| Great Geyser Basin | [Front] |
| Hot Springs of Gardner's River | [27] |
| Diana's Bath, Gardner's River | [31] |
| Liberty Cap, Gardner's River | [36] |
| Extinct Geyser, East Fork of the Yellowstone | [50] |
| The Devil's Hoof | [58] |
| Getting a Specimen | [72] |
| The Devil's Den | [76] |
| Upper Falls of the Yellowstone | [86] |
| The Mud Volcano | [100] |
| Yellowstone Lake | [106] |
| The First Boat on Yellowstone Lake | [113] |
| Breaking Through | [122] |
| The Grand Geyser, Firehole Basin | [144] |
| The Giant Geyser | [153] |
| Fan Geyser, Firehole Basin | [158] |
| The Bee-hive | [161] |
| Grand Cañon and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone | [194] |
| Imaginary Companions | [236] |
| The Giantess, Firehole Basin | [252] |
| MAPS. | |
| Hayden's Geological Survey of Yellowstone National Park. | |
CHAPTER I.
THE CROWN OF THE CONTINENT.
In the northwest corner of the Territory of Wyoming, about half way between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean, and in the same latitude as the State of New York, the grand Rocky Mountain system culminates in a knot of peaks and ranges enclosing the most remarkable lake basin in the world. From this point radiate the chief mountain ranges, and three of the longest rivers of the Continent—the Missouri, the Columbia, and the Colorado.
On the south are the Wind River Mountains, a snow-clad barrier which no white man has ever crossed. On the east is the Snowy Mountain Range, and the grand cluster of volcanic peaks between it and Yellowstone Lake. On the west is the main divide of the Rocky Mountains. On the north are the bold peaks of the Gallatin Range, and the parallel ridges which give a northward direction to all the great tributaries of the Missouri from this region.