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    ANOTHER SUMMER

    THE
    YELLOWSTONE PARK
    and
    ALASKA

    BY
    CHARLES J. GILLIS


    Printed for
    Private Distribution


    COPYRIGHT, 1893, BY
    CHARLES J. GILLIS.


    Press of J. J. Little & Co.
    Astor Place, New York


    The more I think of it, the more I find this conclusion
    impressed upon me, that the greatest thing a human soul ever
    does in this world is to _see_ something and tell what it saw in
    a plain way.--RUSKIN.


    With the Compliments
    of the Author.




PREFACE.


In the spring of 1892, a party was made up for a trip to Alaska. The
different members thereof were to cross the continent by such routes
as they pleased, and meet at Portland, Oregon, on the second of July.
This plan was followed, and all the party boarded the steamer _Queen_
at Tacoma, prepared for the journey of a thousand miles up the coast
of Alaska.

Some account of this, and also of an excursion to the Yellowstone
Park, made on the way westward, is given in the following pages.




    CONTENTS.


    CHAPTER

        I.--THE START FOR ALASKA,

       II.--ON THE WAY TO THE YELLOWSTONE,

      III.--YELLOWSTONE PARK,

       IV.--THE GEYSERS AND PAINT POT,

        V.--THE UPPER GEYSER BASIN,

       VI.--THE GRAND CANYON, AND THE FALLS OF THE YELLOWSTONE,

      VII.--DOWN THE COLUMBIA RIVER TO PORTLAND,

     VIII.--TACOMA AND SEATTLE,

       IX.--ON BOARD THE "QUEEN" FROM TACOMA TO VICTORIA,

        X.--ALASKA,

       XI.--THE MUIR GLACIER,

      XII.--SITKA,

     XIII.--AN ACCIDENT TO THE "QUEEN,"

      XIV.--ICY BAY, TREADWELL, AND JUNEAU,

       XV.--THE RETURN VOYAGE, AND SOME STORIES TOLD ON THE WAY,

      XVI.--ON THE CANADIAN PACIFIC,

     XVII.--BANFF SPRINGS,

    XVIII.--CONCLUSION,





THE YELLOWSTONE PARK AND ALASKA.




CHAPTER I.

    THE START FOR ALASKA.


Our long trip to Alaska and return, nine thousand miles in all,
commenced on June 17, 1892, at the Grand Central Station, New York.
Arriving at Chicago the next afternoon, we obtained a good view of the
great exposition buildings from our car windows as we passed along the
lake front. Shortly afterward we were dumped down at the wretched
sheds of the Michigan Central Railroad. It rained very heavily, and
ourselves and hand baggage were somewhat wet passing a short distance
to a carriage. We soon crossed the Chicago River to the Northwestern
Depot, boarded the train, which left at 11 P.M., and arrived at the
beautiful modern city of St. Paul at 1 P.M. the next day. The Hotel
Ryan was found to be very comfortable, and everything in and around
the city is bright and cheerful. Great business activity, and immense
and costly buildings are especially noticeable.

Running along the streets are great numbers of spacious and elegant
cars drawn by cables. We hailed a passing one, got in, and went slowly
and carefully through the crowded streets, up and down hills, with
great speed and ease, into the country for some miles, passing many
elegant private residences, as costly and fine as any to be seen in
any city in the world--notably one built and occupied by Mr. Hill,
president of the Great Northern Railroad, now about completed to the
Pacific Ocean, whose name you hear mentioned often as one of the great
railroad magnates of the West. The streets are clean, the sidewalks
wide, the front yards of the houses crowded with beautiful plants and
flowers, and in all respects we concluded that St. Paul is a most
delightful city.




CHAPTER II.

    ON THE WAY TO THE YELLOWSTONE.
    LIVINGSTON, MONTANA, June 22, 1892.


We left the city of St. Paul at 4.25 P.M. on the 20th, by the Northern
Pacific Railroad, and arrived here at 8 A.M. this morning. A section
on the sleeping-car had been previously engaged, and we found it and
the dining-room car attached to the train all that could be desired,
so that we thoroughly enjoyed the entire trip. Passing through the Bad
Lands was a wonderful experience. Great mountains of clay or stone, in
all sorts of grotesque shapes and of many colors, constantly attracted
our attention until we reached the Yellowstone River, which was higher
than it had been for many years. Here things began to look serious, as
frequently the dirty and rushing flood came near to the track, and
the rise of a foot or so would have caused a wash-out, and have
stopped our progress; but for many miles before we reached this
station, the engineer moved the train of ten cars very carefully, and
we were only two hours behind time. There has been a bridge burned
beyond this place, and some bad wash-outs are reported by passengers
coming East, who say that they had to travel around six miles on foot,
through a country infested with rattlesnakes, leaving their baggage
behind; but we expect that all will be clear on Monday, when we shall
have been through the park, and will be ready to go on from here West.

There was the usual crowd of "all sorts and conditions" of men on the
train--young ranchmen, bright eyed, intelligent, and alert, one of
them being an English lord, but I did not know this until he left the
car at a way station. All had tales to tell of life in these parts,
one of which was that the stage running from one of the stations at
which we stopped was "held up" three times last week, and the
passengers robbed. This town is a new one, with a lot of small wooden
houses and stores, but as the hotels did not look very attractive, we
took our breakfast on the dining-car attached to a train about to
start for Cinnabar, on a branch road, and an excellent meal we had.




CHAPTER III.

    YELLOWSTONE PARK.
    MAMMOTH SPRINGS HOTEL, YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, June 23, 1892.


Leaving Livingston at 9 A.M., we travelled by rail forty-two miles to
Cinnabar, the entrance to the National Park. We passed along the
valley of the Yellowstone River, now a much swollen, turbulent, and
rushing stream, hemmed in by mountains reaching their lofty heads
thousands of feet high. In one place there had been a land-slide some
hundreds of feet long, which had carried down all the earth and trees
into the valley, leaving the rock bare, and presenting a very rugged
appearance. There were numerous farms and ranches on the route, with
cattle and cultivated fields. The road bed was in good order, the cars
excellent, and the trip exceedingly interesting and enjoyable. At
Cinnabar, we took a stage for eight miles to this hotel. The road is a
very good one, passing over rushing streams and along the bases of
great mountains, amidst magnificent scenery. Beautiful flowers line
the way and are in the fields, while the mountains are partly covered
with snow. We hear that the road to the lake is blocked with snow, and
impassable. This hotel is an excellent one, the food, attendance, and
rooms are good, and for a day we are resting preparatory to commencing
the tour of the park. Here are located the barracks for the United
States soldiers in charge of the reservation, these being now two
hundred mounted men, who act as police, and constantly patrol the
roads, watching for poachers, and generally keeping everything in
order. From the front of the hotel we look upon the hot springs, which
have been throwing out hot water and steam, no doubt for ages, and
have formed a large terraced hill of soda or lime-like material, the
surplus water finding its way, partly through subterranean passages,
to the river.




CHAPTER IV.

    THE GEYSERS AND PAINT POT.
    FOUNTAIN HOTEL, YELLOWSTONE PARK, June 23, 1892.


This morning at eight o'clock we left the Mammoth Spring, in a
strongly built and comfortable wagon drawn by four horses, with eight
passengers and a careful driver, and soon commenced to see the wonders
of this remarkable park. The road ran near three lakes, each measuring
a hundred acres or more--one green in color, one blue, and one
yellow--the like of which cannot, I think, be seen anywhere else on
earth. On examination, I found that the water was clear, and that the
pronounced and brilliant colors came from chemical deposits on the
bottom of the lakes. We did not linger long to look at these
remarkable phenomena, but drove on, and were soon passing over a road
made of natural glass, by the side of a great mountain of the same
material. I picked up several pieces of this glass, and found that it
was green in color, and looked like any other glass, while alongside
the road and up the mountain we saw large masses of the same material.
The only conclusion we could arrive at was, that in some prehistoric
time the materials of which glass is composed must have been in
juxtaposition, and were fused into their present form by a volcanic
eruption. It is safe to say that nowhere else on earth is to be found
a roadway made of glass.

We reached this hotel at 6 P.M., and saw near by the first of the
geysers, spouting hot water fifty feet high. We made our way over a
thin crust to see this geyser, so thin that it seemed as if we might
break through and disappear forever, reminding me of a former
experience, when walking along the edge of a volcano in Japan, a place
was pointed out where two guides who had wandered from the path, broke
through the crust and were lost. We passed on to examine what I
consider the most extraordinary natural phenomenon to be seen on the
face of the earth. It is called the Paint Pot, and is a depression of
about thirty by forty feet, with walls of hardened clay three or four
feet high. In this so-called pot are half a dozen or more cones, much
like inverted flower pots, about six inches in diameter at the top,
and two or three feet high. From the centres of these there are
constantly flowing streams of hot clay, each stream of a different
color, varying from pure white to brown. In other parts of the big pot
the soft clay was coming slowly up from centres and overflowing,
forming figures like flowers, very beautiful to look at. The soldier
who escorted us was very polite, but would not permit us to carry away
a bit of the clay, though there were tens of thousands of tons lying
about. We could see, near by and at a distance, several other geysers,
spouting water fifty or more feet high, and we learned from the guide
books that there are no less than ten or twelve thousand boiling
springs and geysers within the reservation, which is sixty-five miles
long by fifty-three wide, containing about three thousand four hundred
and seventy-five square miles. We were informed that after sunset a
bear came regularly, back of the hotel, to regale himself on the
refuse thrown from the kitchen, and I went to see him; but the
mosquitoes were very thick, and proved such an intolerable nuisance
that I was obliged to go away without getting a look at the beast.




CHAPTER V.

    THE UPPER GEYSER BASIN.
    June 24, 1892.


After a good night's sleep, we left the hotel at half-past eight this
morning for an excursion to the Upper Geyser Basin, forty miles
distant. The roads were in bad order, very dusty, and the mosquitoes
thick. Geysers and boiling springs were to the right and left,
everywhere. At one place we got out of the wagon, and crossed a bridge
over a small stream to what is called the Devil's Half Acre. There
were really a dozen or more acres, containing great volumes of steam
and hot water rushing up and around. Many little streams ran toward a
big basin, some of them yellow, some green, and some blue, but on
examination I found that the water itself was clear. The mud or clay
which formed the bed of the streams, or was being carried along in
the current, was colored. We thought the Devil's Half Acre a dangerous
as well as a disagreeable place, and, recrossing the little stream,
continued on our way, arriving at the hotel at the Upper Geyser Basin
in four hours. We had just arrived when we were informed that the
famous Old Faithful Geyser, which has spouted for many years every
sixty-five minutes, would go off in a short time. It is situated a few
rods from the hotel, and as we drew near, it commenced to spout up an
immense column of water and steam one hundred and fifty feet or so in
height. Then, in about five minutes, it subsided into a hole in the
ground. We could hear the roar of the steam and water underneath, the
commotion shaking the ground.

Soon after this exhibition, another geyser, called the Bee Hive,
situated near the hotel, spouted, and made a splendid display. I think
we saw in this basin as many as twenty large spouting geysers, and
hundreds of boiling springs, many of them of surprising beauty. One,
which attracted my attention particularly, was a slowly boiling spring
which threw up colored clay, and looked exactly like a large sponge.
This was about three feet long, two feet wide, and as many high.

Driving along the road, we frequently saw signs put up by the
Government: "Do not drive on here," and "Danger"; so one is impressed
with the idea that some day the tremendous volcanic power underlying
this entire valley may burst out and make one vast crater of lava,
mud, water, and steam.




CHAPTER VI.

    THE GRAND CANYON, AND THE FALLS OF THE YELLOWSTONE.
    GRAND CANYON HOTEL, June 26, 1892.


We left the Upper Geyser Basin at half-past eight yesterday morning,
stopped for lunch at Norris's at noon, and, branching off, arrived
here at 3.30 P.M. The road was on the banks of or near the Gibbon
River for many miles, and was very rough. Twice we forded the river,
and once the passengers were obliged to leave the wagon and remove a
fallen tree from the way. At another place, a tree a foot in diameter
had fallen across the road; the party all got out, and the driver had
to jump the wagon over the obstruction, at the risk of breaking the
vehicle. The road from Norris's was in good repair, and from it we had
a fine view of the great Yellowstone Falls, and then drove on to find
comfortable accommodations at this hotel, the views from which are
very magnificent. Mrs. Marble and I, accompanied by a guide, and Mr.
and Mrs. Hunter, of Canada, took a walk toward the Grand Canyon, about
half a mile off. Crossing some fields, we entered the pine woods. The
whole park has been repeatedly burnt over, and there is everywhere an
immense number of prostrate pine-trees, some of which are very large,
and appeared, when we saw them, to have been lying on the ground many
years. In this vicinity, however, there is quite a forest of new
growth, all about the same size, from six to ten inches in diameter,
and ten to a dozen feet apart, making a very pretty park. Here we came
suddenly upon a big black bear lying down; he got up, took a look at
us, and then in a leisurely way walked off. It was a fine specimen,
weighing, we judged, about two hundred and fifty pounds, with long,
clean black hair. Mr. Hunter ran on toward the animal, but we called
to him to come back, and the bear, turning his head, gave us another
look, and disappeared in the forest. We walked along to the banks of
the rushing and roaring river, ascended a high cliff, and looked down
upon the great falls and the tremendous canyon, the walls of which are
several hundred feet high, colored bright green in some places, and in
others red, yellow, or violet.

The whole scene was magnificent, grand, and gloomy. In the middle of
the river, near where we stood, was a column of rock some hundreds of
feet high, apparently ten yards in diameter at the bottom, and just
large enough at the top for an eagle's nest. One had been built there,
and we saw the young eagles stretching their necks, and opening their
mouths, as all kinds of young ones do when hungry. The parents were
soaring about, and evidently keeping a watchful eye upon us and their
progeny, but the little ones were safe, as nothing but a ball from a
rifle could reach that nest. From this point we had another fine view
of the Falls of the Yellowstone, both lower and upper. The upper fall
has been measured, and found to be one hundred and twelve feet high
and eighty feet wide.

The wild animals in the reservation are carefully protected by the
custodians, no one being allowed to use a gun, and consequently they
have become comparatively tame, and have increased in numbers. Passing
along the roads, we saw on one occasion two deer, and at other times
an elk and an antelope. The superintendent, in his official report,
says that there are in the park four hundred head of buffalo, a few
moose, numerous elk, estimated at twenty thousand, and large numbers
of bears, which latter are sometimes troublesome. A herd of twenty or
thirty elk was seen near this hotel on the morning before we arrived.




CHAPTER VII.

    DOWN THE COLUMBIA RIVER TO PORTLAND.
    PORTLAND, OREGON, July 1, 1892.


After spending six days in the Yellowstone Park, which would have been
far more comfortable if there had been less dust, fewer