Truman C. Everts

Truman C. Everts
File:TrumanCEverts.JPG Photo of Everts published in The Discovery of Yellowstone Park (1870)
Born	1816 Burlington, Vermont
Died	February 16, 1901 (aged 84–85) Hyattsville, Maryland
Occupation	Assessor of Internal Revenue for the Montana Territory (1864-1870)
Known for	Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition

Truman C. Everts (1816 – February 16, 1901) was part of the 1870 Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition exploring the area which later became Yellowstone National Park. He became lost for 37 days during the 1870 expedition, and a year later became more widely known after writing about his 1870 experiences for Scribner’s Monthly.

History

Everts was one of six brothers born in Burlington, Vermont to a Great Lakes ship captain. President Abraham Lincoln appointed Everts to be the Assessor of Internal Revenue for the Montana Territory, a position he held between July 15, 1864 and February 16, 1870.

"Thirty-Seven Days of Peril"

After wandering away from the rest of the expedition on September 9, 1870, he managed to lose the pack horse which was carrying all of his supplies. He ate a local thistle plant to stay alive, a plant (Cirsium foliosum or elk thistle) later named after him. His party searched for him for a while, and his friends in Helena offered a reward of $600 to find him. "Yellowstone Jack" Baronett and George A. Pritchett found Everts, suffering from frostbite, burn wounds from thermal vents, and so malnourished he weighed only 55 pounds (25 kg). One stayed with him to nurse him back to health while the other walked 75 miles (121 km) for help; in spite of their assistance, Everts denied the men the payment of the reward, claiming he could have made it out of the mountains on his own.

The next year, his account of the experience—"Thirty-Seven Days of Peril"— was published in Scribner’s Monthly. The article helped raise awareness of the Yellowstone area before it became a national park.

Henry D. Washburn, leader of the expedition named a peak near Mammoth Hot Springs Mount Everts shortly after the rescue of Everts. During the expedition, Washburn named a peak in the Thorofare region south of Yellowstone Lake for Everts, but later changed it to the current peak believing it was very near the location of Everts rescue. In fact Everts was actually rescued much farther north near Blacktail Deer Creek.

Later years

After the two expeditions and the fame from his article, he was offered a superintendent position with the newly formed Yellowstone park, but he declined since it did not include a salary. He later moved to Hyattsville, Maryland and worked in the Post Office. He died there in 1901.

External links

• Works by Truman C. Everts at Project Gutenberg