Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
This was the second in a series of expeditions to what was to become Yellowstone National Park. This expedition was headed by Henry D. Washburn and Lieutenant Doane. It departed from Fort Ellis, crossed the Bozeman Pass and ascended the Yellowstone River to Yellowstone Lake where they explored the geyser basins. Lieutenant Doane prepared an excellent report of their explorations. As a result of this report, and the effort of Nathaniel P. Langford, Cornelius Hedges, Samuel T. Hauser, and Washburn, Congress started legislation in 1871 to declare this region our nation's first national park.
Bonney, O.H., L. Bonney. 1970. Battle drums, and geysers; the life and
journals of Lt. Gustavus Cheyrey Doane, soldier and explorer of the
Yellowstone, and Snake River regions. Sage Books, Chicago. 622 pp.
Brown, M.H. 1969. The plainsmen of the Yellowstone: A history of the
Yellowstone Basin. Bison Books, Univ. of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.
Chittenden, H.M. 1985. The Yellowstone National Park. The Robert Clark
Co., Cincinnati, OH.
Doane, G.C. 1870. Report on the Yellowstone expedition of 1870. 41st
Congress 3rd session, Senate Ex Doc. No. 51, Washington, DC.
Langford, N.P. 1905. Discovery of Yellowstone Park. Diary of the
Washburn expedition to the Yellowstone and Firehole River in the year
1870.