Merrill D. Beal

“ The legend of “Big Foot,” great chief of the Flathead tribe, had been fulfilled. In 1804 he is supposed to have assembled his warriors in council and related this message:
My heart tells me that the Great Spirit has forsaken us; he has furnished our enemies with his thunder to destroy us, yet something whispers to me, that we may fly to the mountains and avoid a fate, which, if we remain here, is inevitable. The lips of our women are white with dread, there are no smiles on the lips of our children. Our joyous sports are no more, glad tales are gone from the evening fires of our lodges. ”

“ In their migrations from Kentucky to the River of the West (Missouri) excitement had become as necessary as life itself; adventure, as the breath of their nostrils. Until 1810 those woodsmen found hunting and trapping on the plains sufficiently challenging, but after the return of Lewis and Clark they donned buckskin suits and moved into the Rockies. From these shining mountains they were not to emerge until they learned by heart the geography upon the sundown side of the wide Missouri. ”

“ There was something about this leader that tugged at their heart strings as he beckoned his children toward their prison camp. There were four hundred and twelve survivors, including forty-six wounded. Twenty-six Indians and twenty-seven white men (plus Miles’ two Indian scouts) had been slain. Joseph’s conduct in burying the dead and in ministering to his half-starved and freezing people elicited the admiration of all. As the handsome, plucky chieftain assuaged their sorrow he seemed greater than any one man. Surely, here was the embodiment of the Nez Percé, indeed, of all Indian people. ”

“ In 1871 Generals Sherman and Sheridan projected a plan that eventuated in the complete conquest of the Kiowa and Comanche nations, but the Sioux were the most formidable obstacle to the colonization of Wyoming and Montana. They stood immovable astride the country lying between the headwaters of the Powder 158 and Yellowstone rivers. This was the heart of the Sioux country—their last and favorite retreat. There, grass grew lush, and cool, sweet streams teemed with trout. Wild berries flourished, and a hunter could take his pick of buffalo, bear, elk, deer, antelope, and sheep. ”

“ Today Yellowstone’s Naturalist Division stands as the symbol of America’s love for the great out-of-doors. Its philosophy is wise and comprehensive. Its scientists have delved deeply for the facts. Still, there is a spirit of self-abnegation among the personnel. They serve all and sundry in every possible way, and yet they are pledged to the preservation of the natural treasures. Their contribution to protection of park values is shared with that of the ranger staff. The number of public contacts runs into the hundreds of thousands annually. ”

“ It may seem unfruitful at this time to attempt a solution of the problem of John Colter’s 1807 route of discovery in Yellowstone. Many people require no proof of anything cited in the records of such great scouts as Jedediah S. Smith, Kit Carson, and John Colter. Their integrity need not be questioned. Still, it is within the province of the historian to sift and test all of the evidence until the truth falls into place as elements in a jigsaw puzzle. Even myths and legends should be examined for any implications and bearing they might have upon a fact. ”

“ 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. ”

“ From these circumstances, Yellowstone Park has become truly the wondrous land of water and the source of that life-giving liquid to lands hundreds of miles away in all directions. Nowhere else does water so well display its varied charms. From the Divide’s snowy, timber-rimmed pockets, icy rivulets flow into sylvan pools, thence to rushing rivers with thundering waterfalls. Other water issues from steaming vents and towering geysers connected with the earth’s internal heat and weaves vaporous trails into streams called warm or fire rivers. ”

“ In that sense Yellowstone is not a park but a wilderness full of the beauty of natural disorder. All things remain as nature leaves them. No man disturbs landslide, log jam, or wind-swept lodgepole avalanche.
The appearance of the trails, roads, bridges, buildings, and facilities of all kinds is gradually being brought into harmony with the natural environment. Under the guidance of landscape artists, structural design and location are made conformable to maximum scenic advantages while at the same time, being inconspicuous themselves. ”

“ Today the alert tourist may reap the reward of that wise and fruitful policy in observing mountain sheep, antelope, mule deer, elk, moose, coyotes, marmot, and squirrels as they roam around in the Park. Indeed, the quiet but energetic visitor who ventures 237 upon the forest trails may even see the rare sand-hill crane and trumpeter swan. Besides, he will frequently hear the passing whisper of the honker’s wing. Actually, he may “shoot” both birds and mammals with the camera and take home trophies of everlasting enjoyment. ”

“ No amount of art, industry, and study can rival the instinct displayed by savages in making themselves comfortable, and in utilizing for their own benefit all the accidents of Nature. Nobody can choose a camp as they can: nobody knows how to make a fire so quickly or so well: nobody can so wisely pick a shady, cool place in summer heat, or choose one sheltered from wind and storms in winter. With an Indian wife to look after his bodily comforts, a man may devote himself to hunting, fishing, or trapping without a thought or care. ”

“ And, as the deepening twilight seems to bring the earth and the sky together, they may reflect upon a land where white-robed columns of steam ascend from the fissures of geysers long dead, like ghosts revisiting the scenes of their activity. [350]
Such is the desire of all large and generous minds. They are in full agreement with the glowing tribute of the Earl of Dunraven:
All honor then to the United States for having bequeathed as a free gift to man the beauties and curiosities of Wonderland. ”

“ Primitive people were seldom guilty of wanton spoliation. Hence, missing incrustations were not essential evidence of Indian visitation. They left nature’s beauty as they found it, a proper example for all who might follow after.
Did Indians ever hear the legendary overhead sounds in the vicinity of Shoshone and Yellowstone lakes—those strange half-minute tunes like the humming of bees or echo of bells? [96] Perhaps they did. Any phenomenon audible to white men with the naked ear would be discernible to them because they were sensitive to nature and her communion was always welcomed. ”

“ This elk running is perfectly magnificent. We ride among the wild sand hills till we find a herd, and then gallop after them like maniacs, cutting them off, till we get in the midst of them, when we shoot all that we can. Our chief hunter is a very famous man out West, one Buffalo Bill. To see his face flush, and his eyes shoot out courage is a sight to see, and he cheers us on till he makes us as mad as himself. ”

“ From these denizens of both prairie and mountain, Colter undoubtedly first learned of the Yellowstone marvels. The acquisition of this interesting information at a point in relatively close proximity to the features, together with other favorable conditions, impelled him to project an exploration of the “enchanted land.” After listening to eloquent descriptions of the natural phenomena nothing could be more natural than for such an adventurous explorer to experience an intense desire to visit the country. ”

“ In that gloryful presence Lieutenant Doane solemnly declared, “The earth affords not its equal. It is the most lovely inanimate object in existence.” [134] To General Washburn, the Giantess, when quiet, was like a hallowed fountain and in eruption, grandly magnificent, with “each broken atom shining like so many brilliants with myriads of rainbows dancing in attendance.” [135] What ecstasy! A whole kingdom of fairy spirits seemed determined to outdo each other. There ensued an orgy of thermal activity. During the short visit of twenty-two hours, twelve geysers were seen in action. ”

“ True, the issue of protection and conservation had a long history, but one doesn’t actually name a baby until it is born. In this light, the Yellowstone experience is the matrix in which the National Park Idea achieved existence as a new American institution. ”

“ He [Bridger] gives a picture, most romantic and enticing, of the headwaters of the Yellowstone. A lake, sixty miles long, cold and pellucid, lies embosomed among high precipitous mountains. On the west side is a sloping plain, several miles wide, with clumps of trees and groves of pine. The ground resounds with the tread of horses. Geysers spout up seventy feet high, with a terrific, hissing noise, at regular intervals. Waterfalls are sparkling, leaping and thundering down the precipices, and collect in the lake, and for fifteen miles roars through the perpendicular canyon at the outlet. ”

“ And then there were the pools, the amazing springs of Yellowstone—thousands of them, all colors, a riot of aquatic pigmentation—Emerald, Sapphire, Gentian, Grand Prismatic, Rainbow, Topaz, and glamorous Morning Glory. The amazing intricacy of color-blend in the water did not then excel in beauty the surrounding border incrustations. ”

“ I was then like a Bourgeois, rich and happy; no Bourgeois had better-dressed wives than I; no Indian chief finer horses; no white man better harnessed or swifter dogs. I beat all Indians at the race, and no white man ever passed me in the chase. I wanted for nothing; and I spent all my earnings in the enjoyment of pleasure. ”

“ Remember, that even at mid-century the thinkers were still groping for a program. Perhaps the first American possessed of both the appreciation and imagination to forecast what later evolved into the National Park program was George Catlin. When traveling up the Missouri River in 1832 he was so impressed as to write, “The realms might in future be seen preserved in their pristine beauty and wildness, in a magnificent park ... containing man and beast, in all the wild and freshness of their nature’s beauty.” ”

“ Indians were much more cunning and adroit than the wildest game. They were fleet and stealthy, deceitful and cruel. To gain an advantage over prey or an enemy by strategy was their greatest joy and constituted the primary requisite for leadership. To be mentioned by one’s tribesmen as a great warrior or a cunning horse thief was the highest ambition of an Indian, and many were past masters at both these hazardous hobbies. ”

“ They defined conservation as the protection and development of the full usefulness of natural resources, including forests, waters, minerals, scenery, and the land itself. Among these far-seeing men were Henry Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and John Muir. Through a persuasive campaign of lecturing and writing they established the plain fact that Americans, as a people, had never learned to love the land and regard it as an enduring resource. Rather had they viewed it as a field for exploitation and a source of immediate financial return. ”

“ The Earl of Dunraven professed to express the Sportsman’s viewpoint when he said that Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack had the same feeling for Indians that they entertained toward game. That is to say, “They love them, and they slay them.”
To the typical frontiersman, the Indian was a savage, ready to pounce on careless settlers, scalp them, burn their homes, and carry off their loved ones—in short, a “varmint.” To the romantic writers, the Indians were children of nature, dwellers in shady forests and peaceful plains, earth’s true nobility! ”

“ It has already been disclosed that Yellowstone Park has served the nation as an experimental unit in certain fields of conservation. While this is true, it would not be correct to regard the Park as the single place of origin for such a complex and salutary movement. Today the conservation of natural resources is one of America’s most popular and cherished causes, but it was not always so. ”

“ In Yellowstone, the two-ocean-drainage courses are almost as intricate and snug as a child’s hands folded in prayer. At either Isa Lake, or Two Ocean Pass, a pebble tossed in one stream would start vibrations upon the “water-nerve endings” of Atlantic and Pacific river systems. In fact, the Yellowstone country is the apex of North America; it is essentially the Great Divide.
Yellowstone’s summer climate is invigorating and delightful. Frequent, but fleeting, rainstorms tend to modify the prevailing atmospheric aridity. Evenings and nights are invariably cool. ”

“ How this expert reconciled the conflicting data of the two map sheets into one pattern is at once a masterpiece in cartography and psychology. The technique he adopted might be called “double entry map making.” He used the Yellowstone Lake part of Colter’s sketch as an element for a concealed map; it appears as a mountain range. Such a grotesque range cannot be found in any of the surrounding territory, but when visualized as a lake it is amazing how it conforms to what a trapper traveling a logical route would have seen of Yellowstone Lake, namely, the South Arm and Thumb. ”

“ Had Walter W. DeLacy been more of a naturalist and less the prospector he might have achieved the distinction of being the real and effective discoverer of Yellowstone. However, he and his associates were looking for gold, and while they saw many wondrous things they failed to appreciate them. They were in a hurry. Even so, the time was not ripe for any special interest in Wonderland. Montana was only a name signifying rowdy mining camps. There were no newspapers to herald the discovery, no telegraph to transmit the news. Indeed, general attention was focused upon the Civil War. ”

“ The West, as now seen from the window of a train or motor car, is not the country introduced by stagecoach. With all the additional comfort, there is a loss of an indefinable something, subtle, yet well understood by those who have driven at a six-mile-an-hour pace through the almost unbroken solitude of another era. In contrast, regularly scheduled airplane flights over the Park have been available from time to 213 time since 1937. There are no airports in the Park, but they are to be found nearby at West Yellowstone and Gardiner, Montana. ”