"To the left of our route and some 10 miles from it rises a bold conical peak, 3,000 or 4,000 feet above us. That peak I regard as the topographical centre of the continent, the waters from its sides flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of California and the Pacific Ocean. I named it Union Peak and the Pass Union Pass." (Raynolds) The pass was named by Captain William F. Raynolds, who crossed it on May 31, 1860, on his way to Yellowstone. (WPA) Mountain pass, Wyoming, crossing Wind River Rangeused 180? by John Colter, trapper and explorer and a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. (Decisions, 1950)
County:
Fremont
Feature Category:
Land Features
More Reading:
Raynolds, W. F. in Stanton, Edwin M. Report of the Secretary of War, communicating, in compliance with a resolution of the Senate of February 13, 1866, the report of Brevet Brigadier General W. F. Raynolds, on the exploration of the Yellowstone and the country drained by that river. Senate Executive Document number 77, 40th Congress, 2nd session. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1867.; Baldwin, Kenneth H. Enchanted Enclosure The Army Engineers and Yellowstone National Park A Documentary History. Office of the Chief of Engineers U.S. Army, 1976.
