Truly, Yellowstone National Park is a wonderland of nature. Poets have written about it, and artists have painted it, but to believe that such a scenic region is possible, you must see with your own eyes the spouting geysers, bubbling cauldrons, giant canyons and other spectacular phenomena, all of which present a flashing brilliance of motion and color which you will never forget.

Yellowstone is the largest, the oldest and, perhaps, the best known of America’s many national parks. It is at once weird, incredible and magnificent in its rugged, wild beauty. It is one of the greatest wild-life sanctuaries in the world.

Frontiersman John Colter discovered the fabulous area by chance in the winter of 1807-08. Colter had been sent by the celebrated trader, Manuel Lisa, to Pierre’s Hole in eastern Idaho to make friends with the Crow Indians. Coming home Colter sought a short cut and stumbled upon the mystery of Yellowstone. When he told his friends of the fantastic land he had seen, they refused to believe him.

Twenty years later Jim Bridger brought back a report similar to Colter’s, but he, too, was greeted with winks and smiles. Finally, however, the Washburn-Doane Expedition, headed by H. D. Washburn, Surveyor-General of Montana, was organized in August 1870, and accompanied by an army detail, officially investigated the phenomena in the Park.

They encountered innumerable fascinating wonders that even Colter, Bridger and other explorers had missed. They were determined that Yellowstone should be preserved in all its primeval beauty for the enjoyment of all Americans. Their enthusiasm was boundless. Largely because of their efforts a bill was passed through Congress on March 1, 1872, and the rugged wilderness was set aside as Yellowstone National Park.