Thus, this rugged and dynamic man, now in his early thirties, entered the wilderness on foot and alone, into an area unknown to his race. The journey was a simple business enterprise. As he journeyed southward, he contacted the many Crow clans.
Although practically everyone assumes that John Colter discovered Yellowstone National Park in the early winter of 1807-08,[32] few realize that there is no conclusive evidence to support the claim. Therefore, a review of the proof is essential. The record is brief: Colter did leave Fort Manuel (Raymond) in the fall of 1807.[33] Yet the direction he took is not definitely mentioned, and no incident was specifically recorded of any unique visitation. Still, soon after this journey, Colter related strange tales of weird, natural phenomena.[34] Few of the stories he told were chronicled in detail. However, it is a matter of record that he claimed to have seen a large petrified fish nearly fifty feet long,[35] numerous hot springs and geysers,[36] and a great lake.
Manuel Lisa’s Fort built in 1807.
Evidence that Colter saw a geyser basin is flimsy indeed. Notwithstanding the uncertainty of Colter’s large travel experience, it is obvious that somewhere, sometime, he saw something that impressed him mightily. He must have waxed enthusiastic, because his recital evoked so much ridicule from the trapper fraternity. For a half a century, everywhere in the West, the mountain men argued and joked pro and con about the mythical marvels of “Colter’s Hell.” By 1837, the story had become common knowledge by reason of the following reference in Washington Irving’s first edition of The Adventures of Captain Bonneville:
A volcanic tract ... is found on ... one of the tributaries of the Bighorn.... This ... place was first discovered by Colter, a hunter belonging to Lewis and Clarke’s [sic] exploring party, who came upon it in the course of his lonely wanderings, and gave such an account of its gloomy terrors, its hidden fires, smoking pits, noxious streams, and the all-pervading “smell of brimstone,” that it received, and has ever since retained among trappers the name of “Colter’s Hell.”[37]
Irving’s description is significant because it is evidence of the “Colter’s Hell” tradition current at that time. However, the location assigned is incorrect. No gloomy terrors or hidden fires exist on Stinking Water (now Shoshone River). As in other explorations of the Colter case, Irving made guesses and assumptions.
Nothing has ever been found that states precisely when or where Colter saw the wonders of Yellowstone. Yet, the fact persisted that sometime between 1806 and 1810, somewhere between the Jefferson and Shoshone rivers he saw them! And strange enough, in the fullness of time, his spacious claims were wholly vindicated. This strange circumstance, therefore, presents the student of early Western exploration with one of the most difficult problems in regional history. Does the full discovery of Yellowstone Park in 1870, ipso facto, prove the tradition of John Colter’s earlier visitation?[38]
In the Colter case there are only two elements of primary evidence. First, it is a matter of record that he made a journey from Fort Manuel in the fall of 1807 and subsequently returned with an astonishing story of natural wonders. Secondly, a famous map was published in 1814, based upon the compilations of Lewis and Clark. Upon this Map of 1814 appears a dotted line marked “Colter’s Route in 1807.”[39] It is generally assumed that the dotted line actually marks the route of Colter’s journey from Fort Manuel. Although the route charted cannot be accepted literally, it is an important documentary link, worthy of the utmost study. There is little upon the map that would confirm the existence of Yellowstone’s marvels beyond the phrases “Boiling Spring,” and “Hot Spring Brimstone,” but every trapper encountered boiling springs and waters impregnated with bubbling gases having sulphurous odors. These were not unusual. Hence, there is nothing indicated along that dotted line that would guarantee anything extraordinary.[40]
Still, the known facts of Colter’s journey toward the headwaters of the Bighorn in the fall of 1807 and the representation of his extensive exploration to the west, a part of which is now Yellowstone National Park, upon the Map of 1814 is highly significant. For one thing, it proves that William Clark, who supplied the map sheets to Samuel Lewis,[41] the Philadelphia cartographer, was particularly impressed by Colter’s journey, otherwise it would not have been incorporated upon this very important document.