LETTER TO THE SECEETARY. XIX 



for agricultural or miuing purposes. Even if the altitude and the climate ^vould 

 permit the country to be made available, not over iifty square miles of the entire area 

 could ever be settled. The valleys are all narrow, hemmed in by high, volcanic mount- 

 ains, like gigantic walls. 



The withdrawal of this tract, therefore, from sale or settlement takes nothing from 

 the value of the public domain, and is no pecuniary loss to the government, but will 

 be regarded by the entire civilized world as a step of progress and an honor to Con- 

 gress and the nation. 



Department of the Interior, 



Waslvington, D. C, January 29, 1872. 

 Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 27th 

 instant, relative to the bill now pending in the House of Representatives dedicating 

 that tract of country known as the Yellowstone Valley as a national park. 



I hand you herewith the report of Dr. F. V. Hayden, United States geologist, rel- 

 ative to said proposed reservation, and have only to add that I fully concur in his 

 recommendations, and trust that the bill referred to may speedily become a law. 

 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



C. DELANO, 



Secretary. 

 Hon M. H. DuNNELL, 



House of liepresentatives. 



The committee, therefore, recommend the passage of the bill, and on motion of Mr. 

 Dawes it passed without amendment. 



This brief resume of the history of the legislation in regard to the Park 

 is repeated here for the purpose of again placing on record the real 

 actors in this important movement. It was at the suggestion and under 

 the direction of the writer that all the papers, maps, reports, and the 

 law were i)repared, that set this large tract of land apart for the benefit 

 of the people. Had the subject not been brought vigorously before 

 Congress at that particular time, and had Congress not acted promptly 

 at that session, it would not have been possible at any subsequent period. 

 Within one year from that time, every important locality in the large 

 area now known as the Park, would have been taken possession of under 

 the pre-emption laws of the United States. Thus the wisdom of the 

 prompt action of Congress during the winter of 1871 and 1872, is clearly 

 shown. 



TOPOaRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL MAPS. 



In this report will be found a series of maps comprising most of 

 the topographical work of the Survey daring the years 1877 and 1878. 

 The following statements in regard to the maps are taken from the val- 

 uable notes of Mr. Henry Gannett : 



This series comprises a sketch of the primary triangulatiou, and a drainage map, 

 each covering the whole area surveyed, on a scale of eight miles to au inch, a detailed 

 map of the Yellowstone National Park, on a scale of two miles to an inch, and three 

 detailed atlas sheets, on a scale of four miles to an inch. 



The triangulation sheet shows the scheme of the jirimarytriangitlation, the stations, 

 the sight lines, the closed and ojien triangles, the details of the expansions from the 

 bases and the astronomical connections. 



The base lines were two in number, one near Fort Steele, on the Union Pacific Rail- 

 road, Wyoming, the other in the valley of Bear River, near the village of Georgetown, 



