Breaking the Wilderness

PREFACE

In this volume I have endeavoured to present a review in chronological order of the important events which contributed to breaking the Wilderness that so long lay untamed west of the Mississippi, mentioning with as much detail as possible in a single popular volume the principal persons and happenings in proper sequence, but paying special attention to the trapper and trader element, which, more than any other, dispelled the mysteries of the vast region.

I believe this to be the first book so fully to treat the subject as a consecutive narrative. By means of it, not only may the story of the struggle to master the Wilderness be examined, but the place of the trapper and trader in the work of its reduction, and that of Coronado, Mackenzie, Lewis and Clark, Frémont, Powell, and similar explorers, may be determined with reference to each other as well as with reference to the general order.

Many people seem to know little about Western history; about Coronado, Cabeza de Vaca, or even about Mackenzie; and others are by no means clear as to where in the historical scale these characters belong. While the name of Daniel Boone is familiar to every child, names of men equally eminent in the same pursuits, like Jedediah Smith, Bridger, Fitzpatrick, etc., are scarcely known at all. Nor have many persons a just appreciation of the numerous attempts that were made to explore the Western Wilderness, or of the extremely early period in the history of North America when these attempts began. Many are surprised, therefore, to learn that the first European entrance into the western part of the United States occurred over three and a quarter centuries ago. At least partly, this vagueness is due to the one-sidedness up to the present of the usual works dealing with American history, most of which are only histories of the eastern part of the country, with mere offhand references to the important events of the region beyond the Mississippi. Numerous details are presented of early Virginia and of New England, but the happenings in New Mexico and in California, and the great West generally, are dismissed with a few superficial notes.

Within the last year or two much has been written about Lewis and Clark, and consequently their grand exploit is well known, but its relation in the popular mind as to accomplishment and position with reference to other explorations is often quite uncertain. It therefore appeared to me that a single volume which should tell the Wilderness story in unbroken sequence, with special emphasis on the trapper and trader, would be of value. I have consequently shown the first attacks by sea and land, and the gradual closing in on all sides, through the matchless trail-breaking of the trappers and traders, down to the year when Powell practically finished this particular white man's task by his bold and romantic conquest of the Colorado,—the year when the first railway trains crossing the continent began a new era. In order that the subject might be still clearer and more comprehensive, I have gone farther and have told the story of the chief denizens of the pristine Wilderness: the beaver, the buffalo, and their close associates, those indomitable, iron-nerved people, the Amerinds; the North-Americans of yesterday.

Sometimes it is difficult to describe with precision the route of an explorer without searching his original story, and, in my studies, this has not always been practicable. For example, I do not know where the journals of Hunt and Bonneville now are, if extant. Irving's interpretation seems fairly accurate, but as he was entirely unfamiliar with the region west of the Rocky Mountains, his description is not always clear. In other cases, especially in that of Verendrye, I have relied on the transcripts of others. The trail of Coronado I have long studied with special care, and I have reached the conclusions embodied in the map on page 115,—conclusions entirely at variance with all accepted authorities, but which I feel confident, nevertheless, are in the main correct.

One early explorer in the Minnesota and Hudson Bay regions I have not mentioned. This is Radisson, who, it is claimed, saw the upper Mississippi before Marquette. The omission was an oversight. Miss A. C. Laut has given a convincing account of his travels in her Pathfinders of the West, to which I take pleasure in referring the reader for information on this point.[1]

A completed book is the mirror of the writer's shortcomings. I hope the reflections which may fall to my lot in this one will not be too painful, for I have had in contemplation others to fill in a general scheme. One starts with a desire for perfection, but without the resources of a Carnegie he is apt to fall so far short of the mark that he fears to look in the glass at all.

With the Wilderness, however, I can claim some degree of familiarity, for I may be said to have been "in at the death," as I was one of Powell's companions down the Colorado on his second voyage, 1871-72, and have been over portions of almost every one of the principal historical trails. I have travelled there on foot, on horseback, by boat, by waggon, and by railway,—even by Pullman "Palace" car. I have lived under its open sky through summers and through winters; its snows, its rains, its burning heat, have baptised me one of its children. In some cases my footsteps have been among the first of our race to break the surface; and if I have not visited every nook and corner of it during the last thirty four years it is the fault of my purse, not of my spirit.

My remarks on supplying whiskey to the natives may by some be deemed too severe, but in my own opinion there is no expression of condemnation adequate to denounce the debauchment of the American tribes by this foul means. It was a crime against civilisation, against humanity; a cruel, dastardly outrage against these people who by its means largely have been reduced to the lowest degree and are sneered at by those who have profited by their debasement. In the final chapter I have thought it desirable to add a footnote to the effect that I am neither a teetotaler nor a prohibitionist for the reason that my condemnatory remarks might otherwise be attributed to the prejudice of zeal, rather than to indignation at the low devices resorted to by white men to work the Amerinds for their own profit. A great deal that is base and mean is now excused on the ground that this is a commercial age, but I can only remark that if there is to be no standard for measuring modern conduct but financial profit, the white man's footsteps are surely on the wrong trail.

The reader in following these pages must remember that comfort is generally relative, and that what appears hard from the chimney corner may have been comparative luxury. I have never slept more comfortably anywhere than under a foot of snow.

I have had much kind assistance and am grateful for it. I am particularly obliged to Mr. William J. Schieffelin for the generous and unlimited use of valuable books from his library; to Mr. E. H. Harriman for transportation favours; also for the same to Mr. S. K. Hooper; to Mr. F. M. Bishop for the loan of a volume on Jacob Hamblin not otherwise obtainable; to Mr. O. D. Wheeler and the Montana Historical Society for cuts; to Captain E. L. Berthoud, Edgar A. Rider, and Jack Sumner for manuscript notes; to Mr. L. H. Johnson for manuscript notes and photographs; to Mr. B. L. Young for a special drawing of the rock pecking of a buffalo in southern Utah; to Mr. R. H. Chapman, Mr. J. B. Lippincott, Mr. J. K. Hillers, Mr. E. E. Howell, Mr. Delancy Gill, for photographs; and to the United States Bureau of Ethnology for the use of illustration material. I would also here thank my publishers for their constant consideration, for presents of books pertaining to my subject, and for the loan of others; and Mr. H. C. Rizer, chief clerk of the United States Geological Survey, for assistance and courtesies extending over a long series of years. Finally I wish to express my renewed thanks for many favours to the veteran geographer and explorer, A. H. Thompson, of the United States Geological Survey, to whom I have the honour of dedicating this book.

Frederick S. Dellenbaugh.

New York, December 7, 1904.

CHAPTER I	PAGE
Extent of the Wilderness—The First White Man—The Backbone of the Continent—A Vanished Sea and a Petrified Ocean—The Biggest Trees—The Spike of Gold	1
CHAPTER II
The Intelligent Beaver, Chief of the Rodents—A Four-footed Engineer—A Builder of Houses, Artificial Canals, Dams, Ponds, and Lakes—Beaver Meadows—A Masterful Woodchopper—A Tail for the Epicure—Muskbogs—The Fatal Trap	13
CHAPTER III
A Monarch of the Plains—The Hunchback Cows of Cibola—A Boon to the Frontiersman—Wide Range of the Bison—Marrow Bones for the Epicure—Washington Irving a Buffalo Hunter—The Rushing Run of the Bison Herd—The Sacred White Buffalo Cow Skin—A Calf with a Bull Head—Wolves and White Bears	32
CHAPTER IV
The People of the Wilderness—Men without Rights—Killing by Alcohol—Change in the Character of the Native—Growth of the War Spirit—Classification by Language—Dwellers in Tents and Builders of Houses—Farmers and Hunters—Irrigation Works—The Coming of the Horse	54
CHAPTER V
Three Conditions of Wilderness Life—Farming in the Driest Country—The Cache—The Clan, the Unit of the Tribe—Hospitality—Totems and Totem Marks—Dress—An Aboriginal Geographer—The Winter Life—The War-path, the Scalp-lock, and the Scalp-dance—Mourning the Lost Braves—Drifting	75
CHAPTER VI
Lost in the Wilderness—Cabeza de Vaca, Great Medicine Man—The Wilderness Traversed—Spanish Slave Hunters—The Northern Mystery—The Monk and the Negro—The Great Coronado Expedition—The Settlement of New Mexico and the Pueblo Rebellion—California Missions—Escalante to Salt Lake Valley	103
CHAPTER VII
Soto and the Mississippi—The Gate to the Wilderness—The Voyageur—Champlain to Mackinaw—Pandemonium of Wars—Down the Mississippi to Soto's Grave—Louisiana—La Salle and his Death—Coureurs de Bois—First Sight of the Northern Rockies—Where Rolls the Oregon—The American Revolution	126
CHAPTER VIII
The United States Borders the Wilderness—American Ships to the Pacific Coast—The North-West Company—Mackenzie Spans the Continent—Meares and Vancouver Baffled by Breakers—Captain Robert Gray, Victor—The Columbia at Last—The Louisiana Purchase a Pig in a Poke, and a Boundless Wilderness—Claims All Round to the Centre—The Perfidious Napoleon—The Spanish Sentinel Steps Back	144
CHAPTER IX
Jefferson's Hobby—Two Noblemen—An Indefinite Transaction—Expedition to the Wilderness—Fort Mandan—The Roche Jaune and the First View of the Great Range—The Long-lost Sister—Depths of the Unknown—Starvation on the Trail—Music of the Breakers—Fort Clatsop—The Return—Medicine Men Again—Two Natives Shot—Premature Death of the Captain	156
CHAPTER X
The Metropolis of the Far Wilderness—James Pursley Arrives—Pike up the Mississippi and across the Plains—A Spanish War Party—A Breastwork to Mark the Site of Pueblo—Polar Weather and No Clothing—Pike Sees the Grand Peak—San Luis Valley—The Americans Captured by Diplomacy—Pursley Finds Gold—Malgares, the Gentleman—The Pike Party Sent Home	175
CHAPTER XI
A Race for Life—Colter Wins—The Missouri Fur Company—The American Fur Company—The Pacific Fur Company—A Great Project Foredoomed—Disaster at the Columbia Bar—The Destruction of the Tonquin—Hunt Starts for the Columbia Overland—The Voyageurs Baulked—The Caldron Linn—Dog Steak at a Premium—Misery and Danger—Success at Last	193
CHAPTER XII
Eastward from Astoria—The War of 1812 on a Business Basis in Oregon—Astoria Becomes Fort George—The Pacific Fur Company Expires—Louisiana Delimited at Last—The Expedition of Major Long—A Steamboat on the Missouri—The First Man on Pike's Peak—The Elusive Red River Refuses to be Explored—Closing on the Inner Wilderness—The Spanish Sentinel Turns Mexican	215
CHAPTER XIII
The Wilderness Breaker—Lisa Closes his Account—General Ashley Takes a Hand—The Religious Jedediah—Green River Valley—What a White Bear could Do—Ashley Navigates Red Canyon of Green River—Discovery of Salt Lake—Ashley Retires Rich—The Rocky Mountain Fur Company—Sylvester and James O. Pattie—Pattie's Journey in the Valley of the Colorado—The Great Circuit of Jedediah Smith	229
CHAPTER XIV
A Brood of Wilderness Breakers—Kit Carson the Dauntless—Campbell, 1827, Santa Fé to San Diego—Becknell and the Santa Fé Trail—Wheel Tracks in the Wilderness—The Knight in Buckskin Dies—Pegleg Smith the Horse Trader—The Apache Turns Forever against the American—New Mexico the Dreamland—Wolfskill Breaks a Trail to the Pacific—Bonneville, Captain Courteous; and Wyeth, Leader Hopeful—Bonneville Forgets a Duty	253
CHAPTER XV
Bonneville Dropped from the Army—Indian Shooters—The Mythical Rio Buenaventura—Bonneville Twice to the Columbia—Wyeth Again—The Oregon Trail—The Big Thunder Canoe—A Wilderness Whiskey Still—Missionaries to Oregon—The North-West Boundary Settlement—Decline of the Beaver—Through the Canyon of Lodore on the Ice—Frémont, the Scientific Pathfinder—The Spanish Sentinel Turned to the Wall—Fortune's Blindfold	276
CHAPTER XVI
Free Distribution of Frémont's Reports—Latter Day Saints—Murder of a Prophet—Brigham Young Guides Saints to the Wilderness—The State of Deseret—California the Golden—Massacre at Mountain Meadows—Old Jacob, the Mormon Leatherstocking—Steam on the Lower Colorado—Old Jacob Finds the Crossing of the Fathers—Circumtouring the Grand Canyon—Solitudes of the Colorado—Last of the Wilderness Problems—Powell Solves it by Masterful Courage—The Iron Trail—The End and the Beginning	303
Index	339

ILLUSTRATIONS

		PAGE
The Sierra Blanca		Frontispiece
	Blanca Peak, 14,390. Baldy Peak, 14,176. Blanca Peak is the third highest in Colorado.
	The point of view is on Trinchera Creek looking north from an altitude of about 8000 feet. To the left is the San Luis Valley through which flows the Rio Grande, and to the right are the two high passes known as Veta and Sangre de Cristo. The Sierra Blanca forms the southern end of the Sangre de Cristo Range and was one of the great landmarks of the Wilderness.
	Sketch in oils made at the place by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
The Backbone of the Continent		3
	Photograph by R. H. Chapman, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Wilderness of the Upper Missouri		5
	Photograph by R. H. Chapman, U. S. Geol. Survey.
The Yosemite Valley		7
	Photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.
The Grizzly Giant		9
	Height, 285 feet. Circumference, 93 feet.
	Copyright by C. C. Pierce & Co.
A Wilderness Home		11
	Photograph by R. H. Chapman, U. S. Geol. Survey.
The Mountain Part of the Wilderness		14
	Relief map by E. E. Howell.
No Place for Beaver		15
	Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Beaver Country		17
	Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Great Beaver Dam—Grass Lake, 260 Feet Long		19
	From Morgan's American Beaver.
Red Canyon—Green River		20
	Where Ashley went for beaver in 1825.
	Photograph by E. O. Beaman, Colo. Riv. Exp.
Beaver Canal		22
	From Morgan's American Beaver.
Lower Colorado River—Mouth of Gila on Right		23
	Where Pattie trapped beaver in 1826.
	Photograph by Delancy Gill.
Trees Cut by Beavers		26
	From Morgan's American Beaver.
Beaver Trap		29
The Beaver		30
	Copyright, 1901, by Doubleday, Page, & Co.
The Monarch of the Plains		33
	The figure a photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.
Picture of Buffalo on Cliff Wall, Southern Utah		37
	Pecked drawing, copied by B. L. Young.
The Grand Teton from Jackson's Hole		39
	The buffalo reached this valley by 1824.
	Photograph by W. H. Jackson, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Canyon of Lodore—Green River		41
	Canyons of this character are almost continuous from a few miles below the Union Pacific Railway crossing.
	Photograph by E. O. Beaman, U. S. Colo. Riv. Exp.
Head of Bison Bull		43
	Specimen shot by Theodore Roosevelt, Dec. 17, 1883.
	From Roosevelt's Hunting Trips of a Ranchman.
Buffalo Chase		45
	After Catlin. From Smithsonian Report, 1888.
Character of Buffalo Range in Green River Valley		47
	Photograph by E. O. Beaman, U. S., Colo. Riv. Exp.
Canyon of Desolation—Green River		50
	A barrier to the buffalo's westward movement.
	Photograph by E. O. Beaman, U. S. Colo. Riv. Exp.
Mandan Buffalo Dance		51
	After Catlin From Smithsonian Report, 1885.
Buffalo Swimming Missouri River		52
	After Catlin. From Smithsonian Report, 1885.
A Village of the Plains		55
	This form of tipi was readily taken down and as readily set up again.
	Photograph by U. S. Government.
A Pai Ute Family at Home		57
	Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Colo. Riv. Exp.
A Ute Mountain Home		58
	Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Village of the Puebloan Type. View in the Moki Town of Mishongnavi, Arizona		59
	Photograph by U. S. Bu. Eth.
Umatilla Tipi of Rush Mats on Columbia River		61
	From Lewis and Clark, by O. D. Wheeler.
Amerind Linguistic Map		62
	After Bu. of Eth. Seventh An. Rep.
A Puebloan Farmhouse		64
	Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Plenty-Horses, a Cheyenne		65
	Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
A Pai Ute Modernised		67
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Ruin Called Casa Grande, Arizona		69
	Photograph by Cosmos Mindeleff, U. S. Bu. of Eth.
South Portion of the Tewa Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico		71
	Photograph by U. S. Bu. of Eth.
Navajo Silver Beads—actual size		72
	From U. S. Bu. Eth.
South-western Baskets—Apache, Pima, etc. Navajo Blankets behind		73
	Photograph by J. B. Lippincott, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Moki Woman Modelling a Clay Jug		76
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Earthenware from Moki Region		77
The Ruins in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, Called "Casa Blanca." These were once Connected.		78
	Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Old Mandan House		79
	From Wonderland, 1903, Northern Pacific Railway.
A Young Cocopa		80
	Photograph by Delancy Gill.
Rear View of Mandan Village, Showing Burial-Ground		81
	Drawing by Catlin, plate 48, vol. i.; Catlin's Eight Years. Reproduction from Smithsonian Report, 1885, part ii.
A Dakota of the Plains		83
	Figures from photograph by U. S. Government.
A Uinta Ute		84
	Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Umatilla Woman and Child		85
	From Wonderland, 1904, Northern Pacific Railway.
Mandan Village on the Missouri, 1832		86
	Drawing by Catlin, plate 47, vol. i.; Catlin's Eight Years. Reproduction from Smithsonian Report, 1885, part ii.
A Group of Crow Chiefs		87
	Photograph by U. S. Government about 1875.
Granary—Cliffs of Green River, Thirty Feet above Ground		90
	Photograph by L. H. Johnson.
Interior of a Moki House		91
	The women at the back are grinding corn, while those at the right are baking bread on a hot slab in paper-like sheets. Above is the chimney-hood.
	U. S. Bu Eth.
Sitting Bull		93
	From Wonderland, 1901, Northern Pacific Railway.
Bellochknahpick—The Bull Dance		94
	Mandan ceremonial.
	Drawing by Catlin, plate 67, vol. i., Catlin's Eight Years. Reproduction from Smithsonian Report, 1885, part ii.
Details of Navajo Loom Construction		95
	U. S. Bu. Eth.
A Navajo		96
	Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Scalp-Dance of the Sioux		97
	Drawing by Catlin, plate 297, vol ii., Catlin's Eight Years. Reproduction from Smithsonian Report, 1885, part ii.
A Group of Dakotas		98
	Photograph by U. S. Government about 1875.
Necklace of Human Fingers		99
House Ruin on Green River, Utah		101
	Photograph by L. H. Johnson.
Alarçon's Ships in the Tidal Bore, Mouth of the Colorado, 1540		105
	Drawing by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Character of the Seven Cities which Friar Marcos so Glowingly Described		109
	Drawing by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
New Mexico, 1540 to 1630		115
Church and Mission of San Xavier del Bac, Arizona		118
	Mission founded 1699. The church here shown was finished in 1797.
On the Yuma Desert		120
	Character of the country around the head of the Gulf of California.
	Photograph by Delancy Gill.
Church of the Mission San Carlos de Monterey		121
	Mission founded in 1770. Photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.
Glen Canyon, Colorado River		123
	This shows the nature of the Colorado where Escalante crossed in 1776. The surface on each side is barren sandstone.
	Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Colo. Riv. Exp.
Barriers of Adamant, Mission Range		128
	Photograph by R. H. Chapman, U. S. Geol. Survey.
A Reception Committee		131
	Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
In the Heart of the Wilderness—Southern Utah		135
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Great Falls of the Missouri		137
	From The Trail of Lewis and Clark, O. D. Wheeler.
Great Fountain Geyser—Yellowstone Park		141
	From Wonderland, 1901, Northern Pacific Railway.
Summits of the Backbone		145
	Gray's Peak, 14,341 feet; Torrey's Peak, 14,336 feet.
	Photograph by U. S. Geol. Survey.
Mouth of the Columbia from Astoria		149
	Cape Disappointment, left distance.
	From The Trail of Lewis and Clark, O. D. Wheeler.
Map of the Wilderness Showing American Acquisitions		154
Mount Hood—From Cloud Cap Inn		159
	From Wonderland, 1903, Northern Pacific Railway.
Canyon of the Gates of the Mountains		165
	From The Trail of Lewis and Clark, O. D. Wheeler.
Junction of the Madison and Jefferson		167
	The Madison at left, the Jefferson at the right centre.
	From The Trail of Lewis and Clark, O. D. Wheeler.
The Dalles of the Columbia		169
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Snake River below Lewiston. On Lewis and Clark's Trail		171
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Route of Lewis and Clark from Maria's River to Traveller's Rest and Return		173
	From The Trail of Lewis and Clark, by O. D. Wheeler.
New Mexican Cart		177
	Drawing by Julian Scott. From Bulletin of the Eleventh Census.
A Rocky Mountain Torrent		179
	Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey.
A Glade for the Weary. Altitude 8000 Feet		183
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Pike's Peak through the Gateway of the Garden of the Gods		187
	(Pike got his view of it from a mountain to the left, not seen.)
	Photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.
Vegetation of the South-West		191
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Canyon of the Yellowstone from Grand View		195
	From Wonderland, 1903, Northern Pacific Railway.
A Mansion of the Wilderness		197
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Sawmill Geyser, Yellowstone Park		201
	From Wonderland, 1904, Northern Pacific Railway.
The Deadly Rattler		203
	From The Mystic Mid-Region, by A. J. Burdick.
	Photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.
Shoshone Falls, Idaho, from South Side, Below		205
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Shoshone Falls, Snake River, Idaho, from Below		207
	Sketch by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Shoshone Falls, Snake River, Idaho, from Above, South Side		209
	Photograph by G. K. Gilbert.
Boat Made of Framework of Sticks Covered with Bison- or Horse-Hide		211
	Frequently used in early days of the West.
	From The Trail of Lewis and Clark, by O. D. Wheeler.
On the Virgin River, Southern Utah		217
	Near where Escalante went in 1776. Pine Valley Mountain in distance.
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
An Arizona Thistle		220
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
A Full Larder		223
	From Wonderland, 1904, Northern Pacific Railway.
Standing Rocks, Common in the Wilderness		227
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
In the Mountain Wilderness—Vulture Peak		230
	Photograph by R. H. Chapman, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Before Sunrise		231
	From Wonderland, 1904, Northern Pacific Railway.
Green River Valley		233
	Photograph by C. R. Savage.
Arrow Weed in the Yuma Country		236
	Photograph by Delancy Gill.
Red Canyon of Green River		239
	Length, 25 miles. Walls 1800 to 2500 feet high. Average width of water, 250 feet. Ashley was the first white man to pass through this gorge.
Ashley Fall, Red Canyon, Green River		241
	Ashley's name was found on right of the picture on one of the huge fallen rocks, about at the top of the old dead tree.
Lower Falls of the Yellowstone		245
	From Wonderland, 1901, Northern Pacific Railway.
On the Gila River, Arizona		248
	This is the place chosen for the San Carlos irrigation dam.
	Photograph by J. B. Lippincott.
Headwaters of Virgin River		251
	Named Adams River by Jedediah Smith in 1826.
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Prairie Dogs		254
	From Wonderland, 1901, Northern Pacific Railway.
On the Yuma Desert. A Dying Horse		256
	Photograph by Delancy Gill.
An Old Beaver Haunt		261
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
The Heart of the Sierra		263
	Photograph by Watkins.
A Rose of New Mexico		266
	Photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.
On the Gila		268
	Photograph by J. B. Lippincott.
Captain Bonneville		271
	A General when this was taken, long after his trapping career.
	Photograph from Montana Historical Society.
"Old Faithful" Geyser, Yellowstone Park		274
	From Wonderland, 1901, Northern Pacific Railway.
Elk in Winter		277
	From Wonderland, Northern Pacific Railway.
In the Sierra Nevada		279
	On the Merced, Yosemite Valley. Walker, 1833, was probably the first white man here.
	Copyright C. C. Pierce & Co.
A Wilderness Waggon Road		282
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Steamer "Yellowstone" Ascending the Missouri in 1833		285
	From Travels, etc., 1832-3-4, by Maximilian, Prince of Wied, 1843.
	From Wonderland, 1904, Northern Pacific Railway.
Before the Sawmill Comes		289
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
The Great or Lower Fall of the Yellowstone		291
	From Wonderland, 1904, Northern Pacific Railway.
Jim Bridger in his Latter Days		293
	Photograph from Montana Historical Society.
Green River from Green River Valley to Wonsits Valley		295
Snow-Bound in the Wilderness—1875		297
	Pencil sketch on the spot by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Canyon of Lodore, Green River		299
	The first on record to go through this and the canyons immediately below it—that is, from Brown's Park to Wonsits Valley—was Joe Meek and a party of trappers on the ice, in the winter of 1838-39.
	Photograph by E. O. Beaman, U. S. Colo. Riv. Exp.
A Chance Meeting		301
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
A Mormon Sorghum Mill and Evaporating Pans		306
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
A Setback		307
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
In Council		311
	General Sherman third from left of white group.
	Photograph from United States Government.
The Steamboat "Explorer"		316
	In which Lieutenant Ives, in 1858, ascended the Colorado to the foot of Black Canyon.
	Sketch by H. B. Mollhausen.
Where the Wilderness Lingers		319
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Running the Colorado		321
	Drawing by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Upper Part of Marble Canyon—Colorado River		323
	This gorge merges into the Grand Canyon at the mouth of the Little Colorado. The length of both together is about 300 miles. The first to travel this distance were Powell and his men, 1869.
The Grand Canyon Region		326
The Thousand-Mile Tree		328
	A hemlock 1000 miles from Omaha.
	Photograph by C. R. Savage.
Secret Town Trestle		329
	1000 feet long. Maximum height, 90 feet.
	Photograph by C. R. Savage.
Snow Sheds in the Sierra		331
	Photograph by C. R. Savage.
Adobe Ruins of Green River—Union Pacific Terminus		332
	Photograph, 1871, by E. O. Beaman, U. S. Colo. Riv. Exp.
Scene before Driving the Last Spike—Promontory Point, Utah, May 10, 1869		333
	John Duff in front, immediately beneath engine. Sidney Dillon at his left. The Reverend Doctor Todd asking a blessing.
	Photograph by C. R. Savage for the Union Pacific Railway.
The Ames Monument—Union Pacific Railway		334
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Driving the Last Spike, 3.05 p.m. (New York Time), May 10, 1869		335
	Locomotive "Jupiter" of the Central Pacific, and "119" of the Union Pacific about to meet when last spike is driven.
	Photograph by C. R. Savage for the Union Pacific Railway.
The Last Tie		336
	Union Pacific Railway, 1869. Made of California laurel polished, and with a silver plate on the side.
The Last Spike		337
	Union Pacific Railway. Made of gold.
A Modern Fast Train		337
	From Wonderland, 1901, Northern Pacific Railway.
The Mormon Temple—Salt Lake City		338
	Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Canada Lynx		361
	From Wonderland, 1904, Northern Pacific Railway.

Breaking the Wilderness

About This Book

PREFACE

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS