33 



length of the meadow from east to west is about a mile while the width 

 from north to south is not much less. The larger of the streams coming 

 in from the north is Pacific Creek, and, after winding along the western 

 side of the meadow, turns abruptly westward, leaving through a narrow 

 gorge. Receiving numerous small affluents, Pacific Creek soon becomes 

 a good- sized stream, which finally unites with Buffalo Creek a few miles 

 above where the latter stream flows into Snake River. 



Atlantic Creek was found to have two forks entering the Pass. At the 

 north end of the meadow is a small wooded canon down which flows the 

 North Fork. This stream hugs the border of the flat very closely. The 

 South Fork comes down the canon on the south side, skirting the brow 

 of the hill a little less closely than does the North Fork. The two 

 coming together near the middle of the eastern border of the meadow 

 form Atlantic Creek which, after a course of a few miles, flows into the 

 Upper Yellowstone. But the remarkable phenomena exhibited here re- 

 main to be described. 



Each fork of Atlantic Creek, just after entering the meadow, divides as 

 if to flow around an island, but the stream toward the meadow, instead of 

 returning to the portion from which it had parted, continues its westerly 

 course across the meadow. Just before reaching the western border the 

 two streams unite and then pour their combined waters into Pacific Creek ; 

 thus are Atlantic and Pacific Creeks united and a continuous water way 

 from the month of the Columbia via Two-Ocean Pass to the Gulf of Mex- 

 ico is established. Two-Ocean Creek is not a myth but a verity, and Jim 

 Bridger is vindicated. 



Pacific Creek is a stream of good size long before it enters the pass, and 

 its course through the meadow is in a definite channel, but not so with 

 Atlantic Creek. The west bank of each fork is low and the water is liable 

 to break through anywhere and thus send a part of its water across to Pa- 

 cific Creek. It is probably true that one or two branches always connect 

 the two creeks under ordinary conditions, and that following heavy rains 

 or when the snows are melting a much greater portion of the water of 

 Atlantic Creek finds its way across the meadow to the other. 



Besides the channels already mentioned, there are several more or less 

 distinct ones that were dry at the time of our visit. As already stated, 

 the pass is a nearly level meadow, covered with a heavy growth of grass 

 and many small willows 1 to 3 feet high. While it is somewhat marshy 

 in places it has nothing of the nature of a lake about it. Of course during 



