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Washburn-Langford-Doane September 17, 1870 Campsite

Snow Camp

Historic Campsite on Spring Creek Trail, Spring Creek Ski Trail in Yellowstone NP, Rocky Mountains near Old Faithful, WY

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Leaving Warren C. Gillette, Privates Charles Moore and John Williamson to continue the search for lost comrade Truman C. Everts, the expedition blazed a westerly trail under miserable weather. The 3 man search party for Everts would make their way back to Bozeman and Fort Ellis by descending the Yellowstone River. Washburn and Doane led the main expedition to the west to find the watershed of the Madison River and descend that river home. Hedges penned in his journal how dismal their morale and the weather was on the journey to and their overnight stay at what they would call Snow Camp.

Saturday 17. A month to-day since we started and only just set out to return. It was my turn to stand guard this morning from two till five. L.[Langford] took my place and let me take his to-night, first watch- were up early - breakfasted in tent - washed at hot spring by lake and visited the mud springs once more - takes a long time to pack up - after we were partly packed G.[Gillette] concluded to return with two soldiers to renew the search for Everts and overtake us. We finally started about 101/2, left notice on dead tree south of spring between tent and beach. L.[Langford]’s horse got foot cut around hot springs.

— Hedges p. 389

Started out in rear train N. N. W. through woods and snow very bad going - went more directly W. than expected - some very bad road - steep hills and thick timber - passed two springs in woods on our way, one spouting.

— Hedges p. 389

Weather a little unsettled - some rain and hail - found no bare ground, saw no other lakes - travelled till five - camped on hill side by little meadow, with a run - came twelve miles - very hungry - ground all wet - thin shoes, stood guard till eleven, had a dismal, lonely time - all wet and snow - sat by fire and wrote up my diary - stars shining when I went to bed. L.[Langford] built a nice bower to cover our heads - didn’t put up tent - much doubt as to where we are and where we should go - have gone little north of west to-day.

— Hedges p. 389

Further Research and Reading

Scott, K.A. Yellowstone Denied: The Life of Gustavus Cheyney Doane. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2007.

Sources

Cramton, Louis C. Early History of Yellowstone National Park and Its Relation to National Park Policies. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1932. https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/yell/cramton/index.htm.

Doane, Gustavus Cheyney. Letter from the Secretary of War, Communicating the Report of Lieutenant Gustavus C. Doane upon the so-Called Yellowstone Expedition of 1870. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1873. http://archive.org/details/letterfromsecret1873unit.

Everts, Truman C. “Thirty-Seven Days of Peril.” Scribner’s Monthly, November 1871. http://archive.org/details/scribnersmonthly31newy.

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

Hedges, Cornelius. “Journal of Judge Cornelius Hedges.” In Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana, 1904 Edition. Vol. 5. Helena, MT: Independent Publishing Company, 1876. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Contributions_to_the_Historical_Society/yt4UAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1.

Langford, N. P. “The Wonders of the Yellowstone.” Scribner’s Monthly, May 1871. http://archive.org/details/scribnersmonthly02newy.

Langford, N. P. “The Wonders of the Yellowstone.” Scribner’s Monthly, June 1871. http://archive.org/details/scribnersmonthly02newy.

Langford, Nathaniel Pitt. Diary of the Washburn Expedition to the Yellowstone and Firehole Rivers in the Year 1870. St. Paul, Minn., [c1905]. http://archive.org/details/diaryofwashburne00langrich. However, Langford’s “Diary of the Washburn Expedition to the Yellowstone and Firehole Rivers in the Year 1870” or “The Discovery of Yellowstone National Park” material, which was published 35 years after the expedition, and used bearing that in mind.

Trumbull, Walter. “The Washburn Yellowstone Expedition.” The Overland Monthly, 1871. California State Library. http://archive.org/details/overlandmonthly06hart.

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Historic Campsite