OCT. 13, ism.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



81B 



atone Park Association under the management of Mr. 

 Wakefield. Their right to carry passengers expired, by 

 orders from you, on the closing of the season last fall. A 

 new transportation company, with Mr, S. S. Huntly as 

 head and manager, has been conducting the business 

 since the beginning of the present season. The plant is 

 in every way adequate and excellent. The main com- 

 plaint that comes to me is lack of stop-over privileges. 

 There is much to be said on both sides of this question. 

 In the first place it is desirable that all tourists should 

 have all the time they desire in which to make the trip ; 

 but it ia equally due the transportation company that, 

 except in unusual cases, they should know at the begin- 

 ning of a tour how long the party expected to be in mak- 

 ing it; otherwise it will be almost impossible to properly 

 provide against crowding and unsatisfactory service. 

 Perhaps, for many people with plenty of time, the most 

 satisfactory way of seeing the park is with a camping 

 party. These parties often give a good deal of trouble 

 from the rubbish they leave behind in their camps, and 

 the number of fires they start and do not extinguish; 

 however, it is proper that these parties be given the 

 greatest latitude consistent with proper park ma,nage- 

 ment. The question of their transportation then comes 

 up for considei-ation. 1 do not think such established 

 institutions as the Wiley tours should be permitted , It is 



FISH. 



The fish in lakes and rivers remain undiminished in 

 numbers, notwithstanding the multitudes that have been 

 caught. Prof. Everman, of the Fish Commission, visited 

 the jjark iast year and found most of the stock brought 

 here by the Commission thriving beyond his most san- 

 guine expectations. The following is a list of the dis- 

 tribution made by the Commission: 

 In 1S89. 



East Fork of Gardiner, above falls, 1,000 black spotted 

 trout. 



Gibbon River^ above Virginia Cascade, 990 Rainbow 



tZ'OUt. 



Madison Riyer, above Keppler's Cascade, 995 Loch 

 Leven trout. 

 Gardiner River, above falls, 4,975 brook trout. 

 Yellowstone River, above falls, 2,000 whitefish. 

 Twin Lakes, 1,000 whitefish. 



In 1890. 



Shoshone Lake, 24,013 lake trout. 

 Shoshone Lake, 3,350 Loch Leven trout. 

 Lewis Lake, 13,013 lake trout. 

 Lewis Lake, 3,350 Loch Leven trout. 

 West Fork of Gardiner, above the fails, ^'7,850 brook 

 trout. 



UPPER FALLS OF THE YELLOWSTON i 1 fc, i , LOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

 From U, S. Fish Commission Report. 



can manage to accommodate the ofticers elsewhere for a 

 season. 



ROADS. 



Last spring found nearly the entire appropriation for 

 two years, amounting to about $130,000, available for 

 road work. All the existing roads were put in condition, 

 and an excellent new road opened from the Canyon to 

 the Upper Basin, via the lake. This 53 miles of road is 

 destined to become one of the most j)opular, as it is one of 

 the most beautiful, drives in the park. 



There are places where it is not entirely completed, 

 but I assume that such will not long be the case. A road 

 that urgently needs rebuilding is the one from be- 

 low the Gibbon Falls to the Lower Basin ; at present 

 this is the worst, most tedious, and least interesting 

 drive in the park. I also renew and emphasize my 

 recommendation of last year, that a road be opened from 

 the Upper Basin to the south line of the park, on Snake 

 River. A road over Mount Washburn from the Canyon 

 to Yancey's is very desirable, but with existing appropri- 

 ations, I can see no immediate chance for it. Short 

 driveways should also be opened to the Great Fountain 

 Gayser, the Biscuit Basin, the Black Sand Basin, the 

 Lone Star Geyser, Inspiration Point, and several other 

 at present inaccessible points of interest, 



I urgently recommend that the disbursement of this 



money be put under the control of the superintendent of 

 the park instead of under a non-resident engineer, the 

 work to be planned and superintended by an oflicer of 

 the Corps of Engineers, ordered to report to the park 

 superintendent for this purpose. At the opening of 

 travel this spring it was found that the entire appropria- 

 had been expended and absolutely nothing left for the 

 repairs that such roads always need after a severe win- 

 ter. From his more limited horizon the park superinten- 

 dent can far better judge of such matters and vnll be 

 present to execute that judgment, 



I wish again to mention the zeal, ability, and consci- 

 entious devotion to duty of Lieut, Chittenden, United 

 States Engineers, in charge of the work. It is safe to 

 say that no greater amount of work was ever accom- 

 plished within the park with the same amount of money. 



HOTELS. 



As ai rule the hotels were very satisfactorily conducted 

 last year, and I believe there is an improvement this 

 summer. There have been no changes, except that the 

 old Trout Creek station has been abandoned, because 

 there is no longer any travel over that route, and the 

 same establishment is satisfactorily conducted at the 

 Thumb, The old Norris lunch station was burned in 

 May, and is now being conducted under canvas. The 

 management aims to give satisfaction, and I hear a 

 great deal in its praise and very little complaint. Mr. J. 

 H. Dean, manager in charge, is courteous and efficient, 

 and very deservedly popular, A good hotel should be 

 built at "the Upper Basin; the Norris lunch station be 

 rebuilt, and have a few rooms for the accommodation of 

 such parties as desire to spend the night there. A similar 

 building should be erected at the Thumb, and when 

 Yancey's present lease expires a more suitable estabUsb- 

 meut should be opened and operated at that, point For 

 the great number of travelers that are expected next 

 year, the present accommodations will, I fear, prove in- 

 adequditBi but it is too late now to remedy tKs defect. 



TBASSPORTATION. 



Last year the transportation business of the park was 

 Viecessfitlly and satisfactorily ponduoted by the Yellow- 



true that they originate and advertise their business out- 

 side the park, but the conduct of the business is wholly 

 within it. They establish permanent or semi-permanent 

 camps, and to the greatest extent possible conduct their 

 business outside of the control or supervision of the 

 superintendent of the park. The instructions recently 

 received on this subject will have my careful attention. 



BOAT ON THE LA.KE. 



The steamer on the lake has been running successfully 

 for a year or more, and adds much to the pleasure of a 

 trip through the park. It is now made a part of the park 

 transportation, and carries passengers, at their oiition, 

 from the Thumb to the Lake Hotel, thus relieving them 

 of 18 miles of tedious staging, I believe the boat com- 

 pany has enough small boats for the demands of fishing 

 parties, but I think prices might be lowered where boats 

 are used continuously for several hours. 



TOURISTS. 



Tourists continue to gather specimens when not watched 

 and write their very commonplace names over nature's 

 most exquisite beauties. No amount of vigilance can en- 

 tirely prevent this, for, unfortunately, the majority of 

 the transgressors have no conception of the enormity of 

 their ofl:"ences. Quite recently one reverend vandal ex- 

 cused himself for the ofiiense of gathering specimens by 

 saying that owing to a want of badge or uniform on the 

 party who stopped him, he did not I'ecognize him as hav- 

 ing authority. There is still much to be desired in the 

 way of regulations concerning the carrying of firearms 

 within the park. Of course, all arms passing here or 

 any outpost are sealed, and confiscated if afterwards 

 found with seals broken, but it is impossible to carefully 

 watch all the country, and I fear some of the seals get 

 broken before the boundary is crossed. I recommend an 

 absolute prohibition of firearms within the park, leaving 

 with the superintendent the right to make carefully con- 

 sidered exceptions, I have removed several camping 

 parties from the park for leaving their camp fires unex- 

 tinguished, and have sent several men back over long 

 distances to rub and wash out names which they had 

 ' written on the formations, 



Nez Perce Creek, 9,850 Von Behr trout. 



Yellowstone River, above the falls, 10,000 whitefish. 



1 have had these plants carefully examined recently, 

 and find them all thriving splendidly, except the white- 

 fish, of which not a trace remained. I believe all have 

 now become sufficientiy established to permit fishing 

 under proper restrictions. The altitude is jjerhaps too 

 great for the successful introduction of black bass, but I 

 should like to see the eJf ort n\ado in some of the suitable 

 lakes near the hotels — like Grebe and Goose lakes; should 

 they thrive, they would add greatly to the sport afforded 

 enthusiastic anglers, 



WORK DONE W THE PARK. 



In June I sent a N\'orking party through the park and 

 policed it pretty thoroughly, and opened ways to good 

 camping places ofi' the main roads; for this purpose $1,000 

 was allotted me, and nearly the entire amount expended. 

 There are now so many camping parties in the park, with 

 more arriving daily, that it will be impossible to keep 

 up a state of thorough police, so I do not recommend any 

 further expenditure in this line until the close of this 

 season or the opening of the next. I was also authorized 

 to renew the signs obliterated by time, and this work is 

 jirogressing satisfactorily and is nearing completion, 

 O wing to want of money to repair the roads this spring, 

 a large amount of such work was done by the troops, and 

 without it long sections of the road would have remained 

 impassable. 



POACHERS. 



Trouble with poachers continues to be one of the great- 

 est annoyances the superintendent has to contend with. 

 There is gradually settling about the park boundai'ies a 

 population whose sole subsistence is derived from hunt- 

 ing and trapping. All of the people are thoroughly 

 cognizant of the location of the boundary lines, but only 

 respect them in the presence of some member of the park 

 force. Live elk, deer, antelope, and bears are caught and 

 sold; the various fur-bearing animals are trapped for 

 their pelts, and hunting parties are guided into the best 

 game region. So long as these operations are conducted 

 without the park they are unobjectionable, and the park, 

 (icting as a reseryou", contributes largely to them, But 



