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131-697: In winter, ice nearly 3 ft (0.91 m) thick covers much of the lake except where shallow water covers hot springs. The lake freezes over by early December and can remain frozen until late May or early June. The forest and valleys surrounding Yellowstone Lake had been populated with Native Americans since pre-historic times. Archeologists have found evidence of human presence in the park long before 1872. They found that Native Americans hunted bison and bighorn sheep , fished for cutthroat trout , and gathered bitterroot and camas bulbs for at least 11,000 years. Also 26 tribes claim cultural association with Yellowstone today. The first human of European descent to see

262-644: A subarctic climate ( Köppen Dfc ). Angling for Yellowstone cutthroat trout in Yellowstone Lake has been a popular pastime for both subsistence and recreation since the first explorers, surveyors and tourists visited the park. During the early days of fish stocking in Yellowstone (1890–1910), Atlantic Salmon , Mountain whitefish , and Rainbow trout were stocked in the lake; none of these introduced species survived. Today only native cutthroat and non-native lake trout and Longnose sucker exist in

393-404: A bit of which is excerpted below, Dr. Ferdinand V. Hayden described some of the explorations being conducted on the lake as follows: Yellowstone Lake, WY August 8th, 1871 - Dear Professor Baird, Your letters of June 6th and July 3rd were brought us from Fort Ellis by Lt. Doane who has just arrived to take command of our escort and accompany my party the remainder of the season ... We arrived at

524-494: A brown bear or a pack of wolves. The rutting, or mating, season lasts from June through September, with peak activity in July and August. At this time, the older bulls rejoin the herd, and fights often take place between bulls. The herd exhibits much restlessness during breeding season. The animals are belligerent, unpredictable, and most dangerous. American bison live in river valleys and on prairies and plains. Typical habitat

655-433: A castellated turret, 40 feet in height and 200 feet in circumference at the base. The outer rim, at its summit, is formed in embrasures between large nodules of rock, of the tint of ashes of roses, and in the center is a crater three feet in diameter, bordered and lined with a frost-work of saffron. From a distance it strongly resembles an old feudal tower partially in ruins. This great crater is continually pouring forth steam,

786-593: A close friendship with Merrill G. Burlingame , a professor of history at Montana State College (now known as Montana State University ). Hunter Doane died in 1952 in Bozeman, Montana never having remarried. Her collection of letters, notes, reminiscences, and photographs are housed at Montana State University's Archives and Special Collections . In early August 1870, Henry D. Washburn in preparing for his Yellowstone exploration formally requested General Winfield Scott Hancock , Commander, Department of Dakota , provide

917-709: A code of ethics that prohibits its members from deliberately crossbreeding bison with any other species. In the United States, many ranchers are now using DNA testing to cull the residual cattle genetics from their bison herds. The proportion of cattle DNA that has been measured in introgressed individuals and bison herds today is typically quite low, ranging from 0.56 to 1.8%. There are also remnant purebred American bison herds on public lands in North America. Two subspecies of bison exist in North America:

1048-640: A fertile hybrid of bison and domestic cattle. A market even exists for kosher bison meat; these bison are slaughtered at one of the few kosher mammal slaughterhouses in the U.S. and Canada, and the meat is then distributed worldwide. In America, the commercial industry for bison has been slow to develop despite individuals, such as Ted Turner , who have long marketed bison meat. In the 1990s, Turner found limited success with restaurants for high-quality cuts of meat, which include bison steaks and tenderloin. Lower-quality cuts suitable for hamburger and hot dogs have been described as "almost nonexistent". This created

1179-422: A grasshopper bait. Two men could catch them faster than half a dozen could clean and get them ready for the frying pan. Caught in the open lake, their flesh was yellow; but in bays, where the water was strongly impregnated with chemicals, it was blood-red. Many of them were full of long white worms, woven across the interior of the body, and through to the skin on either side. These did not appear to materially affect

1310-408: A great many things undone requiring some moral courage to refrain from doing. We did not change the names of all the localities visited, as is customary, nor give them new latitudes to the bewilderment of the general reader. We do not dispute anyone's attained distance nor declare it impossible that he should have been where he was. We did not hunt up nameless islands and promontories to tag them with

1441-509: A heavy gale , the Gulnare was damaged, but worse yet, it lost a deck boat and the entire deck load. The steamer reached Disko on August 8 and steamer repairs lasted through August 21 and the expedition was scrapped. Lt. Doane placed expedition failure upon the Gulnare and reported: The cruise of the Gulnare is the first acknowledged failure in Arctic annals. We did but little, but left

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1572-416: A large caldera that was later partially filled by subsequent lava flows (see Yellowstone Caldera ). Part of this caldera is the 136 sq mi (350 km) basin of Yellowstone Lake. The original lake was 200 ft (61 m) higher than the present-day lake, extending northward across Hayden Valley to the base of Mount Washburn . It is thought that Yellowstone Lake originally drained south into

1703-643: A marketing problem for commercial farming because the majority of usable meat, about 400 pounds for each bison, is suitable for these products. In 2003, the United States Department of Agriculture purchased $ 10 million worth of frozen overstock to save the industry, which would later recover through better use of consumer marketing. Restaurants have played a role in popularizing bison meat, like Ted's Montana Grill , which added bison to their menus. Ruby Tuesday first offered bison on their menus in 2005. In Canada, commercial bison farming began in

1834-584: A military escort from Fort Ellis. The request was granted on August 14, 1870, and Doane with five other soldiers were selected to provide the escort. As the leader of the U.S. Army escort of the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition into Yellowstone in August–September 1870, Lt. Gustavus C. Doane became a significant contributor to the process that ultimately resulted in the creation of Yellowstone National Park on March 1, 1872. Although he

1965-509: A military officer. In the summer of 1868, through the good offices of a California senator, John Conness , Doane earned a commission in the U.S. Army 2nd Cavalry Regiment as a second lieutenant. After a year of uneventful training and scouting assignments at Fort McPherson, Nebraska and Fort Russell, Wyoming , Doane's cavalry unit was transferred to the newly created Fort Ellis , Montana Territory , near Bozeman, Montana . On July 1, 1869, Doane and his wife Amelia arrived at Fort Ellis. By

2096-580: A prismatic compass all around the Lake. A man stands on the shore with a compass and takes a bearing to the man in the Boat as he drops the lead, giving a signal at the time. Then a man in the Boat takes a bearing to the fixed point on the shore where the first man is located and thus the soundings will be located on the chart. Henry Elliot and Mr. Carrington have just left in our little boat, the Annie . [They] will make

2227-489: A serious decline in the cutthroat trout population and the National Park Service has an aggressive Lake trout eradication program on the lake. All lake trout caught by anglers must be killed. If the cutthroat trout isn’t protected from this invasive fish then ecologist predict that they could see a decline in surrounding birds and mammals that are natural predators to the cutthroat trout. The longnose sucker

2358-413: A specialized stomach prior to digestion. Bison were once thought to almost exclusively consume grasses and sedges, but are now known to consume a wide-variety of plants including woody plants and herbaceous eudicots. Over the course of the year, bison shift which plants they select in their diet based on which plants have the highest protein or energy concentrations at a given time and will reliably consume

2489-523: A systematic sketch of the shore with all its indentations, with the banks down, indeed, making a complete topographical as well as a pictorial sketch of the shores as seen from the water, for a circuit--of at least 130 miles ... One of the islands has been explored. We have called it Stevenson's Island as he was undoubtedly the first human that ever set foot upon it ... Write at once. Yours Truly, F. V. Hayden, I will send you some Photographs soon. Between 1920 and 1937, multiple proposals were made to Congress and

2620-744: A tragedy. This was Doane's last foray into the Yellowstone plateau. In May 1880 Captain Henry W. Howgate of the U.S. Army Signal Corps was mounting an Army sponsored expedition to explore the North Pole. When Doane learned of this he applied for an assignment with the Howgate expedition which the Army granted. The 1880 Howgate Arctic Expedition was tasked with scientific and geographical exploration of Greenland in preparation for an 1881 International Polar Year expeditionary force and Arctic colonization. However,

2751-520: A trapper's cabin on the Snake River. Eventually, they made Keenan City, Idaho and then Fort Hall , Idaho by January 4, 1877. By this time however, word of their condition had reached Major Brisbin at Fort Ellis and with permission from General Terry, Brisbin recalled Doane and his troops to Fort Ellis against Doane's wishes. They finally arrived there on February 2, 1877. Doane had put his troops in harm's way for his own ambition and almost created

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2882-518: Is a common behavior of bison. A bison wallow is a shallow depression in the soil, either wet or dry. Bison roll in these depressions, covering themselves with mud or dust. Possible explanations suggested for wallowing behavior include grooming behavior associated with moulting, male-male interaction (typically rutting behavior), social behavior for group cohesion, play behavior, relief from skin irritation due to biting insects, reduction of ectoparasite load ( ticks and lice ), and thermoregulation. In

3013-473: Is also considered correct as a result of standard usage in American English, and is listed in many dictionaries as an acceptable name for American buffalo or bison. "Buffalo" has a much longer history than "bison", which was first recorded in 1774. Bison was a significant resource for indigenous peoples of North America for food and raw materials until near extinction in the late 19th century. For

3144-441: Is an invasive fish that was believed to be introduced into the Yellowstone Lake in the late 1980s or early 1990s. With this foreign species in the Lake researchers have noticed a shift in the food chain. They have seen a rapid decline in the population of the cutthroat trout which in turn could cause other animal populations to start declining. One study found that the introduced longnose sucker competes with cutthroat trout for some of

3275-665: Is found on the plains around the Henry Mountains , Utah , as well as in mountain valleys of the Henry Mountains to an altitude of 3,000 metres (10,000 ft). European bison most commonly live in lightly wooded to fully wooded areas as well as areas with increased shrubs and bushes. European bison can sometimes be found living on grasslands and plains as well. Throughout most of their historical range, landowners have sought restrictions on free-ranging bison. Herds on private land are required to be fenced in. In

3406-419: Is home to a large concentration of mammals. Whether that be large mammals such as bison, elk, or bighorn sheep there is a variety of different animals that are native to the Yellowstone area. On the other hand Yellowstone is also home to many smaller animals, and a few that are constantly around the lake are beavers, short tailed weasels, and river otters which have previously been mentioned. Yellowstone Lake has

3537-499: Is low. Reproduction is dependent on a cow's mass and age. Heavier cows produce heavier calves (weighed in the fall at weaning), and weights of calves are lower for older cows (after age 8). Owing to their size, bison have few predators. Five exceptions are humans , grey wolves , cougars , grizzly bears , and coyotes . Wolves generally take down a bison while in a pack, but cases of a single wolf killing bison have been reported. Grizzly bears also consume bison, often by driving off

3668-615: Is no longer considered a valid taxon , being a junior synonym of B. b. bison . References to "woods bison" or "wood bison" from the Eastern United States refer to this subspecies, not B. b. athabascae , which was not found in the region. The European bison , B. bonasus , or wisent, or zubr, or colloquially European buffalo, is found in Europe and the Caucasus , reintroduced after being extinct in

3799-512: Is open or semiopen grasslands, as well as sagebrush, semiarid lands, and scrublands. Some lightly wooded areas are also known historically to have supported bison. They also graze in hilly or mountainous areas where the slopes are not steep. Although not particularly known as high-altitude animals, bison in the Yellowstone Park bison herd are frequently found at elevations above 2,400 metres (8,000 ft). The Henry Mountains bison herd

3930-407: Is opposite the channel of the river and five miles from the east shore; another is ten miles farther south, and two miles from the shore a mountain isle with a bold bluff all around to the water's edge. These islands doubtless have never been trodden by human footsteps, and still belong to the regions of the unexplored. We built a raft for the purpose of attempting to visit them, but the strong waves of

4061-545: Is second to none. He made the first official report upon the wonders of the Yellowstone, and his fine descriptions have never been surpassed by any subsequent writer. Although suffering intense physical torture during the greater portion of the trip, it did not extinguish in him the truly poetic ardor with which those strange phenomena seem to have inspired him. Dr. Hayden says of this report: "I venture to state, as my opinion, that for graphic description and thrilling interest it has not been surpassed by any official report". Doane

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4192-554: Is the more numerous. Although colloquially referred to as a buffalo in the United States and Canada, it is only distantly related to the true buffalo . The North American species is composed of two subspecies, the Plains bison , B. b. bison , and the wood bison , B. b. athabascae , which is the namesake of Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada. A third subspecies, the eastern bison ( B. b. pennsylvanicus )

4323-698: The American Civil War , in October 1862 after unsuccessful attempts at gaining an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, a 22-year-old Doane volunteered at San Francisco for the 2nd Regiment of Cavalry, Massachusetts Volunteers known as the California 100. This group of volunteers, after paying their own way to Boston by ship from California, were inducted into the U.S. Army in January 1863. A month after his enlistment, Doane

4454-521: The Antelope Island bison herd are regularly inoculated against brucellosis, parasites, Clostridium infection, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, and bovine vibriosis. The major illnesses in European bison are foot-and-mouth disease and balanoposthitis . Inbreeding of a small population plays a role in a number of genetic defects and lowers immunity to disease; that poses greater risk to

4585-720: The Henry Mountains bison herd to be free of brucellosis , a bacterial disease that was imported with non-native domestic cattle to North America. In 2021, the American Society of Mammalogists considered Bison to be a subgenus, and placed both bison species back into Bos . Relationships of bovines based on nuclear DNA, after Sinding, et al. 2021. Bubalina (true buffalo) Bos primigenius + Bos taurus (aurochs and cattle) Bos mutus (wild yak) Bison bison (American bison) Bison bonasus (European bison/wisent) Bos javanicus (banteng) Bos gaurus (gaur) Bos sauveli (kouprey) Wallowing

4716-774: The Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene in Asia. The earliest members of the bison lineage, known from the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene of the Indian Subcontinent ( Bison sivalensis ) and China ( Bison palaeosinensis ), approximately 3.4-2.6 million years ago (Ma) are placed in the subgenus Bison ( Eobison ) . The oldest remains of Eobison in Europe are those Bison georgicus found in Dmanisi , Georgia, dated to around 1.76 Ma. More derived members of

4847-664: The Pacific Ocean via the Snake River . The lake currently drains north from its only outlet, the Yellowstone River , at Fishing Bridge. The elevation of the lake's north end does not drop substantially until LeHardy Rapids. Therefore, this spot is considered the actual northern boundary of Yellowstone Lake. Within a short distance downstream the Yellowstone River plunges first over the upper and then

4978-671: The Yellowstone River and forced Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce to escape east via the Clarks Fork Yellowstone River . This ultimately put the Nez Perce within striking distance of Colonel Miles's forces. Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce surrendered to Miles near the Canada–US border in October 1877. In September 1884, Lieutenant Doane was finally promoted to Captain Doane and transferred from Fort Maginnis, Montana to

5109-504: The indigenous peoples of the Plains , it was their principal food source. Native Americans highly valued their relationship with the bison and saw them as sacred, treating them respectfully to ensure their abundance and longevity. In his biography, Lakota teacher and elder John Fire Lame Deer describes the relationship as such: The buffalo gave us everything we needed. Without it we were nothing. Our tipis were made of his skin. His hide

5240-566: The lower falls and races north through the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone . In the 1990s, geological research determined that the two volcanic vents, now known as " resurgent domes ", are rising again. From year to year, they either rise or fall, with an average net uplift of about one inch per year. During the period between 1923 and 1985, the Sour Creek Dome was rising. In the years since 1986, it has either declined or remained

5371-415: The mitochondrial DNA of European bison is more closely related to that of domestic cattle and aurochs (while the mitochondrial DNA of American bison is closely related to that of yaks). This discrepancy is either suggested to be the result of incomplete lineage sorting or ancient introgression . Bison are widely believed to have evolved from a lineage belonging to the extinct genus Leptobos during

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5502-807: The plains bison and the wood bison . Herds of importance are found in Yellowstone National Park , Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota , Blue Mounds State Park in Minnesota , Elk Island National Park in Alberta , and Grasslands National Park in Saskatchewan . In 2015, a purebred herd of 350 individuals was identified on public lands in the Henry Mountains of southern Utah via genetic testing of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA. This study, published in 2015, also showed

5633-590: The 1850s, Doane was heavily influenced by the exploits and writings of General John C. Fremont , explorer, Mexican-American War hero and California statesman. Gustavus C. Doane entered college at the newly created California Wesleyan College (now known as University of the Pacific) in Santa Clara in 1857, graduating first in his class in Latin, Greek and mathematics on June 13, 1861. Desiring to participate in

5764-594: The 19th and 20th centuries, but have since rebounded. The wisent in part owes its survival to the Chernobyl disaster, as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone has become a kind of wildlife preserve for wisent and other rare megafauna such as the Przewalski's horse , though poaching has become a threat in recent years. The American Plains bison is no longer listed as endangered , but this does not mean

5895-484: The 19th century, although the causes of decline and the numbers killed are disputed and debated. Railroads were advertising "hunting by rail", where trains encountered large herds alongside or crossing the tracks. Men aboard fired from the train's roof or windows, leaving countless animals to rot where they died. This overhunting was in part motivated by the U.S. government's desire to limit the range and power of indigenous plains Indians whose diets and cultures depended on

6026-652: The American and European bison. The American species has 15 ribs, while the European bison has 14. The American bison has four lumbar vertebrae, while the European has five. (The difference in this case is that what would be the first lumbar vertebra has ribs attached to it in American bison and is thus counted as the 15th thoracic vertebra, compared to 14 thoracic vertebrae in wisent.) Adult American bison are less slim in build and have shorter legs. American bison tend to graze more, and browse less than their European relatives. Their anatomies reflect this behavioural difference;

6157-588: The American bison's head hangs lower than the European's. The body of the American bison is typically hairier, though its tail has less hair than that of the European bison. The horns of the European bison point through the plane of their faces, making them more adept at fighting through the interlocking of horns in the same manner as domestic cattle, unlike the American bison, which favours butting. American bison are more easily tamed than their European cousins, and breed with domestic cattle more readily. The bovine tribe (Bovini) split about 5 to 10 million years ago into

6288-564: The Army and Navy decided, in June 1880, to withdraw support of the Howgate Arctic Expedition as the expeditionary vessel, the steamship Gulnare , was unseaworthy. Howgate, not to be deterred, found private funding. The expedition was to be based at Ellesmere Island off the coast of Greenland in preparation for further explorations of the polar regions. The Gulnare departed in July, captained by Lt. Doane. On August 3, in

6419-549: The Army, (including the infantry, cavalry and artillery) his efforts proved to be ultimately unsuccessful, as his tent design was never widely adopted within the United States Army. In a letter dated February 5, 1891, a First Lieutenant from the 3rd Artillery writes to Doane saying that the majority of his officers do not "entertain a preference " in regards to the use of one tent over another. The ambivalence and lack of tent preference expressed in this letter seems to be

6550-655: The Asian water buffalo and the African buffalo . Samuel de Champlain applied the French term buffle to the bison in 1616 (published 1619), after seeing skins and a drawing shown to him by members of the Nipissing First Nation , who said they travelled 40 days (from east of Lake Huron) to trade with another nation who hunted the animals. Though "bison" might be considered more scientifically correct, "buffalo"

6681-732: The DV) of thiamine. The earliest plausible accounts of captive bison are those of the zoo at Tenochtitlan , the Aztec capital, which held an animal the Spaniards called "the Mexican bull". In 1552, Francisco Lopez de Gomara described Plains Indians herding and leading bison like cattle in his controversial book, Historia general de las Indias . Gomara, having never visited the Americas himself, likely misinterpreted early ethnographic accounts as

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6812-700: The Department of the Interior to construct dams of various sizes at the Yellowstone Lake outlet or a few miles downstream. Montana and Wyoming politicians, the Army Corps of Engineers and lobbying groups in both states all had a variety of reasons to support the dams—flood control in the Yellowstone Valley, reclamation, or diversion of water over the continental divide to the Snake River. All the proposals and legislation were eventually defeated. In

6943-846: The European bison (wisent) are the largest surviving terrestrial animals in North America and Europe. They are typical artiodactyl (cloven hooved) ungulates, and are similar in appearance to other bovines such as cattle and true buffalo. They are broad and muscular with shaggy coats of long hair. Adults grow up to 2 metres (6 feet 7 inches) in height and 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in) in length for American bison and up to 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) in height and 2.9 m (9 ft 6 in) in length for European bison. American bison can weigh from around 400 to 1,270 kilograms (880 to 2,800 pounds) and European bison can weigh from 800 to 1,000 kg (1,800 to 2,200 lb). European bison tend to be taller than American bison. Bison are nomadic grazers and travel in herds . The bulls leave

7074-465: The Little Big Horn, Doane returned to Fort Ellis, restless for more exploration. All summer he had been planning an exploration of the Snake River regions south of Yellowstone. Doane believed this exploration would gain him the same type recognition that had been bestowed on Hayden for Yellowstone and on John Wesley Powell for the Grand Canyon explorations . Although he had permission to make

7205-598: The Presidio, San Francisco. Life was good, relative to Montana, for the Doanes in California. However, in early 1885, a Chiricahua Apache, Geronimo , had gone off-reservation and began causing trouble in southern Arizona Territory . In December 1885, the Army, needing additional troops in the territory, assigned Doane's Company A from the Presidio and others to Fort Bowie , near present-day Willcox, Arizona , under

7336-526: The Superintendency of Yellowstone National Park. The U.S. Army never supported him in this endeavor, to his deep disappointment. In February 1892, Doane returned to Bozeman, Montana, on six months medical leave awaiting his official retirement from the U.S. Army. He fell ill during an influenza epidemic in April and eventually died in his sleep from heart failure on May 5, 1892, in his Bozeman home. He

7467-710: The U.S. Army chose a troop from close by Fort Custer to take over the park in August 1886. Because he was in Arizona, Doane and his company were not considered for the job. In the later years of his life, Doane attempted to generate widespread support within the U.S. Army for his invention, the self-named Doane Centennial Tent. Doane was granted the patent for the Centennial Tent on May 6, 1879. He described his invention as "a new and Improved Army-Tent," While Doane attempted to receive endorsements from several branches of

7598-531: The Washburn expedition. This was Doane's third foray into the Yellowstone region. During the summer of 1871, Doane participated in the military escort supporting the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 of Yellowstone under the leadership of Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden . This was Doane's second major foray into the Yellowstone region. Although Doane's pathfinding skills were praised by Hayden,

7729-555: The West Thumb Geyser Basin. There is a "bulge" about 2,000 ft (610 m) long and 100 ft (30 m) high under a section of Yellowstone Lake, where there are a variety of faults, hot springs and small craters. Seismic imaging has recently shown that sediment layers are tilted, but how old this feature is has not yet been established. After the magma chamber under the Yellowstone area collapsed 640,000 years ago in its previous great eruption, it formed

7860-641: The Wild (made by Diamond Pet Foods, Inc., owned by Schell and Kampeter, Inc.). Gustavus Cheyney Doane Gustavus Cheyney Doane (May 29, 1840 – May 5, 1892) was a U.S. Army Cavalry Captain, explorer, inventor and Civil War soldier who played a prominent role in the exploration of Yellowstone as a member of the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition . Doane was a participant in the Marias Massacre of approximately 200 Piegan Blackfeet people (mostly women, children, and old men). Gustavus Cheyney Doane

7991-530: The Yellowstone River on September 24, 1869. They eventually followed the western shoreline to West Thumb before moving west to the geyser basins. Cook described the lake at Pelican Creek as follows: The main body is ten miles long from east to west and sixteen miles long from north to south, but at the south end it puts out two arms, one to the southeast and the other to the southwest, making the entire length about 30 miles ... There are three small islands which are also heavily timbered ... The shallow water in some of

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8122-670: The Yellowstone region throughout the 1850–60s, the first detailed descriptions of the lake came in 1869, 1870 and 1871 as a result of the Cook–Folsom–Peterson Expedition , the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition and the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 . Cook, Folsom and Peterson first encountered the lake near Pelican Creek 44°33′12″N 110°21′37″W  /  44.55333°N 110.36028°W  / 44.55333; -110.36028  ( Pelican Creek ) as they moved south along

8253-479: The banks of the Yellow Stone Lake [ sic ] July 26th [actually July 28] and pitched our camp near the point where the river leaves the Lake. Hence we brought the first pair of wheels that ever came to the Lake with our Odometer. We launched the first Boat on the Lake, 4.5 feet wide and 11 feet long, with sails and oars ... A chart of this soundings will be made. Points have been located with

8384-702: The battleground to recover remains. Of the remains recovered was that of Colonel George Armstrong Custer , who was later buried at West Point. In August and September 1877, Doane and his Crow Indian scouts played a key role in the ultimate capture of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce during the Nez Perce War . Shortly after Chief Joseph's escape from the Battle of the Big Hole , the Nez Perce moved into Yellowstone. Doane and his scouts blocked their retreat down

8515-416: The bison's population to nearly 150,000, and it is officially no longer considered an endangered species . However, from a genetic standpoint, most of these animals are actually hybrids with domestic cattle and only two populations in Yellowstone National Park in the United States and Elk Island National Park in Canada remain as genetically pure bison. These genetically pure animals account for only ~5% of

8646-474: The boat to Heart Lake until November 7. The weather and cold were brutal and Doane's party did not make the next 20 miles down the Snake to Jackson Lake until December 7, 1876. By this time, they were critically short of supplies and began killing their stock for food. The boat proved unworthy in the Snake's whitewater and was eventually completely wrecked and abandoned. On December 15, 1876, Doane and his troop were near starvation and death when they arrived at

8777-406: The bottom of the lake, and the clear waters of the latter would roll 2,214 feet above its summit. With the single exception of Lake Titticaeca, Peru, it is the highest great body of water on the globe. No shells of any description are found on the lake shore, nor is there any evidence of the waters ever having stood at a much higher level than the present. Twenty-five feet will cover the whole range of

8908-427: The buffalo herds. The overhunting of the bison reduced their population to hundreds. The American bison's nadir came in 1889, with an estimated population of only 1,091 animals (both wild and captive). Repopulation attempts via enforced protection of government herds and extensive ranching began in 1910 and have continued (with excellent success) to the present day, with some caveats. Extensive farming has increased

9039-402: The buffalos ( Bubalus and Syncerus ) and a group leading to bison and taurine cattle. Genetic evidence from nuclear DNA indicates that the closest living relatives of bison are yaks , with bison being nested within the genus Bos , rendering Bos without including bison paraphyletic . While nuclear DNA indicates that both extant bison species are each other's closest living relatives,

9170-478: The campaign was over. By mid-October, Doane's company was back at the Presidio. Doane's personal ambitions for involvement in the administration of Yellowstone were one of the casualties of this campaign. In August 1886, the Secretary of the Interior asked the U.S. Army to take over administration of the park to curb poaching and vandalism. Doane had long lobbied for such administration and hoped he would be an intimate part of it. However, because of funding reasons,

9301-426: The common response to Doane's efforts to establish the Doane Centennial Tent as the foremost tent used by the U.S. Army during the latter half of the 19th century. His invention was never widely adopted. Throughout 1890 and 1891, Doane, while assigned to the Presidio in San Francisco and at Fort Bowie, Arizona Territory, made extensive personal and written appeals to U.S. Army and Montana authorities for him to be given

9432-538: The condensation of which keeps the outside walls constantly wet and dripping. General Washburn named a mountain peak in the Absaroka Range for Lt. Doane that later became known as Colter Peak . However, in 1871 Hayden named another peak in Yellowstone as Mount Doane in his honor. In 2018, Native American leaders called for it to be renamed First Peoples Mountain, because Doane "led a massacre that killed around 175 Blackfeet people, and he continued to brag about

9563-425: The condition of the fish, which were apparently as active as the others. The Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 provided the most detailed and scientific descriptions of the lake in the pre-park era. The Hayden party, 34 men in all, encountered the lake at the outlet on July 28, 1871, spending two days there and returned to the lake at West Thumb on August 7, 1871. From West Thumb, the survey party took 15 days to explore

9694-619: The coves affords feeding ground for thousands of water fowl and we can take our choice of ducks, geese, trout, pelican or swan. The Washburn party was the first to describe the remote eastern and southern shorelines of the lake. From September 3, 1870, to September 17, 1870, the Washburn party traveled from the outlet of the lake around the northern, eastern, and southern shorelines to West Thumb 44°25′40″N 110°31′57″W  /  44.42778°N 110.53250°W  / 44.42778; -110.53250  ( West Thumb ) . The September 4, 1870 journal entry of Lieutenant Gustavus C. Doane ,

9825-498: The currently extant American bison population, reflecting the loss of most of the species' genetic diversity. As of July 2015, an estimated 4,900 bison lived in Yellowstone National Park , the largest U.S. bison population on public land. During 1983–1985 visitors experienced 33 bison-related injuries (range = 10–13/year), so the park implemented education campaigns. After years of success, five injuries associated with bison encounters occurred in 2015, because visitors did not maintain

9956-439: The exploration from his superiors Colonel John Gibbon and General Alfred Terry whom he had courted during the summer campaign, Doane did this over the head of his immediate commander, Major James Brisbin , the post commander at Fort Ellis. By all accounts, Doane's 1876 Snake River Expedition was ill-advised and an aborted failure. Doane planned to take his troop of soldiers over the Yellowstone plateau in early winter to begin

10087-562: The fact that the Hayden explorations, not the Washburn–Doane explorations of Yellowstone got most of the credit for the creation of the park caused a long lasting resentment by Doane. This resentment clouded Doane's judgment for years and was a direct contributor to the failed 1876 Snake River Expedition. In the fall of 1876, after a tedious summer dealing with the aftermath of the Battle of

10218-527: The fall of 1869, Doane was given command of Company F, 2nd Cavalry at Fort Ellis. In January 1870, Doane's company, along with others under the overall command of Major Eugene M. Baker, led an attack on a non-hostile Blackfoot Indian encampment on the Marias River in response to the alleged murder of a white fur trader. This engagement became known as the Marias Massacre . In reality, Doane spent little time at Fort Ellis with his wife Amelia. By 1877

10349-680: The females were fertile. The crossbred animals did not demonstrate any form of hybrid vigor , so the practice was abandoned. Wisent-American bison hybrids were briefly experimented with in Germany (and found to be fully fertile) and a herd of such animals is maintained in Russia. A herd of cattle-wisent crossbreeds ( zubron ) is maintained in Poland. First-generation crosses do not occur naturally, requiring caesarean delivery. First-generation males are infertile. The U.S. National Bison Association has adopted

10480-757: The frontier life at Fort Ellis and Doane's constant absence had severely strained their relationship. Gustavus and Amelia divorced in September 1878. Doane wasted little time in remarrying. On December 16, 1878, Gustavus and 19-year-old Mary Lee Hunter of Hunter Hot Springs, Montana, were married in Helena, Montana , in a well-attended ceremony including the Territorial Governor, Benjamin F. Potts . She traveled with Doane widely to military posts in Montana, Arizona and California prior to his death. Mary Lee

10611-527: The genus are placed in the subgenus Bison ( Bison ), which first appeared towards the end of the Early Pleistocene, around 1.2 Ma, with early members of the subgenus including the widespread Bison schoetensacki . The steppe bison ( Bison priscus ) first appeared during the mid- Middle Pleistocene in eastern Eurasia, and subsequently became widely distributed across Eurasia. During the late Middle Pleistocene, around 195,000-135,000 years ago,

10742-555: The greatest of the geysers. Our camp was a few hundred yards below the first crater described, and the most beautiful of them all. Near the bank of the river, and a half a mile below camp, rose on the farther margin of a marshy lake the Castle Crater, the largest formation in the valley. The calcareous knoll on which it stands is 40 feet in height, and covers several acres. The crater is built up from its center, with irregular walls of spherical nodules, in forms of wondrous beauty, to

10873-405: The heat of the day. The lake is about 100 miles in circumference, bordered on the east by high ranges of mountains whose spurs terminate at the shore and on the west by a low bed of piney mountains. Its greatest width is about fifteen miles, lying in an oblong from south to north, or rather in the shape of a crescent. Near where we encamped were several hot springs which boiled perpetually. Near these

11004-527: The herds of females at two or three years of age, and join a herd of males, which usually are smaller than female herds. Mature bulls rarely travel alone. Towards the end of the summer, for the reproductive season, the sexes necessarily commingle. American bison are known for living in the Great Plains , but formerly had a much larger range, including much of the eastern United States and parts of Mexico. Both species were hunted close to extinction during

11135-412: The higher quality forage that regrows after the burn. Wisent tend to browse on shrubs and low-hanging trees more often than do the American bison, which prefer grass to shrubbery and trees. Female bison ("cows") typically reproduce after three years of age and can continue beyond 19 years of age. Cows produce calves annually as long as their nutrition is sufficient, but not after years when weight gain

11266-478: The horns borne by both males and females, but their massive heads can be used as battering rams, effectively using the momentum produced by what is a typical weight of 900 to 1,200 kilograms (2,000 to 2,700 lb) moving at 50 km/h (30 mph). The hind legs can also be used to kill or maim with devastating effect. In the words of early naturalists, they were dangerous, savage animals that feared no other animal and in prime condition could best any foe except for

11397-477: The incident throughout his life". In June 2022 the U.S. Board of Geographic Names voted unanimously to change the name to First Peoples Mountain, as part of a Department of the Interior initiative to remove "derogatory names" from federal lands. In his The Yellowstone National Park—Historical and Descriptive (1895), Hiram M. Chittenden praised Doane's expedition report: His part in the Expedition of 1870

11528-578: The lake as Yellow Stone Lake in his 1834 journal. On some William Clark maps, the lake has the name Eustis Lake and the name Sublette 's Lake was also used to name the lake in the early 19th century. The name Yellowstone Lake appears formally first in the 1839 maps of the Oregon Territory by U.S. Army topographical engineer, Captain Washington Hood and has remained so since that time. Although many prospecting parties traversed

11659-414: The lake dashed it to pieces in an hour. Numerous steam jets pour out from the bluffs on the shore at different points. The waters of the lake reflect a deep blue color, are clear as crystal, and doubtless of great depth near the center. The extreme elevation of this great body of water, 7,714 3/5 feet, is difficult to realize. Place Mount Washington, the pride of New England, with its base at the sea level, at

11790-402: The lake through thick pines and fallen timber about eighteen miles and encamped in a small prairie. 19th-continued down the shore to the outlet about twenty miles, and encamped in a beautiful plain { Hayden Valley } which extended along the northern extremity of the lake. This valley was interspersed with scattering groves of tall pines, forming shady retreats for the numerous elk and deer during

11921-399: The lake was trapper John Colter in the early 19th century. During the fur trading era of 1820–1840, the lake was probably visited by many trapping parties moving through the park region. In trapper Osborne Russell 's diary, he describes a visit to the lake in 1836 as follows: 16th [August] -Mr. Bridger came up with the remainder of the party. 18th-The whole camp moved down the east shore of

12052-534: The lake with a Yellowstone Boating Permit. A Marina is operated at Bridge Bay and there is a boat ramp at Grant Village on the West Thumb. Areas in the southern arms of the lake are speed-restricted and/or no-motor zones to protect sensitive wildlife areas. Access to some of the lake's islands is also restricted. Xanterra Parks and Resorts at Bridge Bay Marina on Yellowstone Lake provides boat rentals and other boating services. Numerous outfitters operating outside

12183-531: The lake. Today, Yellowstone Lake is open for angling during the entire Yellowstone angling season (Memorial Day weekend thru Oct 31). All Cutthroat trout caught must be released. Recreational boating has been permitted on the lake in various forms since 1890 when the first permits for the Yellowstone Boat Company were issued to operate a ferry across the lake between road junctions. Today, powerboats, sailboats, canoes and kayaks are allowed on

12314-575: The late Middle Pleistocene, where it existed in sympatry with the steppe bison. Its relationship with other extinct bison species is unclear, though it appears to be only distantly related to the steppe and American bisons, with possibly some interbreeding between the two lineages during the Middle Pleistocene. The steppe bison survived into the early-mid Holocene in Alaska-Yukon and eastern Siberia, before becoming extinct. During

12445-438: The leader of the U.S. Army escort during the expedition, describes the lake as follows: On the south side, these promontories project far into the lake in great numbers, dividing it into bays and channels. On the west side is a low bluff of the timbered ridges, with a sand beach in front along the margins of the waters. The greatest width of open water in any direction is about eighteen miles. Several islands are seen, one of which

12576-513: The mid-1980s, concerning an unknown number of animals then. The first census of the bison occurred in 1996, which recorded 45,235 bison on 745 farms, and grew to 195,728 bison on 1,898 farms for the 2006 census. Several pet food companies use bison as a red meat alternative in dog foods. The companies producing these formulas include Natural Balance Pet Foods , Freshpet , the Blue Buffalo Company, Solid Gold, Canidae, and Taste of

12707-477: The more familiar pastoralist relationship of the Old World . Today, bison are increasingly raised for meat , hides , wool , and dairy products. The majority of bison in the world are raised for human consumption or fur clothing. Bison meat is generally considered to taste very similar to beef, but is lower in fat and cholesterol , yet higher in protein than beef, which has led to the development of beefalo ,

12838-602: The most recent glacial retreat 13,000 years ago. Because the glacial till contains many different grain sizes, including clay and a thin layer of lake sediments, water cannot percolate readily into the ground. This is why the Hayden Valley is marshy and has little encroachment of trees. Non-native lake trout were discovered in Yellowstone Lake in 1994, and were believed to have been either accidentally or intentionally introduced as early as 1989 with fish taken from Lewis Lake . The introduction of Lake trout has caused

12969-622: The overall command of General George Crook and later in 1886, under the command of General Miles of the Plains campaigns. Doane's Company A eventually wound up at an outpost in the Dragoon Mountains near the Cochise Stronghold. From there, his company under the command of Second Lieutenant Lloyd M. Brett, got involved in an epic pursuit of Geronimo's forces. Doane did not participate because of personal reasons. In September 1886, Geronimo surrendered to General Miles and

13100-490: The pack and consuming the wolves' kill. Grizzly bears and coyotes also prey on bison calves. Historically and prehistorically, lions , cave lions , tigers , dire wolves , Smilodon , Homotherium , cave hyenas , and Neanderthals posed threats to bison. For American bison, a main illness is malignant catarrhal fever , though brucellosis is a serious concern in the Yellowstone Park bison herd. Bison in

13231-528: The park are licensed to provide boating services in the park. Several dozen backcountry campsites line the southern shoreline that is accessible only by boat. Two major hiking trails provide access to the lake shore away from the major road. The Nine Mile Post trail hugs the eastern shoreline into the Thorofare region and intersects with the Trail Creek and Heart Lake trails that touch the ends of both

13362-528: The pipe leaning against it, was our sacred altar. The name of the greatest of all Sioux was Tatanka Iyotake—Sitting Bull . When you killed off the buffalo you also killed the Indian—the real, natural, "wild" Indian. European colonials were almost exclusively accountable for the near-extinction of the American bison in the 1800s. At the beginning of the century, tens of millions of bison roamed North America. Colonists slaughtered an estimated 50 million bison during

13493-552: The population bottleneck caused by the great slaughter of American bison during the 19th century, the number of bison remaining alive in North America declined to as low as 541. During that period, a handful of ranchers gathered remnants of the existing herds to save the species from extinction. These ranchers bred some of the bison with cattle in an effort to produce "cattleo" (today called " beefalo "). Accidental crossings were also known to occur. Generally, male domestic bulls were crossed with bison cows, producing offspring of which only

13624-683: The population. The name 'bison' was first used for the European species ; ancient Greek authors Pausanias and Oppian in 2nd-century AD wrote about them in Greek as βίσων bisōn . Roman authors Pliny the Elder and Gaius Julius Solinus used the word bĭson in Latin as well. It was made into a genus name by Charles Hamilton Smith in 1827. Although called "buffalo" in American English, they are only distantly related to two "true buffalo",

13755-511: The power of logic. It must be done physically. Although Doane was involved with various Indian affairs and events for most of his U.S. Army career, he played a role in two major Indian campaigns and a peripheral role in the aftermath of another. In early 1877, Doane was placed in command of the Crow Indian scouts under the command of Colonel Nelson A. Miles . Working with the Crows, Doane

13886-419: The process of wallowing, bison may become infected by the fatal disease anthrax , which may occur naturally in the soil. Bison temperament is often unpredictable. They usually appear peaceful, unconcerned, or even lazy, but they may attack without warning or apparent reason. They can move at speeds up to 56 km/h (35 mph) and cover long distances at a lumbering gallop. Their most obvious weapons are

14017-417: The proposal reached Secretary of War William W. Belknap , it was turned down. Doane was deeply disappointed, but Belknap had been impressed by Doane the man and explorer. In July 1875 Belknap and a party of dignitaries visited Yellowstone for a two-week tour of the park. Belknap chose Doane from Fort Ellis to make the arrangements and guide the party through Yellowstone. They followed a course very similar to

14148-472: The required distance of 75 ft (23 m) from bison while hiking or taking pictures. Bison is an excellent source of complete protein and a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of multiple vitamins, including riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B 6 , and vitamin B 12 , and is also a rich source of minerals, including iron, phosphorus, and zinc. Additionally, bison is a good source (10% or more of

14279-489: The same food sources. The declining population of cutthroat trout in the Yellowstone Lake can negatively impact fish predators. One in particular is the North American river otter which relies on the cutthroat fish as a prey. With a declining number of cutthroat trout in the spawning streams researchers saw a shift in the relationship between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems that are linked together. Yellowstone

14410-457: The same species of plants across years. Protein concentrations of the plants they eat tend to be highest in the spring and decline thereafter, reaching their lowest in the winter. In Yellowstone National Park, bison browsed willows and cottonwoods, not only in the winter when few other plants are available, but also in the summer. Bison are thought to migrate to optimize their diet, and will concentrate their feeding on recently burned areas due to

14541-481: The same. The resurgence of the Sour Creek dome, just north of Fishing Bridge is causing Yellowstone Lake to "tilt" southward. Larger sandy beaches can now be found on the north shore of the lake, and flooded areas can be found in the southern arms. The Hayden Valley was once filled by an arm of Yellowstone Lake. As a result, it contains fine-grained lake sediments that are now covered with glacial till left from

14672-546: The south and southeast arms of the lake. [REDACTED] Media related to Yellowstone Lake at Wikimedia Commons Bison A bison ( pl. : bison ) is a large bovine in the genus Bison (Greek: "wild ox" (bison) ) within the tribe Bovini . Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison , B. bison , found only in North America ,

14803-500: The southern and eastern flanks of the lake. On July 28, 1871, they launched Annie , the first European boat ever to sail on the lake and began exploring the islands and shoreline. Additionally, the first ever photographs of the lake were taken during this expedition by William Henry Jackson . In correspondence that was Hayden's Report No. 7 to Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution , Dr. Spencer Baird ,

14934-553: The southwest area of the lake, the West Thumb Geyser Basin is easily accessible to visitors. Geysers , fumaroles , and hot springs are found both alongside and in the lake. As of 2004, the ground under the lake has started to rise significantly, indicating increased geological activity, and limited areas of the national park have been closed to the public. As of 2005, no areas are currently off limits aside from those normally allowing limited access such as around

15065-580: The species is secure. Genetically pure B. b. bison currently number only about 20,000, separated into fragmented herds—all of which require active conservation measures. The wood bison is on the endangered species list in Canada and is listed as threatened in the United States, though numerous attempts have been made by beefalo ranchers to have it entirely removed from the Endangered Species List . Although superficially similar, physical and behavioural differences exist between

15196-560: The state of Montana , free-ranging bison on public land are legally shot, due to transmission of disease to cattle and damage to public property. In 2013, Montana legislative measures concerning the bison were proposed and passed, but opposed by Native American tribes as they impinged on sovereign tribal rights. Three such bills were vetoed by Steve Bullock , the governor of Montana. The bison's circumstances remain an issue of contention between Native American tribes and private landowners. Bison are ruminants , able to ferment cellulose in

15327-704: The steppe bison migrated across the Bering land bridge into North America, becoming ancestral to North American bison species, including the large Bison latifrons , and the smaller Bison antiquus , which became extinct at the end of the Late Pleistocene. Modern American bison are thought to have evolved from B. antiquus during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene transition via the intermediate form Bison occidentalis . The European bison, Bison bonasus, first appeared in Europe during

15458-452: The surnames ... We did not even erect cenotaphs ... We received no flags, converted no natives, killed no one ... The object of this report is to expose a few of the specious pleas, fallacious reasonings, and ill-grounded conjectures which are called scientific, and to place the subject of circumpolar exploration on a basis of facts and reasonable probabilities. One cannot explore the earth's surface from an observatory, nor by mathematics, nor by

15589-413: The trip down the Snake River. With an ingeniously disassembled wooden boat on pack mules, Doane and his party traveled up the Yellowstone River from Fort Ellis eventually reaching Yellowstone Lake on October 24, well behind schedule because of deep snows and brutal cold. The boat proved difficult on Yellowstone Lake because of high winds and was partially wrecked and supplies were lost. The party did not get

15720-410: The water-marks. Its annual rise and falls are about two feet. Its waters abound with trout to such an extent that the fish at this season are in poor condition, for want of food. No other fish are seen; no minnows, and no small trout. There are also no clams, crabs, nor turtles -- nothing but full-grown trout. These could be caught in mule loads by wading out a few feet in the open waters at any point with

15851-408: The wild . While bison species have been traditionally classified in their own genus , modern genetics indicates that they are nested within the genus Bos , which includes, among others, cattle, yaks and gaur , being most closely related to yaks. Bison are sometimes bred with domestic cattle and produce offspring called beefalo , in North America, or żubroń , in Poland. The American bison and

15982-713: Was an explorer at heart and participated in or led several explorations while assigned to Fort Ellis and other posts. In September 1874, Doane the explorer, inspired by the reports of David Livingstone and Henry M. Stanley 's adventures in Africa, proposed a Nile Survey to the Smithsonian . Of course Doane would lead this expedition. Throughout the winter of 1874–75, Doane sought support in Washington from both private and government entities. However, in February 1875, when

16113-452: Was an opening in the ground about eight inches in diameter from which hot steam issued continually with a noise similar to that made by the steam issuing from the safety valve of an engine, and could be heard five or six miles distant. The lake has been known by various names as depicted on early maps and in journals. Both fur trader David Thompson and explorer William Clark referred to the lake as Yellow Stone . Osborne Russell referred to

16244-551: Was born in Galesburg, Illinois , the oldest of six children of Solomon Doane and Nancy Davis Doane. After a move to St. Louis, Missouri in 1844, the Doanes, with their one son Cheyney traveled west to Oregon Territory settling in Oak Grove, Oregon south of Portland in 1846. In May 1849 the Doanes, now with two sons, moved to Santa Clara, California to take up farming there. As a young boy growing up in California during

16375-510: Was dissolved in August 1864, Doane was transferred to an infantry regiment. Doane was honorably discharged from the Army in January 1865. After a brief post-war stint in Illinois , Doane and some of his wartime associates returned to Yazoo City, Mississippi to establish a merchandising business. Initially successful because of the post-war boom, by late 1866 the sour post-war economy and poor business decisions resulted in bankruptcy . It

16506-768: Was during this period that Doane met and married Amelia Link, the daughter of a wealthy southern landowner. Although Doane tried to make a living from Amelia's father's land, that too failed. In 1867, Doane tried his hand at politics in Mississippi, becoming Justice of the Peace and Mayor of Yazoo City for a short period of time. However, local politics and Reconstruction policies proved too much for Doane and he left Mississippi in May 1868 for Illinois, abandoning his business and political ambitions in Mississippi. After his business and political failures in Mississippi, Doane again became

16637-466: Was instrumental in gaining their allegiance to the U.S. Army during the Nez Perce campaign. Immediately after the ill-fated Battle of the Little Bighorn , Doane and his troop were instrumental in moving survivors of Major Marcus Reno 's forces to safety and medical care. In June 1877, a year after the battle, Doane along with his troop of Crow Indian scouts and Lt Colonel Michael Sheridan visited

16768-545: Was made a sergeant and began seeing combat in actions around Washington, D.C. against forces of Confederate Colonel John S. Mosby , also known as the Gray Ghost . In March 1864, Doane was transferred to the Mississippi Marine Brigade , Vicksburg, Mississippi as a first lieutenant. Although Doane's unit did see action with the enemy, he did not distinguish himself during this assignment. When it

16899-539: Was our bed, our blanket, our winter coat. It was our drum, throbbing through the night, alive, holy. Out of his skin we made our water bags. His flesh strengthened us, became flesh of our flesh. Not the smallest part of it was wasted. His stomach, a red-hot stone dropped into it, became our soup kettle. His horns were our spoons, the bones our knives, our women's awls and needles. Out of his sinews we made our bowstrings and thread. His ribs were fashioned into sleds for our children, his hoofs became rattles. His mighty skull, with

17030-601: Was skillful and resourceful throughout the expedition, it was his thorough and detailed report to the Secretary of War in February 1871 of the natural phenomena in Yellowstone that played a convincing role in the efforts to convince the U.S. Congress to create the National Park. The following excerpt is typical of Doane's detailed descriptions contained in his report: Along both banks of the Firehole River are

17161-620: Was the daughter of Dr. Andrew Jackson Hunter, formerly the camp physician at Fort Ellis. They remained married and together until Doane's death in 1892. Following Doane's death, Mary Lee Hunter Doane became an active member in many historical organizations including the Society of Montana Pioneers and the Daughters of the American Revolution , and was frequently referred to as an "encyclopedia of Montana history." She also formed

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