Fishing Cone, also known as Fishing Pot Hot Springs is a
geyser
A geyser (, ) is a spring with an intermittent water discharge ejected turbulently and accompanied by steam. The formation of geysers is fairly rare and is caused by particular hydrogeological conditions that exist only in a few places on Ea ...
in the
West Thumb Geyser Basin
The geothermal areas of Yellowstone include several geyser basins in Yellowstone National Park as well as other geothermal features such as hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles. The number of thermal features in Yellowstone is estimated at 10,00 ...
of
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...
in
Wyoming
Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...
-
America
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.
In the earlier part of the 20th century, this cone had eruptions as high as 40 feet (12 m). As the water level in
Yellowstone Lake
Yellowstone Lake is the largest body of water in Wyoming and the largest 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 . Yellowst ...
has increased, the cone is now inundated during the spring and the temperatures in the cone have cooled enough that it no longer erupts and is now considered a hot spring.
History
The name Fishing Cone can be traced back to tales told by
mountain men
A mountain man is an explorer who lives in the wilderness and makes his living from hunting, fishing and trapping. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in ...
of a lake where one could catch a fish, immediately dunk it into the hot spring, and cook it on the hook. A member of the 1870
Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition popularized this feat.
William Trumbell, a member of the Washburn party, wrote about the fishing cone in his account of the expedition:
In Henry Winser's ''The Yellowstone National Park - A Manual for Tourists'' (1883) he described using hot springs to cook trout:
A ban on boiling live fish in the spring was announced in November 1911 and became effective in the beginning of 1912 following animal welfare concerns.
Park visitors are now prohibited from fishing off the cone and cooking the fish in the boiling water altogether.
See also
*
List of hot springs in the United States
This is a dynamic list of hot springs in the United States. The Western states in particular are known for their thermal springs: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington (state), Washi ...
*
List of hot springs in the world
References
External links
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*
{{Wyoming
Geysers of Wyoming
Geothermal features of Teton County, Wyoming
Geothermal features of Yellowstone National Park
Geysers of Teton County, Wyoming