30 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
On the way down to the lake we crossed numerous small creeks, Escarpment, Cliff 
Mountain, and Trapper. The largest of these is Mountain Creek, it being 18 feet 
wide and a foot deep. These are all clear, cold streams, coming down from the heavily 
timbered mountains to the east, and all were found full of young trout. 
Beaver dam Creek . — This stream flows into the lake just to the right of the mouth 
of the Upper Yellowstone Eiver. Year its mouth, where we crossed, it is 20 feet 
wide, about IS inches deep, and with a pretty swift current. Temperature of water 
at 10 :30 a. in., August 20, 50°. The bed of the stream is very rocky, and there is little 
or no vegetation in the water. Eish food seemed scarce and no flsh were observed, 
though we made several hauls with the seine. Year the mouth of this creek are 
several old beaver dams, from wl itch doubtless the stream received its name. 
From here our path led us down the east shore of Yellowstone Lake to the outlet. 
This is one of the most heavily timbered districts in the United States. The trees are 
of good size and so close together that it is no easy matter to find one’s way along 
the game trails — the only trails found here. The lake is in sight most all the way 
and the views are very beautiful. (See PI. vn.) We crossed Columbine Creek, a 
small stream of mineral water containing no fish, and camped at the mouth of Meadow 
Creek, another very small, sluggish stream, but full of young trout. In places this 
creek was 12 feet wide, a foot or more deep, and had a somewhat muddy bottom 
These were really pools, with scarcely any current. In other places the stream was 
not so wide nor deep, but swift and rocky. Temperature of water at 3 p. m., August 20, 
57°; at 8:30 next morning, air, 57°; water, 51°. Young trout were very abundant in 
this little creek. 
Pelican Creek . — This is a fair-sized stream, flowing into Yellowstone Lake near 
the outlet. Year its mouth it is about 35 feet wide, 14 feet deep, and flows with a 
moderately swift current. The temperature at the month at 0 p. in. August 21 was 
52°. Along this stream are numerous springs, many of them of mineral water. The 
stream is full of young trout. From here we traveled down the Yellowstone Eiver to 
the ford, where we crossed to the left bank, and then followed the Government road to 
the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. 
Yellowstone Lake and the streams below it have already been well described by 
Hr. Jordan in his report on the Yellowstone Yational Park. (Bulletin ix, U. S. Fisli 
Commission, pp. 41-63, 1891.) The following from Mr. Hague, Powell’s Yinth Eeport, 
pp. 92 and 93, concerning Yellowstone Lake, should be added : 
In comparison with its size the drainage area is small. This is readily accounted for by its great 
altitude above sea level and the very favorable conditions of the surrounding country for receiving a 
heavy snowfall throughout eight months of the year. Over a great part of this area these snows are 
protected by the forests from the dry westerly winds, and the water is allowed to percolate the soil 
gradually, supplying the springs and streams which feed the lake. The altitude of Yellowstone Lake 
is 7,740 feet above sea level, with a surface area of 139 square miles and an indented shore line of nearly 
100 miles. As yet we possess but little accurate knowledge of its depth, although there is no question 
that it presents the grandest natural storehouse for water within what is known as the arid region of 
the West. If the broad valley of the Yellowstone for 200 miles is ever to be settled with a prosperous 
people, this body of water will be of inestimable value for the purposes of irrigation. From careful 
measurements made of the flow of the Yellowstone Eiver just below the outlet of the lake, the discharge 
of water was found to be 1,525 cubic feet per second, or about 34,000,000 imperial gallons iier hour. 
The gauging of the stream took place in September, when the lake stood at a lower level than at any 
other period of the year. 
