Name: Firehole River

 

County: Teton

 

Authority Name: 

 

GNIS Entry

 

Longitude:  1105156W

Latitude: 443832N

 

Legal Description:

 

Elevation: 6795/2071

(ft/m)

 

Feature Type: Stream

 

Origin of Name:

River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyo., ... flowing north, uniting with the Gibbon River to form the Madison River. Name dates back to 1830; known to Bonneville and his men.

Source: Decisions, 1890-1932

 

Firehole River is a name the origin of which has heretofore apparently been misunderstood. Dates from as far back as 1830, when the valley was called by the trappers "Burnt Hole," from a great forest fire which had recently swept over it, and the traces of which are distinctly visible at the present day. The record on this point is definite and conclusive. 

Source: WPA

 

Other Names: 

 

Alternative Spellings:

 

History:

In confirmation of the above, I will state that Topping gives an account of a prospecting trip into that country in the spring of 1850. The party was composed of Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, Wiggins, Krusse, Anderson and about twenty others. Late in the fall of 1849 they arrived at the camp of the Bannocks on Green River, where they fixed up winter quarters and remained with tbe Indians till spring. As soon as the snow would permit, they went up Green River to its headwaters, crossed the mountains to the Yellowstone and down it to the lake and falls; then they crossed the divide and thus reached Madison River. They saw the geysers of the lower river and named the stream that drains them "The Fire Hole River."

Source: Coutant   

 

Stories:

 

Maps:

1:24000 Quadrangle: Madison Junction

 

Newspapers:

 

More Information: 

 

Pictures: