The Yellowstone National Park Part 14

Section of Amethyst Mountains.]

The lava flows in this particular section do not seem to have been characterized by great heat. They were composed of volcanic agglomerate, in which there was a large admixture of mud and water, with sufficient heat to destroy life, but not to char or consume its products. The percolation of siliceous waters gradually turned the arboreal vegetation into stone by the process of subst.i.tution, and thus preserved in these silent monuments a record of the events which once transpired there. When the last of the eruptions had ceased, there existed in this locality a vast depth of volcanic _ejectamenta_, composed of many layers, on each of which was standing, buried in the layer next above, the trunks of extinct forest growths.

[Ill.u.s.tration:

_Terry Engr. Co._ _Haynes, Photo., St. Paul._

Petrified Trees near Yancey's.]

After the cessation of volcanic activity, the eroding agencies of the Quaternary Period carved out the valley of the Lamar River through these acc.u.mulated flows, and laid bare the remains of their vegetable growths. To-day the tourist may see upon the slopes of Specimen Ridge, side by side, the living and the dead, the little conifers of present growth and the gigantic trunks of unknown species which flourished there eons ago.

Some of the petrifactions are very perfect. Roots, bark, parts showing incipient decay, worm holes, leaves--all are preserved with absolute fidelity. The rings of annual growth may be counted, and these indicate for the larger trees an age of not less than five hundred years. Some of the stumps are fully ten feet in diameter. Here and there the ponderous roots stand imbedded in the rock face of the cliff, where erosion has not yet undermined them. In one case, a large tree that had fallen before petrifaction lies partly exposed, both ends being still imbedded in the rock. Some hollow trees show interiors beautifully lined with holocrystalline quartz.

How long it took each growth to reach maturity; how long it flourished afterward before destruction; and how long the several lava flows suspended vegetable growth; are matters largely conjectural. But at the very lowest estimate the time represented by these various acc.u.mulations can not be less than five thousand years.

That these early trees were of a different species from those which now flourish there, need not excite surprise, for climatic and other conditions are wholly changed. But an equal difference seems also to have prevailed between the successive growths, the trees of which were not only unlike each other, but nearly all were of species. .h.i.therto unknown to science. Fortunately the rare perfection of some of the specimens, particularly of the leaves and bark, have greatly simplified their cla.s.sification, and have given valuable clues to their geologic age.

The products of these petrifactions in time strewed the surface of the ground with such an abundance of specimens as to give the locality its present name. Most of the lighter specimens, and some of the heavier, have been carried away.

Besides the general interest of these old forests to the casual observer, they are of great value to science, for probably in no other part of the globe can a similar chapter of its history be found more clearly recorded.

CHAPTER VI.

FAUNA OF THE YELLOWSTONE.

The universal curiosity of people to see what are popularly called wild animals, especially those larger species which never frequent the precincts of civilization, is a fact of which it is not easy to give a philosophical explanation. In this country the rapid disappearance, amounting almost to annihilation, of the large game is looked upon as a great misfortune; and in later years there has arisen a fixed purpose that protection shall be secured for the surviving remnants of those species which once with the red man held possession of the continent. The statutes of nearly every state give evidence of the universality of this sentiment.

As a means of accomplis.h.i.+ng such a purpose, no inst.i.tution promises to be more effectual than the Yellowstone Park. It ought, in this respect, to be a complete realization of Catlin's dream. Its importance as a game preserve was recognized in the Act of Dedication, and has become more and more p.r.o.nounced as acquaintance with it has increased.

The Park is fortunately better adapted for this purpose than any other tract of similar extent in America. It offers very little to tempt the cupidity of man. Its mineral wealth is buried so deeply under the lava that no miner will ever reach it. Its alt.i.tude and climate unfit it for agriculture. Its forests, though excellent for shade, are of little value for lumber. But as a home for the native species of the continent, it possesses unrivaled advantages. These are admirably summed up in the following paragraph from the pen of Prof. Hague:

[Ill.u.s.tration:

_Terry Engr. Co._ _Haynes, Photo., St. Paul._

Park Elk.]

"The broad expanse of forest incloses sequestered nooks, and enticing gra.s.sy parks, with absolute seclusion in mountain recesses admirably adapted for the homes of wild animals. It is the great diversity of its physical features, offering within a restricted area. all the requirements for animal life, which fits it for the home of big game.

Abundant food supply, shelter from wind and weather in winter, cool resorts on the uplands in summer, favorable localities for breeding purposes and the rearing of young, all are found here. The Park supplies what is really needed--a zoological reservation where big game may roam unmolested by the intrusion of man, rather than a zoological garden inclosed by fences, and the game fed or sustained more or less by artificial methods."[AV]

[AV] "The Yellowstone National Park as a Game Preserve." See Appendix E.

[Ill.u.s.tration:

_Terry Engr. Co._ _Haynes, Photo., St. Paul._

Park Buffalo.]

It is a matter of profound regret that the many years of lax administration in the Park to a great degree nullified its purposes as a game preserve. Killing of wild animals was not absolutely prohibited until 1883, and the restricted license previously in force was shamefully abused. Some of the larger species were greatly reduced in numbers, while in a few instances they were practically exterminated.

In later years, the elk, antelope, deer, bear and beaver, have rapidly regained their former numbers, and there is no reason to apprehend their extinction. There are now no fewer than 30,000 elk in the Park.

For the buffalo, mountain sheep, and a few other varieties, the prospect is good, though not so flattering. The number of buffalo does not probably exceed two hundred, and the possibility of their early extinction has led the Smithsonian Inst.i.tution to allot a sum of money for the construction of a large inclosure in the Park, where at least a portion of the herd can be kept and be thus more carefully protected. Of the moose, mountain lion, wolverine, lynx, wild cat, marten, and otter the perpetuation is more doubtful. They were too much reduced in numbers during the game slaughtering era. The smaller species, such as porcupines, foxes, gophers, squirrels, woodchucks, and the like, flourish in great numbers.

The tourist often feels a keen disappointment in pa.s.sing through the Park in that he does not see more game, and he not infrequently expresses positive doubts of its existence. He should remember, however, that it is the nature of wild game to shun the haunts of man.

If he will remain for some time in the Park and will frequent those regions remote from the tourists routes he will see game in plenty. In one important instance he rarely goes away disappointed. Bruin generally accommodates him. The fine instincts of that intelligent brute have shown him that it is much easier to get a living from the refuse about the hotels than to forage for it in the wilds of parsimonious nature. Nightfall, therefore, always brings him about to the great delight of the game-seeking tourist. The incidents of each season to which these bears unwittingly give rise are among the amusing features of tourist life in that region.

The herbivorous game generally seek the seclusion of the hills in summer, but the deep snows of winter will not permit them to remain there. At that season they descend to the valleys, of which the most important are the Hayden, the Junction, and the Pelican Valleys, and those about the headwaters of the Snake River. The preservation of these tracts as a free winter pasturage is absolutely essential to the perpetuity of game in the Yellowstone Park.

Although an ornithologist, in pa.s.sing through the Park, would report a list of native birds so extensive as to lead one to think that they abound in great numbers, there is really a noticeable absence of the winged tribes. There are birds, of course, but in numbers, variety, and beauty not to be compared with those in lower alt.i.tudes. The only varieties that would attract attention from any but specialists are the larger birds, which are often quite plentiful about the lakes.

There are great numbers of pelicans, gulls, fish-hawks, and cranes, with now and then a wild swan. Eagles are not uncommon, while hawks, woodp.e.c.k.e.rs, and robins are frequently seen. The sharp-tailed or willow grouse is common, and in the fall of the year astonis.h.i.+ng numbers of wild geese and ducks frequent the marshes. There are many other varieties, conspicuous mainly for their paucity of numbers.

Piscatorially speaking, the Yellowstone National Park has no rival as a paradise for the angler. The generous gift of nature and the admirable work of the United States Fish Commission, supplemented by the wise protection of the government, leave nothing to be desired by even the most devout follower of Isaak Walton.

Not all the streams of the Park were originally stocked with fish.

Where the waters leave the great volcanic plateau and fall to the underlying formations, the cataracts form impa.s.sable barriers to the ascent of fish. In the lower courses of all the streams there were native trout, but above the falls, with one exception, there were none. The exception of the Yellowstone River and Lake is a most interesting one. Why the Falls of the Yellowstone, the highest and most impa.s.sable of all, should apparently have proven no barrier, is at first a puzzling question. But the solution is to be found in Two-Ocean Pa.s.s. Across this remarkable divide fish may easily make their way, and the Yellowstone Lake is unquestionably stocked from this direction. We thus have an example, probably without parallel, of an extensive body of water on the Atlantic slope stocked by nature with fish from the Pacific.

The trout of the Yellowstone Lake are to some extent infected with a disease which renders them unfit for eating. In earlier times particularly, this condition was generally prevalent. But more recently the disease seems to be disappearing, and in time it will probably die out altogether.

In 1889 and 1890, the United States Fish Commission undertook to stock all the fishless streams in the Park, and planted about 83,000 yearling trout in the various streams and lakes. The varieties were Brook, Lake, Loch Leven, and Von Behr trout. Recent examination of these plants shows that all have taken decisive root, and that within a few years there will not be a hidden stream or lake in the Park which will be without its attractions for the sportsman.

CHAPTER VII.

FLORA OF THE YELLOWSTONE.

The most conspicuous feature of the Park flora is the wide extent of forest growth which covers some eighty-four per cent of its area. This is the more noticeable because the surrounding country below the mountains is practically treeless. The Park forests consist almost exclusively of pine and fir. The trees are generally tall and slender and of little use for lumber. They are usually unattractive in appearance, although in some places among the mountains the spruce and fir attain a size, form and hue of foliage that are exceedingly beautiful.

Among the several species may be noted the following:

Black pine (_Pinus Murrayana_) so called from the dark hue of its foliage when seen in dense bodies.

Red fir (_Pseudotsuga Douglasii_) the largest variety in the Park, sometimes attaining a diameter of five feet.

Balsam (_Abies subalpina_). It flourishes near the snow fields and is the beauty of the forest.

Spruce (_Pinus Engelmanni_). Like the preceding it flourishes at high alt.i.tudes. It is tall and slender, and is good for lumber.

Red cedar (_Juniperus virginiana_) is found to a limited extent.

Poplar or aspen (_Populus tremuloides_) flourishes among the sheltered foot-hills.

Dwarf maple is occasionally found.