| Creek named because it flows from Two-Ocean Pass down the slope toward the Atlantic Ocean. (Gannett, 1905) Rises on the Continental Divide to the northeast of Jackson Hole, empties into the Yellowstone River, and so through the Missouri and Mississippi River system finally reaches the Atlantic Ocean. The source of Atlantic Creek is separated from the source of Pacific Creek by Two Ocean Pass. (WPA) Named by Jones in 1873 because it flows from Two-Ocean Pass down the Atlantic slope. (Chittenden, 1895) "Atlantic and Pacific Creeks flow out of Two-Ocean Pass, where a mountain stream divides, sending its waters through these streams to the two oceans." (Chittenden, 1917) "At this divide occurs a curious phenomenon, probably the one referred to by the early trappers as the 'Two Ocean Pass.' Marching at the head of the column where the trail approached the summit, I noticed that the riband of meadow in which the stream lay we had been following suddenly dropped away in front of us with a contrary slope. I could still see the stream threading it, and for a moment could scarcely believe my eyes. It seemed as if the stream was running up over this divide and down into the Yellowstone behind us. A hasty examination in the face of the driving storm revealed a phenomenon less startling perhaps, but still of remarkable interest. A small stream coming down from the mountains to our left I found separating its waters in the meadow where we stood, sending one portion into the stream ahead of us, and the other into the one behind us the one following its destiny through the Snake and Columbia Rivers back to its home in the Pacific; the other, through the Yellowstone and Missouri, seeking the foreign water of the Atlantic by one of the longest voyages known to running water. On the Snake River side of the divide the stream becomes comparatively large at once, being fed by many springs, and a great deal of marsh." (Jones) |
