GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 163 

 THE YELLOWSTONE PARK. 



Mr. Bunnell, from the Committee on the Public Lands, made the 

 following report: 



TliG Committee on .the Public Lands^ having had under consideration hill 

 H. B. 764, icould re])ort as folloivs: 



The bill now before Congress has for its object the withdrawal from 

 settlement, occupancy, or sale, under the laws of the United States, a 

 tract of land fifty-five by sixty-five miles, about the sources of the Yel- 

 lowstone and Missouri Elvers, and dedicates and sets it apart as a great 

 national park or pleasure-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the 

 people. The entire area comprised within the limits of the reservation 

 contemplated in this bil] is not susceptible of cultivation with any de- 

 gree of certainty, and the winters would be too severe for stock-raising. 

 Whenever the altitude of the mountain districts exceeds 6,000 feet 

 above tide-water, their settlement becomes problematical unless there 

 are valuable mines to attract people. The entire area within the limits 

 of the proposed reservation is over 6,000 feet in altitude, and the Yel- 

 lowstone Lake, which occupies an area fifteen by twenty-two miles, or 

 three hundred and thirty square miles, is 7,427 feet. The ranges of 

 mountains that hem the valleys in on every side rise to the height of 

 10,000 und 12,000 feet, and are covered with snow all the year. These 

 mountains are all of volcanic origin, and it is not probable that any 

 mines or minerals of value will ever be found there. During the months 

 of June, July, and August the climate is pure and most invigorating, 

 with scarcely any rain or storms of any kind, but the thermometer 

 frequently sinks as low as 26°. There is frost every month of the year. 

 This whole region was, in comparatively modern geological times, the 

 scene of the most wonderful volcanic activity of any portion of our 

 country. The hot springs and the geysers represent the last stages — 

 the vents or escape-pipes — of these remarkable volcanic manifestations 

 of the internal forces. All these springs are adorned with decorations 

 more beautiful than human art ever conceived, and which have required 

 thousands of years for the cunning hand of nature to form. Persons 

 are now waiting for the spring to open to enter in and take possession 

 of these remarkable curiosities, to make merchandise of these beautiful 

 specimens, to fence in these rare wonders, so as to charge visitors a lee, 

 as is now done at Niagara Falls, for the sight of that which ought to be 

 as free as the air or water. 



In a few years this region will be a place of resort for all classes of 

 people from all portions of the world. The geysers of Iceland, which 

 have been objects of interest for the scientific men and travelers of the 

 entire world, sink into insignificance in comparison with the hot springs 

 of the Yellowstone and Fire-Hole Basins. As a place of resort for in- 

 valids, it will not be excelled by any portion of the world. If this bill 

 fails to become a law this session, the vandals who are now waiting to 

 enter into this wonder-land will, in a single season, despoil, beyond re- 

 covery, these remarkable curiosities, which have required all the cunning 

 skill of nature thousands of years to prei)are. 



We have already shown that no portion of this tract can ever be made 

 avaihible for agricultural or uiining ][)urposes. Even if the altitude and 

 the climate w^ould permit the country to be made available, not o\'er 

 fifty square miles of the entire area could ever be settled. Tlu? \ alleys 

 are all narrow, hemmed in by high volcanic mountains like gigan'ic 

 walls. 



