[The Discovery of Yellowstone Park 1870] Diary of the Washburn Expedition to the Yellowstone and Firehole Rivers In the Year 1870 [Inscribed] by LANGFORD, Nathaniel Pitt (1832-1911) - 1905

[none given]: [none given], 1905. First Edition. Decorative Cloth. Fine. First Printing of this comprehensive insider's account of the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition, which explored the region of northwestern Wyoming that became Yellowstone National Park. Presentation copy, inscribed in an elegant hand by the author: "Mrs. Charles A. Stott / Compliments of / the Author / Nathaniel P. Langford / St. Paul Minn. June 25, 1907." Crown 8vo (201 x 133mm): xxxi,122pp, with 22 unnumbered leaves of plates (including frontispiece portrait of Washburn, photographic portraits of expedition members, and maps). Original navy blue cloth, spine and upper cover lettered in gilt, vignette of men and pack mule in red to upper cover, beveled boards, top edge gilt. A superlative copy, square and tightly bound, pages and plates clean and bright throughout. Voth & Russell, p. 53. The Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition visited both the upper and lower geyser basins, named the Old Faithful geyser, and created detailed maps of the region. Mount Langford, in the Absaroka Range, just east of Yellowstone Lake, was scaled by Langford during the expedition and named after him. He became first superintendent of the Park, but had no salary, funding, or legal means to enforce protection for Yellowstone's wildlife and geologic features. Thus, he had to earn his leaving elsewhere, and he entered the Park only twice during his five years as superintendent. The first time was during the second Hayden Expedition, in 1872; the second, in 1874, to evict a man named Matthew McGuirk, who claimed to own the Boiling River, one of Yellowstone's hot springs rumored to have healing powers. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).