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w w w. d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m
It is believed he traveled west to the area around
what is now the town of Cody, Wyoming, then south-
west to the Tetons and over to Pierre's Hole in pres-
ent-day southeast Idaho. From there he crossed back
and moved along both Jackson and Yellowstone Lakes,
observing many hot springs and geysers. He traveled
over 500 miles in the dead of winter, in a region in
which nighttime temperatures in January are routinely
-30 °F. His route later appears on Captain Clark's 1814
map of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, though clearly,
there are some inaccuracies.
In the nineteenth century, there was no Netflix, Ins-
tagram nor Tik-Tok (obviously), so people entertained
themselves with old-fashioned storytelling around a
campfire. If you could tell a great story, usually full of
colorful embellishments, you were a hit. So when Col-
ter returned, everyone enjoyed his telling of the fantas-
tic things he had seen. However, few really believed his
reports of geysers, bubbling mud pots and steaming
pools of water. His description of these features were
often ridiculed at first, and the region was somewhat
jokingly referred to as "Colter's Hell."
A section of William Clark's 1814 map showing "Colter's Rout in 1807" (highlighted)
AFTER HELPING TO ESTABLISH A TRADING POST
AT THE CONFLUENCE OF THE YELLOWSTONE AND BIG HORN RIVERS,
COLTER STRUCK OUT ALONE IN SEARCH OF CROW.
