[Geysers] Interesting new history of White Dome Geyser, 1889-1906.

[Lee_Whittlesey at nps.gov]

A look at WONDERLAND NOMENCLATURE indicates that historic references to
White Dome Geyser after 1878 are limited to two prior to that of the
Campbell's Guide in 1909. One of these was G.L. Henderson's 1891 reference,
which stated: "the ancient Hecla...sends up vast volumes of steam with
occasional jets of water." The other was Wheeler's 1901 guidebook, which
stated that White Dome's eruption was "perhaps twenty-five feet high" at
intervals of 20-45 minutes.

During the period I researched and wrote WONDERLAND NOMENCLATURE
(1972-1988) I could find no other references to White Dome Geyser for the
1890s decade, and so I wrote:  "perhaps the geyser was dormant during that
period."

A new source now gives added strength to that claim. As of August, 2004,
the park received a copy of Dr. Edward Newman Roberts's handwritten 1906
diary, an account that was previously unknown to us. On Sunday, June 24,
1906, Dr. Roberts says he stayed at the Fountain Hotel and walked over to
see Great Fountain Geyser erupt. While in that area he wrote the following:

"Near this was the Dome geyser. It had been silent for seventeen years up
till the time of the Frisco earthquake[,] since which time it has played
every half hour. We saw it play once." [pp. 13-14]

Dr. Roberts did not tell us whence he got his information, but probably it
came from local folks at Fountain Hotel, from local people who were hanging
around the White Dome area, or perhaps from his stagecoach driver.
Regardless, the information was apparently "in common knowledge" (or at
least in common belief) locally. A check with THE PEOPLE'S CHRONOLOGY
indicates that the San Francisco earthquake of which he speaks occurred on
April 18, 1906.

Of course who knows whether the earthquake truly affected White Dome or
whether it was indeed dormant during the period 1889-1906? Henderson's 1891
account would seem to show that there was some (probably weak) activity
then, and the 1901 mention would likewise augur for at least some activity
that year. But the Roberts account apparently shows that the common belief
among local folks of the day was that White Dome Geyser had been dormant or
mostly dormant for many years---perhaps even since 1878, as it went
essentially unmentioned by the Hague surveys, 1883-1900.

Rare accounts like the Roberts diary fortunately continue to surface every
so often to help us fill in puzzle pieces of what continues to be spotty
history for many Yellowstone geysers.

Lee Whittlesey
Park Historian, NPS
YNP