Imagine exploring the American West and coming across a steaming, sulfurous-smelling landscape such as the one in the image here. Would you believe what your eyes were seeing?

How many of you have ever heard of John Colter? Colter was one of the Corps of Discovery members on Lewis and Clark's expedition through 16 states and almost 4,900 miles to the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River. On the way back to "civilization," Colter, a "skilled hunter and scout," turned back west. After many hundreds of miles exploring the wilderness, this mountain man made it out to what is now Yellowstone National Park to become one of "the first European-Americans to set foot" in what is now Yellowstone National Park. The tales he told upon returning to more populated areas were met with disbelief and people jokingly referred to Colter's stories of "fire and brimstone" as "Colter's Hell."