Part 4 (1/2)
[R] See Appendix E, ”Transactions Montana Historical Society.”
In 1844, a large party of trappers entered the Upper Yellowstone Valley from the south, pa.s.sed around the west sh.o.r.e of the Yellowstone Lake to the outlet, where they had a severe battle with the Blackfeet Indians, in a broad open tract at that point. The remains of their old corral were still visible as late as 1870.
There are numerous other interesting, though less definite, references to an early knowledge of the Yellowstone; but those we have given show their general character. The important fact to remember is that this knowledge was barren of result. For the most part it existed only in the minds of illiterate men, and perished with them. It never caught the public ear and did not in the least degree hasten the final discovery. Historically interesting these early adventures will always be; as are also the Norse voyages to America; but they are very far from being the Columbus voyage of discovery.
CHAPTER VI.
JAMES BRIDGER.
Of the early characters whose names are closely linked with the history of the Yellowstone, the most distinguished is James Bridger, a sketch of whose life is given in Appendix A, under ”Bridger Lake.”
That he had often been in the region of the Yellowstone Park, and was familiar with its unique features, is now well known. His first personal knowledge of them is believed to date from 1824, when he is supposed to have been upon the upper Yellowstone. It is certain that before 1840 he knew of the existence of the geysers in the Firehole Valley, although at that time he had probably not seen them himself.
Between 1841 and 1844 Bridger was leader of a grand hunting and trapping expedition, which for upward of two years, wandered over the country from the Great Falls of the Missouri to Chihuahua, Mexico. At some time during this expedition he entered the region of the upper Yellowstone and saw most of its wonders. His descriptions of the geysers and other remarkable features of that locality can be traced back nearly to this period and present an accuracy of detail which could come only from personal observation.
Among the records of these descriptions the earliest is that by Captain J. W. Gunnison, of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, who was a.s.sociated with Captain Howard Stansbury, of the same corps, in the Salt Lake Expedition of 1849-50. The record is found in Gunnison's History of the Mormons,[S] and dates back to this expedition. It reads:
”He [Bridger] gives a picture, most romantic and enticing, of the head waters of the Yellow Stone. A lake, sixty miles long, cold and pellucid, lies embosomed among high precipitous mountains. On the west side is a sloping plain, several miles wide, with clumps of trees and groves of pine. The ground resounds with the tread of horses. Geysers spout up seventy feet high, with a terrific, hissing noise, at regular intervals. Water-falls are sparkling, leaping and thundering down the precipices, and collect in the pool below. The river issues from this lake, and for fifteen miles roars through the perpendicular canon at the outlet. In this section are the 'Great Springs,' so hot that meat is readily cooked in them, and as they descend on the successive terraces, afford at length delightful baths. On the other side is an acid spring, which gushes out in a river torrent; and below is a cave, which supplies 'vermillion' for the savages in abundance.”
[S] Page 151, Gunnison's History of the Mormons. See Appendix E.
In this admirable summary we readily discover the Yellowstone Lake, the Grand Canon, the Falls, the geyser basins, the Mammoth Hot Springs, and Cinnabar Mountain. Prior to 1860, Bridger had related these accounts to Captain Warren, Captain Raynolds, Doctor Hayden, and others, and although he seems to have convinced these gentlemen that there was something in his stories, they still attributed less to fact than to fancy.
In his efforts to disseminate a knowledge of this region, Bridger was as determined as Colter had been before him, and with little better success. He tried to have his narratives published, but no periodical would lend itself to his service. The editor of the _Kansas City Journal_ stated editorially in 1879 that Bridger had told him of these wonders fully thirty years before. He prepared an article from Bridger's description, but suppressed it because his friends ridiculed the whole thing as incredible. He later publicly apologized to Bridger, who was then living at Westport, Missouri.[T]
[T] Of interest in this connection is the following extract from a recent letter to the writer by the present managing editor of the _Kansas City Journal_:
”The interview had with Bridger was in the year 1856. He told Col. R.
T. Van Horn, Editor of the _Journal_, which was published at that time, the story of the Park with the geysers, and at the same time, drew with a piece of charcoal on a piece of wrapping paper an outline of the route necessary to be taken by a railroad should it ever cross the continent, which route is exactly on the line that is now crossed by the Union Pacific.
In this conversation, he told the Colonel about the mud springs and the other wonders of that part of the country, or to use his own expression, 'it was a place where h.e.l.l bubbled up.'
The Colonel was much interested in the matter at the time and took notes of the account, but did not print it because a man who claimed to know Bridger, told him that he would be laughed out of town if he printed 'any of old Jim Bridger's lies.'”
The persistent incredulity of his countrymen, and their ill-concealed suspicion of his honesty, to say nothing of his mental soundness, were long a cloud upon Bridger's life; but, more fortunate than his prototype, Colter, he lived to see himself triumphantly vindicated.
Whether from disgust at this unmerited treatment, or because of his love of a good story, Bridger seems finally to have resolved that distrust of his word, if it must exist, should at least have some justification. He was in fact noted for ”drawing the long bow to an unparalleled tension,” and for never permitting troublesome scruples of conscience to interfere with the proper embellishment of his yarns.
These were generally based upon fact, and diligent search will discover in them the ”soul of truth” which, according to Herbert Spencer, always exists ”in things erroneous.” These anecdotes are current even yet among the inhabitants of the Yellowstone, and the tourist who remains long in the Park will not fail to hear them.
When Bridger found that he could not make his hearers believe in the existence of a vast ma.s.s of volcanic gla.s.s, now known to all tourists as the interesting Obsidian Cliff, he supplied them with another gla.s.s mountain of a truly original sort. Its discovery was the result of one of his hunting trips and it happened in this wise.
Coming one day in sight of a magnificent elk, he took careful aim at the unsuspecting animal and fired. To his great amazement, the elk not only was not wounded, but seemed not even to have heard the report of the rifle. Bridger drew considerably nearer and gave the elk the benefit of his most deliberate aim; but with the same result as before. A third and a fourth effort met with a similar fate. Utterly exasperated, he seized his rifle by the barrel, resolved to use it as a club since it had failed as a firearm. He rushed madly toward the elk, but suddenly crashed into an immovable vertical wall which proved to be a mountain of perfectly transparent gla.s.s, on the farther side of which, still in peaceful security, the elk was quietly grazing.
Stranger still, the mountain was not only of pure gla.s.s, but was a perfect telescopic lens, and, whereas, the elk seemed but a few hundred yards off, it was in reality twenty-five miles away!
Another of Bridger's discoveries was an ice-cold spring near the summit of a lofty mountain, the water from which flowed down over a long smooth slope, where it acquired such a velocity that it was boiling hot when it reached the bottom.[U]
[U] This story, which is taken from the report of Captain W. F.
Raynolds, was one of Bridger's favorites, and it is even said that he did not regard it as pleasantry at all, but as plain matter of fact.