This yawning gulf with its awful depths of nearly two thousand feet, through which the river, like a silver thread was wending its way, and the sublime coloring produced by nature, reflected from the mineral formations on the sides of the great canyon, was a sight too much for human frailty, and I had to be satisfied to take a glimpse and wait until I could recuperate from the shock before attempting another adventure.
Before leaving Inspiration Point, some one shouted, "See the eagle's nest!" and there, looking down into a tall pine tree at the right of the descent, was the nest; but I was more interested in the canyon, for I had never had the faintest conception of what it really is.
When I had recuperated somewhat from the bewilderment, I was inclined to charge those who had visited the Park before, among whom were my brother and his wife, with stupidity and a lack of appreciation for not having done more to tell of such grandeur. But afterwards I had to admit that the half cannot be told however much anyone might try. Unlike the Royal Gorge in Colorado, we were not at the bottom looking up, but at the top looking down into the silent and awful depths. It was as if the earth had rent asunder and we were standing on the brink looking over into the abyss.
"Of all the marvels of the Yellowstone National Park, the most sublime is the Grand Canyon. Through this the Yellowstone River, which is a tributary of the Missouri, flows in one place for twenty continuous miles between perpendicular cliffs only about 200 yards apart and from 1,200 to 1,500 feet in height. At the entrance of this part of the canyon the whole river makes a stupendous leap of 308 feet, in what is known as the 'Lower Fall.' The sides of this gigantic chasm have literally almost all the colors of the rainbow displayed upon their vertical surfaces. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, and white tints, are constantly succeeding one another here in wonderful variety, thus lighting up with glory countless architectural forms, which Nature, it would seem, had fashioned here to make the proudest works of man appear diminutive and tame. These colors doubtless have been formed by the percolating through the cliffs of the hot mineral waters from the neighboring springs. Distinguished painters have sadly declared that any adequate representation of these brilliant, variegated hues is utterly beyond the power of human art. What an unrivalled combination is there, therefore, in this canyon, of awe-inspiring grandeur and enchanting beauty! And what a magnificent pathway has been given to the Yellowstone River! Leaving the famous Yellowstone Lake enclosed by snow-clad mountains, it passes through a series of rapids and a fall of 140 feet before it even reaches the Grand Canyon, and just beyond this it receives a tributary, which in its haste to join it, makes a leap of 156 feet. Thus cradled in sublimity, the Yellowstone River must be called in some respects the most extraordinary stream upon our continent."
EAGLE'S NEST ROCK © Haynes, St. Paul
Why was this place kept concealed from the eyes of civilized man for nearly four hundred years after America was discovered? Even now only a small per cent of the 100,000,000 people of the United States know what they possess in this romantic and mysterious region, which in some places seems to be the ante-chamber of heaven and the very mouth of hell. Many, for lack of opportunity or interest, will never see the Yellowstone National Park, while multitudes from foreign shores will swarm like bees within its boundaries and reap the benefits of the sacrifice and toil of its discoverers and of God's free gift to America.
NO. 147. UP THE GRAND CANYON FROM INSPIRATION PT.—YELLOWSTONE PARK. HAYNES-PHOTO.