The Yellowstone Park 



ing clear of timber by following from one 

 to the other the open, winding glades and 

 long stretches of meadows and shallow drain- 

 age-channels which carry the melting snows 

 to the sources of the Yellowstone and Snake 

 rivers. It is in these secluded nooks and 

 sheltered spots that one finds the game. 

 A reservation for the protection and main- 

 tenance of our large game under natural 

 conditions requires an extensive region un- 

 broken by an area adapted for the abode 

 of man or subject to the disturbances of a 

 continuous traffic. With the rapid encroach- 

 ments of civilization in the Rocky Mountains, 

 these conditions demand that the country set 

 apart should be unfit for agricultural purposes, 

 and free from mineral resources to tempt the 

 cupidity of the advance-guard of settlers. 

 The Yellowstone Park meets the require- 

 ments of such a natural reservation better 

 than any other locality that could be selected. 

 The severity of its climate during the greater 

 part of the year renders the region a forbid- 

 ding one for settlement and permanent occu- 

 pation by man. On the other hand, the 



broad expanse of forest incloses sequestered 



251 



