The Yellowstone National Park Part 30

_Canon Creek_--1 : 5--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Carnelian Creek_--E : 9--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Cascade Creek_--G : 8--1870--Washburn Party--Characteristic.

_Chalcedony Creek_--E : 12--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Chipmunk Creek_--O : 11--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Clear Creek_--L : 11--1878--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Cliff Creek_--Q : 13--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Clover Creek_--G : 13--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Cold Creek_--H : 14--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Columbine Creek_--M : 11--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Conant Creek_--T : 1--Prior to 1870--By Richard Leigh for one All Conant, who went to the mountains in 1865, and who came near losing his life on this stream.

_Cotton Gra.s.s Creek_--H : 9--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Cougar Creek_--G : 2--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Coulter Creek_--R : 8--1885--U. S. G. S.--For John M. Coulter, botanist in the Hayden Expedition of 1872.

_Crawfish Creek_--R : 6--1885--U. S. G. S--Characteristic.

_Crevice Creek_--C : 7--1867--Prospecting party under one Lou Anderson.

"They found gold in a crevice at the mouth of the first Stream above Bear, and named it, in consequence, Crevice Gulch. Hubbel went ahead the next day for a hunt, and upon his return he was asked what kind of a stream the next creek was. "It's a h.e.l.l roarer," was his reply, and h.e.l.l Roaring is its name to this day. The second day after this, he was again ahead, and, the same question being asked him, he said: "'Twas but a slough." When the party came to it, they found a rus.h.i.+ng torrent, and, in crossing, a pack horse and his load were swept away, but the name of Slough Creek remains."--Topping.

_Crooked Creek_--R : 10--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Crow Creek_--K : 15--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Crystal Creek_--D : 11--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Cub Creek_--L : 11--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Deep Creek_--E : 10--1873--Jones--Characteristic.

_De Lacy Creek_--M : 6--1880--Norris--For Walter W. De Lacy, first white man known to have pa.s.sed along the valley. (See "Shoshone Lake.") First named Madison Creek by the Hayden party in 1871.

_Duck Creek_--G : 3--1895--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Elk Creek_--D : 9--Named prior to 1870--Characteristic.

_Elk Tongue Creek_--C : 12--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Escarpment Creek_--Q : 13--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Fairy Creek_--J : 4--1871--Barlow--From "Fairy Falls," which see.

_Falcon Creek_--R : 13--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Falls River_--S : 1--1872--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Fan Creek_--C : 2--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Fawn Creek_--C : 5--1878--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Firehole River_--I : 4--This name and "Burnt Hole" have been used to designate the geyser basins and the stream flowing through them since at least as far back as 1830. Captain Bonneville says it was well known to his men. The term "Hole" is a relic of the early days when the open valleys or parks among the mountains were called "holes." The descriptive "fire, naturally arose from the peculiar character of that region."

_Firehole, Little_--L : 4--1878--U. S. G. S.--From main stream.

_Flint Creek_--F : 13--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Forest Creek_--Q : 7--1885--U. S. G. S--Characteristic.

_Fox Creek_--R : 11--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Gallatin River_--A : 1--1805--Lewis and Clark--For Albert Gallatin, Secretary of War under President Jefferson.

_Gardiner River_ (5360)--B : 6--This name, which, after "Yellowstone,"

is the most familiar and important name in the Park, is the most difficult to account for. The first authentic use of the name occurs in 1870, in the writings of the Washburn party. In Mr. Langford's journal, kept during the expedition, is the following entry for August 25, 1870: "At nineteen miles from our morning camp we came to Gardiner River, at the mouth of which we camped." As the party did not originate the name, and as they make no special reference to it in any of their writings, it seems clear that it must already have been known to them at the time of their arrival at the stream. None of the surviving members has the least recollection concerning it. The stream had been known to prospectors during the preceding few years as Warm Spring Creek, and the many "old timers" consulted on the subject erroneously think that the present name was given by the Washburn Party or by the Hayden Party of 1871. What is its real origin is therefore a good deal of a mystery.

The only clue, and that not a satisfactory one, which has come under our observation, is to be found in the book "River of the West,"

already quoted. Reference is there made to a trapper by the name of Gardiner, who lived in the Upper Yellowstone country as far back as 1830, and was at one time a companion of Joseph Meek, the hero of the book. In another place it is stated that in 1838, Meek started alone from Missouri Lake (probably Red Rock Lake) "for the Gallatin Fork of the Missouri, trapping in a mountain basin called Gardiner's Hole....

On his return, in another basin called Burnt Hole, he found a buffalo skull, etc." As is well known, the sources of the Gallatin and Gardiner are interlaced with each other, and this reference strongly points to the present Gardiner Valley as "Gardiner's Hole." The route across the Gallatin Range to Mammoth Hot Springs, and thence back by way of the Firehole Basin, was doubtless a natural one then as it is now. It is therefore reasonable to suppose that this name came from an old hunter in the early years of the century, and that the Washburn Party received it from some surviving descendant of those times.

_Geode Creek_--C : 8--1878--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Geyser Creek_--H : 6--1878--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Gibbon River_--I : 4--1872--U. S. G. S.--For Gen. John Gibbon, U. S.

A., who first explored it.

"We have named this stream in honor of Gen. John Gibbon, United States Army, who has been in military command of Montana for some years, and has, on many occasions, rendered the survey most important services."--Hayden.[CL]

[CL] Page 55, Sixth Annual Report of Dr. Hayden.

_Glade Creek_--S : 6--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Glen Creek_--C : 6--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.

_Gneiss Creek_--G : 1--1885--U. S. G. S.--Characteristic.