each member of the party pre-empt a claim, and in order that no one
should have an advantage over the others, the whole should be thrown
into a common pool for the benefit of the entire party.

Mr. Hedges then said that he did not approve of any of these plans--that
there ought to be no private ownership of any portion of that region,
but that the whole of it ought to be set apart as a great National Park,
and that each one of us ought to make an effort to have this
accomplished. His suggestion met with an instantaneous and favorable
response from all--except one--of the members of our party, and each
hour since the matter was first broached, our enthusiasm has increased.
It has been the main theme of our conversation to-day as we journeyed. I
lay awake half of last night thinking about it;--and if my wakefulness
deprived my bed-fellow (Hedges) of any sleep, he has only himself and
his disturbing National Park proposition to answer for it.

Our purpose to create a park can only be accomplished by untiring work
and concerted action in a warfare against the incredulity and unbelief
of our National legislators when our proposal shall be presented for
their approval. Nevertheless, I believe we can win the battle.

I do not know of any portion of our country where a national park can be
established furnishing to visitors more wonderful attractions than here.
These wonders are so different from anything we have ever seen--they are
so various, so extensive--that the feeling in my mind from the moment
they began to appear until we left them has been one of intense surprise
and of incredulity. Every day spent in surveying them has revealed to me
some new beauty, and now that I have left them, I begin to feel a
skepticism which clothes them in a memory clouded by doubt.

Wednesday, September 21.--We broke camp soon after 9 o'clock, traveling
northwesterly down the stream, which at six miles entered a canon
extending ten miles in a very tortuous course, the stream gradually
bending to the west. The sides of the canon are steep, and a great many
small lateral streams flow into it, forming cascades of remarkable
beauty. There are also many springs gushing out from the sides of the
canon afar up. Below the canon we traveled over a high ridge for the
distance of ten miles, and camped in a deep coulee, where we found good
water and an abundance of wood and grass. Mr. Hauser and Mr. Stickney
all through the day were a few miles in a