Belated Happy Birthday!
Yellowstone – magnificent national treasure with a dark past of dispossession and violence.
My plan was to write about Yellowstone National Park’s history last year at this time, for its 150th anniversary. Better late than never, so here goes!
YNP’s tale is as exciting as its wildlife. The original story goes like this: when the US acquired a huge tract of land from France in 1803 – the Louisiana Purchase –, the president commissioned men to explore it. The team was led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. (I feel compelled to include this info here because I’ve always loved the name “Meriwether”.) The Lewis and Clark party heard such harrowing accounts of the Yellowstone surroundings, they decided to play it safe and bypass the region altogether. They continued west without a single glimpse of the wonders that would have greeted them on a more southernly route. One of their members, however, – John Colter – had his curiosity so piqued that he returned to the area in 1808. When Colter shared what he had found at Yellowstone, his reports were received with mockery and accusations of hallucinations. Colter called the region a living Hades. Uninhabited. An inferno of bubbling black mud pits spouting poisonous fumes. With savage and sinister forests full of wild animals including grizzly bears twice the height of a man. The result? The region was mostly avoided until 1871 when another expedition set out to separate fact from fiction. This time, the group included an artist as well as a photographer. And what a find they made! Indeed, a paradise greeted them – majestic landscapes, crashing waterfalls, spouting geysers, vibrant wildlife – a creation of fire and water that was beyond anything they had ever experienced. They returned home with a glowing report of a pristine place of unimaginable beauty, never before having been seen by a human being. Legislature to protect this treasure for future generations was quickly signed on March 1st, 1872. It created America’s first national park (indeed, the first in the world) – to “preserve and protect the scenery, cultural heritage, wildlife, geologic and ecological systems for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations.“.
Now we need to take a moment to rectify the above story – because there is a snag in it. (How could it be otherwise?) Have you already come upon it, dear reader? Yellowstone was not uninhabited, nor had it never been seen by human eyes before. Indeed, for thousands of years, this was a place where Native Americans thrived – as hunters and gatherers, using the thermal waters for all the purposes that we use them today including medicinal applications. Quarrying a mineral called obsidian for tools and weapons. (Obsidian supposedly yields the sharpest edge of any natural substance on earth, ten times sharper than a razor blade.)
The story (the history) gets worse. Native tribes were removed by the government after the park was established. It was thought they belonged on reservations, to learn English and be converted to Christianity. The Army was called in to keep them out. The public was told that Native Americans had never been there because of its “frightening geysers and bizarre formations”.
YNP now acknowledges its true history. Tourists driving SUVs on the park’s paved roads today know they are travelling on what were once Native American trails. Campers setting up their tents now realize they are camping where humans camped since time immemorial. Congratulations and Happy Birthday, Yellowstone!