YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

This national park was established in 1972 by the United States Congress.

Although the park is primarily in Wyoming it extends to Montana and Idaho.

A lot of Native People had lived in that area. Lewis and Clark had missed this part of the region. In the mid 1880’s this region was explored by the United States Army. They were sent there to take care of this park. Later on it was transferred to the (NPSP National Park Service. There were plenty of structures that needed to be protected.

The park spans over a 3,468 square miles. Consisting of:

A. Lakes
B. Canyons
C. Rivers
D. Mountain Ranges

Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest lakes in North America. And is centered over a supervolcano on this continent. The supervolcano called (Caldera) is an active volcano and its last eruption was 2000 million years ago.

This park has a wide variety of reptiles and animals such as:

A. Birds
B. Fish
C. Bears
D. Crocodiles
E. Wolves
F. Elks
G. Deer
H. Bison
I. Buffalo

There are also fires that occur each year. Some are due to careless campers and some of them are due to the act of nature.

There are things to do in the park. And they are:

A. Hiking
B. Boating
C. Camping
D. Fishing
E. Sightseeing
F. Show mobiling in winter

The French trappers at the end of the 18th century named a river (Roche Jaune) with a translation of (Minnetare) which was called (Mitsia-A-Da-Zi) which means “Rock Yellow River”. Later the Americans had renamed it as Yellowstone, for the color of the rocks that are yellow.

The history of the park had begun 11,000 years ago, by the Native Americans the “Paleo Indians” for these Indians lived in this area. During this era they had found some of the weapons they had used along with cutting tools. They had found these items as far east as the Mississippi Valley. When the first explorers during the (Lewis and Clark) era they had found out that there was trading going on, between three tribes:

A. Nez Perce
B. Crow
C. Shoshone

In 1806 a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition had left the group to join a group of trappers. He had later split with the group. He had later passed through the area which would later become Yellowstone National Park. He had gotten in a battle with two of the Indian tribes. He had survived the wounds. He had later told stories of:

A. Boiling mud
B. Steaming Rivers
C. Petrified trees
In an 1856 exploration a mountain man also had described the same findings. When he told of these things the people ignored him for he was known for telling stories. In 1859 a captain from the United States Army went on a 2 year exploration of the Rockies. IN 1860 there was a party of men that had tried to cross the National Divide. This had happened in the early spring when they had to battle heavy snow. This kind of hindered their travels but they still made it through. These were the first men to enter the Yellowstone Region. The Civil War put a hold on this mission.

The first detailed of the expedition in 1869 when a three men team had followed The Yellowstone River down to the Yellowstone Lake. They had kept a journal of where they had been and their findings.

Montana residents had called this region National Park Langford. Separate from the United Army, Hedges who was a member of the Washburn expedition said this region should be set aside and be protected by the National Park Service. A (Cogress man named William D. Kelley also made a suggestion that a bill be passed for this region. (The Great Gayser Basin) to be protected. And be a public park for everyone.

11 years later F.V. Hayden made another attempt to explore this region. This time they had sponsorship. He made more people with him this time. “William Henry Jackson and Thomas Moran convinced the Congress to keep this region from public auction. And with that “Ulysses A. Grant passed a bill that Yellowstone National Park would be free of poachers and trappers.
The House of Representatives and the Congress had gotten together, had put into order that the (Montana and Wyoming) region would be safe from:

A. Settlement
B. Occupancy
C. And sale under the laws of the United States
D. And if anybody would occupy any of this land would be considered trespassers and be removed from the premise. Which was approved in March of 1872.

All of this is signed by:

A. James G. Blaine
B. Schuyler Colfax
C. Ulysses S. Grant

National Langford was the park’s first superintendent. He was in charge for five years. But, he was denied:

A. Salary
B. Funding
C. And Staff
After that he left this land to:

A. Poachers
B. Vandals
C. And others seeking to raid the place

He had then approached the Secretary of the Interior and had reported to them that Yellowstone National Park would become a tourist attraction.

Poachers had entered the area and were going for the hides of these animals.

A. Buffalo
B. Deer
C. Elk
D. Antelopes

They were doing this for money.

The visitor population had increased from 300 in 1872 to 5,000 in 1883. Many visitors were faced with many problems:

A. Poor roads
B. Limited structures
C. Access to the park was on horse or on a stagecoach

Poaching continued until the United States Army had arrived. The next 22 years the army put up permanent structures, and Camp Sheridan, was now Fort Yellowstone.

While the National Park had allowed public access to the park while protecting the wildlife there.

The (NPS) National Park Service was created in 1916. Then the army turned complete control to the NPS in 1918.

In 1915 automobiles were allowed to come into the park. And this was causing problems for the horses. And for the stagecoaches also. As the years went on, horse driven roads were eventually stopped. From the years of 1933 to the year of 1941. The Civilian Conservation Corps had built campgrounds and park roads. But, during World War II the visitation had dwindled. And this left the park in Despair. In the 1950’s the visitation increased. To pull more people in they put in a mission 66 in order. This effect also was to modernize the park and its facilities. This project was done in 1966. The Park’s 50th anniversary. In the late 1980’s the park went back to a more traditional style.

In 1959 Yellowstone Park had suffered from an earthquake. This had done some damage to the park. And with earthquake they had found more geysers and more hot springs. This was one of the most powerful earthquakes to hit this region.

The wildfires of 1988 was also the largest in history. It burned about 763,880 acres, or 36% of the park. And dry weather and the hot temperatures were the cause of this fire. On August of 1988 the strong winds didn’t help the park any. This had caused the fires to spread. And this had burned another 150,000 acres.

About 96% of Yellowstone National Park is in Wyoming, 3% of it is on Montana, and, 1% is in Idaho. Yellowstone National Park is larger than two of the states. One is Rhode Island and the other is Delaware. Yellowstone Lake is 400 feet deep and 100 feet wide. With an altitude of 7, 733 above sea level. And is the Highest Lake in North America. Forests hold most of the Yellowstone which is 80%. The other 20% is all grassland.

The Continental Divide runs diagonally through the southwestern side of the park. This divide separates the two oceans. The Atlantic and the Pacific.

All of these trees are scattered through the park. The White-Bark pine is threatened of distinction because of a fungus.

The severe drought of 1988 had caused a lot of fires, that were uncontrollable. 95% of the park was burned with some areas that were not in the park. 25,000 firefighters and the United States Army had participated in putting out these fires. The loss to the park and surrounding areas were 120 million dollars.

When the snow season came along that had put out the rest of the fires. No civilians were hurt in this fire. But 67 buildings had been destroyed and 2 firefighters were killed.

The highest temperature was 99 degrees in 2002. And the lowest temperature occurred in 1930 and that was in 1933. The normal temperature in Yellowstone is somewhere between 70-80 degrees. While normal temperatures range from 20-below 0 in the winter months. The Spring and Fall months have a temperature between 30-60 degrees.

The average rainfall anywhere from 15-80 inches. Snow can be found at any time of year, with an average of 150 inches.

Tornados are very rare in the park. But there was one that happened in 1987. That tornado was a category 4 with winds exceeding 207 miles per hour. This left a destruction of 2 miles wide and 24 miles long.

Yellowstone is the most visited national park with an average of 2 million people per year. At the height of the tourists season they have 3,700 employees on duty. They consist of:

A. Concessions
B. Hotels
C. Gas stations
D. Stores
E. Campsites
F. And National Park Services
Yellowstone is currently under some road construction.

The National Park Services includes:

A 9 visitors centers
B Museums
C Historical Structures

The National Park places to visit along the way:

A. National Historic Structures

Yellowstone Park basically sits in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. With a range of 9,000 to 11,000 feet. The highest point of the park sits at 11,358 feet, the lowest point sits at 5,282 feet. There are nearby mountain ranges. These are called:

A. Gallitin Range this sits to the Northwest.
B. The Beartooth Mountains sit to the North.
C. The Absaroka range sits to the East.
D. The Teton and Madison Mountain range sit to the southwest and to the west.
The most popular Mountain Range is Mount Washburn that sits at 10,243 feet.
Yellowstone National Park has the largest of the Petrified Forests. These are trees that have been buried by ash and soul that has been transformed from wood to mineral.

Three deep canyons are located in Yellowstone Park. These are:

A. Yellowstone plateau
B. Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
C. Black Canyon
The Yellowstone Park has the largest volcanic system of in North America. And this is super volcano called (Caldera). The last eruption from this volcano was 640,000 years ago. The eruption from this volcano was even larger than the one of Mount St. Helen’s. That had happened in 1980.

There is a popular geyser in Yellowstone also. This one is called Old Faithful and this goes off every hour and half. There are other geysers in this park. They are called:

A. Castle Geyser
B. Lion Geyser
C. Beehive Geyser
D. Steamboat Geyser
Between (Mallard Lake Dome and Sour Creek Dome) these places are slowly showing of some earth movement. Yellowstone has thousands of earthquakes per year. A earthquake has happened in 1959, that had to make a new lake. It’s called, “Earthquake Lake”. When this earthquake had happened 28 people had died and there was extensive damage done to the park.

There over 1,7000 different trees in the park, these are called:

A. Lodgepole Pines
B. Subalpine Fir
C. Englemann Spruce
D. Rocky-mountain Douglas Fir
E. Whitebark Pine

There are a dozen campgrounds with over 2,000 sites. Camping is also available in the surrounding National Forests. These are only accessible by foot or by horse back. Hiking is also available. Camping is only permitted with a permit only in the National Forest.

Hunting is not permitted in the National Forest or the National Park. You may fish in Yellowstone but a license is permitted. The also allow fly fishing. (This is a catch and release). Boating is allowed on a 5 mile distance and this is only allowed on the (LEWIS AND SHOSHONE LAKES) other than that boating is not permitted.

In the early years of tourism. The tourists were encouraged to feed the bears. But after awhile they had found out that injuries were being done to the tourists. So this is not allowed anymore. This was ended to keep the tourists safe.

As I have been to Yellowstone myself I can tell you that this place is an interesting place to see. Especially when Old Faithful goes off. We have even camped in Yellowstone until we had a Grisley Bear decided to get underneath our camper. And that is when we decided to pack our things and leave. We drove almost all night to find a safe place to stay for the night as we were going somewhere else. We could not see because how dark it was outside since there were not any lighted roads.