The Story of Man In Yellowstone

PREFACE

Yellowstone National Park lives as a cherished memory in the minds of millions of people. Greater still is the number who anticipate a visit to this Wonderland. To nearly all, the Park stands as a symbol of the enrichment of the American way of life. And well it might, because it is a geological paradise, a pristine botanical garden, and an Elysium for wild game. But most important of all, it is a place of recreation for countless thousands who come to find a temporary escape from the pressure of a highly artificial life. Thoughtful people assent to the opinion of Wordsworth:

The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;

The winds that will be howling at all hours,

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;

For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

It moves us not. —Great God! I’d rather be

A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

After many years of indifference to the claims of nature, the American people are coming into accord with the wise teachings advanced by John Muir more than fifty years ago. Today, legions of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people realize that going to the mountains is like going home. They have found a brief sojourn in the wilderness a necessity of life. There is a balm in the sun, wind, and storm of mountain heights. There is healing in willow parks and gentian meadows. Cobweb cares of the world’s spinning give way before the vibrant touch of Mother Earth when her children venture boldly into unbeaten paths. There they may attune their ears to strange sounds; their lungs respond to pine sap air. Jumping from rock to log, tracing rivers to their sources, brings men up from panting puffs to deep-drawn breath in whole-souled exercise unto a newness of life.

The story of Yellowstone has been told many times, but seldom does one catch that elusive something that so mightily impresses the sensitive visitor. The theme is at once so inspiring and grand, the details so varied and minute, as to challenge one’s finest discrimination to seize upon the major features and bring them into relief. There is still much that is primitive in Wonderland, and in this setting it is appropriate to envision the salient traits of the Old West. Hereabouts was once enacted a colorful panorama of frontier life. There were Indians, trappers, miners, cowboys, rustlers, poachers, soldiers, and settlers. A description of these picturesque people and their ways might bring enjoyment to many. Perhaps the spirit of appreciation that characterizes this history is its chief claim upon the attention of Yellowstone visitors.

This monograph was written for them, and it represents a synthesis of many lectures that evolved in their presence, in the afterglow of Yellowstone campfire programs. Visitors whose enjoyment of life seems particularly enhanced by a visit to the Park may find the reason therefore in those lines:

One impulse from a vernal wood

May teach you more of man,

Of moral evil and of good,

Than all the sages can.

—WORDSWORTH

In the interest of economy of time in reading this history, it is suggested that chapters three, four, and ten might be skimmed. However, a knowledge of the Indians and trappers whose haunts and activities impinged upon the Park area is essential to a full appreciation of Yellowstone National Park in its western setting.

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