t wo91from Helena, led by Civil War veteran Gen. Henry D. Washburn; along with the enthusiastic amateurs came a cavalry escort commanded by ace Indian hter Lieutenant Gustavus C. Doane. They remained in the future park until late September, exploring most of the marvels (they somehow missed the Mammoth Terraces), naming many features with names that have stuck to this day. On September 19, camped by what later became known as ational Park Mountain,�they may or may not have jointly come up with the idea of establishing a national park to protect all the wonders before private entrepreneurs moved in and fenced things off. After returning to Helena, Langford went east to lecture about the wonders just as Jay Cooke had planned. It was these lectures, combined with newspaper articles written by other members of the expedition, that began the amazingly rapid drive toward the establishment of the park in 1872, with Nathaniel P. Langford as its st superintendent. So. Hints about Yellowstone marvels had by 1870 evolved from wild rumors into semi-conmed reports. The Washburn Expedition was the st successful attempt to go into the future park and bring out the truth in a form (newspaper articles, lectures, primitive sketches) that could be transported to the settled part of the country and disseminated to a larger public who might soon be able to go there in turn. I can understand the motives of men like that, since, when you stop and think about it, they weren that different from the motives that brought me to the park 130 years later. It why I think I would right in with them, if I had the chance to go back in time. I would enjoy their curiosity; I would d the danger, modest as it was, stimulating; I would like their sense of responsibility and mission, leavened by their willingness to enjoy some fun. But most of all, I would value being among the
