Tower Falls is a 132 foot waterfall located in the Northwest portion of Yellowstone National Park. Samuel Hauser, a member of the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition that explored northwest Wyoming, named the waterfall in 1870. Hauser was not the first person to discover the falls but he was the first to name it. The waterfall gets its name, not due to its height, but because of the towering rock formations present near the top of the waterfall. The artist Thomas Moran traveled with the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 to northwest Wyoming and documented the landscape, including Tower Falls, through sketches and paintings. Moran’s paintings and sketches, particularly his painting of Tower Falls, were influential in convincing members of Congress to establish Yellowstone as the first national park in 1872.

Researched, written, and narrated by University of West Florida Public History Student Sean Baker.