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 is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...

and historian from

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

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 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 ...

.''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 of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

and moved to Saint Paul in 1854. In 1858, he became cashier of The Bank of the State of Minnesota, the first bank in the state to open under new Minnesota free banking law. The bank closed the following year. He 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 great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

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 ...

. 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, United States, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Virginia City dev ...

and

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

American Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

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 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 Yell ...

, in the

Absaroka Range The Absaroka Range 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 Valley, ...

, east of

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 ...

, 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 (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

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 The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Educational institution, educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the Minnesota Terr ...

Notes

References

*Initial text adapted from

External links

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