In the early 1800s, no one believed the stories of bursting geysers, bubbling mud pots, steaming vents, and rainbow-colored hot spring pools that mountain men like Jim Berger had allegedly seen when exploring the remote region of southwest Montana, northwest Wyoming.
For most people, such things only existed in storybooks. However, when Hayden’s Geological Survey of 1871 explored Yellowstone and came back with photographic proof of the region’s otherworldly beauty, America was astonished.
A year later, Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act, establishing the first national park in the world, Yellowstone National Park.
Read on for the complete, condensed history of Yellowstone National Park, from its ancient origins to today.
Video summary of this article ( 3:17)
Visit our YouTube channel for more content like this on Montana.
Table of contents:
- First discoveries (early 1800s)
- First organized expeditions (1860s – 1870s)
- Establishment of Yellowstone National Park (1872)
- Railroads and cars, more visitors
- Geysers, mud pots, and steaming rivers
- Geological origins of Yellowstone National Park’s wonders – Yellowstone Caldera
- Indigenous tribes of Yellowstone – Before Europeans arrived
History of Yellowstone National Park
Below we cover the complete, condensed history of Yellowstone National Park, from its geological origins to the park we know today.
We start with the early European explorations of the Yellowstone region before diving into the geological history and revealing the incredible story of how this landscape came to be.
First discoveries (early 1800s)
The first discoveries of Yellowstone National Park by European-American settlers were largely conducted privately by various mountain men and fur trappers throughout the early 1800s. These included Jon Colter, a former member of the Lewis & Clark expedition, and mountain man Jim Bridger.
John Colter – the first explorer of Yellowstone
The first exploration of the Yellowstone area was by James Colter, a member of the Lewis & Clark Expedition that passed through Montana in 1805. While the Crow, Nez Perce, and Shoshone tribes told the corps about the Yellowstone area, the corps chose to continue on.
In 1806, on the return journey from the Pacific, Colter left the expedition to join a group of trappers, but in 1807 he struck out on his own. He first discovered Yellowstone in the winter of 1807-1808, when after a run-in with local tribes, he crossed hundreds of miles of territory on his own back to a settlement.
He described the Yellowstone area as a land of “fire and brimstone”, though his peers dismissed his reports as delirium, giving the area the nickname, “Colter’s Hell”.
Mountain men explorations
For the next 40 years, mountain men and trappers continued exploring the Yellowstone area, returning home with similar tales as Colter and facing the same skepticism from friends and family.
After visiting Yellowstone in 1856, mountain man Jim Bridger spoke of the region’s boiling springs, spouting water, mountains of glass, and yellow rock – but everyone knows mountain men tell tall tales.
In 1859, an organized survey led by Bridger, which included U.S. Army Surveyor and Captain William F. Reynolds and geologist Ferdinand V. Hayden, set off to survey the southern Rockies.
After camping in the Wind River region of Wyoming, severe weather conditions prevented them from crossing the Continental Divide. If they’d made it over the pass, they would have been the first official survey to enter Yellowstone.
The start of the Civil War in 1861 halted further exploration of the Yellowstone area, and the region remained an alluring mystery for about another decade.
First organized expeditions (1860s – 1870s)
After the Civil War came to an end, expeditions of Yellowstone resumed in 1869, many of which were organized, government-funded surveys of the region, that ultimately led to the formation of Yellowstone National Park in 1872.
Washburn-Langford-Doan expedition of 1870
The Washburn-Langford-Doan expedition of 1870 was an organized expedition led by Montana surveyor general Henry Washburn and included Nathaniel P. Langford and writer and lawyer Cornelius Hedges.
The team spent a month collecting various species throughout the Yellowstone area and naming various points of interest. One of the first mentionings of creating a national park there came from Hedges, who suggested the area be protected for the enjoyment of future generations to come.
After the expedition returned home, Hedges wrote a series of articles for the Helena Herald over the following year promoting his ideas and visions for the area.
Hayden Geological Survey of 1871
The Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 was the last of the three expeditions that finally tipped the scales in Congress, leading to the establishment of Yellowstone National Park in 1872. The other two influential expeditions were the 1869 Folsom-Cook expedition and the previously mentioned 1870 Washburn expedition.
After a failed first attempt at reaching Yellowstone in 1859, Hayden successfully reached there by way of the federally-funded Hayden Geological Survey of 1871.
The group, led by Hayden, conducted a comprehensive study of the entire Yellowstone area. However, this time, Hayden made sure to bring along photographer William Henry Jackson and painter Thomas Moran to document the landscape.
Meanwhile, James Cooke, a financier behind the Northern Pacific Railroad, was interested in generating business for the railroad by promoting the Yellowstone area as a tourist destination on its line. Cooke encouraged Hayden to mention the tourist potential of the area in the survey’s final report.
Including stunning photographs and paintings of Yellowstone’s incredible natural features, such as geysers, rivers, and hot pots, Hayden’s final report convinced Congress of the area’s exceptional beauty and inherent value, leading to the establishment of Yellowstone National Park a year later.
Establishment of Yellowstone National Park (1872)
On March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act, officially creating Yellowstone National Park, the first national park in the world. This was a monumental achievement – a reality that many conservationists and naturalists across the continent had dreamed of for years.
Shortly after its establishment, the park saw around 300 visitors per year. However, a lack of funding meant Hayden’s dreams of protecting this incredible piece of land for future generations to come had not quite been fulfilled – they were still years away from establishing sufficient protections for the park.
For more than a decade, vandalism and resource exploitation throughout the park ensued.
Lack of funding and protections, vandalism
Initially, the government didn’t feel it was necessary to set aside federal funding for the park. The first superintendent of the park, Nathaniel P. Langford, received no salary, and without substantial funding and legal support, he failed to adequately protect the park.
In 1872, Langford brought the issue to the Secretary of Interior; however, Congress refused to take action.
In 1875, a survey of the park led by Colonel William Ludlow observed and reported on the wide-scale lawlessness and vandalism occurring throughout the area.
George Bird Grinnell, who would later become a key figure in the establishment of Glacier National Park, joined Ludlow in the survey and included a personal attachment in Ludlow’s report detailing the large-scale poaching he witnessed in the park.
Vandalism and poaching continued throughout the park until 1886 when the U.S. Army stepped in.
U.S. Army steps in, stopping vandalism of the park
By 1877, Langford had stepped down. Because of the lack of funding, the three superintendents that followed Langford also lacked the manpower and resources to adequately protect the park.
However, in 1886, the U.S. Army stepped in, built Camp Sheridan at Mammoth Hot Springs, and took full control of the park. With proper funding and manpower, the Army developed policies and regulations for park management and protection while maintaining an effective watch over the entire area.
For the next 22 years, they also built various permanent structures throughout the park, with Camp Sheridan becoming Fort Yellowstone.
A long-term solution came to fruition in 1894, when Congress passed the Lacey Act, a landmark piece of legislation that established Yellowstone as the first wildlife refuge in the country, created legal avenues for prosecuting violators of park regulations, established legal definitions of what a national park is, and expanded the territory of Yellowstone by 3,344 mi² (8,661 m²).
When the National Park Service (NPS) was established in 1916, its doctrine was also based on the laws and regulations of the Lacey Act.
The Army left in 1918 and passed on many of its policies, regulations, and principles to the NPS. By this time, park protections were well-developed and effective. These protections arrived in a timely manner, as the railroads were starting to bring in more and more annual visitors to the park.
Railroads and cars, more visitors
In 1883, the Northern Pacific Railroad built a railway station in Livingston, Montana, and later another station in Gardiner, which connected visitors to Mammoth Hot Springs via stagecoach. Suddenly, people from around the country had a quick and convenient means of transportation to Yellowstone National Park.
While the park’s annual visitation sat at around 300 in 1872, by 1883, this number had risen to 5,000. Trains continued to service Yellowstone for several more decades, serving as a popular means of transportation to the park for people nationwide.
In 1915, automobiles were admitted to the park, with roughly 1,000 cars visiting annually. By the 1960s, horse travel had been banned throughout the park, and car travel had completely replaced rail travel.
By this time, visitors were flocking to Yellowstone National Park in the thousands. Guided by a network of roads and minimal infrastructure, they could enjoy all of the wonders Yellowstone had to offer.
Over the following century, the federal government continued implementing various initiatives, such as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), to further develop Yellowstone National Park’s infrastructure into the well-equipped park we know today.
Geysers, mud pots, and steaming rivers
Today, visitors of the park travel its extensive road system, stopping at bursting geysers, blowing steam vents, glistening rainbow-colored deposits, and bubbling mud pots.
The algae in the hot springs offer a color-coding, with green meaning the coolest temperatures and orange meaning the hottest.
Top sights throughout the park include the following:
- Steamboat geyser (Norris Geyser Basin). The highest hot spring in the park, shooting to 400 ft (122 m) at unpredictable intervals that range from four days to 50 years.
- Clepsydra geyser (Lower Geyser Basin). A steadily spouting geyser that sends water 45 ft (14 m) into the air.
- Great Fountain (Lower Geyser Basin). One of the few drive-up geysers in the park, this one is surrounded by terraced pools reflecting the colors of the sky.
- Grand Prismatic (Midway Geyser Basin). The largest hot spring pool in Yellowstone National Park, at 300 ft (91 m) wide.
Other top sites include the Excelsior Geyser, which emits thousands of gallons of 199-F° (93-C°) water each minute. This boiling water flows into the nearby Firehole River, raising its water temperature several degrees.
All of Yellowstone’s enigmatic features are the tip of an elaborate network of geothermal activity that has occurred deep below the earth’s surface here for millions of years. Without it, Yellowstone wouldn’t exist.
Geological origins of Yellowstone National Park’s wonders – Yellowstone Caldera
Yellowstone is a sleeping giant. Deep beneath the park’s surface lies one of the earth’s largest and oldest caldera volcanoes, stretching roughly 50 miles (80 km) long and 40 miles (65 km) wide.
Many of the park’s active geysers, hot pots, and steam vents are located inside this caldera.
Yellowstone’s geysers are the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Except this isn’t an iceberg – it’s an enormous network of molten rock, called magma, feeding into a chamber located roughly 5 miles (8 km) beneath the park, that swells, cools, and shrinks over time, erupting about once every 700,000 years.
The parts of this geothermal activity that break through the earth’s crust comprise the enigmatic sights of the park that humans have marveled at for centuries.
640,000 years ago – The last eruption
The Yellowstone caldera’s three largest eruptions have occurred in roughly 700,000-year intervals, with the last one occurring 640,000 years ago.
Scientists have discovered evidence of Yellowstone’s last eruption, such as ash, magma, and other debris, spread thousands of miles from the park across the continental U.S., even in places as far away as Louisiana.
How big was the last eruption? To give you an idea of just how big this eruption was, scientists estimate it was 1,000 times larger than the well-known 1980 Mt Saint Helens eruption.
When it blew, it sent enormous plumes of gas, ash, and smoke into the air, likely covering a third of the planet in total darkness. Evidence of this eruption can even be found today inside the caldera, in a region of the park called the Lava Creek Tuff.
Indigenous tribes of Yellowstone – Before Europeans arrived
Since the last eruption, this region of North America has been relatively quiet. The last Ice Age has since come and gone, allowing new species and ecosystems to emerge and thrive in the park, including the local indigenous tribes that moved in roughly 11,000 years ago.
14,000 years ago – First tribes of Yellowstone
Back then, the Laurentide Ice Sheet stretched from Arctic Canada down into the northern region of North America. As it slowly receded, various species in present-day southwestern Montana went extinct, new ecosystems flourished, and tribes began occupying the area of present-day Yellowstone National Park.
Obsidian tools discovered throughout the park and other artifacts discovered around Yellowstone Lake reveal human activity here as far back as 11,000 years ago. The oral histories of the local tribes, such as the Salish and Crow, coincide with roughly the same timeline.
Scientists estimate that the Crow arrived in the Yellowstone region in the 1500s and the Sioux in the 1700s. However, scientists estimate the Wind River Shoshone (also known as the Sheepeaters), the only tribe known to reside in the Yellowstone area year-round, arrived in the 14th or 15th century.
As the Laurentide Ice Sheet receded from North America, the tribes of this area adapted to the increasingly warmer conditions, shifting away from hunting large animals, such as the giant bison, and adopting a diverse diet consisting of smaller animals, such as deer, sheep, bison, bear, and goats.
This lifestyle persisted for the next 9,500 years until about 3,000 years ago when the climate became substantially warmer and human activity in the area increased dramatically.
For the past 3,000 years, the indigenous tribes of Yellowstone established many of the lifestyle habits and ways of life we are familiar with today. They became more reliant on the bison and developed new technology, such as tipis, pishkuns (buffalo jumps), sheep traps, and bows and arrows.
During this time, the tribes also established a network of trails throughout Yellowstone, many of which are still in use today. The tribes used locally sourced obsidian to fashion tools, which they also traded with other tribes across North America – obsidian from Yellowstone has been discovered as far east as the Mississippi Valley.
The native tribes of Yellowstone are seen as the first stewards of this land. The ones who lived here harmoniously within the Yellowstone ecosystem for thousands of years, with a sustainable lifestyle rooted in their understanding of the balance between nature and man’s needs.
Yellowstone National Park today
Due to the impact of European settlers, Yellowstone’s ecology today differs greatly from its ecology in primeval times. However, the marriage of the tribes’ understanding of the land with modern science has shown some success in preserving ecosystems like Yellowstone National Park.
In general, the park’s present ecology is well-monitored and managed.
A series of roads and boardwalks give the park’s millions of annual visitors an up-close view of the most incredible geysers, steam vents, mud pots, and rainbow-colored hot springs it has to offer – all while preserving the natural integrity of the local ecosystem for generations to come.
If you haven’t visited Yellowstone National Park, we highly recommend it.
