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U.S. #1453
8¢ Old Faithful
National Parks Centennial
 
Issue Date: March 1, 1972
City: Yellowstone National Park, WY
Quantity: 164,096,000
Printed By: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Giori Press
Perforations: 11
Color: Multicolored
 
This stamp marks the 100th anniversary of Yellowstone National Park, which spreads over 2 million acres of land in Wyoming, eastern Idaho, and southwestern Montana. Its number-one attraction is the geyser, "Old Faithful."
 
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park has the proud distinction of being the oldest national park in the world. The vast majority of Yellowstone lies in Wyoming, although it stretches into Idaho and Montana. This gigantic park covers 2,200,000 acres, which include deep canyons, majestic waterfalls, pristine lakes, dense forests, and vast meadows. 
 
The park has more geysers and hot springs than any other area in the world. These include Old Faithful, which sends a 100-foot stream of boiling water into the air about every 73 minutes. Yellowstone also has the distinction of being the largest wildlife preserve in the United States. Bears, bison (buffalo), elk, bald eagles, trumpeter swans, moose, cougars, and white pelicans are among the many animals that enjoy the park’s pristine environment.
 
Yellowstone’s landscape was formed by a series of ancient volcanic eruptions. More recently, glaciers covered the area – the last ones melted about 10,000 years ago. 
 
The U.S. government obtained the area in 1803, as part of the Louisiana Purchase. A member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, John Colter, was probably the first white person to see the area. 
 
In 1872, Congress established this first national park, to protect its unusual features and resources. The National Park Service was created in 1916, in part, to manage Yellowstone.
 

Old Faithful Geyser 

On September 18, 1870, a group of explorers gave the Old Faithful geyser its name.

During the 1830s, legendary mountain man Jim Bridger returned from Wyoming’s remote Yellowstone region with fantastic tales. He claimed he had seen waterfalls that spouted upwards!  While many didn’t believe his story, some were excited about what they heard and launched expeditions to see it for themselves.

In 1870, Surveyor General of Montana Henry D. Washburn used information collected from the previous trip to form his own expedition of 19 men.  These included Nathaniel P. Langford, Truman Everts, and military escort Gustavus C. Doane. Within two weeks, they came across “boiling sulfur springs” that were too hot to touch, even wearing gloves, and they knew all the rumors were true.

Then on September 18, 1870, the expedition made their way down the Firehole River to the Upper Geyser Basin.  They then saw their first geyser.  Langford captured the experience in his journal: “It spouted at regular intervals nine times during our stay, the columns of boiling water being thrown from ninety to one hundred and twenty-five feet at each discharge, which lasted from fifteen to twenty minutes. We gave it the name of “Old Faithful.”

In 1872, Old Faithful received federal protection when President Ulysses S. Grant signed legislation creating Yellowstone National Park. The 3,468-acre park was the first of its kind, featuring half of the world’s geothermal features with Old Faithful as its crown jewel.

Old Faithful shoots up to 8,400 gallons of boiling hot water up to 185 feet in the air for about 1.5 to 5 minutes at a time. The average eruption is usually about 145 feet and the time between eruptions varies between 35 and 120 minutes. Old Faithful’s reliability is due to the fact that it isn’t connected to other thermal features in the Upper Geyser Basin.  Old Faithful isn’t the tallest or largest geyser in the park, that honor goes to the Steamboat Geyser.  Today, the geyser and nearby inn are part of the Old Faithful Historic District.