[Geysers] GL Henderson / Geyser History

[MA Bellingham]

Happy New Year!  I am now catching up on my list serve reading and noticed a
question about GL Henderson. The Henderson "Yellowstone Park Manual and
Guide" (two versions, separate years) are some of the rarest of Ynp
guidebooks, since they were published in newspaper form and thus very few
survived. More than one probably was used to get a cooking fire going or
used in the bush for other purposes. 

 

Ten or more years ago I typed up both Henderson guides into a pagemaker doc
formatting them like the original newspaper guides.  Scott and someone else
mentioned they would like reading more Henderson.  The YNP Archives has a
copy of my documents, or if there were enough interest, I would be willing
to cut and paste the "geyser only" info into some other kind of doc for
emailing, or I could post things on one of the YNP chat pages and you could
copy and paste what interests you.  We would need to clarify what is "geyser
only", as Henderson waxed on prolifically on everything from Mammoth,
Norris, Firehole, Glen Africa, etc etc. and etc.

 

It's a lot of information; a four page newspaper spread amounted to a 40
page Word document. Oh for today's OCR software.way back when I typed it
all.

 

Henderson Sample: 

THE GRAND

has no cone and a stranger would scarcely expect from its appearance such a
fine display when in action. There are frequently as many as fourteen
splendid discharges, reaching an altitude of over 200 feet and is held there
steadily for several seconds.  The Fumarole, or safety valve, continues to
discharge puffs of steam during the period of eruption. When the steam jets
cease the eruption is over.  With the exception of Old Faithful all the
geysers have this fumarole accompaniment.

THE TURBAN

is but a few yards from the Grand and its waters whirl with great velocity
in a spiral form.

 

Henderson sample from 1885:  In 1882, when there was no Assistant
Superintendents to keep watch over these geysers, some persons loaded up the
Beehive to the muzzle with tin cans filled with pebbles and other
substances. The geyser was quiescent for over fourteen days.  The Grand
becoming grander than usual, it was inferred that the waters of the Beehive
had found a subterranean passage and had become a part of the Grand.
However, she at last awoke and with one tremendous effort cleared her throat
of all obstructions, sending the grape and cannister over 500 feet into the
air, and woe be to the wretch who might stand in the way of this enraged
Zantippe when she began her house cleaning.  One good thing has been done in
the Upper Geyser Basin, there are finger boards near all the great geysers
and hot springs that enable strangers to know what they are looking at, also
indicating the way to the next nearest object of interest.  Assistant
Superintendent J.W. Weimer took an active interest in this matter and did
for the Upper Geyser Basin what the writer aimed to do for Mammoth Hot
Springs.  The Norris Basin and the lower Firehole river have been almost
entirely neglected in this regard.

 

I went for a ski at the MHS upper terrace loop on New Year's Day to start
2005 in Yellowstone.  There is a new-to-me boardwalk near Orange Spring
Mound enabling visitors to legally get closer to what Henderson named "the
Infant Cones" those little cones behind Orange Spring Mound. Canary Spring
is cookin. 

 

Gardiner and Mammoth had a huge dump of snow, near one foot.  It was very
nice. Happy New Year!  See ya at Lower Hams on April 22.

 

MA

 

MA Bellingham

mabell126 at bresnan.net

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