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Steamboat Point

Steep Cliffs and Steam Vents Along Yellowstone Lake

Point on Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone NP, Rocky Mountains near Lake Village, WY

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Steamboat Point, “Steamy Point”, or “Steam Point” is a steep cliff protruding out into Yellowstone Lake near Mary Bay. There the loud steam vents of today’s named Steamboat Springs, sounded like a steamboat to the Hayden 1871 Geological Survey members. (Whittlesey, 228)

1871 Hayden Expedition

During their August 20, 1871 stay near Steamboat Point, the Hayden expedition was shook by a significant earthquake and tremors causing the expedition to name the camp “Earthquake Camp”. F.V. Hayden and his mineralogist A. C. Peale described the quake in Hayden’s Fifth Annual Report:

While we were encamped on the northeast side of the lake, near Steamboat Point, on the night [early morning] of the 20th of July [August] (1871), we experienced several severe shocks of an earthquake, and these were felt by two other parties, fifteen or twenty-five miles distant, on different sides of the lake. We were informed by mountain men that these earthquake shocks are not uncommon, and at some seasons of the year very severe, and this fact is given by the Indians as the reason why they seldom or never visit that portion of the country. I have no doubt that if this part of the country should ever be settled and careful observations made, it will be found that earthquake shocks are of very common occurrence. (Hayden 1872, 82)

— Hayden

On the 19th of August we moved our camp down the Lake to Steamy Point … Our camp was situated on a high bluff on the edge of the lake … Every night while at this place we experienced earthquake shocks, each lasting from five to twenty seconds. We named it Earthquake Camp. (Peale 1872, 189-90)

— Peale

1871 Barlow Expedition

A second 1871 Yellowstone expedition, commanded by Captain John W. Barlow, had orders from General Sheridan to explore and map the Yellowstone region also felt the earthquake. The 1871 Barlow expedition was camped the evening of August 19, about 15 miles away from Steamboat Point, near the Yellowstone River’s inlet to the southeast arm of Yellowstone Lake (Barlow 1872 Report in Baldwin):

August 20 - We experienced last night the singular sensation of an earthquake. There were two shocks, the first one being quite severe, accompanied by a rumbling and rushing sound (Barlow).

— Barlow

“Earthquake camp” of the Hayden expedition in 1871, located on the north shore of Yellowstone Lake near Steamboat Point. Historic photo below by William H. Jackson, courtesy Yellowstone National Park.

Sources

Baldwin, Kenneth H. “Enchanted Enclosure: The Army Engineers and Yellowstone National Park.” History. Accessed November 12, 2023. https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/baldwin/index.htm.

Hayden, Ferdinand Vandeveer. “Fifth Annual Preliminary Report of the United States Geological Survey of Montana and Portions of Adjacent Territories: Being a Fifth Annual Report of Progress.” Report. Annual Report. Washington D.C., 1872. USGS Publications Warehouse. https://doi.org/10.3133/70038938.

NPS, and William A. Fisher. “Yellowstone’s Living Geology Earthquakes and Mountain.” Yellowstone Nature Notes. Accessed November 11, 2023. http://npshistory.com/nature_notes/yell/vol33.htm.

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