492 



[Dec/ 7, 1895. 



highlylof the region. Fred M. Viles, the popular ex-steward 

 of the Megantic Club, has three snug log cabms there, 

 making quite a camp, where those who have visited the 

 place have been made comfortable indeed. Hackle. 



Nov. 29,— C. P. Stevens and F. H. Stevens, both of 

 Boston, are out of the Maine woods after a deer hunt of 

 seventeen days. They were in the vicinity of Kenne- 

 bago Stream, at Lowell's camp. They were after deer 

 and both wanted bucks with good heads. They waited 

 ten days for snow. At last snow came on Wednesday 

 night. But it was a peculiar snow. Every twig was 

 loaded with snow and every bough bore roses of snow. 

 Around the branches snow hung in balls. It was next 

 to impossible to move without showering down volumes 

 of damp snow, and though the sight of the woods was 

 beautiful in the extreme, yet one could distinguish ob- 

 jects only a few feet. In such hunting as this they got 

 their deer. Both are of the opinion that still hunting 

 deer without snow is exceedingly difficult. Not a bit of 

 venison did they have in camp till they had killed xt. 

 They took in no fresh meat, fully expecting to kill ven- 

 ison the first day. 



Mr. Patterson, of Patterson Brothers, has been down 

 South on a quail shoot. He had his usual good sport. C. 

 P. Jones secured several partridges Thanksgiving in 

 Reading. He says that the birds are remarkably shy. 



Special. 



THE YELLOWSTONE PARK. 



Trom the annual report of Capt. George S. Anderson Acting 

 Superintendent. 



Protection of Forests. 



I have heretofore gone into the subject of protection 

 of forests at such length as to leave but little to say this 

 time. Last season was noted for the frequency of light 

 rains, which no doubt aided in the prevention of fires. 

 I have once more to report that none of any material 

 consequence occurred during the entire year, I have, 

 therefore, but the one serious fire of July, 1893, to report 

 as occurring since my arrival, and that one I find upon 

 careful examination to have been much less extensive 

 than previously reported. The system of daily patrols 

 from my numerous outposts has done much to prevent 

 fires. My rule is to have a man start every morning from 

 each of these stations, carrying with him a bucket and 

 a shovel with which to thoroughly extinguish any smolder- 

 ing embers that may be found in the abandoned camps of 

 tourists. These patrols continue on their way until they 

 meet similar patrols from the neighboring station, when, 

 after a short halt, they retrace their steps in the afternoon 

 to their own proper home. In this way many serious 

 fires are undoubtedly prevented, and to the thoroughness 

 of the system I feel sure most of the good results are due. 

 Whenever camping parties, by their carelessness, leave 

 fires which endanger the forests, arrests are promptly 

 made and the parties brought into this station, where 

 they are tried by the United States Commissioner for vio- 

 lation of the Park regulations. Convictions had are 

 freely talked of among the tourists, with the result of 

 making subsequent parties more careful. There have 

 already been twelve convictions for violations of the law 

 of May 7, 1894. 



Outposts. 



The work done by the patrols from the various outposts 

 that I have established has continued to give the greatest 

 satisfaction. The duty is hard, involving much riding in 

 summer, exposure to heat and to cold, much snowshoe 

 work in winter and the incurring of many dangers. I 

 find the freedom and the ease of the life makes this duty 

 very popular with the better class of soldiers, and I have 

 no difficulty in obtaining from the best of men applica- 

 tions for this sort of service. 



I have not established any new stations for summer 

 service, but during last winter I added one, which was 

 occupied by a sergeant and three men near the Mud 

 Geyser. The object of this new station was the protec- 

 tion of the bison that winter in the Hayden Valley. 



In my last report I noted the death of Private Mathews, 

 •of Troop D, Sixth Cavalry, while on detached service 

 from the Riverside Station, going to the Lower Basin for 

 the mail. A most thorough search for his remains was 

 continued for at least six months after his disappearance. 

 His body was found early in June of this year on the 

 south side of the Gibbon River, about three miles from its 

 junction with the Firehole. It was evident that he 

 became lost, and while in that condition became crazed 

 and perished from cold. 



For this season's work I have been authorized to expend 

 a portion of the appropriation for Park improvement in 

 the employment of additional scouts. As soon as the 

 poaching season fairly begins I will make such use of 

 this fund as I feel sure will result in important captures, 

 and a few convictions will have a most salutary effect 

 upon game protection. 



Roads. 



Soon after my last report was rendered, the control and 

 management of the road work were turned over to me by 

 an order from the Secretary of War. It was then too late 

 in the season to inaugurate any extensive system of road 

 building. Repairs, resulting in material betterment, ware, 

 however, instituted. The arch bridge near the Upper 

 Falls of the Yellowstone was completed, and the road at 

 that point thus made passable for travel, but not before 

 the end of the tourist season. The road at. the foot of the 

 Virginia Cascade, which had entirely washed out in the 

 spring of last year, was put in a condition to withstand 

 any rise in the water that the springtime might bring. 

 About two miles of road in the Gibbon Cation, which 

 had so washed out as to be almost impassable, were put 

 in a thorough state of repair. A mile of new road was 

 built between here and Gardiner, replacing the old road, 

 which was rendered impassable by the destruction of the 

 bridge over the Gardiner River, about a mile and a half 

 below here. By this new road the heavy grades of the old 

 one are entirely avoided, and the experience of this 

 season has shown that it is a much superior thoroughfare. 



With the beginning of this season I began work in 

 earnest on the road system. My first object was to put the 

 roads in a thorough state of repair. To this end I made 

 a liberal use of the road machine, filling up the ruts cut 

 by heavy freight wagons in the wet and softened roadbed. 

 Following these machines was a man who removed from 

 the track all small stones which were found there, thus 



saving the jolt caused by them. This, in niany places, at 

 small expense, converted a very bad road into a good one. 



A new road of full width and easy grades has been con- 

 structed down the brink of the Grand Cafion from a point 

 over the Lower Falls to Inspiration Point. I have also 

 had protecting rails put on both Point Lookout and in- 

 spiration Point. The trails leading down to the Lower 

 Falls have been improved, and the dangerous places 

 guarded by hand rails. A new road has been finished 

 from a point on the old road just south of the Alum 

 Creek Bridge, passing around Sulphur Mountain, and join- 

 ing the old road again near Antelope Creek. A roadway 

 has been opened from the Lake Hotel to the Natural 

 Bridge, so that it is now passable for light wagons. A 

 crew has been working for about a week on the road 

 which was projected along the shore of the lake, near the 

 Thumb, but not heretofore completed. As about two 

 miles of this part of the road is very heavy from the cov- 

 ering of loose beach sand, I shall have to surface it with 

 some clayey material, which will not be an inexpensive 

 piece of work. I hope, however, to have it completed 

 within a few days. The road from the Old Faithful to 

 the Upper Crossing of the Firehole has been remade, and 

 a driveway to the Lone Star Geyser opened. I have also 

 made a road passable from the Fountain Hotel around 

 the Constant, or Black Warrior Geyser, and back by way 

 of the Great Fountain. A bridge will soon be completed 

 over the Firehole River just south of the Excelsior Geyser, 

 permitting teams to cross the river at this point and 

 join the direct road in the edge of the woods opposite. 

 A bridge has also been constructed at the old ford near 

 the mouth of the Gibbon Cafion. I have located a new 

 road connecting a point on the old road at the top of 

 the hill beyond the Gibbon Canon with the same road 

 on the flat about a mile north of the Firehole cottages. 

 This road is already completed for more than half its 

 length, and by Aug. 1 I hope to have it in use. I will 

 also connect this road at its nearest point with the road 

 down the Madison, at the junction of the Gibbon and 

 the Firehole. The balance of this road down the Madi- 

 son Cafion I shall survey this year, but will leave the con- 

 struction of it for another season. 



^ In a few days a surveying party will proceed down the 

 Snake River to complete the roadway to Jackson Lake, 

 - begun two years ago. As soon as the surveying party 

 can be spared from this last-named work it will be put to 

 work locating the proposed road from the Grand Canon 

 to Yanpeys, over Mt. Washburn. 



When some of the crews now engaged in road repairs 

 can be spared from that work I shall place them on the 

 road near Cooke City, to open out and improve the road 

 in that vicinity. 



All of this work is done under the direction of the Sec- 

 retary of War, but I embody a mention of it in this r eporjfc 

 in order that you may be informed of the progress made, 

 Of one thing I feel certain, and that is, that the transfer 

 of the road work from a non-resident officer to the acting 

 superintendent resulted in a great saving of appropriation 

 and in much improvement to the roadsr 



Fishing. 



I have little to add to my previous reports on the subject 

 of fishing in the Park. The enormous number taken here 

 by all parties who take the time to cast a line surpasses 

 all belief. The plants of trout put by the Fish Commis- 

 sion in the Gardiner and Willow Creek, in the Firehole 

 and the Nez Perces, now furnish the rarest sport to those 

 wishing to try the brook trout, the Loch Leven, or the 

 Von Behr. The plant made by the Fish Commission in 

 Shoshone Creek two years ago has prospered, and the 

 stream is now filled with small ones. The only plant that 

 does not seem to have succeeded is that of the rainbow 

 trout in the Gibbon River, above Virginia Cascade. An 

 occasional fish is seen in this part of the river, but they are 

 nearly all large, indicating that for some cause or other 

 they have not propagated satisfactorily. 



The black bass sent out by the Commission in Decem- 

 ber, 1893, reached here at a time when the thermometer 

 was 22 below zero. By the time they reached Norris 

 they were apparently all dead, but they were thrown into 

 the Gibbon River at that point. I have recent reports 

 from a crew building a bridge over the Gibbon near the 

 mouth of the canon that several had been seen at that 

 point. I had hoped that they were all dead, as it was not 

 my desire to have them in streams where trout either 

 were or might be planted. 



The plant of bass promised for last year was not sent, 

 but about ten days ago 500 were received at Cinnabar one 

 morning at 11 o'clock, and before night I had them dis- 

 tributed in the lakes which were their destination, more 

 than fifty miles distant from the poin|fc where they were 

 received from the car. Every one of this number was 

 healthy and in good condition, and J have strong hopes 

 of soon adding bass fishing to the other pleasures of the 

 Park tour 



Prof. Jordan, who had already made several trips 

 through the Park under the auspices of the Fish Commis- 

 sion, passed through last month as a tourist. He was 

 much interested in the progress of the plant which he had 

 been instrumental in making. He said that he believed 

 the large number of trout taken in the Yellowstone Lake 

 did no harm, and that those that remained were improved 

 by it. The opinion of this high authority is conclusive as 

 to the fact that there is no need of protection to fish in 

 the lake and the waters of the Yellowstone. It has oc- 

 curred to me that protection might be needed for those 

 planted in the Gardiner and the Firehole. ft is gratify- 

 ing to note that they were more numerous this year than 

 ever before in both these streams, but, inasmuch aa the 

 volume of tourist travel last year was small, perhaps some 

 restrictive measures will be necessary in the future. I do 

 not Buggeiat a closed season, but rather that a regulation 

 be made requiring all fish under a certain length to be re- 

 turned to the stream. I suggest 0in. as a minimum length 

 for any fish permitted to be taken in the streams so 

 stocked. Of course the plant of bass will be protected 

 until they have sufficiently increased in numbers to per- 

 mit o£ their being taken without endangering their num- 

 bers. 



Poaching. 



The act of May 7, 1894, seems to have had a most 

 healthy effect upon the poachers who surround and prey 

 upon the Park. I believe that those of the north, the 

 eusfci and the south sides have nearly or quite ceased 

 troubling it. I can not say as much as this for the Idaho 

 border. There is a section of country beginning at Hen- 

 ry's Lake and extending south for about 25 miles in- 



habited by a merciless and persistent lot of head and skin 

 hunters. In most civilized countries the occupation of 

 such vandals as these is held in merited contempt, but it 

 is not so in the region of which I have made mention. 

 The laws of Idaho are extremely deficient in game pro- 

 tective measures. I believe it is a fact that the bison, 

 now so nearly extinct, is not protected at all. So long as 

 the only herd of wild bison now existing in the United 

 States is on the border of this State, liable at any time to 

 cross within its dominion, it would seem that the State 

 would pass the laws necessary to protect them with the 

 most Vigorous of punishments. Extended inquiry into 

 various ruinors of the killing of bison, either in the Park 

 near the Idaho line or across it within that State, has 

 convinced me that this last remaining herd is in danger 

 of extinction by these people of whom I have made men- 

 tion. I have good evidence of the killing of at least ten 

 less than two years ago near the State line, but probably 

 outside the Park. This was prior to the passage of the 

 protection act, which has nearly put an end to depreda- 

 tions within the Park. I have undoubted evidence of the 

 capture of three calves this spring by a resident of Hen- 

 Ty's Lake. He claims that this capture was made outside 

 the Park. There are rumors of a herd of nearly one hun- 

 dred having been seen in Idaho outside the Park within 

 the last two or three months. The Park act can afford 

 no protection to these animals after they cross its boun- 

 dary. I trust every influence will be brought to bear to 

 induce the Idaho authorities to pass a protective law, and 

 to this end I will exert my best endeavor. 



A single conviction of a poacher under the law of May 

 7, 1894, will act as a powerful deterrent on these crimi- 

 nals, and I have no donbt will go far toward settling the 

 question of incursions by depredators for all time. 



The only other way in which the Park is liable to be 

 troubled by poachers is in the capture of the fur-bearing 

 animals. It is so easy to place poison or set traps where 

 the eye of the most expert scout cannot find them; it is 

 so easy to pack the pelts out of the Park without detec- 

 tion, that it has seemed to me one of the most difficult 

 problems that I have been called upon to handle. Of 

 course the constant system of patrols has done much to 

 enforce the law and the regulations on this subject, and I 

 am pleased to state that the effect has been the best. 

 Evidences multiply on all hands of the constant increase 

 of all of these animals. Four years ago I considered the 

 extinction of the beaver imminent. I now find them 

 multiplied many fold in all of the suitable streams in the 

 Park. Of course some of them fall a victim to the trap- 

 pers who hang around the borders, but the large central 

 area of the Park is as thoroughly protected as though 

 poachers were non-existent. 



The few elk, deer, antelope, bear, etc. , that may fall 

 victims to the hunter's rifle within the Park limits will 

 not in any material sense diminish their numbers, and 

 except as a matter of example it would not be worth the 

 trouble of pursuing the poacher who confines his depre- 

 dations to this kind of game, 



Game. 



Last winter there was less snow than ever before known 

 within the Park. It was possible for the larger game, 

 such as bison and elk, to pass at will over most parts of it 

 during the entire winter. For that reason, perhaps, the 

 bison that have heretofore wintered in the Hayden Valley 

 were not massed there this year. The most seen there in 

 a single bunch at any one time was about thirty. Small 

 herds of from three or four to ten were seen in widely 

 separated localities where they have not usually wintered. 

 I feel sure that many of them did not leave their summer 

 range along the Idaho line. How many of them may 

 have been killed or captured I cannot determine, but J 

 fear that their number has not increased, although I am 

 still disposed to adhere to my estimate of last year that 

 200 still remain. There has been placed at my disposal 

 by Prof. Langley, of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 $3,000 with which to build an inclosure and provide food 

 for so many as can be driven within it during the coming 

 winter. If this plan should succeed we will be able to 

 retain a small herd and keep them nearly in a state of 

 nature. I hope to have this inclosure built by the middle 

 of September. 



On account of the mildness of the winter and the early 

 disappearance of the snow it was a particularly favorable 

 season for the rearing of young, and all of the wild anu 

 mals seen this spring are accompanied by an exceptional 

 number of vigorous and healthy offspring. 



From reports received from the station on Snake Hiver, 

 it seems that the moose in that region are rapidly in- 

 creasing. I have no doubt they are thoroughly protected, 

 and in time will form an important element among the 

 game preserved within the Park. 



Qf the mountain sheep I have nothing new to report. 

 Their summer habitat is not within my observation, but 

 the ugual herds wintered on Mount Everts and were seen 

 almost daily by travelers on the road between here and 

 Gardiner, 



The elk have quite held their own or increased jn num- 

 bers, and have been seen almost daily by tourists up to 

 the present date. They exist within the Park in audi 

 great numbers that the question of their preservation is 

 not one that causes any concern. A succession of open 

 wintex - s like the last would possibly make them more 

 numerous than the food supply could well support. That 

 they breed and winter within the Park and wander out- 

 side of it to furnish sport for hunters is not an evil, and is 

 perhaps one of the very excuses for game protection within 

 its limits. 



Th© antelope have increased very materially. Certainly 

 800 of them wintered on the flat this side of the town 

 of G aI "diner, where this most shy of all wild animals 

 became nearly as tame as domestic cattle. 



The deer seem to have increased more rapidly than 

 any other variety of game. I have seen within the last 

 twelve months double the number that I have ever be- 

 fore seen in a similar period. Puring the winter and 

 the early spring they wander unterrified over the grassy 

 slopes at this point and pass within a few feet of the 

 houses and barracks, exposed to the gaze of the officers 

 and soldiers, without exhibiting the slightest fear. 



Bears are as plentiful and tame as ever, visiting most of 

 the hotels nightly, where they are a source of amusement 

 and entertainment to the tourists. Although they have 

 Increased notably, I do not think it is desirable to dimin- 

 ish their numbers. They are not dangerous to human 

 life, and the Park can well spare whatever of the other 

 game they may consume for their sustenance. 



