Seventy-five miles below the ultimate source of the river lies the Grand Cañon of the Yellowstone, distinguished among the notable cañons of the globe by the marvelous coloring of its walls. Conspicuous among its innumerable tints is yellow. Every shade, from the brilliant plumage of the yellow bird to the rich saffron of the orange, greets the eye in bewildering profusion. There is indeed other color, unparalleled in variety and abundance, but the ever-present background of all is the beautiful fifth color of the spectrum. So prominent is this feature that it never fails to attract attention, and all descriptions of the Cañon abound in references to it. Lieutenant Doane (1870) notes the "brilliant yellow color" of the rocks. Captain Barlow and Doctor Hayden (1871) refer, in almost the same words, to the "yellow, nearly vertical walls." Raymond (1871) speaks of the "bright yellow of the sulphury clay." Captain Jones (1873) says that "about and in the Grand Cañon the rocks are nearly all tinged a brilliant yellow." These early impressions might be repeated from the writings of every subsequent visitor who has described the scenery of the Yellowstone. That a characteristic which so deeply moves the modern beholder should have made a profound impression on the mind of the Indian, need hardly be premised. This region was by no means unknown to him; and from the remote, although uncertain, period of his first acquaintance with it, the name of the river has undoubtedly descended. Going back, then, to this obscure fountain-head, the original designation is found to have been _Mi tsi a-da-zi_,[E] Rock Yellow River. And this, in the French tongue, became _Roche Jaune_ and _Pierre Jaune_; and in English, _Yellow Rock_ and _Yellow Stone_. Established usage now writes it _Yellowstone_. [E] Minnetaree, one of the Siouan family of languages. CHAPTER II. INDIAN OCCUPANCY OF THE UPPER YELLOWSTONE. It is a singular fact in the history of the Yellowstone National Park that no knowledge of that country seems to have been derived from the Indians. The explanation ordinarily advanced is that the Indians had a superstitious fear of the geyser regions and always avoided them. How far this theory is supported by the results of modern research is an interesting inquiry. Three great families of Indians, the Siouan, the Algonquian, and the Shoshonean, originally occupied the country around the sources of the Yellowstone. Of these three families the following tribes are alone of interest in this connection: The Crows (_Absaroka_) of the Siouan family; the Blackfeet (_Siksika_) of the Algonquian family; and the Bannocks (_Panai'hti_), the Eastern Shoshones, and the Sheepeaters (_Tukuarika_) of the Shoshonean family.