Yellowstone National Park
Forest fires occur in the park each year; in the large forest fires of 1988, nearly one third of the park burned. Yellowstone has numerous recreational opportunities, including hiking, camping, boating, fishing and sightseeing.
Paved roads provide close access to the major geothermal areas as well as some of the lakes and waterfalls. During the winter, visitors often access the park by way of guided tours that use either snow coaches or snowmobile.
Early history
The park is located at the headwaters of the Yellowstone River, from which it takes its historical name.
In the eighteenth century, French trappers named the river "Roche Jaune," which is probably a translation of the Minnetaree name "Mi tsi a-da-zi" (Rock Yellow River). While passing through present day Montana, the expedition members were informed of the Yellowstone region to the south, but they did not investigate it.
Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River
In 1806, John Colter, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, left to join a group of fur trappers.
He observed at least one geothermal area in the northeastern section of the park, near Tower Falls. After surviving wounds he suffered in a battle with members of the Crow and Blackfoot tribes in 1809, he gave a description of a place of "fire and brimstone" that was dismissed by most people as delirium. These reports were largely ignored because Bridger was known for being a "spinner of yarns".
His stories did arouse the interest of explorer and geologist Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden, who, in 1859, started a two-year survey of the upper Missouri River region. The American Civil War hampered further organized explorations until the late 1860s.
The first detailed expedition to the Yellowstone area was the Folsom Expedition of 1869, which consisted of three privately funded explorers.
A Montana writer and lawyer named Cornelius Hedges, who had been a member of the Washburn expedition, proposed that the region should be set aside and protected as a National Park; he wrote a number of detailed articles about his observations for the Helena Herald newspaper between 1870 and 1871. Hedges essentially restated comments made in October 1865 by acting Montana Territorial Governor Thomas Francis Meagher, who had previously commented that the region should be protected. Others made similar suggestions.
Hayden was finally able to make another attempt to explore the region. Congress to withdraw this region from public auction; on March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S.
Grant signed The Act of Dedication into law that created Yellowstone National Park.
THE ACT OF DEDICATION
AN ACT to set apart a certain tract of land lying near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River as a public park. The Secretary may, in his discretion, grant leases for building purposes, for terms not exceeding ten years, of small parcels of ground, at such places in said park as shall require the erection of buildings for the accommodation of visitors; all of the proceeds of said leases, and all other revenue that may be derived from any source connected with said park, to be expended under his direction in the management of the same and the construction of roads and bridle-paths, and shall provide against the wanton destruction of the fish and game found within said park and against their capture or destruction for the purpose of merchandise or profit.
In 1875, Colonel William Ludlow, who had previously explored areas of Montana under the command of George Armstrong Custer, was assigned to organize and lead an expedition to Montana and the newly established Yellowstone Park. Norris used these funds to expand access to the park, building numerous crude roads and facilities. Norris hired Harry Yount to control poaching and vandalism in the park.
By 1908 visitation increased enough to also attract a Union Pacific Railroad connection to West Yellowstone, though rail visitation fell off considerably by World War II and ceased around the 1960s.
Ongoing poaching and destruction of natural resources continued unabated until the U.S. When the National Park Service was created in 1916, many of the management principles developed by the army were adopted by the new agency. The army turned control over to the National Park Service on October 31, 1918.
By 1915, 1,000 automobiles per year were entering the park, resulting in conflicts with horses and horse driven transportation.