The Crow occupied the area generally east of the park, and the Blackfeet occupied the area to the north. The Shoshone, Bannock, and other tribes of the plateaus to the west traversed the park annually to hunt on the plains to the east. Other Shoshonean groups hunted in open areas west and south of Yellowstone.
A number of Native American tribes lived in the area around the area that became Yellowstone National Park. The Crow had there camping ground to the east of the park, the Blackfeet were to the North and the Shoshone and Bannock were to the west and and south. By the last 1700’s fur trapper and other explorers had crossed the park and brought back stories of some of the wonders of the park.

The first attempt at a systematic exploration of the park was an expedition by Captain William F. Raynolds in 1860, but a late snow limited the exploration. In 1869 David E. Folsom, Charles W. Cook, and William Peterson led an expedition that explored much of the park. It created a great deal interest in the park and the next year Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition took place which explored even more of the area of the park. The next year Ferdinand V. Hayden, head of the US Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories led a scientific expedition that included geologists, zoologist and other scientists. The Hayden Expedition systematically mapped out the park. Their reports captivated scientists and non scientists alike. Enthusiasm for the park was so strong that Congress passed a bill establishing Yellowstone as the first National Park, and it was signed into law by President Grant on March 1, 1872