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Washburn-Langford-Doane September 3-4, 1870 Campsite

Beach Springs Area “Hot Spring Camp” Campsite

Historic Campsite on Washburn-Langford-Doane Route in Yellowstone NP, Rocky Mountains near Lake Village, WY

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Washburn-Langford-Doane September 5, 1870 Campsite

Washburn-Langford-Doane September 1-2, 1870 Campsite

While the rest of the expedition crossed the Yellowstone River at Nez Perce Ford and journeyed to Yellowstone Lake, Washburn and Langford retraced their route to explore more of the Crater Hills geothermal area. Langford, not heeding yesterday’s lesson of Cornelius Hedge’s life-threatening incident of being too close to the Mud Volcano, almost fell into the scalding hot water of a spring at Crater Hills.

The border of this spring below the surface had been undermined in many places by the violent boiling of the water, to the distance of several feet from the margin, so that it was unsafe to stand near the edge of the spring. This, however, I did not at first perceive; and, as I was unconcernedly passing by the spring, my weight made the border suddenly slough off beneath my feet. General Washburn noticed the sudden cracking of the incrustation before I did, and I was aroused to a sense of my peril by his shout of alarm, and had sufficient presence of mind to fall suddenly backwards at full length upon the sound crust, whence, with my feet and legs extended over the spring, I rolled to a place of safety.

— Langford Diary p. 46-47

After Washburn and Langford had explored the Crater Hills area, they ascended the west bank of the Yellowstone River to catch up to their expedition, working their way to Yellowstone Lake. Just after the two men forded the Yellowstone River where their expedition had, Langford recorded a hunting blind on the east bank. Although Langford attributed the hunting blind to trappers, it could have been of Native American origin.

Soon after fording the river we discovered some evidence that trappers had long ago visited this region. Here we found that the earth had been thrown up two feet high, presenting an angle to the river, quite ingeniously concealed by willows, and forming a sort of rifle-pit, from which a hunter without disclosing his hiding place could bring down swans, geese, ducks, pelicans, and even the furred animals that made their homes along the river bank.

— Langford Diary p. 48-49

While camping the evening of September 23rd, near Yellowstone Lake’s Beach Springs, Lt. Doane finally agreed to surgery by Dr. Langford on his infected, throbbing, swollen thumb. (Haines 1974, 70-71)

Last evening Lieutenant Doane’s sufferings were so intense that General Washburn and I insisted that he submit to an operation, and have the felon opened, and he consented provided I would administer chloroform. Preparations were accordingly made after supper. A box containing army cartridges was improvised as an operating table, and I engaged Mr. Bean, one of our packers, and Mr. Hedges as assistant surgeons. Hedges was to take his position at Doane’s elbow, and was to watch my motion as I thrust in the knife blade, and hold the elbow and fore-arm firmly to prevent any involuntary drawing back of the arm by Lieutenant Doane, at the critical moment. When Doane was told that we were ready, he asked, “Where is the chloroform?” I replied that I had never administered it, and that after thinking the matter over I was afraid to assume the responsibility of giving it. He swallowed his disappointment, and turned his thumb over on the cartridge box, with the nail down. Hedges and Bean were on hand to steady the arm, and before one could say “Jack Robinson,” I had inserted the point of my penknife, thrusting it down to the bone, and had ripped it out to the end of the thumb. Doane gave one shriek as the released corruption flew out in all directions upon surgeon and assistants, and then with a broad smile on his face he exclaimed, “That was elegant!” We then applied a poultice of bread and water, which we renewed a half hour later, and Doane at about eight o’clock last night dropped off into a seemingly peaceful sleep, which has been continuous up to the time of this writing, two o’clock p. m.

— Langford Diary p. 51

In view of the distant Tetons, the expedition camped for 2 nights. They collected strangely shaped rocks from the shoreline of Concretion Cove, listened to Steamboat Point’s whistle, and rested up for their journey around Yellowstone Lake.

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.