The Washburn Yellowstone Expedition, No. I [pp. 431-437]

1871.] THE W4ASHBURN YELLOWSTONE EXPEDITION. 433
highl, and thirty feet across the top.
Similar formations extend along the side
of the mountain for some distance, but
the rest are much smaller than the two
mentioned. From a distance, the mount ain appears to be traversed by a number
of stone-walls running parallel to each
other, from the summit to the base of
the mountain, which is shaped like a
long hay-stack. The walls are as regu lar as if they were a work of art.
In the evening we camped on the
Yellowstone, at the mouth of Gardiner's
River. The beach was of sand, with
large rocks lying right at the water's
edge. It was wide enough for us to
spread our blankets upon it, and was
lined upon the inside by a row of cedartrees, beyond which the bluff, covered
with sage-brush, rose a hundred feet.
The next day we forded Gardiner's
River at its mouth, followed up the Yellowstone about two miles, and then,
finding the ca ioiz impassable, took a
trail leading up the gulch to the right.
In crossing the mountains, we attained
the hi,ghest elevation we had yet reached. During the day an antelope was
killed by one of the party. In the evening we camped on a clear mountain
stream, not more than ten miles from
our previous camp. The grass was
abundant, and the location excellent.
Two of the party, who went ahead,
missed the camp, and were out overnight, although every endeavor was made
to find them. They, however, got along
well, by building a shelter of pine boughs,
in front of which they made a large fire.
By the brook-side we found a number
of prospect-loles, and some blazed trees,
showing that enterprising miners had
preceded us. A gentleman got a pan
of dirt from one of the holes, and succeeded in panning out two nuggets, evidently from different gulches, their combined value being about $8.
The next day we traveled about six
hours, nearly due east, over the mount
ains. After going sixteen miles, up hill
and down, through gulches and woods,
we camped on Warm Spring Creek,
about a half-mile from its mouth, and at
an elevation of 7,200 feet. Here we
found our two lost friends, who had preceded us. The Yellowstone was several hundred feet beneath us; and but a
short distance below our camp, one of
the gentlemen had discovered some very
picturesque falls, on Warm Spring Creek.
At the foot of this creek we found a few
warm springs, which probably caused
early prospectors to so name the stream.
The springs were small, and principally
alum and sulphur, but they were interesting to us, as they were a new feature
of the trip.
On the Yellowstone, opposite the mouth
of the creek, huge, basaltic cliffs and columns rose to a height of six hundred
feet, looking like castles and massive
fortifications. A short distance below
our camp there was a fall in the creek
of i I2 feet. For a few hundred yards
above the fall the stream had worn its
way through a sandstone bluff, cutting
quite a deep caiioiz. Immediately about
the head of the falls the rocks were worn
into curious and fantastic shapes, looking, in daylight, like spires or steeples,
rising from thirty to sixty feet above the
falls; but, in the moonlight, reminding
one of the portal of an old castle, or a
number of the fabled gezii standing
ready to hurl adventurous mortals into
the gorge below, which was enveloped
by the shadows of the night in impenetrable darkness.
It was proposed to name these falls in
honor of the discoverer, but it was decided to be in bad taste to name prominent objects after members of the expedlition; besides, one of the party took
an unaccountable interest in bestowing
upon them the name of Tower Falls,
which was finally adopted. His peculiar interest was afterward satisfactorily
explained, as we learned he had a sweet