Page:U.S. Department of the Interior Annual Report 1880.djvu/67

Rh grotesque rock formations, and the intense coloring of the grand cañon of the Yellowstone River, present a spectacle in the highest degree grand and unique. So far, the larger part of the park has remained an almost unbroken wilderness. A wagon-road has been constructed from the Mammoth Hot Springs, near the northern border, to the geyser basins, a distance of about 55 miles, which, however, is very rough and imperfect in grading. The Shoshone and Yellowstone Lakes, the magnificent falls of the Yellowstone river, and some of the most interesting mountains and valleys are accessible only by trails and bridle-paths, in part of difficult passage. There is not a single hotel in the park to accommodate travelers; and while a stage line has been established to take visitors to the geyser basins, they are left there without any further means of conveyance. To accomplish the object for which the reservation was intended it is indispensably necessary that the road connecting the Mammoth Hot Springs with the geyser basins should be greatly improved; that wagon-roads should be constructed from there to Shoshone and Yellowstone Lakes; that a bridge should be built across the Yellowstone River above its falls; and that a further system of wagon-roads be laid out in the direction of the mountain ranges south, east, and north of Yellowstone Lake. It is also necessary, in my opinion, that the department be authorized to lease little tracts of land at different points of interest to private persons willing to erect hotels, under such regulations as may be devised for the protection and convenience of the public. The law as it stands authorizes this department to conclude such leases for ten years; but it will be difficult to find responsible persons willing to erect suitable buildings on so short a tenure. Only one proposition of this kind has reached the department. I would, therefore, recommend that the department be authorized to make the leases for a term of at least thirty years, upon such conditions as, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, the interests of the traveling public may require. I have no doubt that if the territory of the park were disposed of by sale or otherwise to private persons, private enterprise would soon furnish all the conveniences necessary without any outlay on the part of the government; but it is also probable that under such circumstances the traveling public would be subjected to tolls and extortions of so annoying and burdensome a nature that thereby the original intention of Congress would be virtually defeated and the park become a place of resort only to persons of large means. I deem it, therefore, important, if the intention with which the reservation was originally made is not to be defeated, that the government retain control of the park; but if it does, it is also the plain duty of the government to take such measures as are necessary to make it practically accessible to the people. To this end an appropriation for next year of at least $50,000 for the construction of a suitable system of roads and bridges would seem advisable.
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