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Yellowstone and the Great West: Journals, Letters, and Images from the 1871 Hayden Expedition
Here, for the first time in paperback, is a fascinating daily record of Ferdinand Hayden’s historic 1871 scientific expedition through Utah, Idaho, and Montana Territories to the Yellowstone Basin. The expedition’s findings quickly led Congress to establish Yellowstone as the world’s first national park. In addition to its scientific discoveries, the expedition is famous for producing the earliest on-site images of Yellowstone, by its photographer, William Henry Jackson, and its guest artist, Thomas Moran.
Marlene Deahl Merrill has woven together a compelling daily narrative from the field writings of three expedition members: unpublished journals kept by mineralogist Albert Peale and geologist George Allen, periodic reports by Peale to his hometown newspaper, and letters from Hayden to his friend and mentor Spencer Baird at the Smithsonian Institution. Enriching this narrative are Jackson’s photographs of camp scenes and landscapes; rare panoramic drawings by the party’s topographical artist, Henry Elliott; maps; an introduction; and extensive annotations.
Marlene Deahl Merrill has woven together a compelling daily narrative from the field writings of three expedition members: unpublished journals kept by mineralogist Albert Peale and geologist George Allen, periodic reports by Peale to his hometown newspaper, and letters from Hayden to his friend and mentor Spencer Baird at the Smithsonian Institution. Enriching this narrative are Jackson’s photographs of camp scenes and landscapes; rare panoramic drawings by the party’s topographical artist, Henry Elliott; maps; an introduction; and extensive annotations.
315 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1999
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September 19, 2022
“Nothing remarkable has occurred while everything may be said to be remarkable. The whole country is wonderful.” – Ferdinand Hayden
Ever since I read Yellowstone Moran with my kids, I have wanted to learn more about the Hayden expedition. Ferdinand Hayden was a geologist and surveyor who led a group of topographers, scientists, and artists through Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, and Montana in 1871. The primary purpose of this expedition was to survey the Yellowstone area and convince the US government to set it aside as a national park. Yellowstone and the Great West offers insight into the Hayden expedition through letters that Hayden wrote to a fellow professor, and journals kept by two of the party, George Allen, a fifty-eight-year-old professor of geology, and Albert Peale, a twenty-two-year-old medical school graduate. Poor health resulted in Allen having to leave the expedition before reaching Yellowstone, but I found his journal accounts more intriguing than Peale’s simply because they were more personal and poetic. For instance, of his trip by train through Echo Canyon in Utah he writes, “On either side were precipitous mountain cliffs presenting an ever varying panorama of grand and beautiful visions … Everyone admired, everyone exclaimed, all were in ecstasy. Castles, towers, antique ruins, giant cloud shadows, but left, I trust, upon my memory a most enduring impression!” (50-51). As he reflected on leaving to go home before he reached Yellowstone, he wrote, “I have come far to gaze upon these mountain peaks – their broad swelling foot hills, - their beautiful terraces – their pure sparkling mountain streams. It has cost me something in home comforts and tears, but I do not regret it. I am a thousand times repaid. These visions of God’s glorious work in the rock structure of the globe, which I have been permitted to enjoy, are indelibly impressed upon my memory, and I trust have awakened in my heart emotions of gratitude and sentiments of adoration which could not otherwise have been experienced. Thanks to my Heavenly Father and thanks to the kind friends who have thus favored me!” (111). It is a pity Allen didn’t make it to Yellowstone.
Peale’s journal picks up where Allen’s journal leaves off and in the second half of the book we finally get to Yellowstone. Unfortunately, Peale was not nearly as eloquent as Allen and his journal is more a recitation of facts, rather than facts mixed with personal reflections. Though his writing is dry, it was still fascinating to read a first-hand account of Yellowstone before it was a park. Camp life was rough - the men used saddles for pillows, woke up with frost on their blankets, and used slate and pine sticks for a table to write on. But like the Lewis & Clark expedition, there is so much romance attached to what these men were doing. This small group of scientists, professors, and artists braved hardships to explore an unknown wonderland of geysers, hot springs, petrified forests, and grand canyons, and then sat writing letters, journaling their experiences, and reading by the campfire each night.
Ever since I read Yellowstone Moran with my kids, I have wanted to learn more about the Hayden expedition. Ferdinand Hayden was a geologist and surveyor who led a group of topographers, scientists, and artists through Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, and Montana in 1871. The primary purpose of this expedition was to survey the Yellowstone area and convince the US government to set it aside as a national park. Yellowstone and the Great West offers insight into the Hayden expedition through letters that Hayden wrote to a fellow professor, and journals kept by two of the party, George Allen, a fifty-eight-year-old professor of geology, and Albert Peale, a twenty-two-year-old medical school graduate. Poor health resulted in Allen having to leave the expedition before reaching Yellowstone, but I found his journal accounts more intriguing than Peale’s simply because they were more personal and poetic. For instance, of his trip by train through Echo Canyon in Utah he writes, “On either side were precipitous mountain cliffs presenting an ever varying panorama of grand and beautiful visions … Everyone admired, everyone exclaimed, all were in ecstasy. Castles, towers, antique ruins, giant cloud shadows, but left, I trust, upon my memory a most enduring impression!” (50-51). As he reflected on leaving to go home before he reached Yellowstone, he wrote, “I have come far to gaze upon these mountain peaks – their broad swelling foot hills, - their beautiful terraces – their pure sparkling mountain streams. It has cost me something in home comforts and tears, but I do not regret it. I am a thousand times repaid. These visions of God’s glorious work in the rock structure of the globe, which I have been permitted to enjoy, are indelibly impressed upon my memory, and I trust have awakened in my heart emotions of gratitude and sentiments of adoration which could not otherwise have been experienced. Thanks to my Heavenly Father and thanks to the kind friends who have thus favored me!” (111). It is a pity Allen didn’t make it to Yellowstone.
Peale’s journal picks up where Allen’s journal leaves off and in the second half of the book we finally get to Yellowstone. Unfortunately, Peale was not nearly as eloquent as Allen and his journal is more a recitation of facts, rather than facts mixed with personal reflections. Though his writing is dry, it was still fascinating to read a first-hand account of Yellowstone before it was a park. Camp life was rough - the men used saddles for pillows, woke up with frost on their blankets, and used slate and pine sticks for a table to write on. But like the Lewis & Clark expedition, there is so much romance attached to what these men were doing. This small group of scientists, professors, and artists braved hardships to explore an unknown wonderland of geysers, hot springs, petrified forests, and grand canyons, and then sat writing letters, journaling their experiences, and reading by the campfire each night.
Displaying 1 of 1 review