Tower Falls
Encyclopedia
Tower Fall is a waterfall
in the northeastern region of Yellowstone National Park
, in the U.S. state
of Wyoming
. On Tower Creek, approximately 1000 yards upstream from the creek's confluence with the Yellowstone River
, the fall drops 132 feet (40 m) and the naming comes from the rock pinnacles at the top of the fall. Tower creek and Tower Falls are located approximately 3 miles south of Roosevelt on the Tower-Canyon road.
).
In August 1870, the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition
camped near and explored the Tower Fall area for several days enroute to Yellowstone Lake
. In his 1871 report to the Secretary of War, Gustavus C. Doane
, a member of the expedition described Tower Falls as:
The fall was named by Samuel Hauser, a member of the Washburn party. Hauser made this notation in his diary on August 27, 1870:
The fall was renamed Tower Fall by the U.S. Geologic Survey in 1928.
A well known painting by Thomas Moran
in 1871 helped persuade the U.S. Congress to set aside Yellowstone as the world's first national park
in 1872.
Waterfall
A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...
in the northeastern region of Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
, in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
. On Tower Creek, approximately 1000 yards upstream from the creek's confluence with the Yellowstone River
Yellowstone River
The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, the river and its tributaries drain a wide area stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the Yellowstone National...
, the fall drops 132 feet (40 m) and the naming comes from the rock pinnacles at the top of the fall. Tower creek and Tower Falls are located approximately 3 miles south of Roosevelt on the Tower-Canyon road.
History
On September 15–16, 1869, members of the Cook–Folsom–Peterson Expedition spent a whole day in the Tower Fall area before crossing the river and traveling up the East Fork of the Yellowstone (Lamar RiverLamar River
The Lamar River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately 40 miles long, in northwestern Wyoming in the United States. The river is located entirely within Yellowstone National Park.-History:...
).
In August 1870, the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition
Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition
The Washburn Expedition of 1870, explored the region of northwestern Wyoming that a couple years later became Yellowstone National Park. Led by Henry Washburn, Nathaniel P. Langford and under U.S. Army escort led by Lt. Gustavus C...
camped near and explored the Tower Fall area for several days enroute to Yellowstone Lake
Yellowstone Lake
Yellowstone Lake is the largest body of water in Yellowstone National Park, The lake is 7,732 feet above sea level and covers with 110 miles of shoreline. While the average depth of the lake is 139 feet its deepest spot is at least 390 feet...
. In his 1871 report to the Secretary of War, Gustavus C. Doane
Gustavus Cheyney Doane
Gustavus Cheyney Doane was a U.S. Army Cavalry Captain, explorer, inventor and Civil War soldier who played a prominent role in the exploration of Yellowstone as a member of the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition.-Early life:...
, a member of the expedition described Tower Falls as:
The fall was named by Samuel Hauser, a member of the Washburn party. Hauser made this notation in his diary on August 27, 1870:
The fall was renamed Tower Fall by the U.S. Geologic Survey in 1928.
A well known painting by Thomas Moran
Thomas Moran
Thomas Moran from Bolton, England was an American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School in New York whose work often featured the Rocky Mountains. Moran and his family took residence in New York where he obtained work as an artist...
in 1871 helped persuade the U.S. Congress to set aside Yellowstone as the world's first national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
in 1872.