The Discovery of Yellowstone Park: Journal of the Washburn Expedition to the Yellowstone and Firehole Rivers in the Year 1870Langford, Nathaniel Pitt
History
The Discovery of Yellowstone Park: Journal of the Washburn Expedition to the Yellowstone and Firehole Rivers in the Year 1870
Langford, Nathaniel Pitt
Langford, Nathaniel Pitt, 1832-1911 -- Diaries; Yellowstone National Park -- Discovery and exploration
Evening of September 4.--I have been glad to have this rest to-day, for
with the time spent in writing up a detailed diary in addition to the
work about camp, I have been putting in about sixteen hours work each
day. So this afternoon a nap of two or three hours was a pleasant rest.
I strolled for a long distance down the shore, the sand of which abounds
in small crystals, which some of our party think may possess some value.
Craters emitting steam through the water are frequently seen beneath the
surface, at a distance of from forty to fifty feet from its margin, the
water in which is very hot, while that of the lake surrounding them I
found to be too cool for a pleasant bath. In some places the lake water
is strongly impregnated with sulphur. One crater emits a jet of steam
with a hissing noise as loud as that usually heard at the blowing off of
the safety valve of a steam-boat. In the clear light of the setting sun,
we can see the three Tetons in a southwesterly direction.
[Illustration: GRAND TETON.]
Some member of our party has asked what is the meaning of the word
"Teton" given to these mountains.[L] Lieutenant Doane says it is a
French word signifying "Woman's Breast," and that it was given to these
mountains by the early French explorers, because of their peculiar
shape. I think that the man who gave them this name must have seen them
from a great distance; for as we approach them, the graceful curvilinear
lines which obtained for them this delicate appellation appear angular
and ragged. From our present point of view the name seems a misnomer. If
there were twelve of them instead of three, they might better be called
the "Titans," to illustrate their relation to the surrounding country.
He indeed must have been of a most susceptible nature, and, I would fain
believe, long a dweller amid these solitudes, who could trace in these
cold and barren peaks any resemblance to the gentle bosom of woman.
Monday, September 5.--Lieutenant Doane continued to sleep all last
night, making a thirty-six hours nap, and after dressing his thumb and
taking an observation to determine our elevation, which we found to be
7714 feet above the ocean, we broke camp at nine o'clock. After the
train had got under way, I asked Mr. Hedges to remain behind and assist
me in measuring, by a rude system of triangulation, the distance across
the lake as well as to the Tetons; but owing to the difficulty we
encountered in laying out a base line of sufficient length, we abandoned
the scheme after some two hours of useless labor.
[Illustration: SLATE SPECIMENS FROM CURIOSITY POINT. SLATE CUP. LEG AND
FOOT.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account