[30]Judge Henry M. Brackenridge (1786-1871) was educated in Missouri and Maryland. As a lawyer, he specialized in international affairs and served as a federal judge in New Orleans. In 1810 he made a trip up the Missouri in the company of Manuel Lisa. Six years later (1814) Brackenridge’s account of this journey was published. On page 91, of _Views of Louisiana_, we find the first reference to Colter’s wilderness journey. Obviously the source of this information was Manuel Lisa since he asked Colter to make the trip. That Colter started on such a journey is indisputable. Where he went, what he saw, and how he returned are matters of opinion. Brackenridge confuses Colter’s return from this trip with that of another one. [31]_Ibid._, p. 91. [32]John Colter’s discovery of Yellowstone has caught the imagination of many people. Probably a hundred authors have written about it. Each one disagrees with the other, until poor Colter has been turned into a human grasshopper, hopping around from place to place without either rhyme or reason. [33]Stallo Vinton, _op. cit._, p. 195. [34]Some writers tell that an early winter overtook him, and he was obliged to make snowshoes. This is probably an error. He undoubtedly secured a horse from the Yep-pe Indians. [35]This particular story is verified by the fact that members of the Wilson Price Hunt Expedition called on Colter at his farm near St. Louis to get information upon this specific point. See Reuben G. Thwaites, “Bradbury’s Travels in the Interior of America in the years 1809-1811,” _Early Western Travels_, 1748-1840, V, xliv. [36]The Map of 1814 does not disclose anything unusual. It merely designates “Boiling Spring” and “Hot Springs Brimstone,” which were widespread and general. [37]Washington Irving, _The Adventures of Captain Bonneville_ (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1843), p. 252. The first edition was entitled, _Rocky Mountain Scenes and Adventures_. [38]It is a remarkable thing that historical research has not more satisfactorily probed the Colter problem. Obviously his journey is so obscure as to warrant scientific investigation. [39]Its legend reads: “A Map of Lewis and Clark’s Track, Across the Western Portion of North America, From the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean; By Order of the Executive of the United States in 1804, 5, 6. Copied by Samuel Lewis from the Original Drawing of Wm. Clark.” [40]There are two fictitious lakes on the Map of 1814 of such grotesque shape as to arouse one’s skepticism. One of them has a shape that resembles a gargoyle. [41]The date of this communication was December 20, 1810. [42]Colter’s first sheet is readily identifiable, and part of another sheet may be segregated with the use of imagination and understanding.