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

Amethyst Mountain

Mountain in Yellowstone NP, Rocky Mountains near Buffalo Ford, WY

Print Map

Generate High-Quality PDF

Amethyst Mountain earned its name from the amethyst crystals found there.

Collecting any natural resources, including rocks and fossils, is illegal in Yellowstone National Park.

Jones Expedition (1873)

The Corps of Engineers’ Jones Expedition of 1873 included Amethyst Mountain in their 1874 map and 1875 report. (Jones 1875, 27,94; Whittlesey 2006, 35)

Wednesday, August 13 [1873]. - Broke camp at 9 a. m., and marched twenty-eight miles, directly over the highest point of the East Fork divide [Amethyst Mountain], to the East Fork of the Yellowstone River [Lamar River], one mile from the [Baronett] bridge over the latter stream.

— Captain William A. Jones

August 20 [1873]. – Crossed East Fork, and followed the miners’ trail up along the left bank of the river to Amethyst Mountain, which we ascended nearly to the summit, collecting a number of fine mineral specimens …

— Theodore B. Comstock in his Geological Report

V. E. Cline of Bozeman (1875)

V. E. Cline traveled the Bozeman Trail into southwest Montana by wagon train with John Bozeman. His business ventures in Montana included hauling produce to gold miners in Virginia City, mining at Helena, ranching, and farming. By the fall of 1875 “he went to Specimen Mountain in the National Park, and gathered nearly 3 tons of amethyst specimens”. The next year, he sold half of the amethyst in Chicago and the remaining half at America’s Centennial 1876 Celebration in Philadelphia. (Lesson 1885, 1111)

The amethyst removal and sale happed after congress created Yellowstone National Park in 1872. The creation of the National Park, signed by President Grant, did not include the establishment of laws protecting natural resources and effectively enforcing them. Yellowstone’s protection by the US Army occurred in 1886, thanks to General Sheridan and Senator Vest. See Mount Sheridan. Yellowstone wildlife protection occurred in 1894, thanks to Congressman Lacey.

Sources

Jones, William A. Report upon the Reconnaissance of Northwestern Wyoming Including Yellowstone National Park Made in the Summer of 1873. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1875. https://archive.org/details/reportuponreconn00jone/mode/2up.

Leeson, Michael A. History of Montana. 1739-1885. Chicago: Warner, Beers & Company, 1885. https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/lB1PAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiU6LCshZ-DAxUzjIkEHdYeDPEQ8fIDegQIHBAE.

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