Hayden Geological Survey of 1871

The bill spawned an era of federally funded Great Surveys undertaken by the Department of the Interior after the Civil War that brought together explorers, engineers, scientists and topographers in a common effort to chart the western U.S. Hayden along with John Wesley Powell, Clarence King and George Wheeler were the leaders of these great surveys.

[2] In March 1871, a sum of $40,000 was appropriated by Congress to finance Hayden's fifth survey to explore mostly the territories of Idaho and Montana.

After the passage of the Sundry Civil bill, Hayden immediately applied to the Secretary of War for permission to draw on equipment, stores, and transportation at frontier army posts.

Included in the party was William Henry Jackson, his photographer from his 1870 survey and Thomas Moran, a guest artist arranged by Jay Cooke.

Both Allen and Peale kept private journals of the expedition which when discovered in later years have brought great insight to the daily operations of the survey team.

At Fort Ellis, both George Allen, the botanist and Cyrus Thomas, the agricultural statistician and entomologist, then left the party for health reasons,[6] while José, the guide, joined the team.

After resupplying and coordinating with the U.S. Army at Fort Ellis, the survey departed south along the Yellowstone River on July 15, 1871.

For the next 45 days, the Hayden Survey would coordinate efforts with the Barlow-Heap expedition under the command of Colonel John W. Barlow, Chief Engineer for General Philip Sheridan that the U.S. Army was sending into Yellowstone at the same time.

As the survey team traveled up the Yellowstone River in what is now called Paradise Valley, they confirmed what Hayden already knew, that the trail was unsuitable for their wagons.

On July 28, 1871, some members of the Hayden party assembled a small boat from components they packed in from Fort Ellis and carved oars from nearby trees.

On July 31, 1871, Hayden and some members of his survey team left Yellowstone Lake (others stayed at the lake to tend the boat and supplies) and ventured back into the Hayden Valley where at the Crater Hills Geyser group they proceeded due west en route the geyser basins of the Madison River drainage.

The party spent several days in the Lower, Midway and Upper Geyser basins finally departing on August 6, 1871.

7 to Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Dr. Spencer Baird, a bit of which is excerpted below: 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. ...

On August 19 they arrived at the northeast corner of the lake at Steamboat Point 44°31′54″N 110°17′34″W / 44.53167°N 110.29278°W / 44.53167; -110.29278 (Steamboat Point) (named by Hayden for steam jets nearby) near Turbid Lake where they camped for a few days in preparation for their return to the Yellowstone River via the East Fork (Lamar River).

Duncan, who was on guard, says that the trees were shaken and that the horses that were lying on the ground sprang to their feet ... We had three shocks during the morning.

[10]On August 23, 1871, after dismantling and caching Annie, the party moved northeast away from Yellowstone Lake until they encountered Pelican Creek.

In October 1870, John C. Baronett, a Helena prospector, helped rescue Truman C. Everts after he had become lost during the Washburn Expedition of 1870.

[11] By the evening of August 26, 1871 most of the survey party had left the park region and was camped just north of Gardiner on the Yellowstone River.

Not an accident has happened to any member of our party-we made a most admirable survey of the Yellow Stone Basin [sic], the Lake, all the Hot Springs.

Mr. Moran was filled with enthusiasm and has returned to devote himself to the painting of pictures of the Yellow Stone [sic] region.

Yours Truly, F. V. Hayden By September 29, 1871, the survey party had reached Evanston, Wyoming Territory where they boarded a Union Pacific Railroad train to Fort Bridger, arriving there on October 2, 1871.

In open country, as they found in northern Utah, the survey party traveled an average of 15 miles (24 km) per day.

While camping and on the march, the various scientists, photographers and topographers would venture out in small teams from the main party to collect specimens, make observations and document the flora, fauna, geology and geography of the land.

When next the survey party encountered a station that could handle mail or express shipments—usually a town, stage stop or Army facility—the prepared materials and correspondence would be shipped east.

George Allen, the botanist describes a typical day in the early portion of the survey in his journal: Thursday, June 29, 1871 – After the Camp broke up went with the Photographic corps on a hill overlooking the vale and changed the papers of the pressed plants, while Jackson took pictures ...

[13] The most important product of the expedition, in addition to the sketches and paintings by Thomas Moran and the photographs by William Jackson, was Hayden's lengthy report detailing the findings of his party.

Hayden presented this report, the photos, sketches, and paintings to Senators, Congressmen, his superiors in the Department of the Interior, and nearly everyone else who could possibly influence the founding of a park.

Hayden also published articles in magazines with national circulation and spent much personal time and effort trying to convince Congress to establish the park.

Hayden's influence on Congress is readily apparent when examining the detailed information contained in the report of the House Committee on Public Lands: "The bill now before Congress has for its objective the withdrawal from settlement, occupancy, or sale, under the laws of the United States a tract of land fifty-five by sixty-five miles, about the sources of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers, and dedicates and sets apart as a great national park or pleasure-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people."

On March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill into law, establishing the Yellowstone region as a public park, memorializing the results of three years of exploration by Cook-Folsom-Peterson (1869), Washburn-Langford-Doane (1870), and Hayden (1871).