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Washburn
Report Index
YELLOWSTONE EXPEDITION OF 1870
Page 11
Barometer, 23.00; thermometer, 50°; elevation,
7,270 feet.
Coming into camp in advance, passing through a
grove of pine on the margin of a little creek, I was met face to face on the
path by two magnificent buck elk, one of which I wounded, but lost in the
woods. Shortly afterward Mr. Smith started up a small bear, which also got
away. The ground was everywhere tracked by the passage of herds of elk and
mountain sheep; and bear sign was everywhere visible. In the evening,
accompanied by Mr. Washburn and Mr. Hedges, I followed down the channel of
the creek to the brink of the Grand Caņon. Passing for a mile down an open
glade with a heavy coating of rank, green grass, and dotted with clumps of
pine, we came to a bed of whitish substance extending for a hundred yards on
each side of the creek and through which its channel ran. Having no chemical
tests we were at a loss to classify this deposit; some thought it volcanic
ashes. This formation abounds in the vicinity in deep beds underlying the
ridges of the valley and overlaid by masses of lava almost entirely composed
of obsidian. A mile below this point, small, hot springs of sulphur,
sulphate of copper, alum and mud, were found in great numbers; and soon we
came to an opening in the woods, at the foot of a bluff, where there
appeared a system of boiling-hot springs of muddy water, with clouds of
vapor escaping therefrom. The large ones were five in number, of which the
first measure 25 by 30 feet, hot, with slight ebullition in the center;
water slate color, and not flowing. The second, 4 feet in diameter; boiling
violently and flowing; water dark brown, muddy, but without deposit. The
third, 20 by 25 feet measurement, brown, muddy water, boiling up three feet
in the center, with an occasional violent rush of vapor to the height of 100
feet. This spring flows periodically. It lies close under a projecting bank
of sulphureted calcareous formation; and in one corner of the spring rises a
sort of honey-comb deposit, of beautifully-variegated colorings, and
composed of sublimated sulphur on a bed of metallic luster resembling
silver. This deposit is several feet in height, and would weigh many tons.
The vapor is forced through the interstices of this honey-comb with a loud,
hissing sound. Above this spring, 30 feet on the bank, is a fourth, similar,
and measuring 7 by 8 feet; and beyond, another, of black, paint-like
consistency, which deposits a crater from the ejected material. Around these
larger are dozens of smaller springs, vapor jets, and mud spouts. The ground
in the vicinity is in layers, like pie-crust, which break through or settle
when trodden upon, giving one a sensation of extreme uncertainty, as a rush
of hot, sulphur vapor invariably rises from the fracture. It was with
extreme difficulty and some little risk that we obtained specimens of the
deposits.
Continuing on our way three miles farther we came
to a dense growth of small timber on the brink of the Grand Caņon, and were
stopped by its sheer wall, which fell off 1,500 feet to a bench, grown up
with pines, through which ran an apparently narrow chasm so deep that the
waters could not be seen nor heard. It was a second edition of the
bottomless pit. The small stream had hollowed out a channel through the
lower bench several hundred feet in depth, additional; but even looking down
through this fissure did not enable us to see the Yellowstone. After resting
on the brink, and gazing long with wonder into the fearful gulf below, we
returned to camp, having had a walk of ten miles, profoundly impressed with
the laborious nature of our
undertaking and more than satisfied with the opening
up of the campaign.
Ninth day -- August 30. -- We moved at 9
a.m., in a southerly course, with a detour to the right to avoid a marshy
ravine, and in three miles struck the head of the low valley seen from Mount
Washburn yester-
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Page 12
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