The Discovery of Yellowstone Park (Paperback)

In July of 1872 Nathaniel Langford and James Stevenson were the first to climb the Grand Teton Mountain. Before this Langford had made several trips exploring the area. The Discovery of Yellowstone Park is a journal written in 1870. It details the Washburn Expedition to the Yellowstone and Firehole Rivers. After the Civil War the country was in a depression. When gold was rumored to have been discovered on the Salmon River, many men headed west not knowing what conditions would be like. Langford states this beautifully in his introduction. "How little did they know of its exposures The deserts, destitute of water and grass, the alkaline plains where food and drink were alike affected by the poisonous dust, the roving bands of hostile Indians, the treacherous quicksands of river fords, the danger and difficulty of the mountain passes, the death of their companions, their cattle and their horses, breakage of their vehicles, angry and often violent personal altercations--all these fled in the light of the summer sun, the vernal beauty of the plains and the delightfully pure atmosphere which wooed them day by day farther away from the abode of civilization and the protection of law." This journal is an excellent first hand account of the men, their adventure and a thrilling time in America's history.