. Burton Holmes travelogues . thissplendid oppor-tunity to preservea costume thatonce was typicalof western life ?A corps of driv-ers, not exactlyuniformed, butdressed to fit their parts, in buckskins, broad-brimmed hats,red shirts, and pistol-belts would be an innovation welcomedby every traveler, for travelers demand the picturesque. But as our skilful whip remarked, Clothes dont makethe driver. Of this we are convinced long before the coachenters the picturesque defile that forms the inner doorway tothe National Park. It is the famous portal known as GoldenGate, and the title Golden Gate is
. Burton Holmes travelogues . thissplendid oppor-tunity to preservea costume thatonce was typicalof western life ?A corps of driv-ers, not exactlyuniformed, butdressed to fit their parts, in buckskins, broad-brimmed hats,red shirts, and pistol-belts would be an innovation welcomedby every traveler, for travelers demand the picturesque. But as our skilful whip remarked, Clothes dont makethe driver. Of this we are convinced long before the coachenters the picturesque defile that forms the inner doorway tothe National Park. It is the famous portal known as GoldenGate, and the title Golden Gate is fitting in a double sense ;the rocks are golden, while upon this last mile of road traversed much gold has beenexpended — its constructionhaving cost the governmentno less than $14,000. Butthe road, alas, is badly engi-neered, its grades are steepenough to test the enduranceof the strongest horses, itssurface is buried in a smallSahara of shifting sand anddust impalpable as air. For-tunately a series of showers OUR DRIVER. YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK 29 preceded us and laid the dust along our way. As our coachtoils slowly upward, as the murmur of the river grows fainter,as the cliff-like canon-walls draw nearer and nearer to oneanother, we forget the steep grades of the heavy road inadmiration of scenes through which it leads us. We arebut four miles from the springs, and yet we are a thousandfeet nearer the skies, two thousand feet above the railwayterminus, and seven thousand feet above the sea. And presently the golden portals slowly open, revealingto us a broad valley circled by mountains and dominated bya cloudland, all of silver. Far off we see the Gallatins, arange whose average altitude above the sea is over 10,000feet, but the great height of the park plateau reduces moun-tains to mere hills,
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectvoyagesandtravels
