Yellowstone National Park, 1949

[Music] early in the 19th century Scouts and trappers came out of this fabulous region of the West with tales that were incredible high in the Rockies they said was a land where a galloping river leaped over a cliff and landed in a gorge a thousand feet deep a lake that spilled its waters to the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans a land where the pleasant earth boiled underfoot and whole Valley Steve incredible tales and b-but today thousands come every year to see for themselves and the only thing the old-timers would have called incredible are the friendly bears that seem to believe people can be trusted there are exceptions among the bears especially the younger ones and not even a scolding crow can reassure this fellow who decide that safety lies back in the wood people are warned not to feed them or take liberties because Brewin can play up Yellowstone National Park is one of the largest animal sanctuaries in the world and the timid antelope is seen here alas to the great herds that once roamed the West elk graze undisturbed and are assured of Apple fodder with the park strictly closed to cattle which once threatened their extinction almost as much of the guns of hunters next to the grizzly bear Rangers rates the Buffalo the most dangerous of American wild animals and visitors give these Lords of the wilderness a wide berth ranking third among the most dangerous animals the bull moose is no timid soul and is more likely to attack than run away but these larger animals rarely approach the tourists roads and trails just as men shed their straw hats at the end of summer elk and moose get rid of their antlers and hundreds are found each year more than 200 species of birds live natural undisturbed lives in Yellowstone Park here a happy family of Canadian geese are spending their summer here is a Tarte fisherman's paradise and streams and lakes abound and game fish except where the more accessible waters are fished steadily most plentiful are the native cutthroat there's one safely netted they are named for a red stripe near the Gil and El average 3/4 of a pound and weight [Music] fishing bridge is well-named it spans the Yellowstone River as it flows out of Yellowstone Lake and though crowded every day in summer some tourists actually catch fish and yank them in they don't play them not when a speckled beauty is wanted for supper [Music] only in Iceland New Zealand and in Yellowstone Park can you see the phenomena of spouting boiling water superheated by nature's hidden fires the largest of these areas is in the yellowstone deep underground perhaps a mile down super hot beds of lava are sieving remaining from the days when violent volcano has built up the rocky mountain cold ground waters trickling down would strike rising vapors of indescribable heat steam pressure forces the heated waters upward in a geyser the Daisy geysers suddenly erupted in 1892 when one nearby mysteriously disappeared and visitors standing here wonder where the next eruption may come such manifestations of nature's power are found throughout much of the Yellowstone's area of more than 3,000 square miles in which are some 3,000 hot springs and geysers out of the depths of the earth boiling waters bring lime and solution to form the strange terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs the light porous limestone around the springs builds up fast from six inches to a foot a year for me huge layers of rock the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone affords a spectacle in itself that is worthy of a national park we've here and they're jagged needles of rock rising like groups of gothic spires the canyon alone is an inspiring spectacle without other wonders of Yellowstone here the huge Osprey built its nest high on a pinnacle and many visitors mistake them for Eagle [Music] from inspiration point the Upper Falls of the Yellowstone can be seen pouring into the gorge cut into the volcanic rock by the foaming River the roar of the Cascade dominates this section of the park and the sheer beauty of the spectacle leaves visitors speech deep in the gorge an ever-present cloud of spray mushrooms up from the foot of the fall and one of the loveliest spectacles in the park is seen with the greatest advantage the Yellowstone River leaps from a cliff 109 feet in height [Music] from here both the upper and lower Falls can be seen and this great cascade is Christ the height of Niagara is tremendous volume of water carving a canyon so deep there are only two safe trails down the rock walls to the river [Music] after a day of trapping visitors are glad to return to one of the inn and here one little family relaxes and watches another little family close by demanding food and more food from a hard-working mother at a certain time each day all visitors in the upper Geyser Basin gathered to witness the most phenomenal geyser of them all fame the world over for its spectacular performance and the regularity of its eruption this is Old Faithful [Music] people are told exactly when to expect the performance intervals between its eruptions average 66 minutes and it is the only geyser in the park that gives a scheduled exhibition from beneath the earth comes a deep protic growl as if a giant were preparing to speak tons of steaming water rise higher with each roaring blast in the 80 years of her recorded history the queen of geysers has given her show about a half a million times and it is estimated that our active age is not more than three or four hundred years future activity is likely to diminish [Music] now the white plume rises to a spectacular height in four minutes ten thousand gallons of scalding water will be hurled a hundred and fifty feet into the blue with graceful robes of steam wind blown about the cow day and night winter and summer the queen of the Yellowstone has produced this spectacle for millions of people our towering pillar leaps toward a darkening sky the perfect climax to the amazing drama of Yellowstone National Park [Music]