Uncle Tom's Trail

History

edit

Although trappers and prospectors who visited the Yellowstone region had knowledge of the canyon earlier, the first significant descriptions were publicized after the Cook–Folsom–Peterson Expedition of 1869 and the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition of 1870.

When Charles W. Cook first viewed the canyon after traveling west from the Lamar Valley on September 20, 1869, he subsequently wrote these words in his journal:

A year later during the Washburn expedition, on August 30–31, 1870, Lt. Gustavus C. Doane described the canyon with a bit more scientific detail:

In 1890, Bozeman resident H.F. Richardson (known as Uncle Tom) was given a permit to operate a ferry across the Yellowstone River near the site of today's Chittenden Bridge and take tourists down into the canyon below the lower falls on Uncle Tom's Trail. Although the original trail no longer exists, there is still a steep stairway down to the base of the lower falls that is called Uncle Tom's Trail. Uncle Tom's Trail is approximately a 3 mile hike.[1]

Link to article: Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Notes: I added the picture of Uncle Tom's Trail and the sentence about the trail being a 3 mile hike.

  1. ^ "Uncle Tom's Trail/South Rim Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Yellowstone NP, WY". www.hikemasters.com. Retrieved 2017-09-21.