Few places stir the soul and ignite the imagination like Yellowstone National Park. For almost 150 years, this magical natural wonder has attracted people of all walks of life to its more than 2 million acres. Follow along as we uncover just how this place came to be America’s first national park — and one of the most beloved places in America.
You can thank the Northern Pacific Railroad in large part for the creation of Yellowstone National Park. The conservation of this awe-inspiring land began 150 years ago with the Hayden Expedition sponsored by the US Geological Survey. Thomas “Yellowstone” Moran was on this expedition at the request of and paid for by the railroad, so he could illustrate by pen and paintbrush the deep caverns, spouting geysers, and sparkling mineral pools that lay before him. While the railroad needed his art to inspire visitors to travel here by train, his creations led to so much more.
Upon returning to New York, he painted his masterpiece, “The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,” earning him his namesake and $10,000 (quite a lot of money for that time period). Perhaps even more important, his paintings caught the attention of the United States Congress and President Ulysses S. Grant, leading to the signing of the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act into law on March 1, 1872 — the first of its kind.
Other well-known Yellowstone artists include Albert Bierstadt, one of America’s premier western landscape artists. Paintings, including “Yellowstone Falls” ca. 1881, helped spur tourism out west. More recently, Gary Carter is known for using Yellowstone as the backdrop to his paintings depicting cowboys and the western lifestyle.
Thomas Moran painted “The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone” multiple times, each painting earning him an additional $10,000. He took liberties with these renditions, adding the Grand Tetons in one that you can’t actually see from that particular viewpoint and miniature people that skewed the scale in another.
Thomas Moran painted “The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone” multiple times, each painting earning him an additional $10,000. He took liberties with these renditions, adding the Grand Tetons in one that you can’t actually see from that particular viewpoint and miniature people that skewed the scale in another.
Pictures hardly do justice to the magnificence of Yellowstone National Park. Yet, many photographers have sought to capture the perfect shot. As luck would have it, William Henry Jackson was on the Hayden Expedition with Moran, sparking a life-long friendship. Back then, taking photographs was no easy feat. Jackson floated chemicals on a glass plate, took the picture and developed it on that glass with precision in the field. While he was skilled with the equipment, he learned the art of composition and lighting from Moran. His masterful portraits were published in magazines back East that proved Yellowstone’s wonders were, in fact, real, spurring travel and tourism to the area.
The great father and son duo of Frank Jay “FJ” Haynes and Jack Ellis Haynes took pictures of the park and the people they met along the railroad from 1880 to 1962. Once an employee of the Northern Pacific Railroad, FJ eventually bought a railroad car using it as a studio, taking portraits of farms and businesses along the railway. Ultimately, he became Yellowstone National Park’s official photographer. In 1890, he published the first Haynes Official Guide. Along with this son, they documented the history of the park until 1966 with 66 total guides.
The Haynes guides title changed only three times from the original Practical Guide to Yellowstone National Park in 1890 to All About Yellowstone Park (1892, 1893) to Haynes Guide Handbook of Yellowstone Park.
The Haynes guides title changed only three times from the original Practical Guide to Yellowstone National Park in 1890 to All About Yellowstone Park (1892, 1893) to Haynes Guide Handbook of Yellowstone Park.
The landscapes of Yellowstone National Park inspired many writers. Perhaps the most well-known is Ernest Hemingway, who spent five summers at a ranch in Yellowstone writing books, including “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” which is said to be about his experiences in the mountains. Yet, for insights into Yellowstone, one of its greatest writers is Paul Schullery. He writes primarily about the nature of national parks and other reserves, including a series of books on the history and lore of fly fishing.
The definitive history of Yellowstone National Park was penned by Aubrey Haines. He traced the roots of the region through two volumes that span from the prehistoric era to developments up until the 1990s. The set is considered one of the most complete histories of the area.
For fun fiction set in Yellowstone National Park, turn to best-selling author and Wyoming native CJ Box. He tells the tales of Joe Pickett, a fictional and flawed Wyoming game warden and protagonist in a series of books that now exceeds 20 titles that have sometimes included action set in Yellowstone.
You can identify almost all of the peaks, valleys, geysers, and thermal features in Yellowstone National Park with Park Historian Lee H. Whittlesey’s book, Yellowstone Place Names.
You can identify almost all of the peaks, valleys, geysers, and thermal features in Yellowstone National Park with Park Historian Lee H. Whittlesey’s book, Yellowstone Place Names.
In its early days, Yellowstone National Park was a destination for the wealthy. To draw this genteel clientele from the safety of the city to the wilderness, hoteliers built grand hotels with elegant resort-like airs. When Yellowstone Park Company president Harry W. Child hired architect Robert Reamer, that all changed.
Reamer realized elegant buildings didn’t make guests feel safe; it was the amenities, including steam heat, electric lights and indoor plumbing that offered a sense of security. He went about designing Old Faithful Inn — a structure that looks as if it grew out of the landscape, effectively revolutionizing architecture, coined by the term parkitecture. The original Inn, now called the “Old House,” offered 140 guest rooms for $4 a night. Today, there are more than 300 rooms in what is considered one of the largest log-style structures in the world.
The Old Faithful Inn opened in 1904 featuring a massive stone fireplace in the immense lobby that still stands today.
The Old Faithful Inn opened in 1904 featuring a massive stone fireplace in the immense lobby that still stands today.
Music was expected by the early guests to Yellowstone, with dancing often offered six nights a week in the elegant hotels that dotted the wilderness. The Canyon Hotel took their music to another level by commissioning the Gene Quaw Orchestra out of Chicago, Illinois, to perform at the hotel every summer. In 1937, Quaw wrote and recorded “Yellowstone,” considered by many to be the park’s official theme song. He dedicated the song to the president of the Yellowstone Park Company, which includes the lyrics, “Yellowstone, Yellowstone, best of any place that I have ever known. Skies of blue, friends so true, call me back to summer days in Yellowstone.”
In the earliest days of the park, guests staying at various park lodges were serenaded every morning. Known as “singing out the dudes,” the staff would sing to visitors as they loaded up and headed out on stagecoaches for excursions around the park.
In the earliest days of the park, guests staying at various park lodges were serenaded every morning. Known as “singing out the dudes,” the staff would sing to visitors as they loaded up and headed out on stagecoaches for excursions around the park.