HOW WE SAW THE PARK. 



A. B. HOOD. 



With 3 companions, James L. Ming, A. 

 L. Holter, C. L. Dahler, Jr., and a colored 

 cook, I left Helena, Mont., September 6, 

 1896, with the intention of seeing the 

 National Park, and as much other country 

 as time, provisions and satiety of camp 

 life would permit. The " outfit " consisted 

 of what is termed a " dead-ex " wagon, 

 drawn by 4 horses, carrying the tents, 

 camping utensils and other necessaries, and 

 a light surrey wagon, drawn by 2 horses, 

 in which to make short excursions to points 

 of interest. 



Leaving Helena at noon we drove to 

 Beaver creek, 18 miles distant, where we 

 soon had things in good shape for the night, 

 though the chilly air was far from pleasant. 



An early start next day, and the drive to 

 Radersburg was made, a distance of 30 

 miles, over a very hilly country. At this 

 place we were overtaken by a light fall of 

 snow, and decided to remain over a day to 

 allow the roads to dry a little. On re- 

 suming our journey, we drove 26 miles to 

 the town of Three Forks, so called from the 

 junction of 3 rivers at that point, the Madi- 

 son, Jefferson and Gallatin, with the Mis- 

 souri river. Here is situated one of the 

 large ranches of Marcus Daly, the copper 

 king, and -owner of many thoroughbred 

 horses, and through the courtesy of the 

 foreman of the ranch we saw a fine lot of 

 stock. 



From Three Forks we made a tedious 

 drive of 35 miles to Bozeman, arriving in 

 a drenching rain storm. Owing to the dif- 

 ficulty of obtaining a suitable camping place, 

 and on account of the rain, we put our teams 

 in a stable, and slept at the hotel. The 

 following day was passed in and around 

 Bozeman, looking over the town, the roads 

 being very bad. On the morning of the 

 12th we left Bozeman for Maxey's ranch, 

 a distance of 25 miles, which was traveled 

 in a drizzling rain over the hardest piece of 

 road encountered .in the entire trip. A few 

 miles out from Bozeman we first made ac- 

 quaintance with what is termed by old- 

 timers, " gumbo," a sort of clayey mud, 

 of affectionate and clinging disposition. 

 The way was enlivened by the remarks of 

 the man who occasionally climbed out of 

 the wagon to scrape off the mud so the 

 wheels could turn around. A 5 mile up-hill 

 pull through this stuff brought us to our 

 destination about 7 o'clock, thoroughly 

 worn out, and wondering if life is a con- 

 tinual round of pleasure. Next day we 

 stayed at Maxey's to hunt grouse, and allow 

 the teams to rest. 



Early Monday morning we pulled out 



with the intention of reaching Cinnabar but 

 stopped on the way to shoot a few teal and 

 mallard ducks, and halted for the night at 

 Yankee Jim's. Everyone who has been in 

 that section of country has heard of Yankee 

 Jim, and a volume might be filled with his 

 " bar " stories, interspersed with hair-rais- 

 ing adventures with Indians. It was with 

 regret that we left the cabin of this pioneer, 

 who received us with a hearty welcome, and 

 started on the last stage for the land of hot 

 water and unsurpassed scenery. We reached 

 Cinnabar, the terminus of the Park branch 

 of the N. P. R. R., at noon, and Mammoth 

 Hot Springs, the starting and finishing 

 point of the regular Park tour, at 3 o'clock. 



At this point we were obliged to report to 

 the military authorities, who took a com- 

 plete description of our party and the out- 

 fit, sealed our firearms, and gave us a per- 

 mit to proceed through the Park. In order 

 to find suitable pasturage for our horses we 

 drove 2 miles beyond the Mammoth Hot 

 Springs Hotel before pitching camp. We 

 camped here 2 days to see the sights, and 

 get photographs of the different formations, 

 meantime making short excursions to the 

 hotel, and other points of interest. Before 

 leaving here we were joined by George D. 

 Hood of Helena, who remained with us on 

 the trip to the Norris Geyser Basin, and 

 the Grand Canyon. 



The regular Park tour is so arranged that 

 each day brings some surprise greater than 

 the day before. Thus the stages branch off 

 at Norris, going via the geyser basins and 

 the lake, and taking the Grand canyon last;, 

 but as we desired to return home by a dif- 

 ferent; route, we reversed the order of things, 

 and took the canyon first. 



Our sight seeing has now commenced, 

 and we think we can realize the wonders 

 ahead of us. We have seen and photo- 

 graphed the terraces, Liberty Cap and 

 Cupid's Cave, but the tourist does not think 

 he is well and safely into Wonderland until 

 he has passed through Golden Gate, about 

 4 miles from the Hot Springs. We passed 

 this point early in the day, and after stop- 

 ping to admire and make photographs we 

 proceeded on to Norris, passing on the way 

 Obsidian Cliff, a solid mountain of glass, 

 and • Apollinaris Spring, reaching our des- 

 tination early in the afternoon. 



After pitching camp we made a short 

 excursion to the Geysers, but as it was 

 getting dark, we postponed a more thor- 

 ough inspection until the following day, 

 when we arose early and again visited the 

 scene of hot water and steam. We were 

 fortunate enough to catch one or 2 of the 



422 



