonderful freaks of nature
should burst through the earth at such
a high altitude , as the park averages
nearly 8,000 feet over the whole surface
Of course , this feature of altitude adds
to the interest of the park , and , while
it seems strange that these eruptions
should occur here rather than in a
lower altitude , yet this is thoroughly
understood by geologists , who , I be
lieve , claim that the crust of the earth
is much thinner at these altitudes , than
elsewhere.
YELLOWSTONE LAKE.
"Proceeding from the geyser basin on
to the south , another day brings us in
sight of the wonderful Yellowstone
lake , a body of water some thirty
miles in length by twenty in width ,
nestling at the foot of snow-capped
mountains. This water is so pure and
clear that it is inhabited by millions
of mountain and lake trout , and , I un
derstand , is the largest body of fresh
water at this altitude in the world. Of
course , you have all heard of catching
trout in the Yellowstone park , and be
ing able to throw them into a boiling
hot spring and cooking them without
moving from where you stand. Dur
ing the time we were in the p"ark we
met W. J. Bryan and family traveling
in a manner similar to ourselves and
succeeded in getting some very laugh
able pictures , one showing Mr. Bryan
sitting on the edge of one of these
hot springs with rod and line , fishing
out'of the lake.
OLD FAITHFUL.
"Our next day's drive led us around
the north shore of the lake and in the
evening brought us to the lower end
of the lake , where is situated another
one of these mammoth hotels. This is
also the head of the Yellowstone river ,
and our party camped here for some
days , taking excursions on the lake
on the beautiful steamer Zella , a craft
of three decks and some hundred feet
in length. This complete little steamer
was carried across the mountains in
small parts on the backs of mules , be
fore the government had completed the
wagon road. Here , for the first time
in my life I have been able to catch as
many fish as I cared to , consisting
wholly of the "Speckled Beauties , "
ranging in weight from a pound and a
half to two pounds and a half. Two
of us caught fully fifty pounds in one
forenoon.
WAYSIDE FEATURES.
"On the trip down the Yellowstone
river we passed many wonderful fea
tures. Sulphur mountain , for example ,
appears to be a solid body of sulphur
some three or four hundred feet high ,
having a b autiful spring breaking
from the side of it , some fifty feet
above the road , the water being very
hot , but clear as crystal. A short dis
tance from Sulphur mountain the
Great Mud Hole , a hole some 150 feet
in diameter , in the side of the moun
tain , at the bottom of which , at about
100 feet from the surface , is a mass of
seething mud , which occasionally
spouts up , throwing the mud in all di
rections until it had built up a wall
around the mouth. A short distance
from this there are other mud vol
canoes , called the Paint Pots , as they
vary in color , the mud being in some
GRAND CANYON.