The Magic of Yellowstone: Yellowstone History Guide

Welcome to
The Magic of Yellowstone

A little bit of
Wonderland

Jim Bridger, perhaps the most famous of Mountain Men, could easily have been the introductory picture of the entire history of the American West. He knew nearly every last inch of it. Yellowstone was no exception, and he knew about its wonders decades before it was officially "discovered." Although his stories of Yellowstone were often dismissed during his time, history has redeemed him.

Yellowstone History Guide
by Jim Macdonald
(updated December 27, 2006)

The Magic of Yellowstone

The Founding of Yellowstone National Park into Law and into Fact (My paper on the founding of Yellowstone)

Historical origins of place names (mostly from Chittenden, with some editing by Jim)

Legislation Pertaining to Yellowstone National Park

The Act of Dedication, March 1, 1872 (the act that made Yellowstone a National Park)
Civil Sundry Bill for 1883, March 3, 1883
The National Park Protective Act, May 7, 1894 (The Lacey Act)
Leases in the Yellowstone National Park, August 3, 1894 (the Hayes Act)

Historical Almanac

Lieutenant Doane's Report to the Secretary of War Concerning the Washburn Expedition of 1870 (HTML of Doane's report about the first definitive exploration into Yellowstone)
Walter Trumbull's Journal of the 1870 Washburn Expedition (you probably will not find this resource anywhere else unless you go to some sort of archive)
Yellowstone and the Great West: Journals, Letters, and Images from the 1871 Hayden Expedition (external link)
Proceedings and Debate in the Senate on the bill establishing Yellowstone National Park
Report on bill to establish Yellowstone National Park from the House Committee on Public Lands to the full House of Representatives, February 27, 1872
Nathaniel Pitt Langford's Report to the Secretary of the Interior for 1872 (HTML of the first superintendent's report)
Captain William Ludlow's Report of 1875 reconnaisance into Yellowstone (external link)
Proceedings and Debate in Congress on the bill which became known as the National Park Protective Act (the Lacey Act of 1894)

Report from the Committee on Public Lands to the full House of Representatives regarding the National Park Protective Act, April 4, 1894
The Yellowstone National Park by Hiram Martin Chittenden (external link--Chittenden's 1895 classic history)
Estimates of the Number of Buffalo and Elk in Yellowstone from 1877-1918
Number of Vistors to Yellowstone 1872-1971
Links to Yellowstone Historical Maps
Chapter 7 of Edward S. Parkinson's Wonderland: Or Twelve Weeks In and Out of the United States, 1894 (external link--chapter on Yellowstone)
A Trip Through Yellowstone in 1896 by Emmaline R. Bird (external link)
Online tour of historic Fort Yellowstone (external link from the National Park Service)
Historic Highlights of Specific Park Areas (external link of small tidbits from the National Park Service)
Lake Fish Hatchery Historic District (external link--an interesting page by the National Park Service)
Historical National Park Press Releases (from the 125th Anniversary Collection)