Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition

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Henry Dana Washburn
Washburn-Langford-Doane expedition route
Nathaniel P. Langford

The Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition took place in 1870 through what is now Yellowstone National Park in the USA . The national park was founded not least thanks to the findings of this expedition . It deepened the knowledge from the Folsom Expedition of 1869 and formed the basis for the Hayden Expedition of 1871.

The Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition was put together to verify the bogus reports about the Yellowstone area heard from trappers , mountain men and folksom expedition participants.

The expedition consisted of 19 mostly prominent men from Montana , led by the state inspector general Henry Dana Washburn . He was assisted by the writer Nathaniel P. Langford and Lieutenant Gustavus C. Doane with a division of soldiers. In addition to the men, forty horses and mules as well as the dog “Booby” ​​took part. The oldest participant was Truman Everts, aged 54. The group took supplies for 30 days, as well as a tent, weapons, and ammunition.

route

The expedition left Fort Ellis after delays on August 22, 1870. It entered the area of ​​today's national park in the north. On the second day they noticed Absarokee - Indians who watched the group. As a result, the participants should not see any more Indians during the expedition.

After passing the Tower Fall - which they named - they came across a mountain they named Mount Washburn . They followed the Yellowstone River south, met the three waterfalls Lower Falls , Crystal Falls and Upper Falls . Samuel Hauser measured the Tower Fall as well as the Lower and Upper Falls with a weighted string. Before they even reached Yellowstone Lake , they saw the first geyser . They named it Mud Geyser .

They skirted Yellowstone Lake along the east and south banks. On September 9, Everts got lost from the group. For a week they looked in vain for Everts. Then three men separated from the main group in order to continue to look at Evert's view; the rest continued the expedition. They moved west into the area of ​​the many geysers. On September 18, 1870, they camped near one of them whom no white man had seen before. They were particularly impressed by the Old Faithful's regular eruptions . They watched him for two days and finally gave him the name. Then they traveled north to the Madison River . They followed this and left the area of ​​today's national park in the west on September 22nd. The next morning, Langford rode to Virginia City and announced that they had lost Everts. Meanwhile, the military escort headed by Lieutenant Doane went to Fort Ellis to take steps to search for Everts.

On September 27th the main group returned to their homeland. The triple search party arrived on October 2nd without having found Everts. Everts was finally saved on October 16 by Jack Baronett , a local scout.

The findings of the expedition were eagerly absorbed and published in newspapers and magazines across the country; this is in complete contrast to the descriptions from the previous Folsom expedition.

Attendees

The expedition members were accompanied by a military escort led by Gustavus C. Doane :

  • William Baker (Sergeant)
  • Gustavus C. Doane (Lieutenant; 1840-1892)
  • William Leipler (soldier)
  • George W. McDonnell (soldier)
  • Charles Moore (soldier)
  • John Williamson (soldier)

literature

  • Nathaniel Langford: The Discovery of Yellowstone Park: Journal of the Washburn Expedition to the Yellowstone and Firehole Rivers in the Year 1870 . Bison Books, SL 1972, ISBN 0803257058 .
  • Aubrey L. Haines: The Yellowstone Story - A History of our First National Park. University Press of Colorado, Niwot, 1996, two volumes, ISBN 0-87081-390-0 and ISBN 0-87081-391-9

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kim Allen Scott: Yellowstone denied: the life of Gustavus Cheyney Doane , p. 80. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 2007. ISBN 0-8061-3800-9 , accessed September 17, 2010