The Story of Man In Yellowstone

by Merrill D. Beal

FOOTNOTES

[1]The forests are composed principally of conifers. Of these the lodgepole pine predominates. It has a shallow root system, and as a result the area is conspicuous by the amount of fallen timber.

[2]A frontiersman’s characterization of the climate in the Park. The statement is usually attributed to James Stuart.

[3]John E. Rees, Idaho Chronology, Nomenclature, Bibliography (Portland, Oregon: Ivey Press, 1917), p. 61.

[4]Teton and Snowy ranges, although partly integrated with Yellowstone, actually lie beyond the south and north borders respectively.

[5]The plateaus are Buffalo, Mirror, Two Ocean, Pitchstone, Madison, and Central. The ranges are Gallatin, Washburn, and Absaroka. The ridges include the Big Game, Chicken, Speciman, and Crowfoot. The Red Mountains form a unit by themselves in the south-central area.

[6]These are Electric, Pollux, Atkins, and Eagle peaks, and Schurz and Humphreys mountains.

[7]Warm River originates west of the Park, but Firehole is the best example of a really warm river. It does not freeze over in temperatures 50° below zero. There are literally thousands of hot springs in Yellowstone. Dr. A. C. Peale estimated three thousand, while Dr. Arnold Hague said the number probably exceeded twenty-five hundred.

[8]Reference to this stream is made again in relation to the “Overland Astorians” in [Chapter II]. See also, Dee Linford’s “Wyoming Stream Names,” Annals of Wyoming, XV, 2 (April, 1943), 165-70.

[9]These sources are the Firehole and Gibbon, respectively.

[10]This is the lowest temperature ever recorded on an official United States Weather Bureau thermometer in Continental United States.

[11]John E. Rees, op. cit., [p. 61].

[12]Homer C. Hockett, Political and Social Growth of the United States 1492-1852 (New York: Macmillan Co., 1933), p. 368.

[13]Ibid., p. 369.

[14]Ibid., p. 371.

[15]Fridtjof Nansen, “The Norsemen in America,” The Geographical Journal, XXXVIII, 6 (Dec. 1911), 558.

[16]Reuben G. Thwaites, Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 1804-1806 (New York: Dodd Mead and Co., 1905), p. 262. Clark reached Yellowstone River on July 15, 1806.

[17]Francis Antoine Larocque, Journal (Sources of Northwest History No. 20, University of Montana), p. 20. Dee Linford says the name Yellowstone was used by David Thompson in 1798, but that Americans did not learn about the river until about 1805. See “Wyoming Stream Names,” Annals of Wyoming, XV, 3 (July, 1943), 269.

[18]Patrick Gass, Journal (Chicago: A. C. McClurg, 1904), p. 253. In 1832 a steamboat named the “Yellowstone” arrived at Fort Union.

[19]P. Koch, “Discovery of Yellowstone National Park,” Magazine of American History, II (June, 1884), 498.

[20]Just how far Coronado penetrated the Rockies is a disputed point. It is certain that Verendrye reached Pierre, South Dakota. Some contend that he came as far as the Little Bighorn River. It is probable that some of Henry’s men were free trappers, which accounts for the fact that they split in groups when the fort was abandoned.

[21]Others to participate in this discovery were Milton Mangum, Clifford Mangum, John T. Elliott, Budge Elliott, William Thornock, and David Beal.

[22]Robert Stuart, The Discovery of the Oregon Trail (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1935), p. CXXXVI. Etienne Provot and Thomas Fitzpatrick have both been credited with the discovery of South Pass. Certainly the latter’s visit in 1824 marks the date of effective discovery.

[23]W. J. Ghent, “A Sketch of John Colter,” Wyoming Annals, X, 3 (July, 1938).

[24]Stallo Vinton, John Colter, Discoverer of Yellowstone Park (New York: Edward Eberstadt, 1926), p. 27.

[25]W. J. Ghent, op. cit. The copious journals of Lewis, Clark and Sergeant Ordway make repeated mention of Colter, and Whitehouse names him six times. Floyd does not mention him by name nor does Gass, although the latter refers to him specifically.

[26]Reuben G. Thwaites, op. cit., V, 314.

[27]Stallo Vinton, op. cit., p. 24.

[28]Ibid., p. 43. Colter’s strange behavior in turning back to the wilderness after three successive starts toward home, is analyzed by C. H. Heffelfinger in his article, “The Man Who Turned Back,” The Washington Historical Quarterly, XXVI, 3 (July, 1935).

[29]Ibid., p. 45. Lisa had a son named “Remon” for whom the fort was named, but different documents bear the name Raymond, Manuel, and Lisa.

[30]Judge Henry M. Brackenridge (1786-1871) was educated in Missouri and Maryland. As a lawyer, he specialized in international affairs and served as a federal judge in New Orleans. In 1810 he made a trip up the Missouri in the company of Manuel Lisa. Six years later (1814) Brackenridge’s account of this journey was published. On page 91, of Views of Louisiana, we find the first reference to Colter’s wilderness journey. Obviously the source of this information was Manuel Lisa since he asked Colter to make the trip. That Colter started on such a journey is indisputable. Where he went, what he saw, and how he returned are matters of opinion. Brackenridge confuses Colter’s return from this trip with that of another one.

[31]Ibid., p. 91.

[32]John Colter’s discovery of Yellowstone has caught the imagination of many people. Probably a hundred authors have written about it. Each one disagrees with the other, until poor Colter has been turned into a human grasshopper, hopping around from place to place without either rhyme or reason.

[33]Stallo Vinton, op. cit., p. 195.

[34]Some writers tell that an early winter overtook him, and he was obliged to make snowshoes. This is probably an error. He undoubtedly secured a horse from the Yep-pe Indians.

[35]This particular story is verified by the fact that members of the Wilson Price Hunt Expedition called on Colter at his farm near St. Louis to get information upon this specific point. See Reuben G. Thwaites, “Bradbury’s Travels in the Interior of America in the years 1809-1811,” Early Western Travels, 1748-1840, V, xliv.

[36]The Map of 1814 does not disclose anything unusual. It merely designates “Boiling Spring” and “Hot Springs Brimstone,” which were widespread and general.

[37]Washington Irving, The Adventures of Captain Bonneville (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1843), p. 252. The first edition was entitled, Rocky Mountain Scenes and Adventures.

[38]It is a remarkable thing that historical research has not more satisfactorily probed the Colter problem. Obviously his journey is so obscure as to warrant scientific investigation.

[39]Its legend reads: “A Map of Lewis and Clark’s Track, Across the Western Portion of North America, From the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean; By Order of the Executive of the United States in 1804, 5, 6. Copied by Samuel Lewis from the Original Drawing of Wm. Clark.”

[40]There are two fictitious lakes on the Map of 1814 of such grotesque shape as to arouse one’s skepticism. One of them has a shape that resembles a gargoyle.

[41]The date of this communication was December 20, 1810.

[42]Colter’s first sheet is readily identifiable, and part of another sheet may be segregated with the use of imagination and understanding.

[43]Many writers have failed to identify Gap and Sage as the same creek. They also befuddle Wind and Shoshone rivers. There is no evidence that Colter ever heard the name Bighorn River.

[44]The figure eight results from the fact that he went to the Yep-pe camp, left it, came back, and left it again at the appropriate angles.

[45]In 1941, Paul J. Shamp, a U.S. forester, reported the discovery of numerous petrifications in the vicinity of Pass and Scatter creeks in the Thorofare country. This is the line of Colter’s route.

[46]Colter did not see Southeast Arm of Yellowstone Lake. He probably supposed the Upper Yellowstone flowed into South Arm. Hence, his conception of Yellowstone River would have been ten miles farther west than it is. Neither could he have visualized the serpentine character of Snake River, since he knew it at only one place.

[47]Colter may have reached Chicken Ridge by Fishhawk, Mountain, or Lynx creeks or via Falcon, Mink, or Crooked streams. It must be remembered that this map sheet has been much messed up. It is impossible to know what has been erased; yet, enough of Colter’s map remains to provide a logical basis for the above itinerary. It is relatively unimportant which creeks he negotiated to reach Chicken Ridge. The vitally important fact is that he drew a sketch of South Arm from that angle which added to the Thumb makes an accurate map of what a trapper would have seen of Yellowstone Lake.

[48]J. Neilson Barry has made the most intensive study of the Map of 1814. It is his opinion that Colter drew other map sheets besides the one of the Buffalo Bill country. He also has hope that these sheets may be discovered among the Lewis-Clark-Biddle papers.

[49]In E. Willard Smith’s journal entry for December 20, 1839, there is an item that suggests a possible clue to mystery of Colter’s petrified fish story: “There is a story told by an Arapahoe Chief of a petrified buffalo standing in the lake ... in a perfect state of preservation, and they worship it as a great medicine charm.... Nothing would induce this Indian to tell where this sacred buffalo is to be found. Great presents were offered him in vain.” It is possible that Colter saw something he was not free to divulge. See “An Excerpt From the Journal of Willard E. Smith,” Annals of Wyoming, XV, 3 (July, 1943), 287-97.

[50]John G. White, “A Souvenir of Wyoming,” Vol. I, p. 56. This is a fine work of research in manuscript. It was written in 1916. There are five volumes in the Yellowstone Park library. The time of this Indian episode was in the autumn of 1808.

[51]Ibid.

[52]Upon the details of this episode, the three basic authorities on this period of Western adventure, are in agreement. They are Henry M. Brackenridge, Views of Louisiana; Thomas James, Three Years Among the Indians and Mexicans; and John Bradbury, Travels In the Interior of America.

[53]Concerning Colter’s part in this battle, Henry M. Brackenridge wrote, “On his return a party of Indians in whose company he happened to be was attacked and he was lamed by a severe wound in his leg; Notwithstanding which he returned to the establishment entirely alone and without assistance.” This incident is almost invariably associated with Colter’s return from the discovery of Yellowstone Park. The error logically arises from the compressed character of the Brackenridge narrative. Perhaps the facts were not clear in his own mind. Actually he has confused two different experiences.

[54]P. Koch, “The Discovery of Yellowstone National Park,” Magazine of American History, II (June, 1884), 499.

[55]Hiram M. Chittenden, Yellowstone National Park (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 1933), pp. 22-31.

[56]Frank Triplett, “Colter’s Race for Life,” Conquering the Wilderness, No. 16, Chapter 10, Washington State College Library; Pullman, Washington. This plant is also called “ground-apple.” It is an edible root found in that region.

[57]W. J. Ghent, op. cit., [p. 113].

[58]John G. White, “A Souvenir of Wyoming,” I, 28. This fact is affirmed by James in his Three Years Among the Indians and Mexicans.

[59]W. J. Ghent, op. cit., p. 115.

[60]Stallo Vinton, op. cit., p. 110.

[61]W. J. Ghent, op. cit., p. 115. The evidence is not conclusive as to whether or not Colter gave his account to Bradbury and Brackenridge in person. It is certain that he had personal dealings with Thomas James, and it is certain that he spent a half day in conversation with members of Hunt’s party on May 18, 1811. See “Robert Stuart’s Narratives” in Philip Ashton Rollin’s The Discovery of the Oregon Trail (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1935), p. CV.

[62]Ibid., p. 66. It should be pointed out that Colter did not say “everywhere.”

[63]Rudolph Kurz, Journal (Washington, D. C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1937), p. 37.

[64]Frank B. Linderman, Blackfeet Indians (St. Paul: Brown, Bigelow, 1935), p. 9.

[65]Ibid., p. 12.

[66]Elizabeth Spalding, Memories of The West (Portland, Oregon: March Printing Company), p. 78.

[67]Robert Vaughn, Then and Now (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Tribune Printing Co., 1900), p. 197.

[68]Mourning Dove, Coyote Stories (Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers, 1933). p. 46.

[69]Rudolph Kurz, op. cit., p. 154.

[70]Ibid., p. 34.

[71]Alexander Ross, The Fur Hunters of The Far West (London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1855), p. 249.

[72]H. M. Chittenden, The American Fur Trade (New York: Press of the Pioneers, 1935), II, 877.

[73]P. Koch, “The Discovery of Yellowstone National Park,” Magazine of American History, II (June, 1884), 497.

[74]Helen F. Sanders, History of Montana (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1913), I, 681.

[75]Contributions, Historical Society of Montana (Helena, Montana: Rocky Mountain Publishing Co., 1876), I, 168.

[76]Indian reservations nearest the Park are the Crow at Hardin, Montana; Shoshone, Fort Washakie, Wyoming; and Bannock, Fort Hall, Idaho. Other agencies are located at Fort Peck, Poplar, Tongue River, and Lame Deer, all in Montana. The Blackfeet and Flathead reservations are near Glacier Park.

[77]Alexander Ross, op. cit., p. 48.

[78]John G. Neihardt, The Splendid Wayfaring (New York: Macmillan Company, 1920), pp. 265-6.

[79]Alexander Ross, op. cit., pp. 228-9.

[80]Francis Fuller Victor, The River of the West (Hartford: Columbian Book Co., 1871), pp. 64-5.

[81]Cecil Alter, James Bridger, Trapper, Frontiersman, Scout and Guide (Salt Lake City: Shepard Book Co., 1925), p. 355.

[82]Helen F. Sanders, op. cit., p. 141.

[83]Earl of Dunraven, Hunting in the Yellowstone (New York: Macmillan Co., 1925), pp. 184-5.

[84]Frances Fuller Victor, op. cit., p. 238.

[85]F. A. Wislizenus, A Journey To The Rocky Mountains In 1839, (St. Louis: Missouri Historical Society, 1912), pp. 87-8.

[86]Alexander Ross, op. cit., II, 236.

[87]C. Max Bauer, “Notes on Indian Occupancy,” Yellowstone Nature Notes. XII, 6 (June, 1935), 1.

[88]P. W. Norris, Annual Report 1879 (Washington D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1880), p. 10.

[89]P. W. Norris, Annual Report 1880, p. 605.

[90]Some of these places were specifically listed: Bunsen Peak, Willow Creek, Stinking Water Pass east of Yellowstone Lake, Barlow Fork of Snake River, Bridgers Lake, and, the best one of all, three miles below Mary Lake. See Fifth Annual Report 1881, p. 36.

[91]P. W. Norris, Fifth Annual Report 1881, pp. 32-8.

[92]Ibid., p. 38.

[93]P. W. Norris, Annual Report 1878, p. 982.

[94]Experienced rangers who have reported these finds to the author include David deL. Condon, Lee L. Coleman, John W. Jay, John Bauman, Rudolf L. Grimm, Wayne Replogle, Lowell G. Biddulph, George Marler, and William Sanborn.

[95]William E. Kearns, “A Nez Percé Chief Revisits Yellowstone,” Yellowstone Nature Notes, XII (June-July, 1935), 41.

[96]Edwin Linton, Science, No. 561 (Nov. 3, 1893), pp. 244-5.

Mr. Linton and Prof. S. A. Forbes heard the sounds upon two occasions. Each gave a scientific presentation. Elwood Hofer, Dave Rhodes, and F. H. Bradley have written accounts of similar experiences.

[97]Report of the Secretary of the Interior (Washington: Government Printing Office, Nov. 30, 1880), p. 573.

[98]Frederick Bottler discovered a trapper’s cabin at the head of Antelope Creek in 1878. The advanced decay of its timbers indicated that it was forty or fifty years old. See P. W. Norris, Annual Report 1880, p. 606.

[99]Niles Weekly Register, Third Series, IX, 6 (Oct. 6, 1827), p. 90. Also, Yellowstone Nature Notes, XXI, 5 (Sept.-Oct., 1947), p. 52. Sweet Lake is now known as Bear Lake, Idaho.

[100]P. W. Norris, Annual Report 1878, p. 987. Smith was killed by a band of Comanches in 1831, when leading a caravan across the Cimarron Desert toward Santa Fe.

[101]Meek’s experience was published by Mrs. Frances Fuller Victor in The River of the West (Hartford, Conn.: Columbian Book Co., 1871), pp. 75-7.

[102]Warren A. Ferris, Life in the Rocky Mountains 1830-35 (Salt Lake City: Rocky Mountain Book Shop, 1940), pp. 204-6.

[103]Osborne Russell, Journal of a Trapper, 1834-1843 (Boise, Idaho: Syms-York Co., 1921), p. 32.

[104]Helen F. Sanders, op. cit., p. 657.

Mr. Ducharme, Joe Power, L’Humphrie, Louis Anderson, and Jim and John Baker were members of this group. Remains of horses have been found on this battleground.

[105]J. Cecil Alter, James Bridger, p. 107.

[106]Walter W. DeLacy, “A Trip Up the South Fork of Snake River,” Contributions, Historical Society of Montana, I, 132.

[107]James Stuart, “The Yellowstone Expedition of 1863,” Ibid., I, 191.

Montana mineral production vaulted to $18,000,000 by 1865. Thereafter a gradual decline began, but a strong revival came in the eighties when deep mining of silver and copper ore bodies proved profitable. The combined mineral output in 1889 was $41,000,000.

[108]P. Koch, “The Discovery of Yellowstone National Park,” Magazine of American History, II, 511.

[109]E. S. Topping, Chronicles of the Yellowstone (St. Paul: Pioneer Press Co., 1888), p. 44.

[110]P. W. Norris, Annual Report 1880, p. 7. Miller Creek was named for Adam Miller’s retreat in this instance.

[111]Grace R. Hebard and E. A. Brininstool, The Bozeman Trail (Cleveland: Arthur H. Clark Co., 1922), II, 229.

[112]Robert Vaughn, Then and Now, p. 165.

[113]Hebard and Brininstool, op. cit., II, 229.

[114]Ibid., p. 230.

[115]Ibid., p. 244.

[116]Anonymous. The quotations used in the Bridger stories represent the author’s organization of existing folk lore. Some of these stories and others are given in H. M. Chittenden’s Yellowstone National Park.

[117]John G. White, “Souvenir,” I, 134.

[118]Hiram M. Chittenden, op. cit., pp. 39-40.

[119]Hebard and Brininstool, op. cit., II, p. 243.

[120]This information was obtained by the author from Jesse M. Matlock, formerly Mrs. William Peterson and Mabel M. White, an adopted daughter, in an interview at Salmon City, June 7, 1943. The latter remembers hearing Mr. Peterson express regret that the Folsom-Cook-Peterson Expedition was not given more recognition for its discovery. Mr. Peterson died in 1918.

[121]C. W. Cook and D. E. Folsom, “Cook-Folsom Expedition to the Yellowstone Region 1869,” Haynes Bulletin (Jan. 1923).

[122]C. W. Cook, “Remarks of C. W. Cook, Last Survivor of the Original Explorers of the Yellowstone Park Region,” Yellowstone Park Library, Mammoth, Wyoming. Two sons of Cornelius Hedges were present at the celebration which was sponsored by The National Editorial Association.

[123]W. T. Jackson, “The Cook-Folsom Exploration of the Upper Yellowstone 1869,” The Pacific Northwest Quarterly, XXXII (1941), 320-21.

[124]Hiram M. Chittenden, Yellowstone National Park, p. 60.

[125]Nathaniel P. Langford, The Discovery of Yellowstone Park 1870 (St. Paul, Minn.: J. E. Haynes, 1923), p. 80.

[126]Louis C. Crampton, Early History of Yellowstone National Park and Its Relations to National Park Policies (Washington, D. C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1923), p. 14.

[127]Yellowstone Park Scrap Book, I, 33. Park Library, Mammoth, Wyoming.

[128]L. P. Brockett, Our Western Empire (San Francisco: William Garretson and Co., 1881), p. 1247.

[129]Ibid., p. 1243.

[130]Cornelius Hedges, “Yellowstone Lake,” Crampton’s Early History, p. 110.

[131]Truman C. Everts, “Thirty Seven Days of Peril,” Scribner’s Monthly, III (Nov. 1871), 1-17.

[132]Cornelius Hedges, “Journal,” Contributions, Montana Historical Society, V, 387.

[133]Nathaniel P. Langford, op. cit., p. 158.

[134]Gustavus C. Doane, “Report Upon the Yellowstone Expedition,” Crampton’s Early History, p. 138.

[135]Henry D. Washburn, “The Yellowstone Expedition,” Ibid., p. 96.

[136]Rudyard Kipling, American Notes, p. 159.

[137]L. P. Brockett, op. cit., p. 1254.

[138]F. V. Hayden, American Journal of Science, III (March, 1872), 174.

[139]Arnold Hague, “The Yellowstone National Park,” Scribner’s Magazine, XXXV (May, 1904), 519.

[140]W. Turrentine Jackson, “The Creation of Yellowstone Park,” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review XXIX, 2 (September, 1942), 189-90.

[141]N. P. Langford, Preface to “The Folsom-Cook Exploration of the Upper Yellowstone in the Year 1869,” Contributions, Historical Society of Montana, V (1904), 312.

[142]Truman C. Everts, op. cit., p. 16.

[143]H. M. Chittenden, Yellowstone National Park, p. 69.

[144]Ibid., p. 70.

[145]Louis C. Crampton, Early History of Yellowstone, p. 25.

[146]F. V. Hayden, “More About the Yellowstone,” Scribner’s Monthly, III, 4 (February, 1872), 389. This article contains a summary of the Hayden Expedition.

[147]H. M. Chittenden, op. cit., p. 71.

[148]In Dr. Hayden’s “Brief Statement of the History of the National Park,” which he forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior, Carl Schurz, on February 21, 1878, the following appeared: “I beg permission to state here, that so far as I know, I originated the idea of the park, prepared the maps, designating the boundaries, and in connection with the Hon. W. H. Claggett [sic], then Delegate from Montana Territory, wrote the law as it now stands.... It is now acknowledged all over the civilized world that the existence of the National Park, by law, is due solely to my exertions during the sessions of 1871 and 1872.” House Executive Documents, Forty-fifth Congress, Second Session, 1877-78, XVII, No. 75, 3. For this item credit is given by the author to W. Turrentine Jackson; see “The Creation of Yellowstone National Park,” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, University of Iowa, XXIX, 2 (Sept. 1942), 199.

[149]Congressional Globe, Forty-second Congress, Second Session, 1871-72, Part I, p. 520.

[150]Ibid., p. 697.

[151]W. T. Jackson, op. cit., p. 203.

[152]Ibid., pp. 204-5.

[153]Louis C. Crampton, op. cit., p. 31.

[154]Senator George G. Vest, a strong friend of Yellowstone, once referred to Mr. Dawes as the father of the Park, “for he drew the law of designation.” If not the actual scribe, he was certainly the advocate of the principles involved. See L. C. Crampton, op. cit., p. 32.

[155]John Muir, The Atlantic Monthly, LXXXI (April, 1898), 509.

Dr. F. V. Hayden’s tribute to Congress is equal to John Muir’s. Hayden said, “That our legislators, at a time when public opinion is so strong against appropriating the public domain for any purpose, however laudable, should reserve for the benefit and instruction of the people a tract of 3,575 square miles, is an act that should cause universal satisfaction through the land. This noble deed may be regarded as a tribute from our legislators to science, and the gratitude of the nation, and of men of science in all parts of the world, is due them for this munificent donation.” See “The Yellowstone National Park,” American Journal, III (April, 1872), 295-96.

[156]Congressional Globe, p. 697.

[157]George Catlin, North American Indians (Philadelphia: 1913), II, 290.

[158]This refers to Chief Joseph’s retreat which is described in [Chapter XI].

[159]Alexander Ross, The Fur Hunters of the Far West, p. 257.

[160]Ulrich B. Phillips, “Lectures On Early America,” a series of lectures given in Berkeley, Calif., 1932.

[161]Robert Vaughn, Then and Now, p. 156.

[162]Ibid., p. 295.

[163]James Stuart, Contributions, Montana Historical Society, I, 154.

[164]Edgar F. Goad, “Bandelier, Scholar of the Mesas” (Washington, D. C.: Department of Interior Information Service, 1940), p. 13.

[165]Alexander Ross, op. cit., p. 183.

[166]LeRoy R. Hafen and Carl C. Rister, Western America (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1941), p. 6.

[167]The most notorious foreigners to regale themselves among western American adventure scenes were Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied, Sir George Gore of Ireland, and the Earl of Dunraven.

Maximilian spent the summer of 1833 on the upper Missouri. He was a shabby, toothless man, but of first-rate scientific ability. It is said that his accounts, together with Bodmer’s paintings, constitute an important record of the period.

Sir George Gore was a millionaire who spent two years in the West. He left a saga of ruthless slaughter and camp-life prodigality in his wake. His parting gesture was the destruction, by fire, of all the wagons, harness, saddles, and similar equipment. This was done to spite the Missouri Fur Company because of their exorbitant river transportation charges.

In 1871 the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia hunted bison on the Nebraska plains.

[168]Ibid., p. 572.

[169]Granville Stuart, Forty Years on the Frontier, edited by Paul C. Phillips (Cleveland: 1925), II, 104. This view was expressed by Representative James A. Garfield. See Congressional Record, Forty-third Congress, First Session, 1874, pp. 2107-9.

[170]Warren A. Ferris, op. cit., p. 244.

[171]Ibid., pp. 204-6.

[172]Dan E. Clark, The West in American History (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1937), p. 573.

[173]Fredrick L. Paxson, Recent American History of the United States (Boston: Prentice-Hall Co., 1937), p. 28.

[174]LeRoy R. Hafen and Carl G. Rister, op. cit., p. 528.

[175]D. J. Louck, “Journal,” State Historian’s file, Laramie, Wyoming.

[176]Helen F. Sanders, op. cit., p. 313.

[177]Howard R. Briggs, Westward America (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1942), p. 276.

[178]Ibid., pp. 279-80. In 1862, Granville Stuart collected a herd and drove them to Bannock. Conrad Kohrs had a butcher shop there at that time.

[179]Dorothy Gardiner, West of the River (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1941), p. 319.

Forts were located chiefly with an eye to the protection of travel. Some of the principal ones—Cook, on Judith River, Montana; Reno; Phil Kearney; C. F. Smith; and Casper in Wyoming—were built in 1866. D. A. Russell near Cheyenne, Fort Shaw on Sun River, and Fort Buford were established in 1867. Fort Laramie was built in 1849; Fort Bridger, in 1858; Fort Stambaugh at South Pass, 1869; Fort Steele on North Platte Crossing, 1868; and Fort Assiniboine near Havre, 1879.

[180]Granville Stuart, op. cit. Other prominent stockmen were C. D. Duncan, Robert Coburn, N. J. Dovenspeck, Amos Snyder, Adolf Baro, W. C. and G. P. Burnett, Pat Dunlevy, James Dempsey, Chas. Ranges, Edward Regan, N. W. McCaulley, and F. E. Lawrence.

[181]Dan E. Clark, op. cit., p. 596.

[182]Helen F. Sanders, op. cit., p. 316.

[183]Nathaniel P. Langford, The Discovery of Yellowstone Park, p. 181.

[184]Cornelius Hedges, Contributions, Montana Historical Society, V, 391.

[185]Dan E. Clark, op. cit., p. 625.

[186]Chief Joseph, “Chief Joseph’s Own Story,” as told by him on his trip to Washington, D. C., p. 3.

[187]Francis Haines, Red Eagles of the Northwest (Portland, Ore.: The Scholastic Press, 1939), p. 234.

[188]Ibid., p. 238.

[189]Chief Joseph, op. cit., p. 9.

[190]Helen A. Howard and Dan L. McGrath, War Chief Joseph (Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1941), p. 145.

[191]Chester Anders Fee, Chief Joseph, the Biography of a Great Indian (New York: Wilson-Erickson, 1936), p. 168.

[192]Francis Haines, op. cit., p. 262.

[193]Helen F. Sanders, op. cit., p. 268.

[194]Ibid., p. 282.

[195]W. T. Sherman, Reports of Inspection Made in the Summer of 1877 (Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1878), p. 34.

[196]Heister D. Guie and L. V. McWhorter, editors, Adventures in Geyser Land, by Frank D. Carpenter (Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1935), p. 279.

George F. Cowan was born in Ohio in 1842. He was with the first volunteers during the Civil War. He attained the rank of Sergeant. At this time he was one of Montana’s leading attorneys.

[197]Chester A. Fee, op. cit., p. 218.

[198]Francis Haines, op. cit., p. 287.

[199]Heister Guie and L. V. McWhorter, op. cit., p. 223.

[200]Edwin J. Stanley, Rambles in Wonderland (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1878), p. 166.

[201]Chester A. Fee, op. cit., p. 223.

[202]Heister D. Guie and L. V. McWhorter, op. cit., p. 225.

George F. Cowan’s experiences were so peculiar that one is puzzled to know whether he was the most lucky or unlucky of men. A train of incidents followed his suffering in the Park. Near Fort Ellis the neck yoke broke, and the Cowan party was thrown out of the carriage. At Bozeman, when Mr. Arnold was dressing Cowan’s wounds in the hotel room, the bedstead gave way and down went the injured man.

[203]Andrew J. Weikert, “Journal of a Tour Through Yellowstone National Park in August and September 1877,” Contributions, Historical Society of Montana, IV (1900), 185-99.

[204]H. M. Chittenden, Yellowstone National Park, p. 142. Stewart was relieved of $260.00 and a watch.

[205]Ibid., p. 143.

[206]Heister D. Guie and L. V. McWhorter, op. cit., pp. 194-5.

Near the top of Mt. Everts, and toward its southern end, there is a cliff formed by an ancient flow of lava. Upon a flat space, at the foot of the cliff, one may find an inscription that reads, “Ben Stone 1877.”

[207]Ibid., p. 145.

[208]O. O. Howard, Chief Joseph, His Pursuit and Capture (Boston: Lee and Shephard, 1881), p. 243.

[209]Helen A. Howard and Dan L. McGrath, op. cit., p. 258.

[210]Ibid., pp. 260-1.

[211]Chester A. Fee, op. cit., pp. 248-9.

[212]Helen A. Howard and Dan L. McGrath, op. cit., pp. 271-2.

[213]This was Joseph’s understanding, as revealed in all subsequent statements.

[214]Chester A. Fee, op. cit., pp. 262-3.

[215]Ibid., p. 270.

[216]Ibid., p. 272.

[217]Helen A. Howard and Dan L. McGrath, op. cit., p. 183.

[218]Chester A. Fee, op. cit., p. 287.

[219]The Hayden and other government expeditions did quite a lot of trail work in an informal manner. That is to say, they had large parties and considerable baggage. In order to get through the forest quite a lot of trail building became necessary.

[220]Jack E. Haynes, “The Expedition of President Chester A. Arthur to Yellowstone National Park in 1883,” Annals of Wyoming, January, 1942, p. 2.

[221]J. J. Leclercq, La Terre des Marveilles. An excerpt containing this story is in Mercer Cook’s Portraits of Americans (New York: D. C. Heath and Co., 1939), pp. 47-8.

[222]John Muir, The Atlantic Monthly, LXXXI (Jan. 1898), 15.

Edwin J. Stanley’s Rambles in Wonderland describes conditions as of that time.

[223]P. W. Norris, Annual Report 1880, p. 584. See also Elno’s “The Lord of Hard Luck,” Dillon Examiner, June 12, 1940.

[224]Heister D. Guie and L. V. McWhorter, Adventures in Geyser Land, p. 71.

Texas Jack served as a guide for the Earl of Dunraven in 1874.

[225]Jones Bros. and McGill of Cody and Hougan and Phillips of Salt Lake City, along with many others, conducted tours varying in duration and cost. The fee varied from five to ten dollars a day per person.

[226]C. S. Walgamott, Reminiscences (Twin Falls, Idaho, 1926), II, 78.

[227]John Muir, The Atlantic Monthly, LXXXI (April, 1898), 515.

[228]Alice W. Rollins, “The Three Tetons,” Harper’s, LXXIV (May, 1887), 876.

[229]Ibid.

[230]Rudyard Kipling, American Notes, p. 126. “Buckskin Charley” was Charles Marble; Yankee Jim’s name was James George; Hofer’s name was Thomas Elwood Hofer.

[231]Yellowstone Park Scrap Book, II, 52. There are three volumes of newspaper and magazine clippings in the Park Library at Mammoth, Wyoming.

[232]Ibid., pp. 60, 123. See also I, 33, and III, 33.

[233]Alice W. Rollins, op. cit., p. 74.

[234]Silas S. Huntley was the guiding mind of the organization from 1892 to 1901, when H. W. Child succeeded to the management, which he held until 1917. E. W. Bach was an active partner.

[235]The transportation setup as of 1914: Yellowstone Park Transportation Company, Gardiner, Round Trip $25.00; Yellowstone Western Stage Company, Yellowstone, Montana, $20.00; Holm Transportation Company, Cody, Wyoming, five days $25.00; Wylie Permanent Camping Company maintains permanent camps and operates a line from Gardiner, also West Yellowstone and Camp Cody (East Gate). The camps: Swan Lake Basin, Riverside, Upper Geyser Basin, Outlet of Lake, Grand Canyon, Camp Cody and Tower Falls. Lunch stations at Gibbon Geyser Basin and Thumb. Six day tour $40.00.

[236]Yellowstone Park Scrap Book, III, 20. Also Henry D. Sedgwick, Jr., “On Horse Back Through Yellowstone,” World’s Work, VI (June, 1903). Two of Yancey’s buildings are still standing.

[237]Scrap Book, II, 4.

[238]Report of the Secretary of the Interior 1884, I, 73.

[239]A corrupt and incompetent concern called The Improvement Company started a hotel in Mammoth. In 1884 this firm attempted to secure private ownership of land in important localities through Congressional action. When the move failed the firm went under. Its interests were bought by the Yellowstone Park Association which was financed by the Northern Pacific Railway.

[240]The Norris Hotel was replaced by a camp hotel and eating house, which served until 1900, when a new one was completed. The hotel at Old Faithful had not been profitable and was not replaced until 1903, when Old Faithful Inn was built.

[241]J. E. Rickards, ex-Governor of Montana, to the editor of The Salt Lake Tribune, July 17, 1897.

[242]Scrap Book, II, 56.

[243]Report of the Department of the Interior 1907, p. 533. The Boat Company charged three dollars for a ride from Thumb to Lake Fishing Bridge.

[244]Henry D. Sedgwick, op. cit., p. 3572.

[245]Scrap Book, I, 61.

[246]Ibid., Captain George S. Anderson earnestly prophesied that there would not be a square mile of forest left standing in six months if railroads were permitted to enter.

[247]Charles D. Warner, “Yellowstone National Park,” Harper’s, XCIV (January, 1897), 323.

[248]Annual Report 1907. Several wells had to be dug between Norris and Canyon.

[249]Horace M. Albright, Park Service Bulletin, April 14, 1934, p. 46.

[250]Lucien M. Lewis, “To the Old Stage Driver,” Overland Monthly, LXIX (July, 1917), 52.

[251]Yellowstone Park Automobile Regulations for the Season of 1916. Department of the Interior Bulletin. Here is an example of the procedure:

SCHEDULE A
Gardiner to Norris	Miles	Not earlier than	Not later than
Leave Gardiner Entrance	0	6:00 A.M.	6:30 A.M.
Arrive Mammoth Hot Springs	5	6:20	7:00
Leave Mammoth Hot Springs	0	6:45	7:15
Leave 8 Mile Post	8		8:00
Arrive Norris	20	8:30	9:00

Schedule B was for the P.M.

Bicyclists were also closely regulated. Upon meeting a team the rider was required to stop and stand between his cycle and the team. He could not pass a team from the rear without a signal.

People on horseback were expected to observe every precaution in passing teams of all sorts.

[252]Reports of the Department of the Interior 1917, p. 812.

[253]Chas. Van Tassell, Truthful Lies (Bozeman, Montana, 1921).

[254]Reports of the Secretary of the Interior 1936, p. 132. The firms combined in this consolidation were The Yellowstone Park Hotel Co., The Yellowstone Park Transportation Co., The Yellowstone Park Lodge and Camps Co., and The Yellowstone Park Boat Company.

[255]Ibid., 1939, p. 300.

[256]There are two service stations in Old Faithful Camp. Some people complain because they cannot get their favorite gasoline. However, it would be both unsightly and impractical to allow each company a half-dozen representatives. There are no pumps at all at Madison and Norris stations.

[257]Park Service Bulletin, Nov., 1936, p. 12.

[258]Richard G. Lillard, The Great Forest (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1948), p. 32.

[259]Ibid., p. 68.

[260]Ibid., p. 9.

[261]Hans Huth, Yosemite, the Story of an Idea. Reprint from the Sierra Club Bulletin, March 1948, p. 48.

[262]Richard G. Lillard, op. cit., p. 85.

[263]Richard G. Lillard, op. cit., p. 256.

[264]Hugh H. Bennett, “Thomas Jefferson Soil Conservationist,” U. S. Department of Agriculture, No. 548 (1944).

[265]Karl B. Mickey, Man and Soil (Chicago: International Harvester Co., 1945), p. 17.

[266]Hans Huth, op. cit., p. 73.

[267]George Catlin, The Manners, Customs, and Conditions of the North American Indians (London, 1841), I, 262.

[268]Hans Huth, op. cit., p. 52.

[269]Walter Mulford, Forest Influences (New York: McGraw Hill Book Co., 1948), p. 15.

[270]Hans Huth, op. cit., p. 68.

[271]Ibid., p. 69.

[272]Ibid.

[273]Hans Huth said Frederick Law Olmstead admitted failure in his attempt to discover the origin of public parks in this country. He attributed it to “a spontaneous movement of that sort which we conveniently refer to as the genius of our civilization.” Ibid., p. 60.

[274]Richard G. Lillard, op. cit., p. 260.

[275]This agency was later transferred to the Department of Agriculture.

[276]Richard G. Lillard, op. cit., p. 264.

[277]Ibid., p. 270.

[278]Ibid. National Legislation Executive Almanac in Brief:

1876—$2,000.00, appropriated to employ a competent man to investigate timber conditions in the United States. June 30, 1886—Act creating Division of Forestry in Department of Agriculture. March 3, 1891—President authorized to establish Forest Reserves; Yellowstone Park Timberland Reserve proclaimed by President Harrison on March 30, 1891. June 4, 1897—Present National Forest Act passed. July 1, 1901—Division of Forestry becomes Bureau of Forestry. February 1, 1905—Bureau of Forestry becomes Forest Service. March 1, 1911—Weeks Law passed. April 11, 1921—Snell Bill introduced in Congress. May 2, 1921—Capper Bill introduced in Congress. June 7, 1924—Clarke-McNary Bill signed by President. April 30, 1928—McNary-Woodruff Act signed by President. May 22, 1928—McSweeney-McNary Act signed by President. Jan. 1, 1931—Creation of the Timber Conservation Board. 1937—The Norris-Doxey Act. 1944—The Cooperative Sustained Yield Act.

Other Acts closely related to the Forestry program include, Civilian Conservation Corps, the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, Public Works Administration, Taylor Grazing Control Act, Farm Security Act, and Tennessee Valley Authority.

[279]“National Parks and National Forests,” a statement by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior and the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture.

[280]Earl of Dunraven, op. cit., p. 34.

[281]William T. Hornaday, Our Vanishing Wild Life (New York: New York Zoological Society, 1913), p. 2.

[282]Ibid., p. 63.

[283]Earl of Dunraven, op. cit., p. 6.

[284]Ibid., p. 15.

[285]Extinct species include: great auk, Pallas’s cormorant, Labrador duck, Eskimo curlew, passenger pigeon, Carolina parakeet, yellow-winged green parrot, heath hen, whooping crane, upland plover. Other effective wild life conservation advocates were Dr. Theodore S. Palmer, Edward H. Forbush, T. Gilbert Pearson, John B. Burnham, and William T. Hornaday.

[286]Earl of Dunraven, op. cit., p. 181.

[287]Ibid., pp. 182-3.

[288]Nathaniel P. Langford, “The Ascent of Mount Hayden,” Scribner’s Monthly, III (June, 1873), 133-40. The author does not necessarily imply that Langford reached the summit.

The author has possession of a part of Mr. Leigh’s diary, numerous dictations, and items relative to “Beaver Dick.”

[289]F. H. Knowlton, “The Tertiary Flowers of the Yellowstone National Park,” The American Journal of Science, No. 7 (July, 1896).

[290]Chittenden says that Norris Geyser Basin was discovered from the top of Bunsen Peak in 1872. E. S. Topping and Dwight Woodruff saw a large column of steam ascending far to the south. They made an investigation and reported their find. The next day Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Stone, of Bozeman, Montana, visited the basin. Mrs. Stone was one of the first white women to enter the Park. Perhaps she was the first excepting certain members of earlier missionary parties.

[291]N. P. Langford’s Diary, Second Trip To Yellowstone 1872. MS. in Yellowstone Park Library, Mammoth, Wyoming. Dr. Hayden and his co-workers returned in 1878. In this investigation they made detailed reports upon many hot springs and geysers. The season’s study, richly embellished with engravings and colored plates, was published in Hayden’s Report in 1883.

[292]Lewis R. Freeman, Down the Yellowstone (New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1922), p. 57.

[293]P. W. Norris, Annual Report 1880, p. 7.

[294]R. Kipling, American Notes, p. 174. Also see T. A. Jagger’s article, “Death Gulch, A Natural Bear Trap,” Popular Science, LIV (February, 1899), 5-6.

[295]Jack Ellis Haynes states that A. F. Norris, C. M. Stephens, and J. Davis spent the winter of 1879-80 in the headquarters building at Mammoth.

[296]William Ludlow, Report to the War Department 1875, pp. 36-7. Mr. Ludlow made a reconnaissance from Carrol, Montana to Yellowstone Park and returned.

[297]Yellowstone Scrap Book, II, pp. 37, 56.

[298]Report of the Secretary of the Interior 1884, II (Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1885), p. 565.

[299]Ibid., 1889, III, p. 133.

[300]Some of these territorial officials, known in local parlance as “rabbit catchers,” formed an alliance with the assistant superintendent. By this means the latter shared, as informers, the fines levied by themselves. H. M. Chittenden, op. cit., p. 113.

[301]Ibid., p. 134. See also Report for 1906, p. 522 and The Independent, Butte, Montana, Nov., 1895.

[302]H. M. Chittenden, op. cit., p. 114.

[303]Report of the Secretary of the Interior, II, 873.

[304]Report of the Secretary of the Interior, III (1889), 134.

[305]Ibid., p. 133.

[306]Henry H. Lewis, “Managing a National Park,” The Outlook, LXXIV (August, 1903), 1037.

[307]Report of the Secretary of the Interior 1889, III, 129.

[308]Ibid., p. 130.

[309]Jack Ellis Haynes, Haynes Guide, p. 160.

[310]Emerson Hough, “Yellowstone Park Game Exploration,” Forest and Stream, XLIII, Nos. 8-12. A series of articles covering this exploration appeared in each issue from March until August 25, 1894.

[311]T. J. Patterson, Yellowstone Park Scrap Book, I, 124.

[312]S. B. M. Young’s Annual Report 1897, p. 779.

[313]Benjamin Drew, Souvenir List, Mammoth, Wyoming. One of the victims was struck over the head with the Winchester; whereas a Chicago lady was able to get a snapshot of the desperado. Rewards offered aggregated $1,100.00.

[314]Heister D. Guie and L. V. McWhorter, Adventures in Geyser Land, p. 64. Also Earl of Dunraven, op. cit., p. 206.

[315]Frederick Remington, Pony Tracks (New York: Harper and Bros., 1895), p. 192.

[316]Arnold Hague, “Soaping Geysers,” Science, XIII (May 17, 1889), 384. Dr. Arnold Hague and John H. Renshawe of the Geological Survey studied the Park in 1883.

[317]John Muir, “The Yellowstone National Park,” The Atlantic Monthly, LXXXI (April, 1898), 520.

[318]Land in the reserves adjacent to the Park yield 30¢ per acre from lumbering and 50¢ for grazing; whereas the water storage value alone is $12.50. Then, too, there are extensive agricultural improvements contingent upon the water supply. These would approximate $30.00 per forest acre. Statement made to the author by range supervisor, Faber Eaton, on August 9, 1943.

[319]Annual Report of the Acting Superintendent 1894, p. 661.

[320]There have been exceptions to the rule. Certain animals have been classed as predators at given times and thinned out.

[321]The average sagebrusher (camper) considers bears as an unmitigated nuisance. Because of them, he must exercise vigilance at all times or his food will be carried away.

[322]Reports of the Department of the Interior 1918, p. 827.

Strong demands were also made to open the Park for sheep grazing.

[323]Report of the Secretary of the Interior 1938, p. 6.

[324]Yellowstone Scrap Book, I, 57.

[325]Ibid.

[326]Report of the Acting Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park 1895, p. 824.

[327]These stations were located at Norris, Riverside, Fountain, Upper Geyser Basin, Thumb, Snake River, Lake Sylvan Pass, Soda Butte, Tower Falls, Fort Yellowstone, and Gardiner.

[328]There are more than thirty of these journals in the Park Library at Mammoth, Wyoming.

[329]Yellowstone Scrap Book, II, 105.

[330]R. Kipling, op. cit., p. 153.

[331]John Muir, op. cit., April, 1898, p. 510.

[332]Charles D. Warner, “Yellowstone National Park,” Harper’s, XCIV (January, 1897), 94.

[333]Annual Report 1894, p. 133.

[334]Eugene T. Allen and Arthur L. Day, Hot Springs of the Yellowstone National Park (Washington, D. C.: Carnegie Institution, 1935). Although Dr. Day was the director, the work was regarded as the valedictory of Dr. Allen.

[335]Theodore Roosevelt, “A National Park Service,” Outlook, C (Feb. 3, 1912).

[336]S. T. Mather’s “Report of The Director of The National Park Service,” Report of the Department of the Interior 1918, pp. 842-3.

[337]Reports of the Secretary of the Interior 1918, pp. 842-3.

An interesting experiment, contrary to this principle, was an attempt in 1906 to raise twelve Sequoia gigantea trees near the arch at Gardiner entrance. All of the trees died.

[338]James Bryce, “National Parks the Need of the Future,” The Outlook, CII (December 14, 1912), 811.

[339]Reports of the Secretary of the Interior 1918, pp. 813-4.

[340]Ibid.

[341]Ray S. Baker, “A Place of Marvels,” The Century Magazine, LXVI (August, 1903), 487.

[342]F. A. Boutelle, Report of the Acting Superintendent 1889 (Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1890), p. 148.

[343]Report of the Secretary of the Interior 1937, p. 49.

[344]Short terms of service were also held by Dr. Frank E. Thone, 1923, and Alfred H. Povah, 1931.

[345]Editorial, “The Ranger Naturalist,” Nature Magazine, XVII (April, 1931), 219.

[346]Exhibits were established at Rhyo-Travertine Gulch, Swan Lake Flat, Beaver Dams, Nymph Lake, Tuff Cliff, and Firehole Canyon.

[347]Report of the Secretary of the Interior 1938, p. 13.

[348]Ibid., 1918, pp. 844-5.

[349]George O. Smith, “The Nation’s Playgrounds,” Review of Reviews, XL (July, 1909), 44.

[350]Dwight L. Elmendorf, The Mentor, II (May 15, 1915), 13.

[351]Earl of Dunraven, The Great Divide (London, 1876), p. XI.

The Scottish Earl of Dunraven visited the Park in 1874. A peak and a pass commemorate his interest and service in informing Europeans about Yellowstone.

[352]The date of this communication was December 20, 1810.

[353]Colter’s first sheet is readily identifiable, and part of another sheet may be segregated with the use of imagination and understanding.

[354]Many writers have failed to identify Gap and Sage as the same creek. They also befuddle Wind and Shoshone rivers. There is no evidence that Colter ever heard the name of Bighorn River.

[355]The figure eight results from the fact that he went to the Yep-pe camp, left it, came back, and left it again at the appropriate angles.

[356]The curious errors of the map are explained in [Chapter II].

[357]Lewis evidently complained to Biddle about the variations in sheets because Clark stated in a letter to Biddle that these sheets were all of the same scale. See Stallo Vinton, John Colter, p. 47.

[358]This claim will be developed subsequently.

[359]John D. Hicks, The Federal Union (New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1937), p. 282.

[360]The position of Henrys River, with reference to the Snake River drainage, is almost wholly erroneous as shown on the Map of 1814. Wisers River is fictitious. The true and original Weiser River lies three hundred miles west.

[361]This hypothesis is based upon the findings of J. Neilson Barry of Portland, Oregon. Mr. Barry is a profound student of Western history and cartography. He has devoted years of intensive research in correlating journals and geography.

[362]There is a reasonable view that holds this lake to be the only real feature upon this section of the map and identifies it as Brooks Lake, but Colter never saw or knew of the main branch of the Bighorn River or its source in Brooks Lake.

[363]Clark named this mythical lake for William Eustis, who had been representative to Congress from Massachusetts. About this time he was Secretary of War in President Madison’s cabinet.

Whatever Colter drew was certainly lacking Lake Eustis, Lake Biddle, and the Rio Grande, Arkansas, and Platte rivers. He was a simple frontiersman who had probably never heard of Eustis or Biddle and was not interested in mapping anything beyond his own route. Had Lewis linked Eustis and Biddle-Riddle lakes together, a possible approximation to Colter’s draft might have appeared.

[364]In 1941, Paul J. Shamp, a US. forester, reported the discovery of numerous petrifications in the vicinity of Pass and Scatter creeks in the Thorofare country. This is the line of Colter’s reconstructed route.

It has been the author’s desire to make a search for this missing link of evidence by actually going over the route. In 1947, he made a partial exploration during a three day hike. It was enough to suggest the size of the problem.

[365]Colter may have reached Chicken Ridge by Fishhawk, Mountain, or Lynx creeks or via Falcon, Mink, or Crooked streams. It must be remembered that this map sheet has been much mussed up. It is impossible to know what has been erased; yet, enough of Colter’s map remains to provide a logical basis for the above itinerary. It is relatively unimportant which creeks he negotiated to reach Chicken Ridge. The vitally important fact is that he drew a sketch of South Arm from that angle which added to the Thumb makes an accurate map of what a trapper would have seen of Yellowstone Lake.

[366]J. Neilson Barry has made the most intensive study of the Map of 1814. It is his opinion that Colter drew other map sheets besides the one of the Buffalo Bill country. He also has hope that these sheets may be discovered among the Lewis-Clark-Biddle papers.