Reading this chapter, you’ll be able to find the name of this geyser, pictured on a postcard from the Yellowstone Park Museum (YELL 194236). But did anybody know it just from the picture alone?
CHAPTER VI.
Dear friend Elsie:—
I am at the Gibbon Lunch Station of the Wylie Camp—the noon stop from Swan Lake Camp, and my sixth and last day in Yellowstone. Left the camp this morning at 7:15 o’clock, just behind the stage in which Mr. RuDell and the widow rode. This interesting couple are watching the bears nearby—while your old faithful is writing this tame letter. During the morning’s drive we enjoyed a brief rest at the Norris Geyser Basin, where many spouting geysers and hot pools attract the tourist.
To the left, near the road, we stopped to see the clever little geyser called the “Minute Man,” which performed several times while we rested upon the platform. This charming little spouter plays up from six to fifteen feet. While it is not always playing, no tourist waits long to see the “Minute Man” in action.
Passing “Beryl Spring” to the right of the road—a violently boiling cauldron sending up
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steam and water; and later the “Chocolate Pots”—one on each side of the Gibbon river, chocolate-colored cones about 12 feet high, with a constant stream of hot water over-flowing the cones, we next passed Gibbon Falls, around which is a landscape of beauty, but altogether too tame to merit description, after one has seen the many greater wonders in Yellowstone.
Elsie, this is my last letter ere reaching home. This afternoon at 4:30 o’clock I reach Riverside, the west entrance from Yellowstone station, whence I make my exit. I have much to tell you when I return—things which can be better told face to face than in writing.
Yours lovingly,
Clara.
In a lead up to that most romantic day of the year, February 14th, we will be continuing William Popham’s 1911 book, “Yellowstone Park Romance.” If you do not see any new posts, you may need to refresh your browser page. Images are taken from the Yellowstone Park Museum. They may not have been taken in 1911 but we hope that they help to illustrate the author’s wonderfully descriptive prose.Please note that many of the practices the author writes about (including feeding the animals or tramping near certain features) are no longer allowed today.