Nathaniel Pitt Langford (August 9, 1832 – October 18, 1911) was an American explorer, businessman, bureaucrat,

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a person who ...

and historian from

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

who played an important role in the early years of the Montana gold fields, territorial government and the creation of

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowst ...

.''Nathaniel Pitt Langford, The Vigilante, the Explorer, the Expounder and First Superintendent of Yellowstone Park'', Olin D. Wheeler, Speech to the Montana Historical Society, April 8, 1912

Early life

Langford was born in

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

and moved to Saint Paul in 1854. He worked as a banker and was involved with the investment of the Saint Anthony Park neighborhood.

Montana gold fields

On June 16, 1862, Langford, as a member and officer of the Northern Overland Expedition, commanded by Captain James L. Fisk, left Saint Paul to establish a wagon road to the Salmon river mine regions of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

via Fort Benton. The expedition ended up at the Grasshopper Creek gold fields in the area soon to be named

Bannack, Montana Bannack is a ghost town in Beaverhead County, Montana, United States, located on Grasshopper Creek, approximately upstream from where Grasshopper Creek joins with the Beaverhead River south of Dillon. Founded in 1862, the town is a National His ...

. There Langford and his fellow businessmen established freight companies, a saw mill and other businesses.

Vigilante

Langford was also part of the

movement, the infamous Montana Vigilantes, that dealt with lawlessness in

Virginia City Virginia City is a census-designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Virginia City developed as a boom ...

and

during 1863–64. In 1890, Langford wrot
''Vigilante Days and Ways''
to chronicle the era of pioneer justice in the American Old West.

Territorial tax collector

In 1864, shortly after the

Montana Territory The Territory of Montana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1864, until November 8, 1889, when it was admitted as the 41st state in the Union as the state of Montana. Original boundaries ...

was established on May 28, 1864, Langford was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue and National Bank Examiner, positions he held for five years in the Montana Territorial government.

Yellowstone exploration and creation

Langford was a member of the 1870

Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition The Washburn Expedition of 1870 explored the region of northwestern Wyoming that two years later became Yellowstone National Park. Led by Henry D. Washburn and Nathaniel P. Langford, and with a U.S. Army escort headed by Lt. Gustavus C. Doane, ...

which explored portions of the region that soon would become the Yellowstone National Park.

Mount Langford Mount Langford el. is a mountain peak in the Absaroka Range in Yellowstone National Park. The peak is named for Nathaniel P. Langford, the first superintendent of Yellowstone and a leader of the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition to Yellow ...

, in the

Absaroka Range The Absaroka Range ( or ) is a sub- range of the Rocky Mountains in the United States. The range stretches about across the Montana–Wyoming border, and at its widest, forming the eastern boundary of Yellowstone National Park along Paradise V ...

, east of

Yellowstone Lake Yellowstone Lake is the largest body of water in Yellowstone National Park. The lake is above sea level and covers with of shoreline. While the average depth of the lake is , its greatest depth is at least . Yellowstone Lake is the largest fre ...

, was scaled by Langford and Doane during the expedition and named after him. After his participation in the Washburn expedition, Langford was appointed as the first superintendent of the park. He soon got the nickname ''National Park Langford'' because of his initials ''N.P.'' There was no money available to offer him a salary for this new position, so he had to make his living elsewhere. This left Langford with little time to run the park, and he entered it only twice during his five years as superintendent. The first time was as a guest on the second Hayden Expedition in 1872, and his second took place in 1874 to evict a man named Matthew McGuirk. McGuirk claimed to own the Boiling River – one of the park's

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by c ...

s rumored to have healing powers. Langford had no salary, no funding for the park, and no legal way to enforce protection for its wildlife and geologic features. Political pressure, which took the guise of accusing Langford of neglect, forced the removal of Yellowstone's first superintendent in 1877. He was replaced by Philetus W. Norris. In 1905, Langford published ''Diary of the Washburn Expedition to the Yellowstone and Firehole In the Year 1870'' as a comprehensive insider's view of the expedition.

Historian

After his Yellowstone experiences, Langford returned to his home state of Minnesota and began a career as a Western historian. Prior to his passing he served as the president of and on the board of directors of the Minnesota Historical Society.

Notes

References

*Initial text adapted fro

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Langford, Nathaniel P. 1832 births 1911 deaths Yellowstone National Park 19th-century explorers Businesspeople from Saint Paul, Minnesota People of the American Old West Montana pioneers Historians from Minnesota 19th-century American businesspeople