Category: Yellowstone Stories
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A Tale: An Englishman Describes the Fourth of July at Mammoth Springs — Rudyard Kipling, 1889
“The clergyman rose up and told them they were the greatest, freest, sublimest, most chivalrous, and richest people on the face of the earth, and they all said Amen.”
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A Tale: “Mr. Dooley, Her Story.” The Tragic Tale of a Captive Grizzly — Dan Beard, 1907
The trouble with Mr. Dooley is that she made the mistake of applying the Golden Rule to human beings, and the human beings did not appreciate the generous nature of the bear.
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A Tale: A Circuit Rider Describes the Upper Geyser Basin — Edwin J. Stanley, 1873
Some of the party built bonfires and watched the eruptions by firelight, which were very fine, giving the rising volumes the appearance of fiery liquid hurled forth from the crater of a volcano.
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A Tale: A General Visits the Park During Indian Troubles — William Tecumseh. Sherman, 1877
“We saw no signs of Indians, and felt at no moment more sense of dange than we do here [at Fort Ellis].”
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A Tale: Early Travelers Confuse Geyser Basins — Rossiter Raymond, 1871
Since, the largest eruptions we observed did not exceed forty-five feet in height, we set down his [Langford’s] account as hugely overdrawn, and were deeply disgusted at the depravity of travelers.
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A Tale: Trappers Encounter Peaceful Indians on the Yellowstone Plateau — Osborne Russell, 1834
The bows were beautifully wrought from sheep, buffalo and elk horns, secured with deer and elk sinews, and ornamented with porcupine quills, and generally about three feet long.
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A Tale: Tall Tales of Yellowstone Park — Reau Campbell, 1909
“Don’t you know you are entering Wonderland, where you must be sure to have your driver point out to you the most remarkable geyser in the world, for it throws up hot blocks of ice.”
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A Tale: Encountering Irish Wit at a Lunch Station — John L. Stoddard, 1896
The developers of Yellowstone Park located their grand hotels at major sights a day’s drive apart by horse and buggy. That necessitated construction of lunch stations about halfway between the hotels to provide mid-day meals. The manager of the Norris Lunch Station, Larry Mathews, was a colorful character who found a place in many…
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A Tale: Finding a Goldilocks Pool at Mammoth Hot Springs — John W. Barlow, 1871
“The temperature varies in the different pools from fifty degrees all the way up to one hundred and eighty, so there is no difficulty in finding a bath of suitable temperature.”
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A Tale: Prospectors Say They Have Seen the Fires of Hell — Montana Post, 1867
“His feet broke through, and the blue flame and smoke gushed forth, enveloping him.”