Glimpses of America: A Pictorial and Descriptive History of Our Country's Scenic MarvelsBuel, James W. (James William)
History
Glimpses of America: A Pictorial and Descriptive History of Our Country's Scenic Marvels
Buel, James W. (James William)
United States -- Pictorial works
PULPIT ROCK, ECHO CAÑON, UTAH.—This singular overhanging rock, with
the reading stand in front, has been known as Pulpit Rock since the
early days of Mormonism in Utah, owing to the fact that it was used
by Brigham Young as a pulpit in the delivery of his first sermon
within the present limits of that territory. But it is not for this
reason that we include it in GLIMPSES OF AMERICA, for we have no
sympathy whatever with Mormonism or its doctrines. The rock is one
of the prominent curiosities of Utah, and as such it is here
represented. The surrounding scenery is very beautiful, with
glimpses of the winding river and the rolling hills as a background.
It is a favorite resort for tourists, both on account of the scenic
beauties and the healthfulness of the pure western air.
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[Illustration: MAIDEN OF THE BAD LANDS.]
A glance at this tremendous waterfall more than compensated for all the
annoyances and discomforts that we had endured. It was a scene of
positively bewildering majesty; a vision of the incomparably grand; an
object lesson teaching the mightiness and mysterious ways of God. In the
deep diapason of its voice we recognized nature’s hallelujah, and the
thunderous boom of its plungings was like a chorus of invocation welling
from a million throats. Its lovely grandeur, bursting out of the heart
of desolation, is the personification of powerful, awe-inspiring
sublimity, an exaltation of deity, an inspiration to the soul, a very
glorification and apotheosis of nature.
[Illustration: WITCH ROCK, BAD LANDS OF WYOMING.]
Pausing on the bank to contemplate and measure the colossal wonder of
the falls, we saw the emerald stream gliding along as placidly as though
its mission was one of peace; nor was there any appearance of danger to
the ferryman, who operated his boat by an over-head wire cable stretched
from bank to bank, only 200 yards above. The quiet flow, however, was
better understood when we learned that the river here is 200 feet deep;
a very ocean filling a mighty chasm; an inundated cañon whose volume of
water equals that of a dozen Niagaras, for this tremendous gorge extends
a distance of eighteen miles, and its bottom lies under the river 1,400
feet below the brink.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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