This cataract, long believed to be the park's tallest at 308 feet, is also one of the great waterfalls of the North American continent.
It has probably had more words written about it than any other park waterfall.
Nearly half of the historic visitor reactions to Yellowstone waterfalls that have been collected were written about this cataract and its upstream companion, Upper Falls.

Traveling prospectors of the 1860s brought stories back to Montana Territory of a huge waterfall on the Yellowstone River that appeared in frontier newspapers.
One such article claimed the falls was "thousands of feet" high while another averred fifteen hundred and called it "the most sublime spot on earth."

The 1869 Folsom expedition gave the name to both of the great Yellowstone waterfalls from their positions on the river, and attempted to measure their heights.
Their map carried the notation "Lower Falls 350 ft." However early visitors also referred to it as the "Great Fall" or "Grand Fall" of the Yellowstone