yellowstone history

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

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 →

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Cruising Yellowstone Lake ‘The Wylie Way’ in 1903

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 →

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Emma Cowan captured by Indians in Yellowstone in 1877

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 →

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

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 →

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Old Gardiner Road follows historic stagecoach trail out of Yellowstone Park

old-gardiner-road-mammoth-view

Yellowstone National Park has more than 300 miles of paved (and often crowded) roads, but a lesser-known dirt road between Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyo. and Gardiner, Mont. offers visitors a chance to follow a historic stagecoach route out of the park. The Old Gardiner Road is a 5-mile stretch of dirt road that roughly parallels the paved road from Mammoth to Gardiner, but travels through the hills to the west of the main road, rather than along the Gardner River as it flows out of Yellowstone. Continue Reading →

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Maud gets her revenge while camping in Yellowstone in 1913

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 →

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Foundation funds Yellowstone projects from bat disease to ‘million-dollar room’

Hamilton's Lower Store at Old Faithful

A host of diverse projects in Yellowstone National Park — including bat research, geyser data sharing and even preserving a unique and historic wall covering — will receive financial support this year from the Yellowstone Park Foundation, the park's official fundraising partner. The Foundation has announced more than $200,000 in new grants aimed at helping park managers, researchers and others achieve important goals that are not necessarily covered by the park's $69.5 million annual budget. Continue Reading →

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

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 →

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Where is Yellowstone? New book answers question in a multitude of ways

Where is Yellowstone?

Where is Yellowstone? For those who know and love the park, it's a place where you're always seeking to stay a little longer or return for one more visit. But for a while at least, you might also find it between the covers of a book. The comprehensive new Altas of Yellowstone includes maps and informational graphics covering a dizzying array of topics, from animal migration routes to historic explorations, regional economies to wildland fires, vegetation patterns to mountain climbing. Continue Reading →

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Yellowstone supervolcano more active but ‘less super’ than previously thought

Aurum Geyser is one of many thermal features in Yellowstone National Park powered by geologic forces active since the first Yellowstone supervolacno eruptions, dating back millions of years. (Janet White - click to enlarge)

A new technique for dating rocks produced in volcanic eruptions indicates that the Yellowstone supervolcano was more active than previously thought, but also bit less super. Researchers have just published the findings of a study that suggests a Yellowstone supervolcano eruption believed to have happened 2 million years ago was in fact two separate eruptions separated by at least 6,000 years. The discovery could require geologists studying the Yellowstone supervolcano and other similar sites to recalibrate their geologic clocks a bit, while also offering a better idea of what the future holds for the still-active region around Yellowstone National Park. Continue Reading →

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