Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition

Original Map of Yellowstone Lake from the Washburn Expedition

The Washburn Expedition of 1870, explored the region of northwestern Wyoming that two years later became Yellowstone National Park. Led by Henry Washburn, Nathaniel P. Langford and under U.S. Army escort led by Lt. Gustavus C. Doane, the expedition followed the general course of the Cook–Folsom–Peterson Expedition made the previous year.[1]

During their explorations, members of the party made detailed maps and observations of the Yellowstone region, exploring numerous lakes, climbing several mountains and observing wildlife. The expedition visited both the Upper and Lower Geyser Basins, and after observing the regularity of eruptions of one geyser, decided to name it Old Faithful, since it erupted about once every 74 minutes.

One member of the expedition, a Montana writer and lawyer named Cornelius Hedges, later wrote a number of articles for a Helena, Montana based newspaper, describing the things the expedition had witnessed. In discussions with other members of the party, and in his writing for the newspaper, Hedges was a vocal supporter of setting aside the Yellowstone region as a National Park, an idea originally proposed by former acting Montana Territorial Governor Thomas Francis Meagher.

Encouragement

The Washburn party was clearly inspired by the journals kept by Cook and Folsom, as well as their personal accounts. Immediately after the Cook expedition, David Folsom went to work as a surveyor for Henry Washburn. Additionally, Nathaniel Langford had personal connections with Jay Cooke of the Northern Pacific Railroad well before their expedition. Cooke was interested in the potential of the Yellowstone region to attract railroad business. After the expedition, Cooke financed Langford's early 1871 speeches in Virginia City, Helena, New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. about the 1870 expedition on behalf of the Northern Pacific Railroad.[2][3][4] On January 19, 1871 one of those speeches in Washington, D.C. was attended by geologist Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden who became inspired to conduct his next geological survey in the Yellowstone region. The result was the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871

Members of the expedition

Members of the expedition
Henry Washburn, 1869 
Nathaniel Pitt Langford, 1870 
Truman C. Everts, circa 1870 
Samuel T. Hauser, circa 1870 
Judge Cornelius Hedges, circa 1870 
Jacob Smith, date unk 
Benjamin C. Stickney Jr., circa 1870 
William C. Gillette, date unk 
Lt. Gustavus C. Doane, 1875 

Route and chronology of the expedition

Summarized from Langford (1871), Doane (1871) and Chittenden (1895)

Period Accounts by members of the expedition

Drawings and art from original accounts
Castle Geyser Cone by Private Moore 
Giant Geyser by Private Moore 
Lower Yellowstone Falls by Private Moore 
Upper Yellowstone Falls by Private Moore 
Jake Smith Doing Guard Duty, by Walter Trumbull 
Tower Fall, Private Moore 

Park features named by the expedition

As documented by Yellowstone Place Names, Aubrey L. Haines, 1996

Park features named to honor members of the expedition

Additional reading

See also

Notes

  1. Haines, Aubrey L. (2000). "The Washburn Party (1870)". Yellowstone National Park: Its Exploration and Establishment. U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
  2. Cook, Charles W.; Folsom, Dave E.; Peterson, William (1965). Haines, Aubrey L., ed. The Valley of the Upper Yellowstone-An Exploration of the Headwaters of the Yellowstone River in the Year 1869. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.
  3. Merrill, Marlene Deahl, ed. (1999). Yellowstone and the Great West-Journals, Letters and Images from the 1871 Hayden Expedition. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 12–13. ISBN 0-8032-3148-2.
  4. Schullery, Paul; Whittlesey, Lee (2003). Myth and History in the Creation of Yellowstone National Park. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 30–32. ISBN 0-8032-4305-7.
  5. 1 2 3 Langford, Nathaniel Pitt (1905). The Discovery of Yellowstone Park; Diary of the Washburn Expedition to the Yellowstone and Firehole Rivers in the Year 1870. St. Paul, MN: Frank Jay Haynes.
  6. Stout, Tom (1921). Montana Its Story and Biography-A History of the Aboriginal and Territorial Montana and Three Decades of Statehood II. Chicago: American Historical Society. p. 81.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Haines, Aubrey L. (1996). The Yellowstone Story-A History of Our First National Park. (Revised ed.). Yellowstone National Park, WY: Yellowstone Library and Museum Association. pp. 108–109. ISBN 0-87081-391-9.
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