Browse Map

Explore away

Explore Map Collection

Check out our basemaps

Print a Map Plus

Generate a high-quality PDF

Field Guide

Discover local flora, fauna, geology, and more

Local Flora & Fauna

Learn the ecology of your area

Local Geology

Learn the geologic formation at your feet

Get Started or Sign In

Welcome

Continue with Apple

Already have an account? Sign In

MAP

Topo

Measure

Topo

Ecoregions

Public Lands

...

BASEMAPS

Default Weather

Temperature

Smoke

...

WEATHER

Washburn-Langford-Doane September 7, 1870 Campsite

South End of the The Promontory, SW of Molly Islands Campsite

Historic Campsite in Yellowstone NP, Rocky Mountains near Lake, WY

Print Map

Generate High-Quality PDF

Washburn departed early that morning and scouted for a suitable Yellowstone River crossing. Lieutenant Doane and Nathaniel Langford ascended what is now called Colter Peak, where Langford sketched the outline of Yellowstone Lake from the summit. The pack train continued slowly clockwise around the lake, crossing the river near Trail Lake, and proceeded to a campsite at the base of a ridged peninsula called The Promontory. Langford and Doane, exhausted from their summit hike, finally arrived at camp after dark.

Seventeenth day. September 7. In company with Mr. Langford, I climbed to the summit of a neighboring peak, the highest of the east range. We were four hours reaching the highest point … The view from this [Colter] peak commanded completely the lake, enabling us to sketch a map of its inlets and bearings with considerable accuracy.

— Doane 1873

Descending the mountain we followed the trail of the party, crossing the stream a mile above our camp, where it is 100 feet wide and 3 feet deep, with a moderate current. Thence we followed to the right through a beautiful open forest, across the grassy valley, passing two little gems of lakes at the foot of high ridges, on the west side. Presently the trail turned up the slope of the mountain, where night overtook us. After traveling some distance I discovered we were following a band of elk, having missed the trail in the darkness. We then struck out for the lake shore, on which our course was regained, but presently lost again after more elk. We then built a fire and examined the ground carefully for tracks, found the right direction, and at 10 o’clock at night arrived in camp on the lake shore, to the relief of our companions, who supposed us lost in the mountains. Our camp to-night is due south from the head of the Yellowstone, on the other side of the lake (Haines 1974, 72). Long, wooded promontories here extend out into the basin, inclosing bays several miles in length. These are so numerous as to render it impossible to give a correct profile of the shore without actual measurement, the perspective in such distances rendering appearances very deceiving.

— Doane 1873

Illustrations and Maps

Map of Yellowstone Lake shown above by Nathaniel P. Langford 1870 from Langford Diary (1905, 64)

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.

Taxonomy

Classified As

Historic Campsite