184 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Feb. 15, 1886. 
^ntt[B nnd 0mu 
FIXTURES. 
March 16 to 21, 1896.— Second annual Sportsmen's Exposition, under 
the auspices of the Sportsmen's Association, at Madison Square 
Garden, New York city. Frank W. Sanger, Manager. 
THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 
Although the Yellowstone Park has been known to the 
general public for more than twenty-five years, and dur- 
ing that time has perhaps been more fully exploited in the 
periodical press than any other like area of the world's 
surface, yet no attempt has ever been made to write a 
complete historical and descriptive account of it. For the 
first fifteen years of the Park's history it was only imper- 
fectly known; continually studied and explored, fresh dis- 
coveries were being made in it each season, and not 
enough was known about it for its history to be written. 
Daring the last decade, however, the investigations car- 
ried on in the Park have been rather about matters of 
detail than about its general features, and it might have 
been supposed that before this some historian would have 
taken up the subject of the people's pleasure ground and 
would have treated it from a broad standpoint. This has 
never been done. Articles in magazines, newspapers and 
Government reports have appeared at very frequent in- 
tervals. A large number of people deeply interested in 
the protection of the reservation have written about it at 
length from some special standpoint, and tried to interest 
the public in it; but it has remained for Capt. Hiram Mar- 
tin Chittenden, of the Corps of Engineers of the United 
States Army, to write the Park's history. 
For a number of years Capt. Chittenden was detailed by 
the War Department to take charge of the roads and 
bridges in the Park, and it was while engaged in this in- 
teresting service that he formed the idea of writing the 
history which has just made its appearance from the press 
of the Robert Clarke Co. , Cincinnati. The volume is one 
of more than 400 pages, copiously illustrated by engrav- 
ings drawn from all sources and giving the reader an 
excellent notion of very many of the natural features of 
the reservation. It is divided into three parts, treating 
respectively of the Park's history, its physical features and 
relation to the tourist, and its future. Besides this there 
are five appendixes which are extremely useful, for they 
give (A) the geographical names in use in the Park, (B) 
legislation and regulations now in force there, (C) appro- 
priations on account of the Park, (D) list of the Park super- 
intendents, and (E) bibliography of the literature of the 
region. 
It is extremely gratifying to be able to say that this 
work is admirably done, and that the volume is really 
worthy of its subject. Capt. Chittenden is certainly to be 
congratulated on the volume which he has given the pub- 
lic, which is likely to stand for a long time as the 
final popular authority of the region. 
The name Yellowstone is very old. It was used by the 
Lewis & Clarke expedition, and even by David Thomp- 
son, who sojourned with the Mandan Indians on the 
Missouri River in 1797-98. The French trappers called it 
Roche jaune, and the yellow of the rocks and stones which 
form the river's bluff is certainly conspicuous enough to 
justify it this name. Mr. Chittenden gives a Minitari 
word translated as "rock yellow river," which he regards 
as the origin of the subsequent French and English 
names. The author calls attention to the fact, however, 
that the Crows called the stream Elk River, and the same 
is true of the Blackfeet and other tribes. 
The theory was long ago advanced that the Indians 
who occupied the country about the Upper Yellowstone 
River avoided this region because they regarded it with 
superstitious fear and considered it the abode of spirits, 
and that for this reason little or nothing was ever heard 
of it from aboriginal sources. 
It is doubtful whether there is any foundation for such 
a belief. The better explanation appears to be that given 
by the author, who thinks that as a matter of fact the 
country was unknown to the Indians, who did not visit 
it because, since it was snow-covered for much of the year, 
and was not a game country, there was nothing especial 
to induce them to enter it. A small band of Sheep Eaters 
did reside there, but they inhabited the rough peaks of 
the Absoraka range on the east side of the Park, an d it 
is even doubtful whether they knew of the existence of 
the geysers. 
The actual discoverer of the wonders of the Park ap- 
pears to have been John Colter, who, before Lewis & 
Clarke had reached civilization on their return from their 
expedition in 1806, applied to them for a discharge, desir- 
ing to return to the mountains and trap there. In the 
course of the next few years he went up the Yellowstone 
River, Pryor's Fork and the Wind River, and crossed the 
mountains to Pacific waters. Thence he followed Snake 
River up, crossed over to the Yellowstone Lake, and pass- 
ing through what is now the Park, struck across to Clark's 
Fork of the Yellowstone, and following it down left that 
stream and went over to the Stinking Water, and thence 
to his original starting point. The reports which he made 
on his return to civilization were not believed by those 
who heard them, and it was thought that the mountain 
man was trying to impose on the credulity of those with 
whom he talked. 
Soon after this the trader and trapper began to pene- 
trate the mountains in all directions. It was the begin- 
ning of the Western fur trade, and the young country 
was sending out into the wilderness its heroes, who braved 
the dangers from savage men and beasts, and the equal 
perils of cold and hunger in the mountains. Some of 
these men unquestionably penetrated the Yellowstone 
Park, but no reports of its wonders which they brought 
back had any endurance. A Mormon paper, published at 
Nauvoo, 111. , contained in its issue of Aug. 13, 1842, what 
is perhaps the best description of the geyser regions that 
appeared prior to the year 1870. It is brief, but faithful 
and free from exaggeration. 
James Bridger, whose name will always stand in the 
first rank among the pioneers of the West, visited the 
Yellowstone Park and told true stories about it, but 
Bridger had a reputation for drawing the long bow and 
people laughed at his descriptions of the region just as 
earlier generations had laughed about the stories told by 
Colter. In 1860 Capt. Raynolds made a trip through the 
ountry giving rise to the tributaries of the Yellowstone 
River, and made an almost complete circle around the 
Park. He tried to penetrate it, but was unsuccessful and 
was obliged by his orders to leave the region and to pass 
on north. About this time exploration and investigation 
of the mountains received additional impetus from the 
discovery of gold in Montana, and the ever busy prospector 
began to run over the mountains and to sink his holes in 
every valley. During this mining excitement some parties 
at least crossed the Park and the repeated confirmation of 
the old trapper tales was at last beginning to have its effect 
on the people living in Montana. 
It was in 1869 that the Park was really discovered so 
far as the general public was concerned. The discoverers 
were David E. Folsom, C. W. Cook and Wm, Peterson, 
who saw most of the main features of the Park, and re- 
turning to the settlement after an absence of thirty-six 
days, told their friends some of the things that they had 
seen. They themselves were so astonished, however, at 
the marvelous things they had beheld that they were 
unwilling to risk their reputation for veracity by telling 
the whole story. 
The discoveries of the expedition of 1869 led to the fitting 
out of that of 1870 known as the Washburn- Doane expe- 
dition, which with a small Government eBcorfc spent about 
a month traveling through the Park. It was during this 
expedition that Mr. Evarts was lost and was out for 
thirty-seven days alone in the mountains. 
The men who composed this expedition were many of 
them persons accustomed to writing and they did all that 
they could to spread abroad a knowledge of the wonders 
of the National Park. Articles were written for news- 
papers and magazines, lectures were given and a general 
interest in the region was awakened. This resulted in 
the sending out in 1871 of two expeditions by the United 
States Government — one under charge of the United States 
Geological Survey, the other under the engineer corps of 
the army. Full investigations were made and excellent 
work done by both these expeditions, and following closely 
on this work came the proposition to set aside this wonder- 
land as a National Park, which idea crystallized in the bill 
passed by Congress and signed by the President March 1, 
1872. At last then we had a National Park. 
Capt. Chittenden very justly gives to George Catlin, 
the great Indian painter, the credit for originating the 
idea of such a Park. It is true that the wonders of the 
Yellowstone were unknown in Catlin's time, nor did he 
define the territory which he proposed to have set aside 
for a park, but he did suggest that in some suitable local- 
ity of the West a large tract of land should be preserved 
forever as a "nation's park, containing man and beast in 
all the wildness and freshness of their natural beauty." 
Such an idea would probably have received no attention 
except for the discovery of this region about the head of 
the Yellowstone, where, as it seemed, all the w onders of 
the world were collected together in small compass. But 
the authentic accounts of the region appealed strongly to 
the imagination of Congress and induced that body to 
pass the necessary legislation. The example thus set has 
been followed by other countries, and it may be hoped 
that other national parks will be established here and 
elsewhere. 
The history of the later explorations of the National 
Park and of military campaigns within its boundaries, 
and of the administration of the Park and the passage of 
the protective act which became a law in 1894. are treated 
in this volume, but are matters of such recent interest 
that they cannot be spoken of here. 
In his second part Capt. Chittenden treats of the boun- 
daries and topography of the Park, its geysers, hot springs, 
the fossil forests, its fauna and flora; of the Park as a 
health resort and of the region when it is. covered by win- 
ter's snows. Considerable space is given to the description 
of the roads, hotels, transportation and the various tours 
that may be made in the Park, and the attractions to be 
seen on them. Of these chapters little need be said save 
that the author writes of a subject with which he is 
thoroughly familiar and gives advice which is well worth 
following. 
His chapters on the Park's future are of great interest. 
Like most of those who know the region, he is bitterly 
opposed to the handing over of this great national posses- 
sion to railroads or to mine owners, and he is equally op- 
posed to changing the boundaries of the Park. Railroads 
will mar and even destroy the natural conditions, which 
are the great charm of the Park; they will cripple the tour- 
ist routes; they will destroy the large game and the Park 
forests. No railroad franchise should be granted in the 
Park, since to grant such a franchise will either create a 
perpetual monopoly or will turn the Park over to be grid- 
ironed in all directions. 
The chief danger to the Park is from the greed of pri- 
vate enterprise, and until the people shall be taught that 
the Park belongs to the public and that any interference 
with the public's rights here will be strongly repressed 
and severely punished, individuals and corporations eager 
for gain will still try to obtain from Congress concessions 
and rights which Congress should never grant. 
Capt. Harris, formerly superintendent of the Park, has 
well said that "in the unsurpassed grandeur of its natural 
condition it is the pride and the glory of the nation ; but 
if, under the guise of improvement, selfish interests are 
permitted to make merchandise of its wonders and beau- 
ties, it will inevitably become a byword and a reproach." 
We have, spoken already of the admirable appendices 
of this volume, of which probably the one treating of the 
bibliography of the National Park is the most important. 
We presume that this is as nearly complete as can be made. 
The illustrations are numerous and of varying degrees of 
excellence. An excellent index and a large folded map 
close a volume which is of the highest interest, and 
which is creditable alike to author and publisher. 
Snowshoes. 
I have had much experience in snowshoeing in Maine. 
I always found the caribou O, K. I would not accept 
moose, deer or cow hide under any circumstances. The 
next best thing to caribou is horse hide. It is a very fair 
substitute. 
A caribou filling will not sag in wet weather, but instead 
will "strain up" and sometimes will twang like a bow 
string. 
I have paid $12 for a pair made by a Penobscot Indian 
in years past, and such shoeB are first-class. I would not 
buy of any house in the trade, but would have my shoes 
made by an Indian. _ HBEMIT, 
A BEAR HUNT. 
The Forest and Stream is an ever welcome visitor, 
and it is with pleasure that its readers learn from it the 
many interesting incidents and experiences of those who 
enjoy hunting and find a real pleasure as well as health- 
ful recreation in camp life in the woods. Although the 
writer has often participated in the pleasures of the chase, 
he has seldom reduced his excursions to writing, and it is 
with no little reluctance that he now ventures upon the 
task of relating the incidents of a bear hunt which oc- 
curred in 1890. 
During the summer of that year, while engaged in 
locating and estimating pine timber tracts in Minnesota, 
my work required the penetration and exploration of ex- 
tensive forest regions, and often for days and weeks at a 
time I was far removed from all signs of civilization. I 
was accompanied by a half-breed Indian, who acted as my 
packer and general assistant. 
We carried one rifle between us, but gave little atten- 
tion to hunting except to supply our immediate needs for 
fresh meat, this supply being mainly furnished by the 
small game, which was abundant and easily procured. 
Our luggage was no small load to carry on foot, and the 
one rifle was generally packed with other articles 
wherever it could be carried with the least inconven- 
ience. 
We often sighted game, however, and during one six 
weeks' outing I saw seven moose, three caribou, a bear 
and numerous deer. It would have been an easy matter 
to have shot some of the moose, as they were often very 
stupid and would stand and gaze at us for several 
moments before getting out of our way. On one occasion 
we suddenly came upon a large cow moose that at first 
acted as if she did not intend to allow any intrusions into 
her solitary domain. She faced us, and with glaring eyes 
shook her head as if really determined to make a charge 
upon us. She looked so formidable that the half-breed 
became alarmed and threw a dead limb at her, which 
succeeded in frightening her into a hasty retreat. I am 
of the opinion that moose are keen-scented, but at certain 
times they certainly act quite indifferently to the sight of 
man, and will often permit a near approach before taking 
to their heels. 
About the middle of August our course led us into a 
section of country where we found bear signs very plenti- 
ful. As it was somewhat near the close of my work in 
the woods for the season, and as I had promised a couple 
of my friends to take a hunt with them after my work in 
the pine lands was completed, I concluded to make 
further investigations and acquaint myself to some 
extent with the immediate country about, and to locate: 
the range of the several bears which, from the number of 
tracks and other signs, appeared to be holding an annual 
reunion in the neighborhood. 
After making an extended circuit I found that the 
range of the brutes extended over a region between tw.o 
lakes which were about three miles apart. About mid- 
way between the lakes was a narrow valley or gorge, 
through which bruin passed in going from one lake to the 
other. The tracks differed in size, and as near as we could 
make out at least three bears — one of them a very large 
one — were enjoying to their fullest extent the excellent 
food conditions afforded by a circumscribed area of a few 
square miles in extent, and they would probably not leave 
their present locality without cause at least for a few 
weeks. This appeared to be a very likely place to succeed 
in getting a shot at a bear, and I decided to return to this 
region with my friends at a near future date for the ex- 
press purpose of hunting them. 
Early in September I had finished my work in the pine 
lands, and arrived at Cloquet, where I remained a few 
days to complete my field notes and await the arrival of 
my friends George and F f ank, whom I had written ta 
join me at that point with their hunting outfits and big 
bore rifles in readiness for a sojourn in the woods. At 
the appointed time they were both on hand, full of 
enthusiasm and determination to undergo any hardship 
which a bear hunt might require of them. After a tw 
days' journey my two genial companions, the half-bree 
and myself finally arrived to within a short distance 
from the bear range and established our permanent 
camp, which was to be our home until after our hunt 
was ended, unless we should find it advantageous to 
change our quarters. 
The next morning we were off early and soon found 
tracks and signs as fresh aB ever. The black brutes were 
still there, but how best to find them was an unsettled 
question. Not wishing to frighten them out of their 
present locality, we carefully and quietly still-hunted and 
watched for them in likely places for three successive 
days. The wary creatures appeared to do the greater 
part of their rambling and feeding at night and did not 
show up. 
I had planned this particular bear hunt mainly for the 
pleasure of my two friends whom I had invited, and I 
began to fear that the affair would turn out to be an un- 
successful campaign. On the evening of the third day 
we talked the matter over after supper and finally de- 
cided to take a "drive" on the following day. We planned 
to all start out early, each prepared with a generous lunch 
prepared for remaining away from camp until night. 
The half-breed was to circle around to one of the lakes, I 
was to go on the other lake; we were then to zigzag 
toward each other with the hope of routing the game 
and causing it to pass through the gorge, where the other 
two hunters were to station themselves and keep a sharp 
lookout. After an early breakfast we all started out for 
the hunt. I was within a short distance of the lake to 
the north by daybreak and as I ascended a slight elevation 
I saw in the dim morning light several dark objects about 
200yds. to my left as they passed into a thicket. They 
were bears and were traveling very leisurely. They would 
probably soon lie down and something seemed to tell me 
that I would soon eat bear meat. 
A light rain had fallen during the night and it was still 
cloudy. The leaves were moist and favorable to quiet 
walking. I never exercised greater caution in following]] 
game than I did on this occasion. After reaching theirj 
trail I followed it slowly, at times creeping and crawling 
along over fallen timber and through brush as noiselessly] 
as possible and halting every few moments to listen and| 
to look over every foot of ground. After following the 
trail for about half an hour, I was somewhat startled by ] 
seeing a large bear rise from his bed behind a log only aJ 
few yards ahead of me. He arose slowly. My rifle waa] 
ready. As he was turning his head toward me, I Bent ai 
