Vol. XXIII, No. 6 
WASHINGTON 
June, 1912 
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OUR NATIONAL PARKS 
By L. F. Schmeckebier 
IN ELEVEN western States tracts 
of public land varying in extent from 
several hundred to over two million 
acres have been withdrawn from settle- 
ment and private exploitation and dedi- 
cated by act of Congress as national 
parks for the benefit and enjoyment of 
the people. 
Within these great reserves may be 
found scenery and natural phenomena 
that are unequaled in their majesty and 
-gTandeur. 
In some of them the traveler may se- 
lect his method of transportation ; he 
may proceed by coach, on horseback, or 
on foot ; he may stop at the hotels or 
camps, or he may make his own camp in 
the solitude of the forest or in the midst 
of meadows gorgeous with the products 
of nature's garden. 
In other parks the absence of roads 
■compels him to travel on horseback and 
accompanied by a pack train — and after 
all this is the best way to enjoy thor- 
oughly the beauties of the mountain and 
the forest. In all of the parks one is 
free to come and go as he will, subject 
only to regulations that look to the pro- 
tection of the forest and the wild ani- 
mals. 
THE YELLOWSTONE 
The oldest and largest of the parks is 
the Yellowstone, created by the act of 
Congress approved March i, 1872. It 
lias an area of 2,142,720 acres, mostly 
in Wyoming, but with narrow strips on 
the north and west in Montana and 
Idaho. The best-known features of Yel- 
lowstone Park are the geysers, the Mam- 
moth Hot Springs, and the Great Falls 
and Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone 
River. 
The geysers are located in three ba- 
sins — the Norris Geyser Basin near the 
headwaters of Gibbon River, and the 
Upper and Lower Geyser basins along 
Firehole River. Even when the geysers 
are not in eruption the basins present 
scenes of weird and singular beauty. 
Clouds of steam rise from countless 
vents ; the gaunt trunks of trees, killed 
by the hot water and bleached to 
dazzling whiteness, stand specter - like 
around the edges of the basins ; here and 
there emerald pools or a beautifully col- 
ored deposit is seen in sharp contrast to 
the white sinter which forms the floor. 
Of the 84 geysers in the park no two 
are alike in their characteristics. The 
Constant Geyser, in the Norris Basin, 
sends forth graceful jets of water to a 
height of about 20 feet at intervals of 
one minute, while the Giant Geyser, in 
the Upper Geyser Basin, is in eruption 
at intervals of from five to seven days. 
It is Old Faithful, however, which is 
most regular in its operations. In the 
40 years that this geyser has been known 
to the white man it has never failed to 
eject its graceful column of water at in- 
tervals of 65 minutes. 
