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Younts Peak

Harry Yount Yellowstone’s First Gamekeeper

Peak in Teton NF, Teton Wilderness, Rocky Mountains near Dubois, WY

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Younts Peak is located in the Absaroka Range near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River. This remote mountain is “named this for an old trapper and guide of that region”, who in 1880 became Yellowstone National Park’s first Gamekeeper. (Chittenden 1895, 312)

Historical Photographs

Harry Yount, Yellowstone Gamekeeper from June 1880 till resignation in 1881.

Harry Yount at Berthoud Pass, Colorado. William Henry Jackson (USGS) photograph above.

REPORT OF GAMEKEEPER GAMEKEEPER’S CABIN, YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, November 25, 1880 SIR: The notice of my appointment by the Hon. Carl Schurz, Secretary of the Interior, as gamekeeper of the Yellowstone National Park, with instructions to report to you as its superintendent for duty, reached me at Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory. I at once accepted, but as the unusually deep snows and floods in the mountains prevented my crossing them from that direction, I proceeded by the railroad and coach-route, via Ogden and Bozeman, reporting at the headquarters of the Park July 6, and entering at once upon my duties. My previous experience in the Park proved materially beneficial, as I knew the haunts and habits of the various animals and how to protect them from wanton slaughter by the numerous tourists. Meeting the honorable Secretary of the Interior at the South Madison, near the southwestern corner of the Park, I accompanied him in his tour of its leading points of interest to the northeast corner at the cañon of Clark’s Fork, where he left this region.Returning to the Mammoth Hot Springs I outfitted and proceeded, via the Great Falls, to the foot and thumb of the Yellowstone Lake, and thence in a nearly direct route past Lake Riddle and a flat open country, to Heart Lake at the foot of Mount Sheridan, some twenty five miles from the Shoshone trail at the thumb of the Yellowstone Lake. From Heart Lake I crossed over to Barlow Valley at the foot of the Red Mountain range near the southern border of the Park, finding deer and elk in abundance, and some moose, and Heart Lake as well as all the cold streams teeming with extra fine trout and countless water fowl.Upon my return trip I explored the region around Lewis and Shoshone Lakes, finding along their northern terrace an excellent route for a trail of easy construction. I also found an excellent gravelly ford of Snake River, some two miles below Shoshone Lake. Returning via the Yellowstone Lake and Falls to the Mammoth Hot Springs, I proceeded with men and animals to construct a cabin for my winter quarters at a good spring on the terrace commanding a fine view of both the East Fork and the Soda Butte Valleys. Here I purpose wintering so as to protect the game, especially elk and bison, in their sheltered chosen winter haunts, from the Clark’s Fork and other miners. I have during the season, found elk, deer, and bear in all portions of the Park, antelope in most of the open regions, and moose in the willow beaver swamps of the southern portion, and excellent trout in abundance in all the cold water streams, excepting the Yellowstone, where, as well as in the lakes, this fish is infested with worms, and the Lewis and Shoshone, the waters of which, although remarkably cold and clear, are not inhabited by any species of the finny tribe. Much of the game in the Park occasionally ranges over some of the adjacent regions, endangering their slaughter in the constantly advancing border settlements. Hence I would strongly recommend that all portions of the Park be well protected, that the game may remain, increase, and much of it soon become domesticated. But this cannot be done by any one man, and I would respectfully urge for the purpose the appointment of a small, active, reliable police force, to receive regular pay during the spring and summer at least, when animals are liable to be slaughtered by tourists and mountaineers. It is evident that such a force could in addition to the protection of game, assist the superintendent of the Park in enforcing the laws, rules, and regulations for protection of guide-boards and bridges, and the preservation of the countless and widely scattered geyser-cones and other matchless wonders of the Park. Most respectfully yours, HARRY YOUNT, Gamekeeper of the Yellowstone National Park

— (Yount in Norris 1880, p.50)

On the Web

On Wikipedia

Younts Peak is a peak in the Absaroka Range in northwestern Wyoming in the United States and the highest point in the Teton Wilderness. The Yellowstone River is formed near the peak from two streams that rise on the northern and southern ridges of the peak and join at the base of the western ridge. The peak summit itself can be hiked, but accessing the peak is difficult due to its remoteness. The peak was named after Harry Yount, a hunter and guide considered to be the first ranger in Yellowstone National Park.

Further Research and Reading

Supernaugh, William R. “Enigmatic Icon: The Life and Times of Harry Yount.” In Annals of Wyoming: The Wyoming History Journal, Spring 1998 , Vol. 70 No. 2. Wyoming State Historical Society. Accessed January 7, 2024. https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/hisnps/npshistory/yount.htm.

Sources

Chittenden, Hiram Martin. Yellowstone National Park. Cincinnati: The Robert Clarke Company, 1895. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/42112/42112-h/42112-h.htm.

Norris, Philetus W. [1880] Annual Report Of The Yellowstone National Park To The Secretary Of The Interior For The Year 1880. Montana History Portal, accessed 04/12/2023, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/104720