History of Yellowstone Park

Sean Mitchell

Oct 9 | 3 min read

Photo credit: Unsplash - Andrew Sterling

Yellowstone was established as the world's first national park, but native Americans have been living there prior for thousands of years. Many of this can be found through archaelogical sites and even photographs showing that there were natives living in Yellowstone before it became a national park. The most well-known tribe was the Tukudika (Sheep Eaters). The Tukudika was known for hunting migrating bighorn sheep, and harvesting their carcasses for food and materials for tools or clothes. They also made use of the area's hot springs both ceremonially and medicinally.

Photo credit: William Henry Jackson, 1871

Photo credit: Andrew Geiger

Washakie and his warriors; Photographer unknown; 1871; History - Indians

Bannock girls in dress decorated with elk teeth; Photographer unknown; No date; History - Indians

Bannock wickiup; Photographer unknown; 1871; History - Indians

Bannock men at dance; Photographer unknown; No date; History - Indians

Bannock indians with two white women; Photographer unknown; No date; History - Indians

Europeans did not set foot in Yellowstone until the early 1800s, primarily for fur trapping and trade. Yellowstone did not fully capture the attention of European Americans until some expiditions in the mid to late 1800s. The first notable exidition was the 1870 Washburn-Langfford-Doane Expedition. This expedition was sponsored by the Northern Pacific Railway, because they wanted the area mapped out for their railway. The expidition team consisted of Surveyor-General Henry D. Washburn, Montana politician and businessman Nathaniel P. Langford, and attorney Cornelius Hedges. Notably, this was not a scientific expidition as you can tell by the team's backgrounds. The expedition successfully mapped out the Yellowstone Lake, however their biggest impact was that they named the Old Faithful Geiser which remains a popular tourist attraction to this day.

Map of Yellowstone Lake by Langford Expedition

The 1871 Hayden Expedition was a much more science focused expedition. The team included a meteorologist, two botanists, a zoologist, mineralogist and many more scientists. The team questioned the area's thermal activity and very unique environment, while also improving the parks map. The expedition's findings excited the scientific community and aroused further national interest in Yellowstone and its thermal mysteries. Thomas Moran was a photographer and sketch artist on the team. Many of his paintings gave the world and idea of what Yellowstone actually looked like and what the envrionment's beauty truly entailed.

1871 Hayden Expedition

Thomas Moran; No date

Painting of Old Faithful depicting Hayden Survey 1871 WH Jackson No date

Hayden Expedition, original painting in Yellowstone National Park collection; William H Jackson; 1871

Liberty Cap - Clematis Gulch; YELL 8524; Thomas Moran; 1871

Hot Springs Yellowstone; YELL 8527; Thomas Moran; 1871

The 1871 Hayden Expedition made the United States Congress realize what a special place Yellowstone was, making them officially establish it as a national park. On March 1st, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed an act formally establishing it as the first national park in the entire world. Being a national park means that it is a federally reserved slice of land that aims to preserve the envrionment and its wildlife.