The Discovery of Yellowstone Park

The Discovery of Yellowstone Park: Journal of the Washburn Expedition to the Yellowstone and Firehole Rivers in the Year 1870 by Nathaniel Pitt Langford

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


With the ecological integrity of Yellowstone National Park in contention between developers and environmentalists, the events of its exploration and founding take on an added interest. This edition of the author's journal brings back into print one of the principal sources of information on the exploration of the Yellowstone region and its establishment as America's first national park.

The findings of the 1870 Washburn expedition, of which the author was a member, gave credence to the findings of the Folsom party of 1869 and resulted in the sending of a government survey party into the area in 1871. The culminating effect of the three expeditions was the federal legislation creating our first and largest national park and marking the beginning of the national concern for the preservation of America's heritage of wilderness beauty.
~~back cover

I had such high hopes for this book! I thought it was going to be a singing record of the land, the trees and the animals, and the geologic wonders. Instead, it was more of a daily recording of the minutia of the exploration: who got lost, who fell off their horse, etc. There are some vivid descriptions of what they saw: rock formations, sulphur springs, bubbling mineral springs and mud pots, rivers and rapids, massive waterfalls, geysers, etc. But the descriptions are meager, and unsatisfying.

My maternal great great uncle was one of the mountain men who helped open up the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. I hoped for a mention of him, or a reference, but there was none. That thought did, however, give me the idea to research his name, to see what's been written about him.

This is a slim book, 125 pages or so. I was relieved when it was over.