A short description of some of the principal attractions is here given,
with the hope that many who read this lesson, may at some time visit a
part or all that are noticed.
GEYSERS OF THE YELLOWSTONE PARK.
The Yellowstone Park is a tract of country fifty-five by sixty-five
miles in extent, lying mainly in the northwest corner of the Territory
of Wyoming, but including a narrow belt in southern Montana. It
contains nearly thirty-six hundred square miles, and is nearly three
times as large as the State of Rhode Island. No equal extent of country
on the globe comprises such a union of grand and wonderful scenery.
Numerous hot springs, steam jets, and extinct geyser cones exist in the
Yellowstone basin. Just beyond the western rim of the basin, lies the
grand geyser region of Fire-Hole River.
Scattered along both banks of this stream are boiling springs from two
to twelve feet across, all in active operation.
One of the most noted geysers of this district is "Old Faithful." It
stands on a mound thirty feet high, the crater rising some six feet
higher still.
The eruptions take place about once an hour, and continue fifteen or
twenty minutes, the column of water shooting upward with terrific force,
from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet.
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