1878 Preliminary Geological Map of the Yellowstone National Park

By:?Ferdinand?V. Hayden

Date of Original:?1878 (published) Washington D.C.

Original Size:?35 x?30 inches

One of the earliest maps of Yellowstone National Park (est. 1872). The map features the most recent findings by land surveyors and geologists to study the region, which is known worldwide for its unique landscape, geologic makeup, and thermal activity.

This is a fine print reproduction of a remarkable large format map of Yellowstone National Park that was created by?Ferdinand V. Hayden for the second surveyor's report? prepared for the Department of the Interior. The map includes the entirety of Yellowstone with, which resides primarily in Wyoming, with portions extending into Idaho nd Montana. It is color coded by geologic makeup, and geochronology, which?dates rock formations and layers by geological events. Such classifications in the key include Upper, Middle, and Lower Cretaceous, Jurassic, Triassic, and carboniferous layers as well as lake beds, and of course, hot spring deposits.

Many popular eco-tourist sites are noted throughout the map, including Yellowstone Lake, Shoshone Lake, Upper and Lower Geyser Basin,?Mammoth Hot Springs, Twin Buttes, East Gallatin Range, Yellowstone River, Obsidian Canyon, and Crystal Falls to name a few. Also noteworthy is the Continental Watershed (Continental Divide), which is delineated from the center-left to lower-right portion of the map.

Yellowstone was first discovered by the United States through the privately financed?Cook¨CFolsom¨CPeterson Expedition of 1869. When word of the natural wonders they?witnessed reached back east, the?Washburn Expedition of 1870 was sent to explore the region further. The Hayden Expedition soon followed in 1871 and on March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act into law, officially declaring Ye4llowstone at the world's first national park.

Inventory #11648