[Geysers] Old name question by Scott Bryan---response by Lee Whittlesey

[Lee_Whittlesey at nps.gov]

For Scott Bryan and others interested in the P.W. Norris maps, yes, these
fine old maps (1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, and 1881) when used alongside Mr.
Norris's five annual reports tell us a lot about Superintendent Norris's
explorations and about the man himself. They are worthy of extended study
for anyone who loves Yellowstone and who has an interest in its history.
I'd be happy to discuss them with anyone who wants to give me a call on the
telephone, but I can only sit here and type for so long. For a biography of
Norris, see my book STORYTELLING IN YELLOWSTONE, chapter eight, and I've
cited other biographies of him there as well (p. 308, note 2).

So here are some short answers to your questions.

Here's the Paintpot Hill entry from WONDERLAND NOMENCLATURE. It clears up
your question about Mr. Johnson:

*PAINTPOT HILL---A hill, elevation 8055 feet, located at the north end of
Gibbon Canyon.
    Paintpot Hill was named "Johnson Peak'" in 1879 by park superintendent
P.W. Norris for N.D. Johnson, the man Norris had requested to be U.S.
Commissioner for Wyoming Territory and who Norris hoped would help control
crime in the Park. [P.W. Norris, RofS, 1879, map.]
    The present name was given in 1885 by members of the Hague parties of
the USGS because of the existence of the Artists' Paintpots thermal springs
located at the north base of Paintpot Hill.  Early Park visitors thought
that various bubbling mud springs in Yellowstone resembled paint and hence
called them "paintpots". [Hiram M. Chittenden, The Yellowstone National
Park, 1895, p. 305.]

Aubrey Haines briefly mentions N.D. Johnson in his YELLOWSTONE STORY, II,
p. 64.

The names "Third Canyon" and "First Canyon" (of the Gibbon River) were
Norris's names of convenience that he formulated during an era when few
other names were available. As we know, he gave LOTS of names to
Yellowstone.  But in giving these three names to the Gibbon-Madison canyon,
Norris was inconsistent because he had already given the name Gibbon Canyon
in 1877 and he also sometimes referred to the upper end of it as "Upper
Canyon." Thus, I was faced with trying to make sense of his
inconsistencies.  The name Gibbon Canyon is official by virtue of a USBGN
DECISION, so it is the name that we are obligated to use. The same goes for
Madison Canyon, which is official by virtue of inclusion on (official)
maps.  With those two names decided, I could only abandon these
first-second-third-canyon names as obsolete names, and indeed the name
"Third Canyon of the Madison" appears in my obsolete names appendix in
Wonderland Nomenclature. Somehow, during my cataloging, I omitted "First
Canyon" (of the Gibbon), "Second Canyon" (of the Gibbon), and "Upper
Canyon" (of the Gibbon) but because of your inquiry, Scott, I've now added
them to the obsolete names appendix for the next edition of Wonderland
Nomenclature (we'll see whether I live long enough to write it!). The
active name Sleepy Hollow long ago supplanted Norris's old name of "Second
Canyon" (of the Gibbon).

For you completeness addicts, here is the entry from WN on Gibbon Canyon:

GIBBON CANYON---The canyon of Gibbon River, extending north from Gibbon
Falls for about six miles on Gibbon River.
    The name was in use very early.  Superintendent P.W. Norris used it as
early as 1877, and he explored it in 1878.  In these early days the tourist
route through this canyon ran mainly on the east side of the river although
it forded the stream back and forth in what were considered some dangerous
crossings.  One well known ford was near Lone Tree Rock.
    Norris sometimes referred to the south end of the Gibbon Canyon as
"First Canyon" and the north end as "Upper Canyon".[P.W. Norris, RofS,
1877, p. 844; 1880, p. 4, map.]

I repeat: I love to discuss place-names stuff with anyone who is interested
in it, so I invite anyone with  such an interest to call me anytime. A big
part of what I do is to answer historical questions.

Lee Whittlesey
office (307) 344-2261



                                                                           
             <TSBryan at aol.com>                                             
             Sent by:                                                      
             <geysers-bounces@                                          To 
             lists.wallawalla.         <geysers at lists.wallawalla.edu>      
             edu>                                                       cc 
                                                                           
                                                                   Subject 
             07/16/2012 09:13          [Geysers] Old names                 
             AM                                                            
                                                                           
                                                                           
             Please respond to                                             
                  Geyser                                                   
                Observation                                                
                  Reports                                                  
             <geysers at lists.wa                                             
               llawalla.edu>                                               
                                                                           
                                                                           




A couple of weeks ago Mary Beth handed out some neckerchiefs that bore the
1881 Norris map of YNP. It boasts a few curious names/locations. So as much
as anything this e-mail is aimed at Lee Whittlesey, who does not have these
names in Wonderland Nomenclature...

The canyon between (about) 7 Mile Bridge and Madison Junction is labeled as
"Third Canyon."
I find no "Second Canyon" on the map but have to presume that it is/was the
shallow canyon between Gibbon Falls and Madison Junction, this given that
what must be Gibbon Falls is shown as "First Canyon Falls." And this then
leaves Gibbon Canyon between the falls and Gibbon Meadows as "First
Canyon."

The map also shows "Johnson Peak." I think this must be our Paintpot Hill.
And who was Johnson?

Last on this, just the comment that the map shows "geyser" in what must be
our area NW of Norris.

Apologies to those historians among us who are familiar with this map, but
this curious mind wishes to know...

Scott Bryan

P.S. To MA and others, thanks much for the info about Graceful, Incline,
etc._______________________________________________
Geysers mailing list
Geysers at lists.wallawalla.edu