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Mount Schurz

Yellowstone's Second Highest Peak

Mountain in Shoshone NF, Washakie Wilderness, Rocky Mountains near Lake, WY

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Mount Schurz in eastern Yellowstone National Park borders America’s first national forest, the Shoshone National Forest. The peak is located east of Yellowstone Lake’s Southeast Arm, high in the volcanic Absaroka Range. It is Yellowstone’s second-highest peak, with Eagle Peak 3 miles to the southeast being the highest.

Geographic Name Origin

In 1885, Arnold Hague, the USGS Yellowstone geologist, named the peak to honor Carl Schurz (pronounced shirts). Schurz, a German emigrant, became the Secretary of the Interior from 1877 to 1881. He was the first Secretary of the Interior to visit Yellowstone and made conservation of natural resources a priority, promoted better living conditions for Native Americans, and supported creating national forests.

Hague’s team surveyed the Yellowstone Lake area in 1885, with a subsequent 1904 “Lake Sheet” topographic map published showing Mount Schurz.

Scenic Photographs

Mount Schutz with fresh snow, Jacob W. Frank (NPS) photograph above.

Mount Humphreys (left) and Mount Schurz (right) viewed from northeast above Eagle Creek drainage, Jacob W. Frank (NPS) photograph above.

Geology

Columnar basalt and geologic patterns on Mt. Schutz, Jacob W. Frank (NPS) photograph above.

USGS 1904 "Lake Sheet" Map

Sources

Hague, Arnold and USGS. “Lake Sheet. Topography Sheet VII.” 1904. Atlas To Accompany Monograph XXXII On The Geology Of The Yellowstone National Park. Image credit to “David Rumsey Map Collection, David Rumsey Map Center, Stanford Libraries.” https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~36188~1200716.

“Shoshone National Forest - History and Culture.” Accessed December 5, 2023. https://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet3/cs/detail/shoshone/about-forest/.

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

On the Web

On Wikipedia

Mount Schurz el. 11,007 feet (3,355 m) is a mountain peak in the Absaroka Range in Yellowstone National Park. Mount Schurz is the second highest peak in Yellowstone. The mountain was originally named Mount Doane by Henry D. Washburn during the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition in 1871. Later the name Mount Doane was given to another peak in the Absaroka Range by geologist Arnold Hague. In 1885, Hague named the mountain for the 13th U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Carl Schurz (1877–1881). Schurz was the first Secretary of the Interior to visit Yellowstone and a strong supporter of the national park movement.