THE MUSEUM. 



if he has dared has not come out 

 aHve Great blocks of lava are here 

 piled up, unmistakeable evidence of 

 volcanic action. One can scarcely be- 

 lieve that the bed of this mighty river, 

 the banks, and even the surface of the 

 whole region, consists of lava of un- 

 known thickness. It is mixed like 

 rock, and is used for building purpos- 

 es, making very solid and substantial 

 structures. 



We spent a day at the "lava beds," 

 some fifteen miles west of Idaho Falls. 

 It was a day well spent. No one who 

 has ever seen this lava region can from 

 any idea of what it is like, even from 

 photographs. The whole state is vol- 

 canic. Here and there are high vol- 

 canic cones, from 500ft. to 1 000ft. above 

 the surrounding country out of which 

 molten lava at one time must have 

 poured over the level plain. At the 

 "lava beds" the lava begins with an 

 abrupt bluff above the surface, from 

 15 ft. to 30 ft. high. North-west of 

 the city there is a large crater or cone, 

 out of which the lava now forming 

 these beds must have poured. The 

 lava has run down the river plain in 

 great rivers, leaving valleys between 

 ridges, and a plain of such rough sur- 

 face that nothing can cross it. The 

 lava is as hard as flint, with sharp cor- 

 ners and edges everywhere that cut 

 shoe leather at every step. Here and 

 there are great folds that have cooled 

 and parted in the middle, leaving huge 

 crevices with masses of lava on either 

 side. These crevices are of various 

 sizes and depths. In places they may 

 be stepped over, in other places they 

 are eight or ten feet wide. Several 

 species of ferns find a lodgement in 

 these crevices, and an occasional bush 

 finds enough nourishment to keep 



alive. In the winter, when the beds 

 are covered with snow, these cracks 

 are filled up, and a straggling buffalo 

 in early days or a wandering deer in 

 latter times, falling through would 

 break a leg on the sharp functions, and 

 there would have its misery finally 

 ended by the viscious wolves or prowl- 

 ing bobtail cats. In one crevice we 

 counted two buffalo and two deer skel- 

 etons, not far apart. In the summer 

 the crevices are the home of wildcats 

 and rattlesnakes. 



Here and there are depressions or 

 holes in the general lava mass, that 

 appear to have been formed by the 

 collapse of monster bubbles during the 

 process of cooling. These holes are 

 from 50 to 100 feet deep, and perhaps 

 500 feet across the top. The sides 

 are full of caverns and hiding places, 

 but food for snakes and cats must be 

 scarce. Several pictures were taken 

 of points of special Interest, but they 

 do not bring out the main features, 

 such as the hardness of the rock, color, 

 and depth of crevices and caverns. It 

 was a day in the infernal regions, lack- 

 ing the brimstone and other attendant 

 features. 



On the bare masses of lava rock, 

 with scarcely a foothold in the crevi- 

 ces, grow stunted, gnarled, weather 

 beaten cedar trees. These grow from 

 ten to 20 feet in height, and often sev- 

 eral feet in diameter. How they gain 

 subsistence is a difficult problem. The 

 people of Idaho Falls go out among 

 these great lava beds with axes, cut 

 these stumpy trees for firewood, drag 

 them to places accessible to trains, 

 and haul them fifteen or twenty miles. 

 People living along the level roads of 

 the Mississippi valley would declare it 



