Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Madison information station and National Park Mountain
The Gibbon and Firehole Rivers join here to form the Madison River, which flows west out
of the park. The name Madison Junction, originally applied to the river junction, also applies
to the road junction.
The prominent rise to the southwest beyond the rivers is
National Park Mountain.
Its
cliffs form the edge of the Madison Plateau.
he National Park Idea
At the junction of the Gibbon and Firehole Rivers, members of the Washburn Expedition
camped in September, 1870, after exploring much of what is now Yellowstone Park. In
his reminiscences many years later, one of the expedition's leaders, Nathaniel P. Langford,
credited fellow expedition member Cornelius Hedges with originating the national park
idea at that time and upon this spot. For a few years in the middle of the twentieth century,
an annual pageant was held at Madison to reenact the story of the National Park idea.
Historians now point out that Hedges was only one of several forward-thinking men
(including Langford himself) who believed in preserving this area for the enjoyment of all
future generations and preventing it from being divided up and commercially exploited.
These men worked to persuade Congress and the American people to set aside this unique
area as the first national park in the entire world. There is no proof that this campfire con-
versation did
not
take place, but neither is there any proof that it did. Perhaps we should
preserve this creation story as part of Yellowstone's heritage.
0.4/16.6
Gibbon River Bridge. Look for bison (also called buffalo) in the wide meadow along
the river, where a large herd often spends the summer.
