CONTENTS

CHAPTER IPAGE
Extent of the Wilderness—The First White Man—The Backbone of theContinent—A Vanished Sea and a Petrified Ocean—The Biggest Trees—TheSpike of Gold[1]
CHAPTER II
The Intelligent Beaver, Chief of the Rodents—A Four-footed Engineer—ABuilder of Houses, Artificial Canals, Dams, Ponds, and Lakes—BeaverMeadows—A Masterful Woodchopper—A Tail for the Epicure—Muskbogs—The Fatal Trap[13]
CHAPTER III
A Monarch of the Plains—The Hunchback Cows of Cibola—A Boon to theFrontiersman—Wide Range of the Bison—Marrow Bones for the Epicure—WashingtonIrving a Buffalo Hunter—The Rushing Run of theBison Herd—The Sacred White Buffalo Cow Skin—A Calf with a BullHead—Wolves and White Bears[32]
CHAPTER IV
The People of the Wilderness—Men without Rights—Killing by Alcohol—Changein the Character of the Native—Growth of the War Spirit—Classificationby Language—Dwellers in Tents and Builders of Houses—Farmersand Hunters—Irrigation Works—The Coming of the Horse[54]
CHAPTER V
Three Conditions of Wilderness Life—Farming in the Driest Country—TheCache—The Clan, the Unit of the Tribe—Hospitality—Totems andTotem Marks—Dress—An Aboriginal Geographer—The Winter Life—TheWar-path, the Scalp-lock, and the Scalp-dance—Mourning the LostBraves—Drifting[75]
CHAPTER VI
Lost in the Wilderness—Cabeza de Vaca, Great Medicine Man—The WildernessTraversed—Spanish Slave Hunters—The Northern Mystery—TheMonk and the Negro—The Great Coronado Expedition—The Settlementof New Mexico and the Pueblo Rebellion—California Missions—Escalanteto Salt Lake Valley[103]
CHAPTER VII
Soto and the Mississippi—The Gate to the Wilderness—The Voyageur—Champlainto Mackinaw—Pandemonium of Wars—Down the Mississippito Soto's Grave—Louisiana—La Salle and his Death—Coureursde Bois—First Sight of the Northern Rockies—Where Rolls the Oregon—TheAmerican Revolution[126]
CHAPTER VIII
The United States Borders the Wilderness—American Ships to the PacificCoast—The North-West Company—Mackenzie Spans the Continent—Mearesand Vancouver Baffled by Breakers—Captain Robert Gray,Victor—The Columbia at Last—The Louisiana Purchase a Pig in aPoke, and a Boundless Wilderness—Claims All Round to the Centre—ThePerfidious Napoleon—The Spanish Sentinel Steps Back[144]
CHAPTER IX
Jefferson's Hobby—Two Noblemen—An Indefinite Transaction—Expeditionto the Wilderness—Fort Mandan—The Roche Jaune and the FirstView of the Great Range—The Long-lost Sister—Depths of the Unknown—Starvationon the Trail—Music of the Breakers—Fort Clatsop—TheReturn—Medicine Men Again—Two Natives Shot—PrematureDeath of the Captain[156]
CHAPTER X
The Metropolis of the Far Wilderness—James Pursley Arrives—Pike up theMississippi and across the Plains—A Spanish War Party—A Breastworkto Mark the Site of Pueblo—Polar Weather and No Clothing—PikeSees the Grand Peak—San Luis Valley—The Americans Capturedby Diplomacy—Pursley Finds Gold—Malgares, the Gentleman—ThePike Party Sent Home[175]
CHAPTER XI
A Race for Life—Colter Wins—The Missouri Fur Company—The AmericanFur Company—The Pacific Fur Company—A Great Project Foredoomed—Disasterat the Columbia Bar—The Destruction of theTonquin—Hunt Starts for the Columbia Overland—The VoyageursBaulked—The Caldron Linn—Dog Steak at a Premium—Misery andDanger—Success at Last[ 193]
CHAPTER XII
Eastward from Astoria—The War of 1812 on a Business Basis in Oregon—AstoriaBecomes Fort George—The Pacific Fur Company Expires—LouisianaDelimited at Last—The Expedition of Major Long—ASteamboat on the Missouri—The First Man on Pike's Peak—TheElusive Red River Refuses to be Explored—Closing on the Inner Wilderness—TheSpanish Sentinel Turns Mexican[215]
CHAPTER XIII
The Wilderness Breaker—Lisa Closes his Account—General Ashley Takes aHand—The Religious Jedediah—Green River Valley—What a WhiteBear could Do—Ashley Navigates Red Canyon of Green River—Discoveryof Salt Lake—Ashley Retires Rich—The Rocky Mountain FurCompany—Sylvester and James O. Pattie—Pattie's Journey in theValley of the Colorado—The Great Circuit of Jedediah Smith[229]
CHAPTER XIV
A Brood of Wilderness Breakers—Kit Carson the Dauntless—Campbell,1827, Santa Fé to San Diego—Becknell and the Santa Fé Trail—WheelTracks in the Wilderness—The Knight in Buckskin Dies—Pegleg Smiththe Horse Trader—The Apache Turns Forever against the American—NewMexico the Dreamland—Wolfskill Breaks a Trail to the Pacific—Bonneville,Captain Courteous; and Wyeth, Leader Hopeful—BonnevilleForgets a Duty[253]
CHAPTER XV
Bonneville Dropped from the Army—Indian Shooters—The Mythical RioBuenaventura—Bonneville Twice to the Columbia—Wyeth Again—TheOregon Trail—The Big Thunder Canoe—A Wilderness Whiskey Still—Missionariesto Oregon—The North-West Boundary Settlement—Declineof the Beaver—Through the Canyon of Lodore on the Ice—Frémont,the Scientific Pathfinder—The Spanish Sentinel Turned tothe Wall—Fortune's Blindfold[276]
CHAPTER XVI
Free Distribution of Frémont's Reports—Latter Day Saints—Murder of aProphet—Brigham Young Guides Saints to the Wilderness—The Stateof Deseret—California the Golden—Massacre at Mountain Meadows—OldJacob, the Mormon Leatherstocking—Steam on the Lower Colorado—OldJacob Finds the Crossing of the Fathers—Circumtouring theGrand Canyon—Solitudes of the Colorado—Last of the WildernessProblems—Powell Solves it by Masterful Courage—The Iron Trail—TheEnd and the Beginning[303]
Index[339]

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
The Sierra Blanca [Frontispiece]
Blanca Peak, 14,390. Baldy Peak, 14,176. Blanca Peak is the thirdhighest in Colorado.
The point of view is on Trinchera Creek looking north from an altitudeof about 8000 feet. To the left is the San Luis Valley throughwhich flows the Rio Grande, and to the right are the two highpasses known as Veta and Sangre de Cristo. The Sierra Blancaforms the southern end of the Sangre de Cristo Range and was oneof the great landmarks of the Wilderness.
Sketch in oils made at the place by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
The Backbone of the Continent[3]
Photograph by R. H. Chapman, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Wilderness of the Upper Missouri[5]
Photograph by R. H. Chapman, U. S. Geol. Survey.
The Yosemite Valley[7]
Photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.
The Grizzly Giant[9]
Height, 285 feet. Circumference, 93 feet.
Copyright by C. C. Pierce & Co.
A Wilderness Home[11]
Photograph by R. H. Chapman, U. S. Geol. Survey.
The Mountain Part of the Wilderness[14]
Relief map by E. E. Howell.
No Place for Beaver[15]
Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Beaver Country[17]
Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Great Beaver Dam—Grass Lake, 260 Feet Long[19]
From Morgan's American Beaver.
Red Canyon—Green River[20]
Where Ashley went for beaver in 1825.
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, Colo. Riv. Exp.
Beaver Canal[22]
From Morgan's American Beaver.
Lower Colorado River—Mouth of Gila on Right[23]
Where Pattie trapped beaver in 1826.
Photograph by Delancy Gill.
Trees Cut by Beavers[26]
From Morgan's American Beaver.
Beaver Trap[29]
The Beaver[30]
Copyright, 1901, by Doubleday, Page, & Co.
The Monarch of the Plains[33]
The figure a photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.
Picture of Buffalo on Cliff Wall, Southern Utah[37]
Pecked drawing, copied by B. L. Young.
The Grand Teton from Jackson's Hole[39]
The buffalo reached this valley by 1824.
Photograph by W. H. Jackson, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Canyon of Lodore—Green River[41]
Canyons of this character are almost continuous from a few miles belowthe Union Pacific Railway crossing.
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, U. S. Colo. Riv. Exp.
Head of Bison Bull[43]
Specimen shot by Theodore Roosevelt, Dec. 17, 1883.
From Roosevelt's Hunting Trips of a Ranchman.
Buffalo Chase[45]
After Catlin. From Smithsonian Report, 1888.
Character of Buffalo Range in Green River Valley[47]
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, U. S., Colo. Riv. Exp.
Canyon of Desolation—Green River[50]
A barrier to the buffalo's westward movement.
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, U. S. Colo. Riv. Exp.
Mandan Buffalo Dance[51]
After Catlin From Smithsonian Report, 1885.
Buffalo Swimming Missouri River[52]
After Catlin. From Smithsonian Report, 1885.
A Village of the Plains[55]
This form of tipi was readily taken down and as readily set up again.
Photograph by U. S. Government.
A Pai Ute Family at Home[57]
Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Colo. Riv. Exp.
A Ute Mountain Home[58]
Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Village of the Puebloan Type. View in the MokiTown of Mishongnavi, Arizona[59]
Photograph by U. S. Bu. Eth.
Umatilla Tipi of Rush Mats on Columbia River[61]
From Lewis and Clark, by O. D. Wheeler.
Amerind Linguistic Map[62]
After Bu. of Eth. Seventh An. Rep.
A Puebloan Farmhouse[64]
Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Plenty-Horses, a Cheyenne[65]
Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
A Pai Ute Modernised[67]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Ruin Called Casa Grande, Arizona[69]
Photograph by Cosmos Mindeleff, U. S. Bu. of Eth.
South Portion of the Tewa Pueblo of Taos, NewMexico[71]
Photograph by U. S. Bu. of Eth.
Navajo Silver Beads—actual size[72]
From U. S. Bu. Eth.
South-western Baskets—Apache, Pima, etc. NavajoBlankets behind[73]
Photograph by J. B. Lippincott, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Moki Woman Modelling a Clay Jug[76]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Earthenware from Moki Region[77]
The Ruins in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, Called"Casa Blanca." These were once Connected.[78]
Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Old Mandan House[79]
From Wonderland, 1903, Northern Pacific Railway.
A Young Cocopa[80]
Photograph by Delancy Gill.
Rear View of Mandan Village, Showing Burial-Ground[81]
Drawing by Catlin, plate 48, vol. i.; Catlin's Eight Years. Reproductionfrom Smithsonian Report, 1885, part ii.
A Dakota of the Plains[83]
Figures from photograph by U. S. Government.
A Uinta Ute[84]
Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Umatilla Woman and Child[85]
From Wonderland, 1904, Northern Pacific Railway.
Mandan Village on the Missouri, 1832[86]
Drawing by Catlin, plate 47, vol. i.; Catlin's Eight Years. Reproductionfrom Smithsonian Report, 1885, part ii.
A Group of Crow Chiefs[87]
Photograph by U. S. Government about 1875.
Granary—Cliffs of Green River, Thirty Feet aboveGround[90]
Photograph by L. H. Johnson.
Interior of a Moki House[91]
The women at the back are grinding corn, while those at the right arebaking bread on a hot slab in paper-like sheets. Above is thechimney-hood.
U. S. Bu Eth.
Sitting Bull[93]
From Wonderland, 1901, Northern Pacific Railway.
Bellochknahpick—The Bull Dance[94]
Mandan ceremonial.
Drawing by Catlin, plate 67, vol. i., Catlin'sEight Years. Reproduction from Smithsonian Report, 1885, part ii.
Details of Navajo Loom Construction[95]
U. S. Bu. Eth.
A Navajo[96]
Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Scalp-Dance of the Sioux[97]
Drawing by Catlin, plate 297, vol ii., Catlin's Eight Years. Reproductionfrom Smithsonian Report, 1885, part ii.
A Group of Dakotas[98]
Photograph by U. S. Government about 1875.
Necklace of Human Fingers[99]
House Ruin on Green River, Utah[101]
Photograph by L. H. Johnson.
Alarçon's Ships in the Tidal Bore, Mouth of theColorado, 1540[105]
Drawing by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Character of the Seven Cities which Friar Marcosso Glowingly Described[109]
Drawing by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
New Mexico, 1540 to 1630[115]
Church and Mission of San Xavier del Bac, Arizona[118]
Mission founded 1699. The church here shown was finished in 1797.
On the Yuma Desert[120]
Character of the country around the head of the Gulf of California.
Photograph by Delancy Gill.
Church of the Mission San Carlos de Monterey[121]
Mission founded in 1770.Photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.
Glen Canyon, Colorado River[123]
This shows the nature of the Colorado where Escalante crossed in 1776.The surface on each side is barren sandstone.
Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Colo. Riv. Exp.
Barriers of Adamant, Mission Range[128]
Photograph by R. H. Chapman, U. S. Geol. Survey.
A Reception Committee[131]
Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
In the Heart of the Wilderness—Southern Utah[135]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Great Falls of the Missouri[137]
From The Trail of Lewis and Clark, O. D. Wheeler.
Great Fountain Geyser—Yellowstone Park[141]
From Wonderland, 1901, Northern Pacific Railway.
Summits of the Backbone[145]
Gray's Peak, 14,341 feet; Torrey's Peak, 14,336 feet.
Photograph by U. S. Geol. Survey.
Mouth of the Columbia from Astoria[149]
Cape Disappointment, left distance.
From The Trail of Lewis andClark, O. D. Wheeler.
Map of the Wilderness Showing American Acquisitions[154]
Mount Hood—From Cloud Cap Inn[159]
From Wonderland, 1903, Northern Pacific Railway.
Canyon of the Gates of the Mountains[165]
From The Trail of Lewis and Clark, O. D. Wheeler.
Junction of the Madison and Jefferson[167]
The Madison at left, the Jefferson at the right centre.
From The Trail of Lewis and Clark, O. D. Wheeler.
The Dalles of the Columbia[169]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Snake River below Lewiston. On Lewis and Clark'sTrail[171]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Route of Lewis and Clark from Maria's River toTraveller's Rest and Return[173]
From The Trail of Lewis and Clark, by O. D. Wheeler.
New Mexican Cart[177]
Drawing by Julian Scott. From Bulletin of the Eleventh Census.
A Rocky Mountain Torrent[179]
Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
A Glade for the Weary. Altitude 8000 Feet[183]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Pike's Peak through the Gateway of the Garden ofthe Gods[187]
(Pike got his view of it from a mountain to the left, not seen.)
Photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.
Vegetation of the South-West[191]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Canyon of the Yellowstone from Grand View[195]
From Wonderland, 1903, Northern Pacific Railway.
A Mansion of the Wilderness[197]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Sawmill Geyser, Yellowstone Park[201]
From Wonderland, 1904, Northern Pacific Railway.
The Deadly Rattler[203]
From The Mystic Mid-Region, by A. J. Burdick.
Photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.
Shoshone Falls, Idaho, from South Side, Below[205]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Shoshone Falls, Snake River, Idaho, from Below[207]
Sketch by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Shoshone Falls, Snake River, Idaho, from Above, SouthSide[209]
Photograph by G. K. Gilbert.
Boat Made of Framework of Sticks Covered with Bison- orHorse-Hide[211]
Frequently used in early days of the West.
From The Trail of Lewis and Clark, by O. D. Wheeler.
On the Virgin River, Southern Utah[217]
Near where Escalante went in 1776. Pine Valley Mountain in distance.
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
An Arizona Thistle[220]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
A Full Larder[223]
From Wonderland, 1904, Northern Pacific Railway.
Standing Rocks, Common in the Wilderness[227]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
In the Mountain Wilderness—Vulture Peak[230]
Photograph by R. H. Chapman, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Before Sunrise[231]
From Wonderland, 1904, Northern Pacific Railway.
Green River Valley[233]
Photograph by C. R. Savage.
Arrow Weed in the Yuma Country[236]
Photograph by Delancy Gill.
Red Canyon of Green River[239]
Length, 25 miles. Walls 1800 to 2500 feet high. Average width ofwater, 250 feet. Ashley was the first white man to pass throughthis gorge.
Ashley Fall, Red Canyon, Green River[241]
Ashley's name was found on right of the picture on one of the hugefallen rocks, about at the top of the old dead tree.
Lower Falls of the Yellowstone[245]
From Wonderland, 1901, Northern Pacific Railway.
On the Gila River, Arizona[248]
This is the place chosen for the San Carlos irrigation dam.
Photograph by J. B. Lippincott.
Headwaters of Virgin River[251]
Named Adams River by Jedediah Smith in 1826.
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Prairie Dogs[254]
From Wonderland, 1901, Northern Pacific Railway.
On the Yuma Desert. A Dying Horse[256]
Photograph by Delancy Gill.
An Old Beaver Haunt[261]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
The Heart of the Sierra[263]
Photograph by Watkins.
A Rose of New Mexico[266]
Photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.
On the Gila[268]
Photograph by J. B. Lippincott.
Captain Bonneville[271]
A General when this was taken, long after his trapping career.
Photograph from Montana Historical Society.
"Old Faithful" Geyser, Yellowstone Park[274]
From Wonderland, 1901, Northern Pacific Railway.
Elk in Winter[277]
From Wonderland, Northern Pacific Railway.
In the Sierra Nevada[279]
On the Merced, Yosemite Valley. Walker, 1833, was probably thefirst white man here.
Copyright C. C. Pierce & Co.
A Wilderness Waggon Road[282]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Steamer "Yellowstone" Ascending the Missouri in1833[285]
From Travels, etc., 1832-3-4, by Maximilian, Prince of Wied, 1843.
From Wonderland, 1904, Northern Pacific Railway.
Before the Sawmill Comes[289]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
The Great or Lower Fall of the Yellowstone[291]
From Wonderland, 1904, Northern Pacific Railway.
Jim Bridger in his Latter Days[293]
Photograph from Montana Historical Society.
Green River from Green River Valley to WonsitsValley[295]
Snow-Bound in the Wilderness—1875[297]
Pencil sketch on the spot by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Canyon of Lodore, Green River[299]
The first on record to go through this and the canyons immediately belowit—that is, from Brown's Park to Wonsits Valley—was Joe Meekand a party of trappers on the ice, in the winter of 1838-39.
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, U. S. Colo. Riv. Exp.
A Chance Meeting[301]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
A Mormon Sorghum Mill and Evaporating Pans[306]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
A Setback[307]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
In Council[311]
General Sherman third from left of white group.
Photograph from United States Government.
The Steamboat "Explorer"[316]
In which Lieutenant Ives, in 1858, ascended the Colorado to the footof Black Canyon.
Sketch by H. B. Mollhausen.
Where the Wilderness Lingers[319]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Running the Colorado[321]
Drawing by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Upper Part of Marble Canyon—Colorado River[323]
This gorge merges into the Grand Canyon at the mouth of the LittleColorado. The length of both together is about 300 miles. Thefirst to travel this distance were Powell and his men, 1869.
The Grand Canyon Region[326]
The Thousand-Mile Tree[328]
A hemlock 1000 miles from Omaha.
Photograph by C. R. Savage.
Secret Town Trestle[329]
1000 feet long. Maximum height, 90 feet.
Photograph by C. R. Savage.
Snow Sheds in the Sierra[331]
Photograph by C. R. Savage.
Adobe Ruins of Green River—Union Pacific Terminus[332]
Photograph, 1871, by E. O. Beaman, U. S. Colo. Riv. Exp.
Scene before Driving the Last Spike—PromontoryPoint, Utah, May 10, 1869[333]
John Duff in front, immediately beneath engine. Sidney Dillon at hisleft. The Reverend Doctor Todd asking a blessing.
Photograph by C. R. Savage for the Union Pacific Railway.
The Ames Monument—Union Pacific Railway[334]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Driving the Last Spike, 3.05 p.m. (New York Time), May10, 1869[335]
Locomotive "Jupiter" of the Central Pacific, and "119" of the UnionPacific about to meet when last spike is driven.
Photograph by C. R. Savage for the Union Pacific Railway.
The Last Tie[336]
Union Pacific Railway, 1869. Made of California laurel polished, andwith a silver plate on the side.
The Last Spike[337]
Union Pacific Railway. Made of gold.
A Modern Fast Train[337]
From Wonderland, 1901, Northern Pacific Railway.
The Mormon Temple—Salt Lake City[338]
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Canada Lynx[361]
From Wonderland, 1904, Northern Pacific Railway.