much as he had a reputation for
exaggeration, and the facts that he related about the wonders of the
Yellowstone were considered mere fabrications.

One of his most astounding stories concerned an elk. He claimed that
while hunting he espied an elk that seemed to be only a short distance
away; taking a good aim he fired, but the animal was unmoved by the
shot. He again fired with more deliberation, yet with the same result as
before. Having fired twice more with no effect he seized his rifle by
the barrel and rushed toward the antlered monarch; but all at once he
ran up against what seemed to be a high vertical wall. On investigation
the wall proved to be a mountain of perfectly transparent glass. And
still the elk kept on grazing quietly!

The strangest thing about the mountain he said was that its curved form
made it a perfect telescopic lens of great power. On going around to
the other side of the mountain he caught sight of the elk, which he
judged must have been at least twenty-five miles away when he first saw
it by the powerful glass-lens mountain!

In 1860-61 gold was discovered in Montana, and prospectors began to
extend their search for the precious metal into adjoining territory. The
Indians were troublesome; nevertheless many prospectors ventured into
the region of the Upper Yellowstone during the years succeeding, and
reported seeing wonderful volcanic agencies at work.

To settle the many flying accounts about volcanic wonders in the
Yellowstone section, two expeditions headed by prominent citizens of
Montana were formed to ascertain the truth concerning these statements.
The expeditions set out during the consecutive years 1869 and 1870. On
their return excellent descriptions of what they had seen were published
in the Montana papers, and these accounts were copied by the leading
papers of the country.

The second, or Washburn-Doane, expedition of 1870 was the most
successful in its explorations, since it was provided with a military
escort. One of the members of this expedition wrote up a series of
excellent articles which were published in _Scribner's Magazine_, thus
giving further authenticity and wide publicity to the discovery.

In 1871 interest awakened by the last expedition caused the United
States Government to send out a special expedition of geological and
engineering men to collect exact data, take photographs, and make a
survey of the Yellowstone region. The geological section was under