52 





its water obliquely across the creek, and the Bee-Hive lias a long cone- 

 shaped orifice, andibe stream is so thin and thrown so high that it falls 

 in spray or floats off in the form of vapor, and these geysers are among 

 tLe most regular in the basin and always discharge at one eruption. 

 Old Faithful, the Castle, Giant, and other smaller ones, are of the same 

 kind. There are some peculiarities difficult as yet to understand, as, 

 for example, the repetition occasionally of the whole series of eruptions 

 of the Grand one hour or two after the first. Many more details are 

 wanting as to the habits and changes of each geyser before correct 

 conclusions can be formed of their true nature ; but the few hints here 

 thrown out may serve to give direction to future observation, and the 

 greater the number of facts accumulated the better we shall be able 

 eventually to understand them. 



OOK CITV MINING (AMP 



Leaving #he Park by way of Baronettfs Bridge, we followed up the 

 valley of Soda Butte Creek, past Soda Butte, an isolated mound of sul- 

 phurous and calcareous material, the site of a former hot spring similar 

 to those found on the Gardiner River. This has usually been referred 

 to as an extinct geyser; but the character. of the ingredients forming 

 the cone is inconsistent with such a theory, since analysis has shown that 

 the deposit from all active geysers is composed mainly of silica. The 

 valley is about one-fourth of a mile wide, and the surface, rising in ele- 

 vation, becomes uneven from extensive land-slides and masses of con- 

 glomerate rolled down the heights until, just at the boundary of the 

 Park, we tind ourselves in a narrow gorge between nearly vertical walls 

 of igneous rock 1,200 to 2,000 feet in height, the northeast gateway, 

 opening from the Yellowstone Basin into the vast arena of volcanic 

 mountains to the eastward. The lofty walls on either side are formed 

 of a porphyritic trachyte or trachytic breccia, consisting of different 

 kinds of igneous rock in irregular pieces of various size conglomerated 

 together and bedded in nearly horizontal layers, under which is a greenish 

 conglomeratic limestone made up of small flattened pebble-like masses, 

 capable, when pure, of a high polish, and makes a handsome marble. 

 On exposed surfaces it weathers in pits ami holes and disintegrates into 

 a dull gray or whitish friable mass, in which its conglomerate character 

 is scarcely traceable. From this point to the head of Soda Butte Creek 

 the way is bordered by mountains of volcanic rock 2,000 to 3,000 feet 

 high, eroded at their summits into the most remarkable turreted and 

 castellated shapes, and resting at the base on a horizontal ledge of lime- 

 stone. In a little grassy park-like expansion of the valley, 3 miles be- 

 low the head of the creek, is Cook City, a mining camp of about thirty 

 or forty cabins and one hundred and fifty inhabitants. It is a regularly 

 incorporated town, with a post-office and a weekly mail, 127 miles by 

 wagon road from Bozeman, Mont. The so-called mines are located 

 within a radius of 3J or 4 miles from the camp. The following memo- 



