M. Mark Miller

Recent Posts

Colonel Pickett gets a bear in Yellowstone in 1877

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After word spread about the magnificent big game in Yellowstone Park, hunters from the eastern United States and Europe began coming to bag a trophy. Even if they were skilled hunters where they came from, they needed someone to guide them in the rugged West. Jack Bean had the perfect credentials for the job. Before hiring out as a guide, Bean had been a trapper, hunter and Indian fighter. In the summer of 1877, the U.S. Army hired Bean to look for Chief Joseph and his band of Nez Perce Indians along the Madison River and in Yellowstone Park. He returned to Bozeman after locating the Indians and telling the Army they were headed into Yellowstone Park. Bean discovered that a Colonel Pickett wanted to hire him as a hunting guide. In his memoir, Bean tells this tale about the intrepid colonel. Continue Reading →

Filed under: History, People, bears, colonel picket, history, hunting, jack bean, yellowstone history

The Earl of Dunraven visits Yellowstone in 1874 and explains how to pack a mule

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Early tourists had to brave a roadless wilderness to see the sights of the new Yellowstone National Park. That meant supplies had to be carried by pack animals—often cantankerous mules. One such tourist was the Earl of Dunraven, an Irish noble who first visited the park in 1874. (Dunraven Pass was named after him.) Dunraven was an astute observer and a droll wit. Here's his description of how to pack a mule. Continue Reading →

Filed under: History, People, dunraven pass, Earl of Dunraven, history, mules, muleskinning, yellowstone history

Author to appear at Old Faithful Inn to sign ‘Adventures in Yellowstone,’ book on early park travels

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Grand Geyser was erupting the last time I rode up to Old Faithful Inn for a book signing. I took the towering white plume of water and steam silhouetted against the pale blue sky as an auspicious sign. This will be a good day to sell books, I thought. I'll be in the lobby of the famous inn again on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 10-11, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to sign my book Adventures in Yellowstone. Look for me by the clock that tells the next time Old Faithful is expected to erupt. There will be an easel with a a description of my book, my biography and a photo of me. Continue Reading →

Filed under: History

Cruising Yellowstone Lake ‘The Wylie Way’ in 1903

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The ZIllah was a boat used by the Wylie tour company to take early Yellowstone Park visitors on scenic cruises on Yellowstone Lake. (NPS photo - click to enlarge)

In 1903, Hester Henshall traveled by train from Bozeman to Yellowstone Park with her husband, Dr. James Henshall, who was director of the Bozeman National Fish Hatchery. Dr. Henshall was a physician, but he made his name as an angler and fish biologist. His Book of the Black Bass, published in 1881, is still in print The Henshalls toured Yellowstone “The Wylie Way.” That is, with Wylie Permanent Camping Company, which offered tourists a comprehensive package that included transportation, food and lodging in tents that were put up in the spring and left up for the season. The tour included a steamboat cruise across Yellowstone Lake. Here’s Hester’s description of her cruise. Continue Reading →

Filed under: History, People, hester henshall, history, wylie, yellowstone history, yellowstone lake

Emma Cowan captured by Indians in Yellowstone in 1877

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Emma Cowan and her husband return in 1905 to the spot in Yellowstone National Park where they were captured by Nez Perce Indians. (Bozeman Pioneer Museum)

Emma Cowan and her family visited Yellowstone National Park in 1877 — the year the U.S. Army pursued the Nez Perce Indians there. The Nez Perce generally had amicable relations with whites, but in what has become a familiar story, the peace was shattered when gold was discovered on their land. Some Nez Perce acquiesced to government demands that they move to a tiny reservation, but others decided to flee their homeland instead. After a battle, they fled though Yellowstone Park where they captured Emma’s party. Here’s her account of what happened later. Continue Reading →

Filed under: History, People, emma cowan, nez perce, yellowstone history

Shooting Jake Smith’s hat: A tale from Langford’s Discovery of Yellowstone Park – 1877

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Jake Smith

One of the members of the famous Washburn Expedition that explored the upper Yellowstone in 1870, a jocular man named Jake Smith, was always ready to gamble. Unfortunately, he lost all his money in a card game the night before the trip started. But Jake came up with a way to replenish his stake. N.P. Langford tells the story in an excerpt from his book, The Discovery of Yellowstone Park. Continue Reading →

Filed under: History, People, guns, jake smith, nathaniel p. langford, shooting, washburn expedition, yellowstone history

Maud gets her revenge while camping in Yellowstone in 1913

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Louise Elliott

In 1913, Louise Elliott published a book about a young schoolteacher from Lander, Wyo., who took a job as a camp assistant for a mobile camp tour. In her preface, Elliott confesses that she used several techniques that critics now might label “new journalism.” She created composite characters by combining traits of her camp companions, and made up a “little romance” for her protagonist. We can forgive Elliott because she provided an explicit disclaimer — and an entertaining portrait of travel to Yellowstone Park in the early 20th century. While her tales must be taken with the proverbial grain of salt, we probably can take her word that “the camp episodes and jokes, the weather and scenery, and the statistics” were all accurate descriptions copied from her diary. Continue Reading →

Filed under: History, People, camping, history, Louise Elliott, yellowstone, yellowstone history

Henry Merry takes a wild ride in Yellowstone’s first car

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yellowstone-history-early-auto

Cars weren’t "officially" admitted to Yellowstone National Park until 1915, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t there before that. One story says that Henry G. Merry drove his Winton Motor Carriage to Mammoth Hot Springs in 1902 to a dance at the National Hotel. He was caught — the story goes — but was allowed to drive out under cover of darkness. Here’s a more colorful version told by Merry's son. Continue Reading →

Filed under: History, People, henry g. merry, history, trending, winton motor carriage, yellowstone, yellowstone history

Truman Everts’ Yellowstone Park mountain lion encounter

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A mountain lion peers out from its hiding spot. (photo by Larry Moats/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - click to enlarge)

Probably the best known story of early travel to Yellowstone Park is Truman Everts’ account of being lost and alone there for 37 days. During the famous Washburn Expedition of 1870, Everts became separated from his companions as they made their way through heavy timber east of Lake Yellowstone. Everts was extremely nearsighted, so he got off his horse to look for tracks. While he was scrutinizing a path, the horse ran away, leaving him with little but the clothing on his back. Everts was a clever and tenacious man. He built a nest between two hot springs to survive a snow storm, made fire with the lens from an opera glass, and lived mostly on a diet of thistle roots. He told about his adventures in a magazine article that helped win support for creation of Yellowstone Park. Here’s one of those adventures: Continue Reading →

Filed under: History, People, history, mountian lion, Truman Everts, yellowstone