Crested Pool and Castle Geyser Cone, Yellowstone National Park, circa 1940

About this postcard

The view looks across the still, blue-green water of Crested Pool toward the ragged, steam-wreathed cone of Castle Geyser, with a dark conifer forest along the horizon and the pale, mineral-stained sinter terraces of the Upper Geyser Basin in the foreground. Castle Geyser, named by early explorers for its castellated cone, is one of the oldest geyser formations in Yellowstone and erupts with a tall column of water followed by a noisy steam phase. Crested Pool, just west of the geyser, is a hot spring whose rim is fringed with orange and yellow thermophile bacteria mats. The card was published by Haynes Studios of Bozeman, Montana, long-time official photographers of the park.