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E-Library
Supplementary Readings
Early History of Yellowstone National Park
 Those
of us who have been blessed with the privilege of visiting or living
near one of the great treasures of the world, are continually awed
by the majestic beauty of its towering mountains, crystal-clear
streams, lush mountain meadows, and wildlife. In the midst of this
splendor, you cannot help but wonder about yesteryear and the history
of the Yellowstone Plateau.
Native
Americans have first claim on the Yellowstone Plateau and lived
in the area in peaceful tranquillity until the early 1800s！undisturbed
by the presence of white men. The Sheepeater Indians, a band of
Shoshone, also known as Snake Indians, lived in the area of what
is now Yellowstone Park. There they remained isolated and sheltered
from the world around them. The mountain ranges surrounding Yellowstone
and its pristine valleys provided shelter, protection, and food
as Shoshones, Bannocks, and Nez Perce traversed the protective natural
highway en route to the "Buffalo Country" of Wyoming and
Montana. To the north of what is now Yellowstone Park flows one
of its great rivers, the Yellowstone. The Yellowstone River Valley
offered little protection, for several hundred miles, for travelers
traveling down the Yellowstone Valley including Indians, as they
were subject to attack from warring Indian Tribes like the Blackfeet.
Yet, traveling down this valley would have been much preferred.
Thus, Indian hunting parties traversing over the mountains and valleys
of Yellowstone were afforded some measure of protection from attack.
The widely-used trail would become known as the Bannock Trail.
In
1877 the Nez Perce followed much of the Bannock Trail through Yellowstone
as the Nez Perce fled from government forces commanded by General
Oliver O. Howard. The Government was determined to occupy and take
possession of the non-treaty Nez Perce lands and force them onto
the Nez Perce Reservation in Lapwai, Idaho. The tragic Nez Perce
War erupted when Chief Joseph and other Nez Perce leaders including
Chief Looking Glass were being forced onto the Nez Perce Reservation
under orders from General Howard. After war broke out, the Nez Perce
fought gallantly through 18 skirmishes and major battles for their
ancestral lands, principles, and values in a defensive war that
would take them approximately 1,500 miles through Oregon, Idaho,
Montana, and Wyoming.
Much
earlier, President Thomas Jefferson envisioned creating an American
Empire stretching from coast-to coast. His dream began to bear fruition
with the acquisition of Louisiana from France in 1803. The Discovery
Corps led by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark would pave
the way for the opening of the Pacific Northwest and begin the building
of Jefferson's American Empire. Captain William Clark's party canoed
down the Yellowstone River Valley, a short distance from today's
Yellowstone Park, en route to their rendezvous with Meriwether Lewis
at the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers.
Young,
athletic and strong person of mind, John Colter, who was a member
of the Discovery Corps, would encounter two trappers somewhere near
the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers. The trappers
named Joseph Dixon and Forrest Hancock would become John Colter's
partners. The date of their meeting, August 12, 1806, was an important
day in John Colter's life for shortly after that he would return
up the Yellowstone with his partners. From there they would follow
the Clarks Fork River to an area believed to be near the mouth of
the Clarks Fork Canyon where they spent the winter. The next spring
Colter would leave the Rocky Mountains again as he began to make
his way down the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers en route back to
the United States. En route he ran into Manual Lisa's brigade. Colter
was once again persuaded to return up the Yellowstone. The party
stopped at the mouth of the Big Horn River and constructed a trading
post, Fort Raymond. Colter was asked to let tribes in the area know
about the new fort and trading opportunities. During Colter's epic
journey, he would discover a thermal area near present day Cody,
Wyoming, which would become known as Colter's Hell. From there he
would travel through the Tetons, along the Gallatin Range, through
Yellowstone Park's Lamar Valley and through the "Gap"
at present day Cooke City, Montana. Then, he traversed the Sunlight
Basin area and out onto the Big Horn Basin en route back to Fort
Raymond.
Others
would follow Colter into the Yellowstone area. In 1824, Jedediah
Smith & Jim Bridger began trapping around Jackson Hole up to
the south boundary of Yellowstone Park. On August 10, 1836, Osborne
Russell and Jim Bridger explored Two Ocean Pass. In 1860, Captain
William F Raynolds attempted to explore Yellowstone from the south.
In 1869, David Folsom, Charles Cook and William Peterson explored
Yellowstone. In 1870, the Washburn party explored Yellowstone with
escort services provided by Lieutenant Doanne. In 1871, Hayden led
his geological survey team into Yellowstone.
Yellowstone
had been discovered and interest in preserving its majestic beauty
was growing. Congressional delegate William H. Clagett along with
the leadership of Senator Pomery worked to create legislation to
create Yellowstone Park. It was created upon a roll call vote with
115 ayes, 65 nays and 60 abstaining on March 1, 1872, and signed
by President Ulysses S. Grant.
Theodore Roosevelt and the Teddy Bear
The story of the Teddy Bear´
Many of us have loved a teddy bear.
Maybe we've even had more than one very special "teddy"
in our lives. Here is the real story of how the teddy bear sprang
into our hearts.
Nearly 100 years ago, President Theodore Roosevelt, went on a
bear hunt. He enjoyed nature and being out in the woods where animals
lived. Because he was the President of the United States, the people
organizing the hunt wanted to make sure the hunt was successful.
But after 3 days of walking and climbing and riding, no bears
were found. Now what? The President's bear hunt would be a failure!
The next day the hunt guide and his hunting dogs finally found
an old bear. The dogs and guide followed the bear for quite a distance
until the bear was very, very tired. The dogs attacked and injured
the old bear. The guides tied the bear to a tree and called for
the President. Here was a bear for him to shoot!
President Roosevelt looked at the poor old bear and said "no!"
No one would shoot this old bear for sport. That would not be right.
However, the bear was injured and suffering. President Roosevelt
ordered that the bear be put down to end its pain.
A political cartoonist by the name of Clifford Berryman heard
this story. A political cartoonist draws about current events in
the news. Mr. Berryman drew a cartoon showing how President Roosevelt
refused to shoot the bear while hunting in Mississippi.
If you look at the first cartoon that was printed about the President's
bear hunt you see Theodore Roosevelt in the front. In the back is
the guide with a bear tied on a leash. Notice that the guide and
the bear are about the same size, suggesting a grown bear.
Look at the cartoon which appeared later in other papers. It has
been redrawn. The bear is smaller than the guide. The bear is shaking
with fear. This cute bear cub began to appear in other cartoons
which Clifford Berryman drew throughout Theodore Roosevelt's career.
So that is how a bear became connected to the name of President
Theodore Roosevelt.
But where do toy "teddy bears" come from?
After this famous cartoon appeared in the papers, a shopkeeper,
Morris Michtom took two stuffed toy bears which his wife had made
and put them in his shop window. He had an idea.
Mr. Michtom asked for permission from President Theodore Roosevelt
to call these toy bears "Teddy's bears". This store eventually
became the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company.
Other stuffed animals were made by a German company, Steiff. An
illness left Margaret Steiff unable to walk. She refused to be stopped
by her handicap and earned her living by sewing. First she made
stuffed elephants, then other animals. In 1903 an American saw a
stuffed bear she had made and ordered many of them.
The phrase caught on. Now toy bears are often called teddy bears!
3. Theordore Roosevelt and the Grand Canyon
Theodore Roosevelt was a great lover
of animals and their natural environments. He was one of the very
first to preserve parks and recreational spaces in this country.
He made sure these places would be around for his children and everyone's
children to see forever. One place he thought was very special was
the Grand Canyon, so he made sure it would remain beautiful and
unspoiled.
"Leave it as it is. You can not improve on it. The ages have
been at work on it, and man can only mar it."
This speech which President Roosevelt made at the Grand Canyon,
Arizona, on May 6, 1903 shows how he thought people should treat
the Grand Canyon.
"In the Grand Canyon, Arizona has a natural wonder which,
so far as I know, is in kind absolutely unparalleled throughout
the rest of the world. I want to ask you to do one thing in connection
with it in your own interest and in the interest of the country-to
keep this great wonder of nature as it now is.
I was delighted to learn of the wisdom of the Santa Fe railroad
people in deciding not to build their hotel on the brink of the
canyon. I hope you will not have a building of any kind, not a summer
cottage, a hotel, or anything else, to mar the wonderful grandeur,
the sublimity, the great loneliness and beauty of the canyon.
Leave it as it is. You can not improve on it. The ages have been
at work on it, and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep
it for your children, your children's children, and for all who
come after you, as one of the great sights which every American
if he can travel at all should see.
We have gotten past the stage, my fellow-citizens, when we are
to be pardoned if we treat any part of our country as something
to be skinned for two or three years for the use of the present
generation, whether it is the forest, the water, the scenery. Whatever
it is, handle it so that your children's children will get the benefit
of it."
* from "Presidential Addresses and State Papers"
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