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Pelican Creek

Serpentine Stream associated with Pelicans, Trappers and Gold Prospectors

Creek in Yellowstone NP, Rocky Mountains in WY

Yellowstone Fishing Regulations

Wyoming Fishing Regulations

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Length

37mi

Osborne Russell and Blackfeet Skirmish

On August 28, 1839 after checking his beaver traps set on Pelican Creek near Yellowstone Lake, trapper Osborne Russell and a fellow trapper named White had a skirmish with Blackfeet Native Americans. Both trappers were wounded, Russell by two arrows and White by one arrow. The men hid, escaped the Blackfeet, found another trapper in their party, and eventually limped to Fort Hall ID starved and near naked (Russell 1921, 103-09; Whittlesey 2006, 199-200).

Geographic Name Origin

From an interview in the Louisville, KY., Courier-Journal, Apr. 13, 1884; gold prospector John C. Davis reminisced about how Pelican Creek might have got its name in 1864:

When we first reached the volcanic region of the geysers we were much alarmed at the yielding of the ground. Finally we struck a buffalo track, and followed this with some feeling of safety. None of our party thought to give names to anything in the valley. I remember one little incident connected with Pelican Creek, however, which may have suggested its name. We camped on this creek, and noticed several large birds which appeared to be wild geese. I shot one, which managed to fly out some distance in the [Yellowstone] lake before it fell. I swam out after it, and became very much exhausted before I reached it. It looked as if it might be good to eat so I skinned it, and then the boys concluded it would hardly do. I hung the pelican – for that was what it was – on a tree, and it was found afterward by [Adam “Horn”] Miller, who came by with his party. (Haines 1974, 31)

— John C. Davis

Sources

Haines, Aubrey L. “Yellowstone National Park: Its Exploration and Establishment,” 1974. http://npshistory.com/handbooks/historical/yell/haines/index.htm.

Russell, Osborne, and Lem A. York. Journal of a Trapper: Or, Nine Years in the Rocky Mountains, 1834-1843. From the Original Manuscript. Boise ID: Syms-York Company, inc.], 1921. http://archive.org/details/journalatrapper00yorkgoog.

Whittlesey, L.H. Yellowstone Place Names. Second. Wonderland Publishing Company, 2006.