The human history of the park dates back 12,000 years. It was known to the original natives as "Mitzi-a-dazi," the "River of Yellow Rocks," because of the hydrothermally altered iron-containing yellow rocks in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (many people incorrectly believe that the yellow color is from sulfur).
The Native Americans that hunted and fished in the Yellowstone region also utilized the significant amounts of obsidian found in the park to make cutting tools and weapons. In fact, arrowheads made of Yellowstone obsidian have been found as far away as the Mississippi Valley, which strongly indicate that a regular obsidian trade existed between Yellowstone Native Americans and tribes further east.
Lower Yellowstone FallIn 1806 a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition named John Colter left the Expedition to join a group of fur trappers and was probably the first non-Native American to visit the region and make contact with the Native Americans there. After surviving wounds he suffered in a battle with Crow and Blackfoot tribes, he gave a description of a place of "fire and brimstone" that was dismissed by most people as delirium. The supposedly imaginary place was nicknamed "Colter's Hell."
Mountain man Jim Bridger later returned from an 1857 expedition to the park's area and told tales of boiling springs, spouting water, a mountain of glass and yellow rock. These reports were largely ignored, however, because Bridger was known for being a "spinner of yarns." Nonetheless his stories did arouse the interest of explorer and geologist F.V. Hayden who in 1859 started a two-year survey of the upper Missouri River region with Bridger as a guide and with United States Army surveyor W.F. Raynolds. The party was able to reach the approaches to the Yellowstone region but was not able to go any further due to heavy snows. The intervening American Civil War stopped all attempts to explore the region, and Hayden would not be able to fulfill his mission to explore the area for another 11 years.
North Gate to Yellowstone Park at Gardiner, Montana, which says "For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People."A party of Montanans then organized the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition, headed by the surveyor-general of Montana Henry Washburn. Amongst the group was Nathaniel P. Langford, who would later become known as "National Park" Langford, and an Army detachment commanded by Lt. Gustavus Doane. The expedition spent about a month in 1870 exploring the region, collecting specimens and naming sites of interest.
In 1871 Hayden led a second, larger expedition, which was now government sponsored, to the Yellowstone region. He compiled a comprehensive report on Yellowstone which included large-format photographs by William Henry Jackson and paintings by Thomas Moran. This report helped to convince the U.S. Congress to withdraw this region from public auction. Then on March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed a bill into law that created Yellowstone National Park.
Langford then served for five years without pay as the first superintendent of the park and was followed by several other superintendents (who worked with some minimal funding). The second superintendent was Philetus Norris who essentially volunteered for the position, after traveling through Yellowstone and witnessing its problems first hand. During his tenure Congress finally began to give the superintendent a salary and minimal funds to operate the park. He used these monies to expand access to and further explore Yellowstone. Norris also hired Harry Yount (nicknamed "Rocky Mountain Harry") to control poaching and vandalism in the park. Today, Harry Yount is considered the very first national park ranger.
Mammoth Hot SpringsThree additional superintendents followed, but none proved effective in stopping the destruction of Yellowstone's natural resources.