792 



YELLOW FEVER YKLLOWSTONF. NATIONAL PARK. 



crusade with almost unexampled energy and 



activity, laboring with tongue :unl pen throughout 

 his section I" 3 -iiln in sentiment tu ii point 



nt which continued union with the North woiilil be 

 no 1 --itilc. lie wrote. S 1 pi. 4. 1S.1S : 1 :iin 



nisi and not a revolutionist, ami woulil 

 not precipitate. Imt carefully prepare to meet an 

 inevitable dissolution," which became inevitable 

 largely through his efforts. The biographer^ of 

 Lincoln call him 'the Wendell I'nillipsol the South, 

 n born agitator, the hrainand M>U! <>| the proslavcry 

 lion." The course ol the National Democratic 

 Convention nf 1AMI was outlined and almost dic- 

 1 by him three months before it met ; at the 

 Alabama C'onveiition in J.inuarv. he said: "The 

 States 1 Itights men should present their demands. 

 Il denied, they should secede from the convention, 

 appeal to the whole people of the South, and organ- 

 i/.e another." In the event of the election of a 

 Republican to the presidency. In- provided a plan 

 for State conventions, wherehv "the Smlh should 

 seek her independence out of the Union." As lie 

 said, so it was done. At the Charleston ( .invention 

 in April, he was the leading spirit and ilo Southern 

 ears) the most welcome and persuasive orator. Id 

 showed the Southern members their mistake, in ad- 

 mitting theoretical objections to slavery, and as- 

 sured them that the only logical Democratic position 

 was one of reverence for the institution as essen- 

 tially good and holy. A majority having accepted 

 Douglas's platform, the Alabama delegate set the 

 example of withdrawal from the Convention. April 

 HO. and were followed by those of the other Cot ton 

 Slato. At the Baltimore Convention in June, 

 Yanceyand his co-workers were present , and cite. -ted 

 (if they had not done it before) a complete sever- 

 ance of the party, passing to a convention of their 

 own at Kichmnnd. These schemes of disunion had 

 already been explained and denounced in the Senate 

 (May 1"! by Douglas, who bore witness to the 

 " ability, courage ami sincerity 1 ' of Yaneey. lie was 

 in his element for the last time at the Convention of 

 his State in January. lSt.Jl, requiring submissive 

 reverence to the ordinance of secession from the 

 Tniou, ami urging ''the penalties of treason" for 

 those who disobeyed it, the members from the 

 Northern counties, not then prepared to go nil 

 lengths at once, scoffed at his position, and burned 

 him in elli.-v. lie went abroad in March as a Con- 

 federate Commissioner to seek for recognition in 

 Kiiro|>e, but was unsuccessful ; he was an agitator 

 rather than a diplomatist, and could better kindle a 

 fire than support or direct the flame. ltd timing in 

 February. ISii-J, he was sent to the ( 'onfcderate Sen- 

 ate, but died near Montgomery, Ala., Julv '-'S, ISli.'!. 



VKI,l.i)\V FF.VF.I!. See FKVKI:. 



YU.LOW.sToNK NATIONAL I'AKK. Of 

 the many striking example-* of natural 

 phenomena in America there ore none 



7 "'. (i T'** '" sl "'l l;lss tbose included within the 

 Am. Krp.). limits of the government reservation 

 known by the above title, which, by Act 

 of Congress of March 1. IS":!, was " deiiicafeil and 

 set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for 

 the benefit and enjoyment Of the people/' The 

 marvels of this locality, of which rumors had for 

 some years been afloat, were first made known in 

 1 by a party of surveyors who visited the Ycllow- 

 htone region, and who wen- followed in ISTo by an 

 expedition under Gen. Washliiirn, surveyor-general 

 of Wyoming Territorj'. The report of its wonders 

 excited much interest, and in 1S71 a government ex- 

 ploring party under Professor I-'. V. Harden visited, 

 explored, and mapped the district, and gave the first 

 detailed report of its striking features of natural 

 scenery nnd phenomena. ' at once took 



measures to preserve it from spoliation or speculative 

 occupation, by setting it aside as a national park for 



the prrmnnent use of the people. It was well worf hy 

 of this prompt action, for in u> special range of phe- 

 nomena it lias no rival upon the earth, and is well 

 worthy the name of "Tin- Northern Wonderland/' 

 which I'rof ssor Ilayden gave it. m distinction tVoin 

 "The Southern \Vonilcrlanu" ol .\ n( ). 



The Yellowstone Park is situated in the extreme 

 northwestern portion of Wyoming Territory, extend- 

 ing slightly beyond Us boundaries into Idaho and 

 Montana, and embraces an oblong tract .1.1 miles 

 ea-t and wc-l, and IM miies north and south. Its 

 area is .'S.17.1 square miles, I he "hole of which is at 

 an altitude of more' than rnui feet above sea level. 

 The Yellowstone I.-ike, w hidi is included within its 

 Iwrdere, has an aliiinde of 77SS fed, while ii 

 dering mountain ranges an troin III.IKKI to I-J.UHJ 

 fei t high, and covered with perpetual snow. This 

 region, while containing varied cxai, ; i iking 



natural scenery, is specially notable for khe h'it 

 springs and gevsirs which it poss, s~i s in cxtiaordi- 

 nary abundant e. they being without parallel in the 

 world in number nnd magnificence. These are the 

 final stages of a great volcanic activity which seems 

 to have affected the whole ri gimi in recent geologi- 

 cal times, and whose temperature condilioii- 

 exist at no great distance below the surface. Out- 

 side this region, geysers (periodical eruptive springs) 

 are found only in Icthnd and New Xealand. ; 

 called geysers of California being rather fumaroles, 

 or vapor vints. In magnificence of display, how- 

 ever, the great g(\.-e|-sof Ii eland are far surpa-sid 

 by those of the geyser bas.n of Fin-hole KIVI r, 

 in Yellowstone Park. 



The Yellowstone region is, in its geographical 

 features, one of the mi.st interesting o| North 

 America. Within its limits or in its vicinity are, 

 ivi s of several of the great rivers of the < on- 

 tinent. which flow from that centre to the east, west, 

 and south. 



On the north are the head waters of the Yellow- 

 stone ; on the west those of the principal forks of 

 the Missouri ; on the south and southwest lli- 

 the Snake, an affluent of the Columbia, and of tbo 

 Green, a branch of the Colorado; nnd or. the south- 

 east, those of the Wind llivcr. The Yellow- 

 a tributary <>t the Missouri, is, with the exception 

 of the Colorado, the most remarkable river on the 

 continent. It basils source in Yellowstone Lake, 

 near the southeast corner of the park. This lake, 

 2'J miles long by 10 to 15 wide, is nearly surrounded 

 hy snow-clad mountains, its waters are exquisitely 

 clear, its shores rugged hut picturesque. The lake 

 is fed by the I'pper Yellowstone, after a run of -jr. 

 miles from its sources. From its north end flows 

 the main stream of the Yellowstone, with a 

 of l:!il miles to the Missouri. Near its point of 

 exit from the lake is a belt of hot sin-ings .'! miles 

 long by i mile wide, some of them extending into 

 the lake. About 1.1 miles below the lake the river 

 descends to the lower level in two magnificent cata- 

 racts, that known as the Upper Falls beii 

 fed in vertical height. About a quarter of a mile 

 below Ibis ;,ie the -najcstie Lower Falls, one of the 

 principal attractions of the park. There the stream 

 falls down a declivity of about .'::;n fee t in height 

 forming a cataiaet which far surpass s tl 

 Niagara in beauty, though not its equal in grandeur. 

 J'elow this the river enters the Grand Canon. a 

 mighty cleft in the voleanic rocks. L'O n,r*es long, 

 with perpendicular sides from LMIO to :,un te, t high. 

 Tlere is no scenery of the kind in the world that 

 surpasses this canon in sublimity, even the Grand 

 Canon of the Colorado, though exceeding it in di- 

 mensions, not surpassing it in grandeur of ellect, 

 while its many colored walls give it a magnil 

 of aspect not to be. indicated by anv deM-ri|>tion. 

 Just l>elo\v the canon the main stream is joined by 

 Tower Creek, which flows for 10 miles through a 



