Bridger proposed to show me the wonderful spouting springs at the head of the Madison.
Mountain Men
A Tale: Trappers Encounter Peaceful Indians on the Yellowstone Plateau — Osborne Russell, 1834
The bows were beautifully wrought from sheep, buffalo and elk horns, secured with deer and elk sinews, and ornamented with porcupine quills, and generally about three feet long.
A Tale: Joe Meek Flees Blackfeet and Finds Wonderland — c. 1829
"Joe gazed and wondered. Curious thoughts came into his head, about hell and the day of doom. "
A Tale: Another Version of Colter’s Run
""He saw the younger Indians throwing off their blankets, leggings, and other encumbrances, as if for a race. Now he knew their object. He was to run a race, of which the prize was to be his own life and scalp."
A Tale: A Fur Trader Travels to Geyserland — Ferris, 1834
"From the surface of a rocky plain or table, burst forth columns of water of various dimensions, projected high in the air, accompanied by loud explosions, and sulphurous vapors, ... The largest of these wonderful fountains, projects a column of boiling water several feet in diameter, to the height of more than one hundred and fifty feet."
A Tale: Jim Bridger’s Descriptions of Yellowstone Wonders — Gunnison, 1852
"Geysers spout up seventy feet high, with a terrific hissing noise, at regular intervals. Waterfalls are sparkling, leaping, and thundering down the precipices ...."
A Tale: Osborne Russell Tangles With Blackfeet — 1839
"The Indian who shot me was within eight feet and made a spring towards me with his uplifted battle-axe."
A Tale: Dunraven Says Mountain Men Led a “Delicious Life” — 1874
"With an Indian wife to look after his bodily comforts, a man may devote himself to hunting, fishing, or trapping without a thought or care."
A Tale: Hour Spring, A Geyser by Another Name — c. 1834
"it begins to boil and bubble violently and the water commences raising and shooting upwards until the column arises to the height of sixty feet."
A Tale: The First Written Description of Yellowstone Geysers — Daniel T. Potts, 1827
"The springs throw particles to the immense height of from twenty to thirty feet in height. The clay is white and of a pink. The water appears fathomless,"
M. Mark Miller, Author 