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FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Feb. 18, 



NO RAILROAD fN YELLOWSTONE PARK. 



T^WO bills for a railroad through Yellowstone Park are 

 now before Congress. They are essentially the same 

 in character and provide that a right of way shall be given 

 the Cinnabar and Clark's Fork Railroad Company across the 

 northern portion of the Yellowstone National Park between 

 Cinnabar and the Clark's Fork mines. The route somewhat 

 vaguely indicated is up the Yellowstone to the East Fork, up 

 that to and up Soda Butte Creek, and thence to the headwaters 

 of Clark's Fork. Both bills provide that the location of 

 the right of way shall be approved by the Secretary of the 

 Interior, and that if the railway be not completed in the 

 course of one year (in the case of the House bill) or two years 

 (in the case of the Senate bill), the right of way shall be for- 

 feited. 



The present bills are an attempt on the part of those inter- 

 ested in the Clark's Fork mines to get railroad communica- 

 tion from Cooke City to the outer world. And the route 

 specified is chosen by them as the best for this purpose. 



No railroad should ever be allowed to penetrate the Yel- 

 lowstone Park. If one is built there it will be the signal for 

 a dozen other companies to force their way into this region, 

 which should be sacred. It is not generally known that the 

 Park has already been overrun by surveyors, acting in the 

 interest of various railway companies. Their stakes may be 

 found in the most secluded valleys, and if all the railways 

 that have been surveyed there should be built, the delightful 

 quiet of this now peaceful region would be gone forever. A 

 population would follow the railroad and settlements would 

 spring up along the track. Sparks from the locomotives 

 would fire the prairie and the forests, and the visitor would 

 see only blackened wastes, hillsides bristling with dead 

 burned timber, and mountain tops shrouded in smoke. 

 The shriek of the engine and the rumble of the train would 

 drive away the game, and the beautiful and wonderful Park 

 would become commonplace and unattractive. 



If the Cooke City people wish to reach the railroad there is 

 another and easier route which they may choose, but they 

 must leave the people's Park undisturbed. There is a good 

 way for a railroad to the Northern Pacific without passing 

 through the reservation, and we insist that the rights of the 

 whole Nation shall not be encroached upon to please one 

 corporation. 



No. No railroads in the Park. We have fought too hard 

 for its protection to see such a backward step taken, The 

 region is now in good hands. Public interest on the subject 

 has been awakened. Each season more people visit it, 

 and no one comes away without feeling a deep interest 

 in the region and its wonders. No one who realizes 

 what the Park is and what its future is to be would willingly 

 see a railroad enter its boundaries. Let it be carefully pro- 

 tected. Railroads within it mean forest fires, game destruc- 

 tion, and a host of other evils. 



thing to have some reliable, energetic man behind them to 

 spur them on to greater efforts. In case these bills are acted 

 on in this way the number of game protectors ought to be 

 increased, for all the Adirondack waters should be watched. 

 Then, when the hounding season is over, we may expect to 

 see the game protectors concentrate and form a kind of 

 body guard about the solitary still-hunter of the Adirondacks, 

 of whom Dr. Ward, in another column, tells us. 



Game in the Yellowstone Park. — Reports of the abun- 

 dance of game iu the Yellowstone Park continue to come 

 in. We have many times urged, and the event has proved 

 the truth of our statements, that protection within the Park 

 was all that was needed to make game abundant there. The 

 varied natural features of the reservation render it both a 

 winter and a summer range for game. We understand that 

 a band of about two hundred head of elk have wintered in 

 the vicinity of Swan Lake, which, as many of our readers 

 will remember, is only five or six miles from the Mammoth 

 Hot Springs, and in full view of the road. We have recently 

 conversed with a gentleman who has resided for the last 

 three years continuously in the Park. He states that the 

 game seems to know that within the reservation it is safe, 

 and that if a band of elk get out of the Park and near its 

 borders are shot at or disturbed, they head directly for the 

 Park, and soon after crossing the boundary line seem to lose 

 all fear and stop to feed or lie down. We have no doubt 

 that this statement is exact. The wild creatures have 

 learned, as we long ago said they would, that there is a 

 place where they are safe from molestation, and having 

 learned that lesson, they may be depended on to keep within 

 this refuge or near to it. With this continuance of the pro- 

 tection will come a great natural increase in the numbers of 

 the game, and this increase will overflow from the Park into 

 the surrounding region. In the time to come we look to see 

 the vicinity of the Yellowstone National Park the great 

 hunting ground of the United States for elk, deer and moun- 

 tain sheep, just as it will be the only place in the world 

 where one can hope to get a shot at the almost extinct 

 bison. 



A Superintendent of Game Pbotectobs. — A bill has 

 just been introduced in the Legislature at Albany authoriz- 

 ing the appointment of a superintendent of game protectors. 

 The text of this bill we have not seen and we do not know 

 its form; but we understand that it is framed to meet needs 

 that we have already alluded to as pressing, and of which we 

 spoke last week. Mr. Floyd J. Hadley has done a good 

 work in bringing this matter before the Legislature, and we 

 commend this action as much as we condemn his introduc- 

 tion of that other bill to legalize again the water-butchery 

 of deer. If Mr. Hadley's superintendent bill should be- 

 come a law, and his deer-hounding bill should 

 fail to pass, the State protectors of the Adirondack region 

 will have their hands full, and it will be a very excellent 



The Perils of Angling have another illustration in the 

 case of the English tenor, Mans, whose death was the imme- 

 diate result of his love of angling. While suffering from 

 chronic rheumatic gout he went a-fishing at Christmas time, 

 and paid the penalty with his life. 



TO THE WA LLED-IN LAKES. 



XI. — A PORTENT OF EVIL. 



LONG before the sun had made his appearance over the 

 high mountains we were astir. Our simple meal was 

 soon finished, and Yellowfish at once started off on foot 

 alone. A little later Appekunny and I departed up the trail, 

 and the camp was left in charge of the dogs and horses. I 

 was extremely anxious to get to the ice on the other side of 

 the stream, but my efforts in this direction were not suc- 

 cessful. 



Following the trail to the fifth lake we went down to the 

 water's edge, and scanned the landscape to see how most 

 readily we could reach our goal. By crossing the creek just 

 back of camp and clambering for several miles along a very 

 rough and precipitous mountain side, we could reach fifth 

 lake at a point where only its width would separate us from 

 the great glacier which overhangs it, but it seemed very 

 doubtful whether we could get around the lake, which ap- 

 pears to run far back into a deep gorge in the mountains. 

 By following the trail, on the other hand, it seemed likely 

 that we might find some spot where it would be practicable 

 to cross the creek and thus approach the northernmost of 

 the two glaciers. We did not yet know what the stream 

 valley contained above fifth lake. Just as we were about to 

 turn away from the spot two tiny white moving objects were 

 seen on a green slope in a ravine half way up the great 

 mountain to the south of our camp. For a little while we 

 watched them as they moved along up the slope, now clam- 

 bering quickly or again stopping for a short while, and sat- 

 isfied ourselves that they were goats, a mother and her kid, 

 for one was much larger than the other. 



Appekunny was much excited, and was for at once going 

 back to camp, crossing the stream and climbing the mountain 

 to try to get a shot, but I persuaded him to continue up the 

 trail until we could determine whether it was possible to 

 cross over to the ice, to reach which just then seemed to me 

 much more important than to kill a goat. We therefore kept 

 on up the trail until we had gone some little distance beyond 

 fifth lake, and then taking a game trail which branched off 

 toward the stream, followed it in the hope of finding a cross- 

 ing. It soon turned back toward the mountain, however, 

 and we were forced to keep to it, for the timber was so thick 

 that it was very difficult to force a way through it. We 

 tried a number of trails, but all of them sooner or later 

 turned toward the hills, and we finally gave up the attempt 

 to cross here, and breaking our way through the timber and 

 underbrush, made what speed we could toward the higher 

 ground. 



After getting out of the timber the hillside was terribly 

 steep and slippery, but we worked our way slowly up it, and 

 crossing a mountain torrent which rushed down the slope in 

 a symmetrical, clean cut trough scooped out of the shale, 

 found ourselves not far below the first ledge. 



All through the morning the skies had been growing 

 darker and more threatening from hour to hour, and now as 

 we looked up the valley, angry clouds were seen rushing 

 forth from the black-mouthed canons at its head. The som- 

 bre mountains were soon hidden by sheets of driving rain, 

 which now and then changed to snow, and rushed down 

 upon us before the driving wind. Bafore we had reached 

 the ledge the storm was upon us, and we took shelter 

 behind a low spruce bush, where, muffled in our rub- 

 ber coats, we waited for a lull in the storm. This 

 came in half an hour, and we continued the ascent. The 

 climbing was difficult, for the ledges rose one above another 

 in a seemingly interminable series. We would clamber up 

 one, almost hand over hand, and then, having reached a little 

 bench, follow it until some place was found where the next 

 wall above us could be scaled. Sometimes the course of a 

 tiny brooklet would furnish a way up over the rocks, at 

 others a series of projecting knobs would offer foot and 

 hand hold. Less often a slide, where the rock had slipped 

 away and exposed a shelving mass of loose shale, gave an 

 insecure footing for a quick scramble upward. About every 

 half hour it would rain or snow with great violence, and 

 during such times we would shelter ourselves as best we 

 could beneath some projecting rock, and start on whenever 

 the rain stopped. All the while the wind blew most furi- 

 ously, and on this account the climbing was not altogether 

 safe. ' Much of the walking was along narrow ledges only a 

 foot or two wide, and when a violent gust of wind struck 

 one on these narrow places there was always a possibility of 

 its throwing him off. On one side there was nothing but 

 the smooth rock to cling to, and on the other side there was 

 a vertical fall of from 20 to 200 feet. 



At one place Where a gust rushing down a narrow 

 gorge caught me I positively flattened myself against 

 the rock. Appekunny had seated himself after a bit of 

 rough scrambling, and 1 had gone on along a ledge to see 

 what it led to. This ledge was only ten or twelve inches 

 wide, and beneath was a drop of perhaps forty feet, while 

 my shoulder brushed against the cliff that towered I knew 

 not how far above me. A sheep trail followed the ledge and 

 led me to hope that the way would be an easy one to 

 ascend. After going thirty or forty yards, I came to a narrow 

 gorge only six or eight feet wide, and the trail turned sharply 

 at right angles, about a projecting point of rock, the path 

 being so narrow that 1 had to exercise a good deal of care 

 to turn the corner without falling off. As I rounded it the 

 wind caught me with a violence that for a moment sent my 

 heart into my mouth. Back from this corner ran a deep 

 narrow chasm or canon, cut out by a small mountain stream, 

 and twenty feet in front of me the ledge on which I was 

 walking ran out, and the sheep trail crossed the chasm. The 

 distance across was only four or five feet — an easy leap for a 

 sheep or for an ordinarily active man — but the landing place 

 on the other side was on another narrow ledge about eight 

 or ten inches wide and broken down on its outer side for 

 several inches into a sharp slope to the edge of the cliff. . 

 Forty or fifty feet below I could see the gleam of the stream, . 

 and in the lulls of the wind hear the tinkle of its waters , 

 as they fell from rock to rock. The jump might well enough i 

 be made in the excitement of pursuit or flight, but I did not 

 feel like attempting it in cold blood. One would have to 

 alight on his feet just rightly balanced. If he went too far he i 

 would strike the cliff with his body and might rebound and I 

 fall off; if he did not go quite far enough, of course he would | 

 lose his balance and fall. 1 looked at the jump for a i 

 moment or two and then very gingerly turning myself about. . 

 went back to look for an easier way. 



The rain and the snow and the fog continued, and oftenr 

 it was impossible to see any distance, while at short inter- 

 vals the blinding sheets of rain descended with such vio- 

 lence that we had to stop where we were and wait for the; 

 storm to abate. We climbed in this halting way nearly to» 

 the top of the mountain, and at length found ourselves om 

 the upper edge of a grand amphitheater of rock, whose back 

 and opposite side were formed by a mountain considerably 

 higher than the one on which we were. The red, purple 

 and green shales which formed its floor and side were wholly 

 without vegetation, and were tilted at an angle of 45 degrees, 

 and thus being about at right angles to the surface of the 

 ground at the back of the amphitheater ; but the side oppo- 

 site to us was very nearly vertical. Down through the midst 

 of this great basin, which was a mile in length and nearly as 

 wide, foamed a great torrent, the sum of a thousand springs 

 which trickled from the rocks, and as many rivulets, which 

 crept out from beneath the snow banks, which lay in all the 

 ravines and sheltered spots. Everywhere over the shale ran 

 sheep trails, and fresh signs were abundant; but the almost 

 continuous rain and fog made it impossible to see far, and 

 we could detect no living thing. 



During a lull in the storm and a gleam of sunshine, we had 

 from the highest point which we reached, a fine view of fifth 

 lake and those above it. Counting the four which were not 

 in sight, there are at least twelve in the chain, of which 

 eleven are in a continuous series, and one, as has been said, 

 is an arm of the fifth lake. From this point we had also an 

 excellent view of the glacier at the head of the lakes. In 

 character it is very similar to the one to the south of the 

 stream, and like that, it falls over a great cliff, which shows 

 through it. It seems thicker, however, and is beautifully 

 fluted on its vertical face where it breaks off to make its 

 plunge downward. It is quite possible that these two appar- 

 ently distinct ice masses may be merely the two extremities 

 of one glacier of great size; but this point can only be clearedl 

 up by some one who shall visit this interesting country 

 properly equipped with a pack train, so as to reachi 

 the ice. 



The green color of the waters of the glacial lake is due to> 

 the grinding to powder by the slowly-moving ice mass of the: 

 green slates, shales and schists which form so large a pro- 

 portion of the mass of these mountains. This finely com-- 

 minuted rock is carried down by the water of the melting 

 glacier and for some little time held in suspension by it, giv- 

 ing the water its peculiar tinge. 



During this short brightening of the skies the mountain* 

 about the lakes were spread out before us in a wonderful 

 way. They are incomparably ragged and inaccessible, and 

 seem all to be knife edges or pyramids or cones. It is un- 

 usual to see one that is square or round-topped. 



Up here on Swift Current, where it is so much higher and 

 colder than at our permanent camp, the foliage has changed 

 much more than about the St. Mary's Lakes, and the combi- 

 nation of colors that we looked down on was startling in its* 

 variety and its magnificence. An artist's palette, splashed 

 with all the hues of his color box, would not have shown 

 more varied contrasts, 'The rocks were of all shades, from 

 pale gray, through green and pink, to dark red, purple and 

 black, and against them stood out the pale foliage of the 

 willows, the bright gold of the aspens and cottonwoods, the 

 vivid red of the mountain maples and ash, and the black of 

 the pines. In the valley were the greens of the deciduous 

 shrubs, great patches of the deep maroon of the changing 

 lobelia, lakes, turbid or darkly blue, sombre evergreens; on 

 the mountain sides foaming cascades, with their white. 



