Truman C. Everts (1816February 16, 1901) was the first federal tax assessor for 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 T ...

and 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 United States Army, U.S. Army escort headed by Lt. G ...

, which explored the area which later became

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 Yellowston ...

. He was lost in the wilderness for 37 days during the expedition and a year later wrote about his ordeal for ''

Scribner’s Monthly ''Scribner's Monthly: An Illustrated Magazine for the People'' was an illustrated American literary periodical published from 1870 until 1881. Following a change in ownership in 1881 of the company that had produced it, the magazine was relaunch ...

''.

History

Everts was one of six brothers born in

Burlington, Vermont Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is located south of the Canada–United States border and south of Montreal. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 44,743. It ...

to a

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

ship captain. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

appointed Everts as assessor of Internal Revenue for the Montana Territory, a position he held between July 15, 1864 and February 16, 1870.

"Thirty-Seven Days of Peril"

In 1870, Everts, a former assessor for the territory of Montana, joined a expedition led by

Henry D. Washburn Henry Dana Washburn (March 28, 1832 – January 26, 1871) was a U.S. Representative from Indiana and a colonel and was breveted twice as brigadier general and major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Biography Born in Wood ...

and

Nathaniel P. Langford Nathaniel Pitt Langford (August 9, 1832 – October 18, 1911) was an American explorer, businessman, bureaucrat, vigilante and historian from Saint Paul, Minnesota who played an important role in the early years of the Montana gold fields, terri ...

into the wilderness that would later become

. After falling behind the rest of the expedition on September 9, 1870, Everts lost the

packhorse A packhorse, pack horse, or sumpter refers to a horse, mule, donkey, or pony used to carry goods on its back, usually in sidebags or panniers. Typically packhorses are used to cross difficult terrain, where the absence of roads prevents the use of ...

which was carrying most of his supplies. Without food or equipment, he attempted to retrace the expedition's route along the southern shore 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 ...

to rejoin the expedition. Everts faced starvation, trauma, snow storms and dangerous animals. He ate the roots of

thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. ...

plants to stay alive. The plant was renamed "Evert's Thistle" after him. During the expedition, Langford kept a diary recounting efforts to locate Everts. The expedition increased their fire and shot their guns hoping to signal Everts, to no avail. It was agreed within the expedition that if a member of the party become separated, that the man would meet the party at the southwest arm of the lake, but Evert could not be found at that location. On October 16, more than a month after his separation from the group, two local mountain men – "Yellowstone Jack" Baronett and George A. Pritchett – found Everts, suffering from

frostbite Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when exposed to extreme low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues, commonly affecting the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin areas. Most often, frostbite occurs in the han ...

, burn wounds from thermal vents and his campfire, and other injuries suffered during his ordeal, so malnourished he weighed only . Baronett and Pritchett were part of a search party which had been sent from Montana to find Everts' remains. They discovered him, mumbling and delirious, more than from where he had first become lost. One man stayed with Everts to nurse him back to health while the other walked for help. Everts' rescuers brought him to

Bozeman Bozeman is a city and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. Located in southwest Montana, the 2020 census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it the fourth-largest city in Montana. It is the principal city of th ...

, where he recovered. The next year, Everts' personal account of the experience, "Thirty-Seven Days of Peril", was published in ''

''. The story of his survival became national news and contributed a great deal of publicity to the movement to preserve the Yellowstone area as the country's first national park. In spite of their assistance, Everts denied Baronett and Pritchett payment of the reward, claiming he could have made it out of the mountains on his own. Henry D. Washburn, as surveyor general of Montana, named a peak near

Mammoth Hot Springs Mammoth Hot Springs is a large complex of hot springs on a hill of travertine in Yellowstone National Park adjacent to Fort Yellowstone and the Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District. It was created over thousands of years as hot water from the s ...

Mount Everts Mount Everts, elevation , is a prominent mountain peak in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, near Mammoth Hot Springs. The peak was named for Truman C. Everts, a member of the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition of 1870. Mount Everts is loca ...

" shortly after Everts' rescue. During the expedition, Washburn had named a peak in the Thorofare region south of Yellowstone Lake for Everts, but later changed it to the current peak, believing it to be near the location of the rescue. In fact Everts was rescued much farther north, near Blacktail Deer Creek.

Later years

After the two expeditions and the fame from his article, Everts was offered the position of first superintendent of the newly established Yellowstone National Park, but he declined since it did not include a salary. He later moved to

Hyattsville, Maryland Hyattsville is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and also a close, urban suburb of Washington, D.C. The population was 21,187 at the 2020 United States Census. History Before Europeans reached the area, the upper An ...

and worked in the

U.S. Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the Uni ...

. He died there in 1901, in his home, of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Everts, Truman C. 1816 births 1870s missing person cases 1901 deaths 19th-century explorers Date of birth unknown Explorers of North America Explorers of the United States Formerly missing people Internal Revenue Service people Missing person cases in Montana Montana Territory officials People from Burlington, Vermont People from Hyattsville, Maryland Yellowstone National Park

History

"Thirty-Seven Days of Peril"

Later years

See also

References

External links