Wyoming Places Wiki / Tar Spring

Mountain, north of Madison Plateau and south of Madison River, ... Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. In honor of the late Frank Jay Haynes, a noted park pioneer.

Source: Decisions, 1890-1932

Captain Bonneville in 1883 found the spring in the bluffs east of Lander. It was thought that there was medicinal content in the thick fluid which had the color and consistency of tar.e."

Source: WPA

He followed round the southern end of the Wind River Range, then turned north until he reached the Popo Agie, down which stream he made his way. On reaching this point he was reminded by some of his trappers that he was in the vicinity of the "great tar spring." This spring was known among trappers and the tar was supposed to contain great medicinal properties. This is the well known Murphy oil wells of today, and Irving's account was undoubtedly the first ever published. This reads:

"After a toilsome search, he found it at the foot of a sand bluff, a little to the east of the Wind River Mountains, where it exuded in a small stream of the color and consistency of tar. The men immediately hastened to collect a quantity of it, to use as an ointment for the galled backs of their horses and as a balsam for their own pains and aches. From the descrtiption given of it, it is evidently the bituminous oil, called petroleum or naphtha, which forms a principal ingredient in the potent medicine called British Oil. It is found in various parts of Europe and Asia, in several of the West India Islands and in some places of the United States. In the state of New York it is called Seneca Oil, from being found near the Seneca Lake."

Source: "Captain Bonneville in Wyoming" in Coutant

Other Names: Great Tar Spring

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1:24000 Quadrangle: Ethete

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