No compendium such as the province of this work defines in its essential limitations will serve to give a complete record of the remarkable life of adventure and daring deeds which Harry S Yount has led. If written in detail it would form a volume rivaling in interest and thrilling situations the lives of Daniel Boon, David Crocket, Kit Carson and other daring frontiersmen whose deeds through the medium of the printed page have long been the wonder and delight of the lovers of the adventurous and tragic. As a brave soldier on many bloody battle fields as a daring scout leading expeditions through all parts of the wild West as a fearless hunter, whose deeds border on the marvelous as a trapper a successful miner and as a quiet unobtrusive citizen pursuing the even tenor of his way “far” from the maddening crowd.” The career of Harry S. Yount everywhere presents points of interest and experience, which are unknown quanties to the lives of the great majority of men. Nothing but a very brief synopsis of his story can be here attempted but some future writer should put his whole life in a form for permanent preservation. Harry S. Yount son of David and Kate (Shell) Yount was born in Susquehanna County, PA. On March 18, 1847. His father was a also a native of the Keystone state and the mother born in New York. David Yount was a ship carpenter who worked at his trade in Philadelphia and Harrisburg until about 1852 when he moved to Missouri where he engaged in mining and spent the remainder of his life dying some years ago in Henry County. Harry S. Yount received his educational training in the schools of Springfield, Missouri. When old enough to perform manual labor he hired to farmers in his neighborhood and was thus engaged until the commencement of the Civil War when he took up arms for the Union. In October 1861 he enlisted at Rolla Missouri in the noted Lyon Legion under Colonel Phelps, and this was a part of the force under the gallant General Lyon who fell at the battle of Wilson’s Creek. After serving about six months Mr. Yount joined the Eighth Missouri Cavalry with which he experienced the fortunes of war until the close of the war being the quartermaster sergeant of his company during the greater part of the time earning the reputation of a careful and conscientious officer. After his discharge Mr. Yount went to Wyoming and then to Dakota and in 1866 began freighting which business he followed for years in many parts of the western territories. In 1873 he joined Dr. Hayden’s Geological Survey and in this occupation served some years traveling over nearly every part of the great West meeting with many interesting experiences and encountering dangers calculated to try the fortitude of the most daring. During this occupation in 1878 in company with Prof. A. D. Willson one of the most expert mountain climbers of the geological party Mr. Yount went to the Grand Teton Mountain to attempt the difficult task of ascending it. Going to the Teton Pass from Jackson Hole they there noticed cut plainly in the bark of a spruce pine three the inscription “1832” P/ S/ C/ “ Their way took them down to the Teton basin and up Teton Creek until they had arrived above the timber line where they made their camp as near the foot of the mighty Teton Peak as they could. Starting early on the next morning they continued their way toward the Grand Teton after two miles of travel coming to a deep canyon which they had to travel down to cross. This was filled with an ancient glacier an icebergs. Mr. Yount slipped on the treacherous ice of the surface falling down and sliding close to a deep chasm in the glacier where a large stream of water came down from the cliff above. The hold that his buckskin pants kept on the ice was the only thing that prevented him from being carried down into the unfathomable depths of the great crevice. They crossed the canyon finally and kept on their ascent up the steep mountainside, which was composed of slide rock, which kept falling from under their feet. The hard work and danger of being hurled down the precipitous mountainside into one of the fathomless crevices added to the excitement of the climb. About 1,000 feet below the top they reached a small niche or cave in the steep wall of rock in which they found a small enclosure of rocks piled in a circle perhaps the work of Indians. They reached the top at last and Mr. Yount describes it as the grandest view he ever saw. On the descent he broke off a piece of mineral from a large ledge they encountered which he later sent to Washington, D. C. for an analysis. The U. S. government assayers pronounced it as one of the richest specimens of silver ore that they had ever seen running up into thousands of dollars value to the ton, Mr. Yount says that the ledge from which this was taken lies 12,000 feet above sea level far above the timber line. Professor Holmes of the Hayden Geological Surveying party said that this ledge was the riches mineral belt that he had ever seen on all of his extended examinations of the Rocky Mountain region. In the Hayden Geological Reports of 1877 and 1878 Harry S. Yount’s name appears in a very complimentary connection while on the map of the Yellowstone Park accompanying the report the name Yount’s Peak is given to a mountain standing at the head of Yellowstone River. After his labors with the Survey were ended he was appointed by President Hayes the gamekeeper of the Yellowstone Park performing the duties from 1880 to 1882 inclusive. In 1882 he turned his attention to hunting and trapping and visited every part of Wyoming and adjacent territories having no fixed abode sleeping wherever night overtook him and enjoying and romantic scenery of the continent. While thus engaged he experienced his most thrilling adventures frequently fighting for his life with fierce wild beasts and at other times encountering the not less wild and dangerous red man. These experiences fostered a spirit unknown to fear as many of his actions abundantly demonstrate. He has been known to enter without the slightest trepidation a cavern in which a number of bear had made their den and then single handed kill the beasts one by one and drag them into the light. This is but of numerous instances of daring and serves to show his fortitude under the most trying and dangerous circumstances. In this occupation Mr. Yount had abundant opportunities to observe the country and determine its mineral deposits. In 1882 and in 1887 he located several valuable mining claims, which he still owns, and promises valuable returns when properly developed and he also discovered and filled on a fine marble quarry in the immediate vicinity of his mining property. In due time both mines and quarry will doubtless prove the source of an independent fortune movements being now in progress for their development. In 1898 Mr. Yount took up land on Halleck Creek near his mines on which he has since made his home. He has surrounded himself with many of the most part alone he is happy and contented being cheered and encouraged by what the future development of his property has in store for him. His long and adventurous career is all parts of the West has given his name wide publicity and today there is no man in Wyoming or adjacent states so well on more favorably known. He has been thrown into contact with all classes and conditions of people and by attending strictly to his own affairs and doing by his fellow men as he would be done by he has won high regard and unbounded esteem. He is a member of John J. Reynolds Post No. 33, Grand Army of the Republic and takes an active interest in its works. He discharges his duty as a citizen and in every relation of life his actions have been directed by those correct principles which win and retain warm personal friendships.
