Case file · Folklore / legend
Colter's Hell
Trapper John Colter, who left the Lewis and Clark expedition, crossed the Yellowstone country in the winter of 1807–08 and told of boiling springs, steam and the stench of sulphur; listeners mocked the place as 'Colter's Hell'.
1807 CE · 44.52, -109.11 · status: explained
The account
The name later attached to the hot springs near today's Cody, Wyoming. Jim Bridger's later tales of Yellowstone were also dismissed as tall stories until the 1870 and 1871 expeditions.
The sceptical view
The 'hell' was real geothermal activity; the case shows how true reports can be taken as folklore.