THE NORRIS GEYSER BASIN.
The route southward into the Park crosses mountain ridges and over stretches of lava and ashes and other volcanic formations, through woods and past gorges, and reaches the Obsidian Creek, which flows near the Obsidian Cliff. This remarkable structure is a mountain of black glass of volcanic formation, rising six hundred feet, with the road hewn along its edge. It looks as if a series of blasting explosions had blown its face into pieces, smashing the glass into great heaps of débris that have fallen down in front. The formation is columnar, rising from a morass adjoining Beaver Lake, which is a mile long. The divide is thus crossed between the Gardiner and Gibbon Rivers, the latter flowing into the Madison, and here, twenty-five miles from the Mammoth Hot Springs, is the Norris Geyser Basin. In approaching, seen over the low trees, the place looks much like the manufacturing quarter of a city, steam jets rising out of many orifices, and a hissing being heard as of sundry engine exhausts. The basin covers about one hundred and fifty acres, and is depressed below the general level. The whole surface is lime, silica, sulphur and sand, fused together and baked hard by the great heat, cracked into fissures, and, as it is walked over, giving out hollow sounds, showing that beneath are subterranean caves and passages in which boil huge cauldrons. There is a background formed by the bleak-looking mountains of the Quadrate range, having snow upon their tops and sides. The steam blows off with the noise of a hundred exhaust pipes, and little geysers boil everywhere, occasionally spurting up like the bursting of a boiler. In one place on the hillside the escaping steam from the "Steamboat" keeps up a loud and steady roar; in another is the deeper tone of the "Black Growler." As a general thing, the higher vents on the hill give off steam only, while the lower ones are geysers. The trees are coated with the deposits, the surface is hot, and all underneath seems an immense mass of boiling water, impregnated with sulphur, giving off powerful odors, while brimstone and lime-dust encrust everything, and a large amount of valuable steam-power goes to waste.
This is the smallest of the basins, having few large geysers. Most of them are little ones, spurting every few minutes, and with some view to economy, whereby the water, after being blown out of the crater to a brief height, runs back into the orifice again, ready to be ejected by the next explosion. A mud geyser here throws up large quantities of dirty white paint in several spouting jets, the eruption continuing ten minutes, when nearly all the water runs back again, leaving the crater entirely bare, and its rounded, water-worn rocks exposed. The "Emerald Pool" is the wide crater of an old geyser, filled with hot water of a beautiful green color, constantly boiling, but never getting as far as an eruption. Probably the best geyser on exhibition in this basin is the "Minute Man," which, at intervals of about one minute, spouts for ten or twelve seconds, the column rising thirty feet, and the rest of the time it blows off steam. The "Vixen" is a coquette which is delightfully irregular, never going off when watched, but when the back is turned suddenly sending out a column sixty feet high. The great geyser here is the "Monarch," standing in a hill from which it has blown out the entire side, and once a day discharging an enormous amount of water over one hundred feet high, and continuing nearly a half-hour. Its column comes from two huge orifices, the surplus water running down quite a large brook. When quiet, this geyser industriously boils like a big tea-kettle. There are plenty of "paint pots" and sulphur springs, and the visitors coax up lazy geysers by throwing stones into them,—a method usually making the small ones go to work, as if angry at the treatment.
THE LOWER AND MIDDLE BASINS.
Through the long deep canyon of the Gibbon River, and up over the mountain top, giving a distant view of the Gibbon Falls, a cataract of eighty feet far down in the valley, the road crosses another divide to a stream in the worst portion of this Satanic domain, which has not been inappropriately named the Firehole River. This unites with the Gibbon to form the Madison River, one of the sources of the Missouri. Miles ahead, the steam from the Firehole Geyser Basins can be seen rising in clouds among the distant hills. Beyond, the view is closed by the Teton Mountains, far to the southwest, rising fourteen thousand feet, the Continental divide and backbone of North America, the highest Rocky Mountain range, on the other side of which is the Snake River, whose waters go off to the Pacific. The Firehole River is a stream of ample current, with beautifully transparent blue water bubbling over a bed of discolored stones and lava. Its waters are all the outflow of geysers and hot springs, impregnated with everything this forbidding region produces; pretty to look at, but bitter as the waters of Marah. Along this river, geysers are liberally distributed at intervals for ten miles, being, for convenience of description, divided into the Lower, Middle and Upper Geyser Basins. The Lower Basin, the first reached, has myriads of steam jets rising from a surface of some three square miles of desolate geyserite deposits. There are about seven hundred springs and geysers here, most of them small. The Fountain Geyser throws a broad low stream of many interlacing jets every two to three hours, lasting about fifteen minutes. The "Thud" Geyser has a crater one hundred and fifty feet in diameter, having a smaller rim inside, within which the geyser operates, throwing a column of sixty feet with a heavy and regular "thud" underground, though it has no fixed period, and is irregular in action. This basin has a generous supply of mud geysers, known as the "paint pots," which eject brilliantly colored muds with the consistency and look of paint, the prevailing hues being red, white, yellow and pink.
About three miles to the southwest, farther up the Firehole River, is the Middle Geyser Basin. It is a locality covering some fifty acres, close to the river, and contains the greatest geyser in the world. The name of Hell's Half Acre was given this place in the early explorations, and still sticks. The surface is composed mainly of hot ashes, with streams of boiling water running over it. The whole basin is filled with hot springs, and surrounded by timbered hills, at the foot of which is the Prismatic Lake, its beautiful green and blue waters shading off into a deposit of bright red paint running down to the river. The great Excelsior Geyser is a fountain of enormous power but uncertain periods, which when at work throws out such immense amounts of water as to double the flow of the river. Its crater is a hundred yards wide, with water violently boiling in the centre all the time and a steady outflow. The sides of the crater are beautifully colored by the deposits, which are largely of sulphur. It is a geyser of modern origin, having developed from a hot spring within the memory of Park denizens. It throws a column over two hundred feet high, and while quiet at times for years, occasionally bursts forth, though having no fixed period. In close connection to the westward is the seething cauldron which is the immediate Hell's Half Acre, that being about its area—a beautiful but terrible lake, steam constantly rising from the surface, which boils furiously and sends copious streams over the edges. This is an uncanny spot, with treacherous footing around, and about the hottest place in the Park.
THE UPPER FIREHOLE BASIN.
For five miles along the desolate shores of Firehole River the course is now taken in a region of mostly extinct geysers, yet with active hot springs and steam jets, and having ashes and cinders covering wide spaces. Ahead is the largest collection of geysers in the world, with clouds of steam overhanging—the Upper Firehole Basin. Hot water runs over the earth, and the "paint pots" color the surface in variegated hues. Here are some forty of the greatest geysers in existence, in a region covering two or three square miles, all of them located near the river, and their outflow making its initial current. The basin is at seventy-three hundred feet elevation above the sea. When the author visited this extraordinary place the guide, halting at the verge, said: "Now I have brought you to the front door of hell." He was asked if there were any Indians about there, and solemnly replied: "No Indian ever comes into this country unless he is blind; only the white man is fool enough to come;" then after a moment's pause he continued, "And I get paid for it, I do." The great stand-by of this Upper Basin, and the geyser that is first visited, is "Old Faithful," near its southern or upper end. This most reliable geyser, which always goes off at the time appointed, is a flat-topped and gently rising cone about two hundred feet in diameter, and elevated towards the centre about twenty feet. The tube is an orifice of eight feet by two feet wide in the centre of this cone, with water-worn and rounded rocks enclosing it. Steam escapes all the time, and the hard, scaly and laminated surface around it seems hollow as you walk across, while beneath there are grumblings and dull explosions, giving warning of the approaching outburst. Several mounds of extinct geysers are near, with steam issuing from one of them, but all have long since gone out of active business. Soon "Old Faithful" gives the premonitory symptoms of an eruption. The steam jet increases, and also the internal rumblings. Then a little spurt of hot water comes, hastily receding with a growl, followed by more steam, and after an interval more growling, finally developing into repeated little spurts of hot water, occupying several minutes. Then the geyser suddenly explodes, throwing quick jets higher and higher into the air, until the column rises in a grand fountain to the height of about one hundred and fifty feet, the stream inclined to the northward, and falling over in great splashes upon that side of the cone, dense clouds of steam and spray being carried by the wind, upon which the sun paints a rainbow. After some four minutes the grand jet dies gradually down to a height of about thirty feet, continuing at that elevation for a brief time, with quickly repeated impulses. When six minutes have elapsed, with an expiring leap the water mounts to a height of fifty feet, there is a final outburst of steam, and all is over. A deluge of hot water rushes down to the Firehole River; and thus "Old Faithful" keeps it up regularly every hour. The eruption being ended, you can look down into the abyss whence it came. Through the hot steam, rushing out with a strong draught, there is a view far down into the rocky recesses of the geyser. The water left by the eruption stands about in transparent shallow pools, and is tinted a pale blue. "Old Faithful's" mound is built up of layers of geyserite—hard, brittle, porous, full of crevices, and having all about little basins with turned-up rims that retain the water. This geyser is the favorite in the region, not only because of its regular performance, but possibly because its odors are somewhat less sulphurous than those emanating elsewhere.
The geysers of the Upper Basin contribute practically the whole current of the Firehole River, their outflow sending into the stream ten million gallons daily. Across the river to the northward, close to the bank, is the Beehive, its tube looking like a huge bird's nest, enclosed by a pile of geyserite resembling a beehive, three feet high and about four feet in diameter. Nearby is a vent from which steam, escaping a few minutes before the eruption, gives notice of its coming. The water column shoots up two hundred feet, with clouds of steam, but it is quite uncertain, spouting once or twice in twenty-four hours, and usually at night. Behind the Beehive are the Lion, the Lioness, and their two Cubs, and to the eastward of the latter the Giantess. The Lion group has only uncertain and small action, while the Giantess is on the summit of a mound fifty feet high, with a depressed crater, measuring eighteen by twenty-four feet, and usually filled with dark-blue water. This is the slowest of all the geysers in getting to work, acting only at fortnightly intervals, but each eruption continues the greater part of the day, with usually long-previous notice by violent boiling and internal rumblings. When it comes, the explosion is terrific, the column mounting two hundred and fifty feet, a perfect water-spout the full size of the crater, with a half-dozen distinct jets forced through it. To the northwest of the Lion and across the river is the Castle, so named from the castellated construction of its crater. It stands upon an elevation, the side towards the Firehole falling off in a series of rude steps. The tube is elevated about ten feet within the castle and is four feet in diameter. It is of uncertain eruption, sometimes playing daily and sometimes every other day, throwing a column of one hundred and fifty feet, falling in a sparkling shower, continuing about forty minutes, and then tapering off in a series of insignificant spurts. The Saw-Mill is not far away, rather insignificant, its tube being only six inches in diameter, set in a saucer-like crater about twenty feet across; but its water column, thrown forty feet high, gives the peculiar sounds of a saw, caused by the action of puffs of steam coming out alternately with the water jets. It generally acts in unison with the Grand Geyser, a quarter of a mile northward, which goes off about once a day. The Grand Geyser in action is most powerful, causing the earth to tremble, while there are fearful thumping noises beneath. The water in the crater suddenly recedes, and then quickly spurts upward in a solid column for two hundred feet, with steam rising in puffs above. The column seems to be composed of numerous separate jets, falling back with a thundering sound into the funnel. The outburst continues a few minutes, stops as suddenly as it starts, and is repeated six or eight times, each growing less powerful. Along the river bank nearby are the Wash Tubs, small basins ten feet in diameter, each with an orifice in the bottom. If the clothes are put in, the washing progresses finely until suddenly out goes the water, and with it all the garments, sucked down the hole. After awhile the basin fills again, and back come the clothes, though sometimes they are very dilatory in returning. The Devil's Well, about fifty feet away, is usually accused of complicity in this movement. It is a broad and placid basin of hot water, with a beautiful blue tinge, in which tourists sometimes boil their eggs and potatoes. It is sentinelled by the Comet Geyser, exploding several times daily, but through an orifice so large that it does not throw a very high column.
The great geyser of this Upper Basin is the Giant. It has a broken cone set upon an almost level surface, with the enclosing formation fallen away on one side, the interior being lined with brilliant colors like a tessellated pavement. It is somewhat uncertain in movement, but usually goes off every fourth day. It gives ample notice, certain "Little Devils" adjoining, and a vent in the side of the crater, boiling some time before it sends up the enormous column which plays ninety minutes. The outburst, when it starts, comes like a tornado, and the stream from it runs into and more than doubles the current of the river. The column is eight feet in diameter, rises two hundred and fifty feet at first, and is afterwards maintained at two hundred feet. There is a deafening noise, and the steam clouds seem to cover half the valley. The column goes up perfectly straight, and falls back around the cone with a deluge of hot water. The Catfish, a small geyser, is nearby, and to the northward a short distance is the Grotto. This is an odd formation, its crater perforated with orifices around a low, elongated mound, which point in different directions; and when it goes off at six-hour intervals, the eruption is by streams at an angle, giving a curious sort of churning motion to the water column, which rises forty feet, continuing twenty minutes. The Riverside has a little crater on a terraced mound just at the river's edge, and is a small, irregular but vigorous spouter, throwing a stream sixty feet. The Fan has five spreading tubes, arranged so that they make a huge fan-like eruption, one hundred feet high in the centre, this display, given three or four times a day, continuing about fifteen minutes. The Splendid plays a jet two hundred feet high every three hours, continuing ten minutes, and may be spurred to quicker action. The Pyramid and the Punch Bowl are geysers that have ceased operations. The former is now only a steam-jet, and the latter, on a flat mound, is an elegant blue pool, elevated several feet, and having a serrated edge. The Morning Glory Spring, named from its resemblance to the convolvulus, is a beautiful and most delicately tinted pool. The investigators of these geysers have been able to get the temperature at a depth of seventy feet within the tubes, and find that under the pressure there exerted the boiling-point is 250°. Upon this fact is based the theory of the operation of the geyser. The boiling-point under pressure at the bottom of a long tube being much higher than at the top, the expansive force of the steam there suddenly generated drives out violently the water above it in the tube, and hence the explosive spouting.