[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.