In 1937, Helen traveled to Oregon, via Denver, Yellowstone, and parts of California. She left on June 28th, 1937, with two friends, Lois and Doris. According to her daily itinerary, the group spent several days at Yellowstone National Park, including on the Fourth of July. What a wonderful place to celebrate the birth of our nation! Then, on July 6th, the group went to visit Old Faithful geyser.
Many of you who know me know that I have not only a deep love of our nation, it's history, but also of our national parks, and have had the privilege of working one season as a national park ranger. Since I am more of a historian than an archivist, while focusing on Helen's travels, I will also add some history to my blogs. For today, I have decided to look into the history of Yellowstone National Park.
The Yellowstone area remained relatively unknown until the Lewis and Clark Expedition passed just north of the area in 1806. Their journals mentioned the area as "Hotspring Brimstone", a name and area probably described by John Colter, a member of the expedition. Colter is believed to be the first Euro-American to have seen the area when he was working as a trapper for the Missouri Fur Trading Company.
1822 to the 1840s brought many fur trappers to the region, looking primarily for beaver. One of the most famous trappers/traders of the times, Jim Bridger, a man famous for his tall tales, often talked of the Yellowstone area, it's beauty, and smoking steam vents. Thirty years later the beaver was near extinction, and it was found that Bridger's stories were true. During the 1860s, Yellowstone saw a time of the hunters and prospectors. While game in the area was abundant, prospectors were not as successful.They returned home with stories of the beauty of the Tetons.
According to author, and former director of the Yellowstone Institute from 1980-1984, the west was seen as a vast wilderness, "something to be tamed, to be explored, settled, mined, logged, ranched, and farmed. ("Greater Yellowstone - The National Park and Adjacent Wildlands," by Rick Reese) At the time of westward expansion, the west and the wilderness was not valued for anything but military gain.
Then in 1871, a civilian/military exploration expedition led by surveyor General Henry D. Washburn named the geyser Old Faithful. Shortly after, in 1872, the bill for the first national park was voted on by the forty-second Congress of the United States. The bill was then signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant. At the time, Yellowstone National Park included territories of Montana and Wyoming, near the head-waters of the Yellowstone River,and the park was under the exclusive control of the Secretary of the Interior and still is today. For a look at the original bill click here http://www.usnationalparks.net/history/html
Funds were nearly nonexistent to support the park, and for the first 14 years, there were five superintendents. Along with no funding, many had no salary, along with no legal means or law enforcement to protect the park. Then, in 1886, the military moved in to help. Bison had nearly been exterminated,patrolling for poachers was started by horseback.Construction was begun on Fort Yellowstone, which was completed in 1913. Today, the fort serves as the main headquarters for the park, administration buildings, and housing for park staff.
By 1916, there were a total of 30 national park sites, and on August 16, they were all combined under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. The cavalry left Yellowstone in 1918, and today, National Park rangers uniforms are based on the military uniforms of those who protected the park in the early 1900s.
When Helen visited Yellowstone National Park she very well may have visited and stayed at Old Faithful Inn.Construction began in 1903, and was completed a short while later in 1904, it is one of the few remaining log hotels in the United States. The hotel is 700 feet in length, and seven stories high, upon entering the lobby, guests can look up to the 65 feet ceiling. The inn features 327 rooms.
The inn is adjacent to Old Faithful geyser, which Helen did visit on July 6, 1937. Prior to an earthquake in 1959, Old Faithful erupted 21 times a day; today eruptions occur only 20 times daily. The geyser will spout on average every 74 minutes, but can range from 45 to 110 minutes, with the erruptions lasting from 1.5 to 5 minutes in length. Water is shot from 100 to 180 feet high, but the average is 130 to 140 feet. The vent temperature at Old Faithful is 204 degrees Farenheit, and the steam temperature is 350 degrees Farenheit.
Next stop the Redwood Highway
---Lynne
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