Into the Wild Victorian Yonder
by Tony Perrottet
Today, Yellowstone is virtually a country unto itself. It has its own weekly newspaper, a vast staff, a $30 million annual budget, army-sized campgrounds and visitor complexes as busy as miniature cities. But even with this infrastructure, much of the landscape has not changed since the Victorian era, when only 300 or so lucky travelers would arrive on horseback each summer, following rough animal trails. The first hotel arrived in 1871, McCartney’s Cabin at Mammoth Hot Springs, a makeshift log structure where guests had to sleep on the floor. Most preferred instead to camp in the forest, catching fish for their dinner in the pristine lakes.
Holiday activities back then were similar to those we enjoy today. The pioneer travelers would rush to natural wonders with romantic names like the Castle, the Giantess and Minerva Terrace. The more adventurous descended into Yellowstone Canyon with ropes and gaped at the thundering waterfalls, or scaled Mount Washburn for sweeping views of the park. Happily exhausted, they would gather around the campfire, singing, telling stories and staging quaint theatrical shows.
But in the days before “sustainable tourism,” other 19th century behavior now seems shocking. There were no park rangers, so campers poured soap into the mouths of geysers to hasten eruptions. They did their laundry in the hot pools. They carved their names all over rocks and trees, and chipped off delicate silex formations to take home as souvenirs. Poachers, meanwhile, pillaged wildlife unchecked. In fact, behavior was so unruly that Congress in 1886 handed the management of Yellowstone to the United States cavalry. The park remained under military control until 1916, when the National Park Service was created (and today, the uniform of park rangers echoes those of early army officers).
August 24th, 2008 at 6:42 am
I read a simliar post just the other day by Sandra Kosineck but yours is much better.