YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, a government reservation in the northwestern part of Wyoming extending into Idaho and Montana. about 11 miles along the western boundary of the park and into Montana, about three miles along the northern boundary. In 1872 Congress set apart 3,575 square miles as ga public pleasure ground and a game pre serve.' In 1891 a tract of nearly 2,000 square miles was added to the east and south, making the total area 5,575 square miles. The mean altitude of the plateau portion is 7,800 feet. The 'Continental Divide' passes through from the southeast to the northwest, and the 'Rocky Mountain Divide' through the western part. Surrounding the park are numerous snow-clad mountains; on the south are the Shoshone Mountains, the Big Game and Teton ranges. on the east an extension of the Shoshone and on the southwest the Teton Range, the Big Bend Ridge on the west, and the Gallatin Range, part in the park, on the northwest. Some of the high peaks on the east are Index, 11,740 feet; Saddle Mountain, 10,676; Sunlight, 10, 67n; Fortress Mount, 12.073 and lshawooa Cone, 11,840. Within the limits of the park is the Absaroka Range on the eastern border, with numerous vast peaks; as Table, Humph rey. Schurz, Langford, Chittcnden, Cathedral and Stevenson. In the northeast and inside the Absaroka Range, are the Specimen Ridge and the Mirror Plateau. In the northern and southern parts of the park are lofty elevations; Mount Holmes of the Gallatin Range and Bunsen Peak are among the hirthest. In the southern part of the park is Sheridan Moun tain, 10,383 feet high, the highest point of the Red Mountains. This elevation was named in honor of Philip H. Sheridan. A large part of the peak is formed of porphyry of a purple pink color. Mount Vs ashburne in the north is noted as the peak from which large portions of the park may .be seen. It was named in honor of H 1) Washborne, who explored this region in 1870 There are over 20 high peaks within the limits of the park. The central plateau is composed of vast quantifies of la% a in some places 2,000 feet deep. The Absaroka are made up of volcanic rocks, and marl) every part of this peculiar range shows the marks of having gone through a period of volcanic action. Sheridan in the south and Washburn in the north have been actse volcanoes. Between Yellowstone and Sho shone lakes is a volcanic ridge about 223 feet tn height. Six miles from the Grand Canoe of the Yellowstone is Sulphur Mountain, an im mense mound of pure sulphur crystal with a number of steaming springs at its base.
Rivers and The 'Continental Di vide' marks the land-line of separation of the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific The headwaters of several large rivers are in the park; Yellowstone, Snake. Lewis, Madison and
Shoshone are some of the streams which have headwaters here. The Yellowstone River (q.v.), Missouri Rivet's longest tributary, rises or passes through Yellowstone Lake, for a stream which enters the lake on the opposite side is, also, called Yellowstone. The Grand Cation of the Yellowstone is one of the wee ders of this 'Wonderland.' ks walls on our side are 2.000 feet, and on the other side there is a gradual descent half way down of shding cinnabar and other delicately tinted chalky foe mations, broken at intervals by towering Pin nacles of mineral rock, which stand out in bold relief against the brilliant background. These pinnacles take on many fantastic forms, 'a spiring the delusion that one is looking down upon the decaying splendors of antique archi tecture. From the base of these solemn senti nels, the descent to the water line is as abrupt as from surface to torrent on the opposite side Far below winds the foaming current of white crested wavelets spread out like a silvery band Though the channel is 160 feet wide, it oil pears no larger than a brook The whole vol ume of water breaks over a ledge, in the centre of which stands a huge black bowlder which divides the waters for a few feet, and again uniting they fall 370 feet Showers of sway are sent up, which when touched by the stno light look like innumerable and varied colored jewels. Another falls above the main water fall is of considerable height and great beauty. and above are a series of cascades. The Grand Canon is about 10 miles long. Tower Falls are so named on account of a mass of stook, about 100 feet from the verge of the precipice. The water below flows over a ledge about 130 feet high, and falls in solid sheets. Belches River drains the southwestern part of the park Madison, another tributary of the kliss.ouri has its source at the confluence of the Gibbon and Fire Hole rivers in the western part. In the northwest is the Gardiner River, a branch of the Yellowstone. Yellowstone Lake Iq s.). the largest body of water in the park, said to have 300 miles of shore line. but it never has been fully explored. It certainly is the gem of the lakes, set as it is in a series of mountain peaks, with pine-clad slopes and soow-crowned summits. The monotony of its crested waves is broken by a verdnre-clad land, Frank Island, giving it the appearance to summer of an emerald in a setting of bril liants. Shoshone Lake. next in size, is west and Heart Lake is south of Yellovrstoor North of Yellowstone is a group of luta" lakes, the largest of which is White Lilo! They are northwest of Pelican Cone. Near Mount Chittenden is Turbid Lake.