The following corrections are to be made in the monthly mean of water levels for Lake Erie below the plane of reference adopted in 1876, as given in the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1887, Part III, page 2418: July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. June. Erie.... 1.47 1.90 2.07 2.11 2.24 2.43 1.85 1.49 1.51 1.30 1.20 2.31 2.26 2.49 2.07 1.26 1.24 1.06 1.03 APPENDIX D D D. CONSTRUCTION AND IMPROVEMENT OF ROADS AND BRIDGES IN THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. REPORT OF MAJOR WILLIAM A. JONES, CORPS OF ENGINEERS, OFFICER IN CHARGE, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1892. UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, St. Paul, Minn., July 1, 1892. GENERAL: I have the honor to submit herewith my report of operations for the improvement of Yellowstone National Park during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Brig. Gen. THOMAS L. CASEY, W. A. JONES, Major, Corps of Engineers. The project for this work was adopted in 1883, when the control was placed in the hands of officers of the Corps of Engineers, and consists in the construction and maintenance of about 225 miles of road, with the necessary bridges, culverts, etc. The roads embraced in the project commence at Gardiner, at the north boundary line of the park, thence to Mammoth Hot Springs; thence to Upper Geyser Basin, passing through Norris Geyser and Lower Geyser basins; thence to the outlet of Yellowstone Lake via Shoshone Lake and the west arm of Yellowstone Lake, crossing the Continental Divide of the Rocky Mountains twice; thence to Yanceys, via the Falls and Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River; thence to Mammoth Hot Springs, completing the so-called belt road, with a circuit of about 145 miles. In addition there are projected: A road from the west boundary line of the park, passing through Lower Geyser Basin, and continued easterly to intersect the road along the Yellowstone River to the falls; a road from Norris Geyser Basin to the Falls of the Yellowstone; a road from Yanceys to the east bounday line of the park, and a number of short branch roads and trails from the above-named roads to objects of interest off the main line of travel; in all, 225 miles of new road, about 20 large and 50 small bridges, with many culverts, etc. Estimated cost, as revised in 1889 by my predecessor, $444,779.42. The act of Congress approved March 3, 1891, changed the project of the part of the belt line between Lower Geyser Basin and Yellowstone Lake by requiring the road to be built "by the shortest practicable route" from Fountain Geyser to the thumb of the Yellowstone Lake. This change did not materially affect the cost. At the beginning of the year the roads that were open to travel were: Completed roads.-(1) The road from Gardiner to Mammoth Hot Springs, Norris, Lower and Upper Geyser basins completed, except a projected stretch of 8.9 miles of new road in Gibbon Canyon, designed to replace an equal length of the old road and some minor changes in the location of different parts of the road. (2) The road from Norris Geyser Basin to the Falls of the Yellowstone. Uncompleted roads.—(1) The road from Upper Geyser Basin to the Fails of the Yellowstone via Yellowstone Lake and outlet, except two short sections. (2) The two roads known as the Madison Canyon road and Howard trail, from the western boundary line of the Park to Lower Geyser Basin, where they joined, and their continuation as one road to the uncompleted road from Yellowstone Lake outlet to the falls. (3) The road from Mammoth Hot Springs to Yanceys and its continuation to eastern boundary of the Park. Total amount expended upon the project since commencement of the work, 1883 to June 30, 1891, including outstanding liabilities, $259,779.42. WORK DONE. The close of the last fiscal year found the work well under way partly by contract and partly by days' labor. One firm, Wyatt & Scott, were engaged upon their contract, while Mr. A. Z. Partello was, after looking over the ground, about reaching the conclusion to abandon his. The facts before me at this time indicated that he had not the means to execute his contract, and that any effort to force his bondsmen to execute it would only end in delay and probably failure. His bid was altogether too low and had not been based upon any knowledge of the local conditions. Consequently, when he abandoned the work on the 4th of July, I took advantage of a clause in the contract which enabled me to proceed with his work by days' labor. The possibility of his failure had been fully foreseen and a plan of procedure discussed and adopted to meet it. On account of the magnitude of the work in hand and the extreme shortness of the season within which it could be accomplished, there was not a moment to lose, and four additional parties were immediately organized and placed in the field. Attention is invited to the celerity with which this was accomplished. Four entire outfits of tools, camp equipage, and provisions had to be purchased, and, together with four large crews, placed at work in the wilderness at a distance of from 60 to 80 miles from our base. Two parties were at work on the 16th and the other two on the 19th of July. With the hope of holding up Mr. Partello in the execution of his contract I sent Mr. W. A. Campbell, an experienced contractor in road work, to look over the ground and engage himself to Partello to supervise and execute the work. An examination of the ground convinced him that the loss on the contract would be so great that he would not be likely to get anything for his services, and he declined to undertake it. Mr. Partello failed to satisfy him that he had any funds for the 1 execution of the work. Whereupon, after notifying his bondsmen and trying to get them to undertake the work, I laid the matter before the Chief of Engineers, with the recommendation that the contract be annulled. Under date of August 25, 1891, this recommendation was approved. TEAM HIRE. Under date of May 30, 1891, after advertisement in the papers of Minnesota, Montano, and Oregon, I opened bids for furnishing team hire for the season's work in the park. The specifications required that the teams should be furnished, together with a complete contractor's plant for clearing and grading for as many parties as I might wish to place at work. The lowest bid was $5.10 per day for each two-horse team and driver, including the whole plant. This was a reasonable price. No formal bonded contract was entered into, but Mr. A. L. Love, of Livingston, Mont., who made the proposal, carried it out in a very satisfactory manner in the face of many and trying difficulties. BELT ROAD. The objective of the season's work was to open what may be called a Belt line passing the principal points of interest and doubling on itself at Norris. This required the completion of about 53 miles of new road lying mostly out of reach of supply roads. In order to supply one of the mountain camps and those on the lake shore water transportation on the lake was necessary, and a steam launch was shipped out from Minnesota for the purpose. After considerable difficulty in getting it from the railroad to the lake, a distance of over 60 miles, it was fitted up and served the purpose admirably. Not only did this effect a great saving in the transportation of supplies, but it was the move which rendered possible the great amount of work done in such a short time. The line constructed crossed the Rocky Mountain divide twice where it involved heavy and difficult work, and then followed the lake and river shore the rest of the distance, crossing all the streams and swamps. The greater part was in a country very densely timbered, with the dead and fallen timber so thickly interlaced upon the ground as to be passable only to pedestrians. A base of supplies was established at Mammoth Hot Springs, with a secondary base at the outlet of Yellowstone Lake, and after a little friction at starting the crews were very well provided for. RECORD MAP. In order to make a record of the work done, as well as that which had been previously done, I gave careful instructions to the assistant engineers on the line of contract work to make such measurements and observations as would enable me to make a good map of the road and the country immediately alongside of it. I regret to say these instructions were only partially executed. The work progressed so rapidly that all of their time was taken up in laying out work for the crews. A special party operated on the line of the completed roads. Here, too, my instructions were not fully carried out, and hence I am unable to present an exact estimate of the cost of placing gravel on the roads, since I have no exact information as to the location of the gravel and the stretches of road which will require it. The results of these measurements are |