Name: Elephant Back Mountain

 

County: Teton

 

Authority Name: 

 

GNIS Entry

 

Longitude:  1102802W

Latitude: 443315N

 

Legal Description:

 

Elevation: 8592/2619

(ft/m)

 

Feature Type: Summit

 

Origin of Name:

Mountain, altitude 8,600 feet, Yellowstone National Park... . Named by Hayden, 1871, because of rounded form of summit and almost vertical sides.

Source: Decisions, 1890-1932 

 

Other Names: 

 

Alternative Spellings:

 

History:

The Washburn Range was originally called Elephant's Back. Many years before the park was discovered, it was used to denote the long ridge of which Mt. Washburn is the commanding summit, and which was distinctly visible from beyond the present limits of the park, both north and south. It so appears upon Raynold's map of 1860, and was so used by the Washburn Expedition (1870), by Captain Barlow (1871), and by Captain Jones (1873). The United States Geological Survey, however, in 1871, transferred the name to an inconspicuous ridge more than a thousand feet lower than the surrounding mountains. Whether the change was made by accident or design does not appear. Captain Ludlow, as late as 1875 refers to it and deplores the fact that it had taken place.

Source: Chittenden

 

Stories:

 

Maps:

1:24000 Quadrangle: Lake

 

Newspapers:

 

More Information: 

 

Pictures: