Most famous sight in Yellowstone Park, "Old Faithful" in eruption (180 ft.), The

Publication

Most famous sight in Yellowstone Park, "Old Faithful" in eruption (180 ft.), The

Description

We are in the northwest corner of the state of Wyoming, within the 3,300 square-mile reservation set off by Congress (1872) for a national park. This point is 850 miles west of Minneapolis, 500 miles northwest of Pike's Peak, 250 miles northeast of Great Salt Lake. Up to 30 years ago almost nothing was known about this region; now its magnificent scenery and extraordinary natural features attract travelers from all parts of the world. This earth under our feet is a huge plateau of volcanic origin, 8,000 feet above the see. Its high level is a part of the Great Divide governing the flow of the mountain streams and-in consequence-the path of the great rivers formed on either side. At the northeast the rainfall gathers in mountain brooks tributary (through the Yellowstone and the Missouri) to the Mississippi. On the southwest the loud burdens are delivered to the springs of the Snake River, which joins the Columbia and helps make the immense fertile country of Washington and Oregon. This volcanic table-land has helped decide the lay of the land and its possibilities of agricultural support for humanity, over half the area of the United States. The eruption of molten lava from these heights ceased ages ago, but surface water, percolating down through the soil, evidently reaches even today hidden surfaces of immense heat, for 100 geysers in different parts of the park are sending up intermittent fountains of boiling water and steam like this one here, and thousands of hot springs-as significant in their way if not quite so dramatic-are scattered over the reservation. "Old Faithful" is so called because of the clock-like regularity with which it blows off steam to relieve the internal pressure. For over 20 years it has been spouting at average intervals of 65 minutes. See encyclopedia articles on Geysers and Yellowstone Park. Consult books like N. S. Shaler's Outlines of the Earth's History, etc.