County: Park

Authority Name: 

GNIS Entry

Longitude:  1103411W

Latitude: 445008N

Legal Description:

Elevation: 9212/2808

(ft/m)

Feature Type: Range

Origin of Name:

Range, Yellowstone National Park, Wyo., between Yellowstone and Gardiner Rivers, a lofty U-shaped ridge, embracing Tower Creek and tributaries, with both ends on Yellowstone River. Named by Hayden in 1871.

Source: Decisions, 1890-1932 

The Washburn Range, a detached mountain system, originally know as the "Elephant's Back," is situated between the Grand Canon of the Yellowstone and the Gardiner River. It has seven christened summits, with an average altitude of 9,800 feet. The most conspicuous peak of the range, as well as the most noted mountain of the park, is Mt. Washburn.

Source: Chittenden

Other Names: Elephant's Back, Elephants Back

Alternative Spellings:

History:

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: Cook Peak

Newspapers:

Bibliography: 

Pictures: