5
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK.of Montana, but which is now in Wyoming, be added to Montana. This
will embrace nearly the entire park.
The reason for such annexation is apparent,
when it is considered that the park is only accessible from Montana. It is
impossible to enter it from Wyoming. Attempts to scale the vast ridge of
mountains on the eastern and southern borders have been made by several
expeditions across the continent, commencing with that of Wilson G. Hunt, the
chief of Astor's overland expedition in the year 1811. As late as 1833 the
indomitable Captain Bonneville was thwarted in a similar effort, and after
devising various modes of escape from the mountains labyrinth in which he was
lost, he determined to make one more effort to ascend the range. Selecting one
of the highest peaks, in company with one of his men, Washington Irving
says:
After much toil he
reached the summit of a lofty cliff, but it was only to behold gigantic peaks
rising all around and towering far into the snowy regions of the atmosphere. He
soon found that he had undertaken a tremendous task; but the pride of man is
never more obstinate than when climbing mountains. The ascent was so steep and
rugged that he and his companion were frequently obliged to clamber on hands and
knees, with their guns slung upon their backs. Frequently, exhausted with
fatigue and dripping with perspiration, they threw themselves upon the snow and
took handfuls of it to allay their parching thirst. At one place they even
stripped off their coats and hung them upon the bushes, and thus lightly clad,
proceeded to scramble over these eternal snows. As they ascended still higher
there were cool breezes that refreshed and braced them, and springing with near
ardor to their task, they at length attained the summit.
As late as 1860 Captain Raynolds, foiled in
repeated efforts to cross this barrier, was obliged to make a détour of
four or five hundred miles, to reach a point on the head-waters of the
Yellowstone not fifty miles distant from his camp. While camped at the
southeastern base of this formidable range of mountains, Captain Raynolds
(Senate Ex. Doc. No. 77, Fortieth Congress, first session) wrote:
To our front and upon the right, the
mountains towered above us to the height of from three thousand to five thousand
feet, in the shape of bold, craggy peaks of basaltic formation, their summits
crowned with glistening snow. It was my original desire to go from the head of
the Wind River to the head of the Yellowstone, keeping on the Atlantic slope,
thence down the Yellowstone, passing the lake and across by the Gallatin to the
Three Forks of the Missouri. Bridger said at the outset that this would be
impossible, and that it would be necessary to pass over to the head-waters of
the Columbia and back again to the Yellowstone. I had not previously believed
that crossing the main crest twice would be more easily accomplished than the
transit over what was in effect only a spur, but the view from our present camp
settled the question adversely to my opinion at once. Directly across our route
lies a basaltic ridge, rising not less than 5,000 feet above us, its walls
apparently vertical, with no visible pass or even cañon. On the opposite side of
this are the head-waters of the Yellowstone. Bridger remarked triumphantly and
forcibly to me upon reaching this spot, "I told you you could not go through. A
bird can't fly over that without taking a supply of grub along." I had no reply
to offer, and mentally conceded the accuracy of the information of the "old man
of the mountains."
As this
portion of Wyoming Territory is thus entirely separated from the settled
portions, which can only be reached by more than one thousand miles of travel,
by way of Montana, Idaho, and Utah, and as there is not the most remote
probability of any settlement in Wyoming in this region, except within the
boundaries of the park, the annexation of the park to Montana for judicial
purposes is an absolute necessity. It is not improbable that occasion may often
render the services of the United States marshal necessary to eject defaulting
or troublesome tenants. In such cases it would be impracticable to send a
thousand miles for that officer, when, by the act of annexation, one could be
obtained within a hundred. Aside from the delay which would thus be avoided,
when haste might really be necessary, the expense would be so Go to next
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