Chapter 10

[BW]The almost prophetic warning of Captain Harris in his last report as Superintendent of the Park has a peculiar force in this connection:“In my experience in connection with this National Park, I have been very forcibly impressed with the danger to which it is subjected by the greed of private enterprise. All local influence centers in schemes whereby the Park can be used for pecuniary advantage. In the unsurpassed grandeur of its natural condition, it is the pride and glory of the nation; but if, under the guise of improvement, selfish interests are permitted to make merchandise of its wonders and beauties, it will inevitably become a by-word and a reproach.”

[BW]The almost prophetic warning of Captain Harris in his last report as Superintendent of the Park has a peculiar force in this connection:

“In my experience in connection with this National Park, I have been very forcibly impressed with the danger to which it is subjected by the greed of private enterprise. All local influence centers in schemes whereby the Park can be used for pecuniary advantage. In the unsurpassed grandeur of its natural condition, it is the pride and glory of the nation; but if, under the guise of improvement, selfish interests are permitted to make merchandise of its wonders and beauties, it will inevitably become a by-word and a reproach.”

Finally, the effect of a single evil precedent upon the future of the Park must be kept constantly in mind. The door once opened, though by never so small a degree, can not again be closed; but will sooner or later be thrown wide open. A privilege granted to one can not be denied to another. If one corner of the Park is cut off, other portions will share the same fate. If one railroad is granted a right of way across the reservation, another can not be refused. The only way to avoid these dangers is to keep the door entirely closed.

There is now but little real need of further positive legislation. Some provision should of course be made for an adequate police force, and ample means should be provided to perfect the system of roads. Happily this duty involves no appreciable burden. It requires no continuing outlay to “beautify and adorn.” And when it is done, the further policy of the government toward the Park should be strictly negative, designed solely to preserve it unimpaired, as its founders intended, for the “benefit and enjoyment” of succeeding generations.

APPENDIX A.

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES IN THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK.

INTRODUCTORY.

In common experience, the importance of geographical names lies in their use as a means of identification. To describe an object there must be a name, and for this purpose one name is as good as another. But if the reason be sought why a particular name happened to be selected, it will generally be found to arise, not from this practical necessity, but from some primary fact or tradition, or from some distinguished character, in the annals of the community where it occurs. In its mountains and valleys, its lakes and streams, and in its civil divisions, the cradle history of a country may always be found recorded.

In newly-discovered countries, the naming of geographical features is the dearest prerogative of the explorer, as it is also the one most liable to abuse from personal vanity or egotism. The desire to attach his name, or those of his personal friends, to the prominent landmarks of the globe, where the eye of posterity may never escape them, is a weakness from which no discoverer has yet shown himself free.

In a region like the Yellowstone National Park, destined for all time to be a resort for the lovers of science and pleasure, this temptation was quite irresistible; so much so, that, when the expeditions of 1870 and 1871 left the field, theyleft little worth naming behind them. And yet the honor thus gained has not, we venture to say, been all that its votaries desired. Small is the number of tourists who stop to inquire for whom Mary Lake, DeLacy Creek, or Stevenson Island was named. Fewer still are aware that Mt. Everts wasnotchristened in honor of a distinguished American statesman of similar name, but in commemoration of one of the most thrilling individual experiences in American history. So with all these personal names. The lively satisfaction with which they were given finds no counterpart in the languid indifference with which the modern visitor mechanically repeats them.

In as much as it fell to the lot of the United States Geological Survey to originate a great many of the names in our western geography, it is interesting to know from official sources the principles which governed in this important work. Writing upon this point, Dr. Hayden says:[BX]

“In attaching names to the many mountain peaks, new streams, and other geographical localities, the discovery of which falls to the pleasant lot of the explorer in the untrodden wilds of the West, I have followed the rigid law of priority, and given the one by which they have been generally known among the people of the country, whether whites or Indians; but if, as is often the case, no suitable descriptive name can be secured from the surroundings, a personal one may then be attached, and the names of eminent men who have identified themselves with the great cause, either in the fields of science or legislation, naturally rise first in the mind.”

[BX]Page 8, Fifth Annual Report of Dr. Hayden.

In the more recent and thorough survey of the Park by the United States Geological Survey, it became necessary to provide names for those subordinate features which, in a less restricted field, the early explorers had thought unworthy ofnotice. Professor Arnold Hague, upon whom this work has principally fallen, thus states the rule which he has followed:[BY]

“In consultation with Mr. Henry Gannett, geologist in charge of geography, it was agreed that the necessary new names to designate the unnamed mountains, valleys, and streams should be mainly selected from the beasts, birds, fishes, trees, flowers, and minerals found within the Park or the adjacent country.”

[BY]Page 152, Part I, Annual Report United States Geological Survey for year ending June 30, 1887.

The christening of the hot springs and geysers of the Park has been singularly fortunate. The names are in all cases characteristic. They are not studied efforts, but are simply the spontaneous utterances from first impressions by those who had never seen, and had heard but little of, similar phenomena. It is doubtful if the most careful study could improve them, and tourists will agree with General Poe who referred as follows to this subject when he visited the Park in 1877:[BZ]

“The region of these geysers has been rightly named Fire Hole, and one almost wonders that in this country, where the tendency is to name natural objects after men who have a temporary prominence, this interesting place and its assemblage of wonders should have so completely escaped, and in general and in particular received names so very appropriate.”

[BZ]Page 79, “Inspection made in the Summer of 1877, etc.” SeeAppendix E.

In the race for the geographical honors of the Park, the prize fell neither to the United States Geological Survey nor even to Colonel Norris, though each was a close competitor. It was won by that mythical potentate of whose sulphurous empire this region is thought by some to be simply an outlying province. Starting with “Colter’s Hell,” the list grew until it contained “Hell Roaring Creek,” "Hell BrothSprings," “Hell’s Half Acre,” “Satan’s Arbor,” and the Devil’s “Den,” “Workshop,” “Kitchen,” “Stairway,” “Slide,” “Caldron,” “Punch Bowl,” “Frying Pan,” “Well,” “Elbow,” “Thumb,” “Inkstand,” etc., etc. It is some satisfaction to know that this rude and fiery nomenclature is gradually falling into disuse.

In a measure from sympathy with the purpose of the early name-givers, and to help those who take an interest in such matters to know when, by whom, and why the geographical names of the Park were given, a complete list of these names, with a few from adjacent territory, has been prepared. The letters and numbers immediately after the names (except those in parentheses) give marginal references on the map to facilitate identification. The date of christening and the name of the christening party next follow. When these can not now be determined with precision, the work is credited to the authors of the map upon which they first appear. Next comes whatever account is discoverable of the origin of the names, authority being quoted, as far as possible, from the writings of whoever bestowed them. Wherever an object was named from some natural characteristic, as its form, color, composition, or other peculiarity, or from the birds, beasts, fishes, insects, trees, flowers, shrubs or minerals of the Park, the single word “characteristic” denotes the fact. The abbreviation “U. S. G. S.” is for “United States Geological Survey.”

APPENDIX A.

II.

MOUNTAIN RANGES, PEAKS, BUTTES, RIDGES, HILLS.

[The numbers in parentheses denote elevations. These are taken from the latest map by the United States Geological Survey, and are the same as that of the one hundred foot contour nearest the summit. The true elevation of the ultimate peak is in each case slightly greater, lying somewhere between the figure given and an altitude one hundred feet higher.]

Abiathar Peak(10,800)—C: 14—1885—U. S. G. S.—For CharlesAbiatharWhite, Paleontologist, U. S. Geological Survey.

Absaroka Range, A-X: 12-16—1885—U. S. G. S.—This range of mountains has had an unfortunate christening history. It was first known as the Yellowstone Range, from its close relation to the Yellowstone River, of which it is the source. The original name dates from as far back as 1863, and was adopted by the first explorers of the Park country. It was officially recognized in 1871, by both the Corps of Engineers and the United States Geological Survey. When the Park was created this range became its real eastern boundary, and many of its peaks were named for those who had borne prominent parts in its history. The name had thus an added claim to perpetuity. It passed into general use, and appears in all the writings of the United States Geological Survey down to 1883.

In 1873, Captain W. A. Jones, of the Corps of Engineers, led an expedition through these mountains—the first that ever crossed them. He gave them a new name, “Sierra Shoshone.” Except for the fact that he was violating the rule of priority,his action in giving this name, as well as his judgment in its selection, were of unquestionable propriety. It was a tribe of the Shoshonean family who alone dwelt in the Park, or among these mountains, and it was entirely fitting to commemorate this fact in a distinct and permanent manner. The name passed rapidly into public use, and by 1880 had practically supplanted the original name.

For reasons that can hardly be made to appear satisfactory, the United States Geological Survey, in 1883, or soon after, rejected both these names and adopted in their place Absaroka, “the Indian name of the Crow nation” (Hague). Of course this action can have no pretense of justification from the standpoint of the “rigid law of priority.” There are very few instances in American geography of a similar disregard for the rights of previous explorers. Unfortunately, not even the argument of appropriateness can be urged in its defense. These mountains, except that portion north of the Park, were never properly Crow territory, and the name is thus distinctly an importation. Its future use is now unhappily assured, on account of its formal adoption (for reasons wholly inadequate, it is true,) by the United States Board on Geographical Names. Against the influence of the government, with its extensive series of publications, even though committed to the perpetuation of an error, it is idle to contend; but it is greatly to be deplored that a feature of the Park scenery of such commanding prominence should not bear a name at least remotely suggestive of some natural or historical association.

Amethyst Mountain(9,423)—F: 11—1872—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Antler Peak(10,200)—E: 4—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Atkins Peak(10,900)—N: 14—1885—U. S. G. S.—For John D. C. Atkins, Indian Commissioner, 1885-1888.

Avalanche Peak(10,500)—L: 13—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Bannock Peak(10,400)—D: 4—1885—U. S. G. S.—From the name of a tribe of Indians who inhabited the country to the south-west of the Park, and were finally settled on a reservation in southern Idaho. What is known as the Great Bannock Trail, passed along the valley of Indian Creek, some distance south of this mountain. The spelling here given is that which custom seems finally to have settled upon; but Bannack would more nearly express the original pronunciation. The various spellings, some sixteen in number, come from the originalPanai’hti, orBannai’hti, meaning southern people.

Barlow Peak(9,500)—Q: 10—1895—U. S. G. S.—For Captain (now Colonel) J. W. Barlow, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., leader of the military expedition which entered the Park region in 1871. His name was first applied to the upper course of the Snake River, but was recently transferred to a neighboring mountain peak.

COLONEL J. W. BARLOW.

Baronett Peak(10,300)—C: 13—1878—U. S. G. S.—For C. J. Baronett, “Yellowstone Jack,” a famous scout and guide, closely connected with the history of the National Park, and builder of the first bridge across the Yellowstone River.

Baronett’s career was adventurous beyond the average man of his class. He was born in Glencoe, Scotland, in 1829. His father was in the British naval service, and he early began to follow the sea. In his multitudinous wanderings we find him on the coast of Mexico during the Mexican War; on the Chinese coast in 1850, where he deserted his ship and fled to San Francisco; in 1852, in Australia after gold; thenext year in Africa, still on a gold hunt; then in Australia again and in San Francisco; next in the Arctic seas as second mate on a whaling vessel; back in California in 1855; courier for Albert Sidney Johnston in the Mormon War; later in Colorado and California searching for gold; scout in the Confederate service until 1863; then in Mexico with the French under Maximilian, who made him a captain; back in California in 1864, and in Montana in September of the same year, where he at once set out on a prospecting trip which took him entirely through the region of the Yellowstone Park; later in the service of Gen. Custer as scout in the Indian territory; then in Mexico and finally back in Montana in 1870; finder of the lost Everts; builder of his celebrated bridge in 1871; in the Black Hills in 1875, where he slew a local editor who had unjustly reflected upon him in his paper; scout in the Sioux, Nez Percé, and Bannock Wars, 1876-8; Indian trader for many years; engaged in innumerable prospecting ventures; and still, at the age of sixty-six, searching with his old time ardor for the elusive yellow metal.

C. J. BARONETT.

Big Game Ridge—Q-T: 9-11—1895—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Birch Mils(7,300)—R: 4—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Bison Peak(8,800)—D: 12—1878—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Bobcat Ridge(9,500)—T: 9—1895—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Bunsen Peak(9,100)—D: 6—1872—U. S. G. S.—For the eminent chemist and physicist, Robert Wilhelm Bunsen; inventor of the Bunsen electric cell and of the Bunsen Gas Burner; co-discoverer with Kirchoff of the principle of Spectrum Analysis; and the first thorough investigator of the phenomena of geyser action. (SeeChapter III, Part II.)

Cathedral Peak(10,600)—J: 13—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Chittenden, Mt.(10,100)—K: 12—1878—U. S. G. S.—“Of the prominent peaks of this [the Absaroka] range may be mentioned Mount Chittenden, named for Mr. George B. Chittenden, whose name has long been identified with this survey.”—Gannett.[CA]

[CA]Page 482, Twelfth Annual Report of Dr. Hayden.

Cinnabar Mountain(7,000)—A: 5—Named prior to 1870.—“So named from the color of its rocks, which have been mistaken for Cinnabar, although the red color is due to iron.”—Hayden. The Devil’s Slide (also named before 1870) is on this mountain.

Colter Peak(10,500)—O: 13—1885—U. S. G. S.—For John Colter. (SeePart I, Chapter III.)

Crags, The(9,000)—E: 3—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Crescent Hill(7,900)—D: 9—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Crow Foot Ridge(9,700)—D-E: 3—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Doane, Mt.(10,500)—M: 13—1870—Washburn Party—For Lieutenant Gustavus C. Doane, 2d Cavalry, U. S. Army, commander of the military escort to the celebrated Wasburn Expedition of 1870.

CAPTAIN GUSTAVUS C. DOANE.

Lieutenant Doane was born in Illinois, May 29, 1840, and died in Bozeman, Mont., May 5, 1892. At the age of five he went with his parents, in wake of an ox team, to Oregon. In 1849 his family went to California at the outbreak of the gold excitement. He remained there ten years, in the meanwhile working his way through school. In 1862 he entered the Union service, went east with the California Hundred, and then joined a Massachusetts cavalry regiment. He was mustered out in 1865 as a First Lieutenant. He joined the Carpet-baggers and is said to have become mayor of Yazoo City, Mississippi. He was appointed a Second Lieutenant in the Regular Army in 1868, and continued in the service until his death, attaining the rank of Captain.

Doane’s whole career was actuated by a love of adventure. He had at various times planned a voyage to the Polar regions, or an expedition of discovery into Africa. But fate assigned him a middle ground, and he became prominently connected with the discovery of the Upper Yellowstone country. His part in the Expedition of 1870 is second to none. He made the first official report upon the wonders of the Yellowstone, and his fine descriptions have never been surpassed by any subsequent writer. Although suffering intense physical torture during the greater portion of the trip, it did not extinguish in him the truly poetic ardor with which those strange phenomena seem to have inspired him. Dr. Hayden says of this report: "I venture to state, as my opinion, thatfor graphic description and thrilling interest it has not been surpassed by any official report made to our government since the times of Lewis and Clark."[CB]

[CB]Page 8, Fifth Annual Report of Dr. Hayden.

Lieutenant Doane and Mr. Langford were the first white men known to have ascended any of the higher peaks of the Absaroka Range. From the summit of the mountain so ascended, Mr. Langford made the first known authentic sketch of Yellowstone Lake. This sketch was used soon after by General Washburn in compiling an official map of that section of country, and he was so much pleased with it that he named the mountain from which it was taken, Mt. Langford. At Mr. Langford’s request, he named a neighboring peak, Mt. Doane.

Dome, The(9,900)—E: 4—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Druid Peak(9,600)—D: 12—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Dunraven Peak(9,700)—F: 9—1878—U. S. G. S.—“This I have named Dunraven Peak in honor of the Earl of Dunraven, whose travels and writings have done so much toward making this region known to our cousins across the water.”—Gannett.[CC]

[CC]Page 478, Twelfth Annual Report of Dr. Hayden.

Dunraven visited the Park in 1874. In 1876, he published his “Great Divide,” describing his travels in the West. The irrepressible Colonel Norris named this peak after himself, and coupled it with Mt. Washburn in a characteristic poem. But the United States Geological Survey decided otherwise, and transferred the colonel’s name to the north-east corner of the Park. (See "Mt. Norris.")

Eagle Peak(10,800)—O: 14—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Echo Peak(9,600)—E: 4—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Electric Peak(11,155)—B: 4-5—1872—U. S. G. S.—From the following circumstance, described by Mr. Henry Gannett, who ascended the mountain with surveying instruments, July 26, 1872:[CD]

“A thunder-shower was approaching as we neared the summit of the mountain. I was above the others of the party, and, when about fifty feet below the summit, the electric current began to pass through my body. At first I felt nothing, but heard a crackling noise, similar to a rapid discharge of sparks from a friction machine. Immediately after, I began to feel a tingling or pricking sensation in my head and the ends of my fingers, which, as well as the noise, increased rapidly, until, when I reached the top, the noise, which had not changed its character, was deafening, and my hair stood completely on end, while the tingling, pricking sensation was absolutely painful. Taking off my hat partially relieved it. I started down again, and met the others twenty-five or thirty feet below the summit. They were affected similarly, but in a less degree. One of them attempted to go to the top, but had proceeded but a few feet when he received quite a severe shock, which felled him as if he had stumbled. We then returned down the mountain about three hundred feet, and to this point we still heard and felt the electricity.”

[CD]Page 807, Sixth Annual Report of Dr. Hayden.

Elephant Back(8,600)—J: 9—1871—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic. “On account of the almost vertical sides of this mountain, and the rounded form of the summit, it has received the name of the Elephant’s Back.”—Hayden.[CE]

[CE]Page 98, Fifth Annual Report of Dr. Hayden.

This name, as now applied, refers to a different feature from that originally designated by it. Many years before the Park was discovered, it was used to denote the long ridge of which Mt. Washburn is the commanding summit, and which was distinctly visible from beyond the present limits of the Park, both north and south. It so appears upon Raynolds' map of1860, and was so used by the Washburn Expedition (1870), by Captain Barlow (1871), and by Captain Jones (1873). The United States Geological Survey, however, in 1871, transferred the name to an inconspicuous ridge more than a thousand feet lower than the surrounding mountains. Whether the change was made by accident or design does not appear. Captain Ludlow, as late as 1875, refers to it and deplores the fact that it had taken place.

Everts, Mt.(7,900)—C: 7—1870—Washburn Party.—For Hon. Truman C. Everts, member of the Expedition of 1870, whose terrible experience is elsewhere alluded to. The following succinct account is from the pen of Lieutenant Doane, and is in the main correct:[CF]

"On the first day of his absence, he had left his horse standing unfastened, with all his arms and equipments strapped upon his saddle; the animal became frightened, ran away into the woods, and he was left without even a pocket knife as a means of defense. Being very near-sighted, and totally unused to traveling in a wild country without guides, he became completely bewildered. He wandered down to the Snake River Lake [Hart Lake], where he remained twelve days, sleeping near the hot springs to keep from freezing at night, and climbing to the summits each day in the endeavor to trace out his proper course. Here he subsisted on thistle-roots, boiled in the springs, and was kept up a tree the greater part of one night by a California lion. After gathering and cooking a supply of thistle-roots, he managed to strike the south-west point of the [Yellowstone] Lake, and followed around the north side to the Yellowstone [River], finally reaching our [old] camp opposite the Grand Cañon. He was twelve days out before he thought to kindle a fire by using the lenses of his field-glass, but afterward carried a burning brand with him in all his wanderings. Herds of gamepassed by him during the night, on many occasions when he was on the verge of starvation. In addition to a tolerable supply of thistle-roots, he had nothing for over thirty days but a handful of minnows and a couple of snow-birds. Twice he went five days without food, and three days without water, in that country which is a net-work of streams and springs. He was found on the verge of the great plateau, above the mouth of Gardiner’s River. A heavy snow-storm had extinguished his fire; his supply of thistle-roots was exhausted; he was partially deranged, and perishing with cold. A large lion was killed near him, on the trail, which he said had followed him at a short distance for several days previously. It was a miraculous escape, considering the utter helplessness of the man, lost in a forest wilderness, and with the storms of winter at hand."

[CF]Page 37, “Yellowstone Expedition of 1870.” SeeAppendix E.

On the thirty-seventh day of his wanderings (September 9th to October 16th), he was discovered by Jack Baronett and George A. Pritchett, near the great trail on a high mountain a few miles west of Yancey’s. Baronett threw up a mound of stones to mark the spot. He carried Everts in his arms the rest of that day, and passed the night on a small tributary of Black-tail Deer Creek. The next day he was taken on a saddle to near the mouth of the Gardiner.

The commemoration of this adventure in the naming of Mt. Everts was an awkward mischance. The mountain which should bear the name is Mt. Sheridan. It was named for Everts by the Washburn Party the night before he was lost, in recognition of his having been the first white man (except Mr. Hedges, who was with him) known to have visited its summit. In the writings of the Washburn Party after their return, it is so used; one very interesting article, by Mr. Hedges, with this name as a title, being published in theHelena Heraldbefore it was known that Mr. Everts had been found. But the name, Mt. Everts, was finally given to the broad plateau between the Gardiner and the Yellowstone, a feature which isnot a mountain at all, and which is ten miles from where Everts was found. The actual locality of the finding was erroneously supposed to be near “Rescue Creek.”

In 1871, Captain Barlow ascended the mountain which should have borne the name of Everts, and called it Mt. Sheridan, in ignorance of its former christening.

Factory Hill(9,500)—O: 8—1885—U. S. G. S.—The term “factory” has at various times been applied to several different localities in the Park, because of their striking resemblance on frosty mornings to an active factory town. The resemblance was noted as far back as 1829. The name has now become fixed, as above indicated.

Flat Mountain(9,000)—N: 9—1871—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.—This mountain had already been named by the Washburn Party Yellow Mountain, from its color.

DAVID E. FOLSOM.

Folsom Peak(9,300)—E: 8—1895—U. S. G. S.—For David E. Folsom, leader of the Expedition of 1869, and author of the first general description of the valley of the Upper Yellowstone.

Forellen Peak(9,700)—T: 5—1885—U. S. G. S.—From the German name for Trout.

Gallatin Range—A-F: 1-4—Name in use prior to 1870. Raynolds has “Mt. Gallatin” on his map. Gallatin River (see name) rises in this range.

Garnet Hill(7,000)—C: 9—1878—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Giant Castle(10,000)—K: 14-15—1873—Jones—Characteristic.

Gibbon Hill(8,600)—H: 6—1885—U. S. G. S.—From the Gibbon River.

Gravel Peak(9,600)—T: 11—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Gray Peak(10,300)—C-D: 4—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Grizzly Peak(9,700)—L: 12—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Hancock, Mt.(10,100)—R: 10—1871—Barlow—For General W. S. Hancock, U. S. Army, who, as commanding officer of the Department of Dakota, had lent his active aid in the prosecution of the Yellowstone Explorations.

Hawk’s Rest(9,800)—R: 14—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Hedges Peak(9,500)—G: 9—1895—U. S. G. S.—For Cornelius Hedges, a prominent member of the Washburn Expedition, author of a series of descriptive articles upon the trip, and first to advance and publicly advocate the idea of setting apart that region as a National Park.

Holmes, Mt.(10,300)—F: 4—1878—U. S. G. S.—For W. H. Holmes, Geologist, U. S. Geological Survey. This peak had been previously called Mt. Madison.

Horseshoe Hill(8,200)—E: 6—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Hoyt, Mt.(10,400)—L: 13—1881—Norris—For the Hon. John W. Hoyt, then Governor of Wyoming.

Huckleberry Mountain(9,700)—S: 7—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Humphreys, Mt.(11,000)—N: 14—1871—Barlow—For General A. A. Humphreys, then Chief of Engineers, U. S. A.

Index Peak(11,740)—C: 16—This mountain, and Pilot Knob near it, received their names from unknown sources prior to 1870.

"One of them [the peaks] derives its name from its shape,like a closed hand with the index-finger extending upward, while the other is visible from so great a distance on every side that it forms an excellent landmark for the wandering miner, and thus its appropriate name of Pilot Knob."—Hayden.[CG]

[CG]Page 48, Sixth Annual Report of Dr. Hayden.

Joseph Peak(10,300)—C: 4—1885—U. S. G. S.—For Chief Joseph, the famous Nez Percé leader in the war of 1877. He deservedly ranks among the most noted of the North American Indians. His remarkable conduct of the campaign of 1877 and his uniform abstinence from those barbarous practices which have always characterized Indian warfare, were a marvel to all who were familiar with the facts. No Indian chief ever commanded to such a degree the respect and even friendship of his enemies.

Junction Butte(6,500)—D: 10—When or by whom given not known. The name arose, of course, from the fact that this butte stands at the junction of the two important streams, the Yellowstone and Lamar Rivers. Barlow records that the Butte was known as “Square Butte” at the time of his visit in 1871.

Lake Butte(8,600)—K: 11—1878—Characteristic.

Landmark, The(8,800)—F: 6—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Langford, Mt.(10,600)—M: 13—1870—Washburn Party—For the Hon. Nathaniel Pitt Langford, first Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park.

NATHANIEL PITT LANGFORD.

Mr. Langford was born August 9, 1832, in Westmoreland, Oneida County, New York. His early life was spent on his father’s farm, and his education was obtained by winter attendance at district school. At nineteen, he became clerk in the Oneida Bank of Utica. In 1854, he went to St. Paul, where we find him, in 1855, cashier of the banking house of Marshall & Co., and in 1858, cashier of the Bank of the Stateof Minnesota. In 1862, he went to Montana as second in command of the Northern Overland Expedition, consisting of 130 men and 53 wagons drawn by oxen. In 1864, he was made Collector of Internal Revenue for the new territory. In 1868, he was appointed by President Johnson Governor of Montana, but as this was after the Senate’s imbroglio with the President and its refusal to confirm any more presidential appointments, he did not reach this office. He was one of the famous Montana Vigilantes, a member of the Yellowstone Expedition of 1870, and first Superintendent of the newly created Park. In 1872, he was appointed National Bank Examiner for the Pacific States and Territories, and held the office for thirteen years. He now resides in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is author of a series of articles inScribner’sfor 1871, describing the newly-discovered wonders of the Yellowstone, and of the important work, “Vigilante Days and Ways,” the most complete history in existence of that critical period in Montana history.

The notable part which Mr. Langford bore in the discovery of the Upper Yellowstone country, and in the creation of the Yellowstone National Park, has been fully set forth elsewhere. He has always been its ardent friend, and his enthusiasm upon the subject in the earlier days of its history drew upon him the mild raillery of his friends, who were wont to call him,“National Park” Langford—a soubriquet to which the initials of his real name readily lent themselves.

For the circumstance of naming Mt. Langford, see “Mt. Doane.”

Mary Mountain(8,500)—J: 7—Probably so named by tourists from Mary Lake, which rests on the summit.

Moran, Mt.(12,800)—W: 5—1872—U. S. G. S.—For the artist, Thomas Moran, who produced the picture of the Grand Cañon now in the Capitol at Washington.

Needles, The(9,600)—E: 14—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

PHILETUS W. NORRIS.

Norris, Mt.(9,900)—E: 13—1878—U. S. G. S.—For Philetus W. Norris, second Superintendent of the Park, and the most conspicuous figure in its history.

He was born at Palmyra, New York, August 17, 1821. At the age of eight, he was tourist guide at Portage Falls on the Genesee River, New York, and at seventeen he was in Manitoba in the service of British fur traders. In 1842, he settled in Williams County, Ohio, where he founded the village of Pioneer. Between 1850 and 1860 he visited the Far West. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he entered the army and served a short time as spy and captain of scouts. He was then placed in charge of Rebel prisoners on Johnson’s Island. He next entered politics as member of the Ohio House of Representatives, but being later defeated for the State Senate, he joined the United States Sanitary Commissionand went again to the front. He soon returned and became trustee of certain landed property near the City of Detroit belonging to officers and soldiers of both armies. These lands he reclaimed at great expense from their original swampy condition, and built thereon the village of Norris, now part of Detroit. In 1770, he went west again and undertook to enter the Park region in June of that year, but permitted the swollen condition of the streams to defeat his project. He thus missed the honor which a few months later fell to the Washburn Party—a misfortune which he never ceased to deplore. In 1875, he again visited the Park, and in 1877, became its second Superintendent. In 1882, he returned to Detroit, after which he was employed by the government to explore old Indian mounds, forts, villages, and tombs, and to collect relics for the National Museum. He died at Rocky Hill, Kentucky, January 14, 1885. He is author of the following works: Five Annual Reports as Superintendent of the Park; “The Calumet of the Coteau,” a volume of verse, with much additional matter relating to the Park; and a long series of articles on “The Great West,” published in theNorris Suburbanin 1876-8.

The above sketch sufficiently discloses the salient characteristic of Norris' career. His life was that of the pioneer, and was spent in dealing first blows in the subjugation of a primeval wilderness. He was “blazing trails,” literally and figuratively, all his days, leaving to others the building of the finished highway. It is therefore not surprising that his work lacks the element of completeness, which comes only from patient attention to details. Nowhere is this defect more apparent than in his writings. A distinct literary talent, and something of the poet’s inspiration, were, to use his own words, “well nigh strangled” by the “stern realities of border life.” His prose abounds in aggregations of more than one hundred words between periods, so ill arranged and barbarously punctuated as utterly to bewilder the reader. Hisverse—we have searched in vain for a single quatrain that would justify reproduction. Nevertheless, his writings, like his works, were always to some good purpose. They contained much useful information, and, being widely read throughout the West, had a large and beneficial influence.

Perhaps no better or more generous estimate of his character can be found than in the following words of Mr. Langford who knew him well: “He was a good man, a true man, faithful to his friends, of very kind heart, grateful for kindnesses, of more than ordinary personal courage, rather vain of his poetical genius, and fond of perpetuating his name in prominent features of scenery.”

Concerning which last characteristic it may be noted that three mountain peaks, one geyser basin, one pass, and an uncertain number of other features of the Park, were thought by Colonel Norris deserving of this distinction. With inimitable fidelity to this trait of his character, he had even selected as his final resting-place the beautiful open glade on the south side of the Grand Cañon, just below the Lower Falls.

Observation Peak(9,300)—G: 8—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Obsidian Cliff(7,800)—F: 6—1878—Norris—Characteristic.

Paint Pot Hill(7,900)—H: 6—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Pelican Cone(9,580)—I: 12—1885—U. S. G. S.—Near source of Pelican Creek.

Pilot Knob(11,977)—C: 16—See "Index Peak."

Piñon Peak(9,600)—S: 10—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Prospect Peak(9,300)—D-E: 8—1885—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Pyramid Peak(10,300)—J: 14—1895—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Quadrant Mountain(10,200)—D: 4—1878—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Red Mountain Range—P: 7-8—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Reservation Peak(10,600)—M: 14—1895—U. S. G. S.—Characteristic.

Roaring Mountain(8,000)—F: 6—1885—U. S. G. S.—“It takes its name from the shrill, penetrating sound of the steam constantly escaping from one or more vents near the summit.”—Hague.

Saddle Mountain(11,100)—H: 15—1880—Norris—Characteristic.

Schurz Mt.(10,900)—N: 14—1885—U. S. G. S.—For Carl Schurz, Secretary of the Interior during President Hayes' administration. This name was first given by Colonel Norris to the prominent ridge on the west side of the Gibbon Cañon.

Sepulcher Mountain(9,500)—B-C: 5-6—The origin of this name is unknown. The following remarks concerning it are from the pen of Prof. Wm. H. Holmes:[CH]

“Why this mountain received such a melancholy appellation I have not been able to discover. So far as I know, the most important thing buried beneath its dark mass is the secret of its structure. It is possible that the form suggested the name.”

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