EXPLOEATIONS IN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 
57 
Tlic e-aster u most tributary of Lava Creek is a grassy slough with very little current. 
The narrow stream iu its midst is uearly dry in summer. The same couditions extend 
to the summit of the Divide, which rises to the height of about 3 feet above a small 
pond with which the slough begins. The Divide is a rod or two across at its lowest 
part near the pond. On the east side of it, but lower down, is a similar pond with 
grassy surroundings, which flows into Black tail Deer Creek. Into both these depres- 
sions considerable springs flow, especially into the one on the west. 
The grassy slough first named, tributary to the Lupine Creek, has very little slope 
for a mile or more. Should its waters rise in spring so that the almost dry pond would 
be 3 feet in depth, this pond would overflow on both sides, and a continuous water-way 
would be made from Lupine Creek down into Black tail Deer Creek. This water-course 
would be shallow, and is doubtless seldom traversed by fishes. It is, however, a pos- 
sible one, and serves to account for the presence of trout iu Lava and Lupine Creeks. 
By order of the U. S. Fish Commissioner other trout from Howaixl Creek have this 
year neeii placed above the falls iu Lava Creek. 
Oardiner River (or Middle Gardiner) rises in the east slope of the Gallatin Mount- 
ains in the northwestern part of the Park. It flows eastward, southeastward, then 
abruptly northward, bending around Bunsen’s Peak, and forming a deep canon, toward 
the head of which is the large Osprey Falls (see plate X VII). Gardiner Canon is some 
800 to 1,000 feet deep, with vertical walls of lava, basalt, etc., and iu grandeur issur- 
])assed oidy by the Canon of the Yellowstone. The Osprey Falls is about 150 feet 
high, and nearly vertical. 
Trout are abundant in the river from the foot of the fall to its junction with the 
Yellowstone, Some 4 or 5 miles below. No fishes have been seen in the Gardiner or 
any of its tributaries above the Osprey Falls except the brook trout {Galvelinus fonti- 
nalis)^ lately planted at the bridge below the mouth of Indian Creek. 
Above the falls Gardiner River is a clear, cold stream (about 50°), with numerous 
stones, boulders, and deep holes. It is well provided with fish food. 
Its priucipal tributaries above the falls are Obsidian Creek and Indian Creek, the 
latter coming in from the southwest, the former from the south. The largest of these. 
Obsidian Creek, heads iu or near the Twin Lakes. There are two small ponds about 
one-half mile and 1 mile long, with no visible inlet, the small stream connecting them 
being dry iu summer. The lower and smaller pond is said (by Mr. Lucas) to have 
large alum s[)riugs near its outlet, the water being so charged with alum that horses 
will not drink it. The outlet. Obsidian Creek, is at first very small, and its course for 
2 or 3 miles is full of hot springs, solfataras, boiling mud-holes, and various similar 
heated areas offensive to fish. It is not likely that a fish could pass through this 
stream, except in very high water. 
Lower down cold springs enter the stream, and at Beaver Lake the water is clear 
and cold. Beaver Lake is a shallow grassy pond, about a mile long, formed by the 
beavers. Three large beaver dams cross it, and each of these dams iu ordinary seasons 
would be likely to block the ascent of fishes (see i)late XYIII). The lower one especi- 
ally is covered with brush, over which fishes could not leap. Below this lake Obsidian 
Creek receives the clear, cold waters of Winter Creek, a large stream which heads in 
Christmas Tree Park, at the foot of Mt. Holmes. The stream now flows through 
Willow Park, a large mountain meadow, in which it joins the Gardiner River. 
