Stories of Yellowstone: Adventure Tales from the World's First National Park

by M. Mark Miller

Covering the time period from 1807, when John Colter first discovered the wonders of the Yellowstone Plateau to the 1920s when tourists sped between luxury hotels in their automobiles, these tales of Wonderland come from the letters, journals, and diaries kept by early visitors and later tourists. The earliest stories recount mountain men’s awe at geysers hurling boiling water hundreds of feet into the air and their encounters with the native inhabitants of the region. The latest stories reflect the “civilizing” of the park and reveal the golden age of tourist travel in the area.

Genres: American History

240 pages, Paperback

First published December 2, 2014

About the author

I returned home to Montana in 2003 after a career as a newspaper reporter and journalism professor. These days I stay busy doing research on Montana history. My current focus is on early trips to Yellowstone National Park

I worked for Montana newspapers while in college at the University of Montana. After graduating, I was a reporter and editor for newspapers in Utah and Kentucky. After earning a doctorate, I was a professor at the Universities of Wisconsin and Tennessee teaching mass media effects, public opinion, and communication research methods. My research has appeared in several scholarly journals including Journalism and Mass Communications Quarterly, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, and Public Opinion Quarterly.

I have been researching Yellowstone National Park since in 2003 have a collection of more than 200 first-person accounts of park travel before 1915. Globe Pequot published my book, Adventures in Yellowstone: Early Travelers Tell Their Tales, in August, 2009.

My articles on Yellowstone Park and Montana history have appeared in the Big Sky Journal and the Pioneer Museum Quarterly. I am working on a novel for young adults about a 14-year-old boy’s adventures in Yellowstone Park in 1871.

I live with Bozeman where I am a volunteer at the Pioneer Museum. I am a reader for the Montana Book Award.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A so-so collection of short stories and histories surrounding Yellowstone. I picked it up at the Old Faithful lodge gift shop this summer as I've enjoyed reading the It Happened At... series I've picked up in other national parks. Failing to find a Yellowstone one, I settled on this book. While some of the stories are remarkable, more than a few are nothing more than short excerpts from what must be more interesting reads. Without much context and no explanations in some cases, such as explaining to a modern reader what or where the older writer was referring to, it made for a very disconnected read. The worst were the fictional stories however. They were completely unnecessary. I want to know the history of the place! The best of the book was the Nez Perce section with the same story told from three different perspectives and each adding to the other until the most amazing true story unfolds. With fare like that, a made up story pales into insignificance!
It is a lightning fast read. Most stories take up just a page or two. My reading took longer just because our road trip was two weeks long and I didn't finish it until we returned home. Not a bad book overall, but I'm left wanting to know much more.

[James Q. Benners · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic tales of frontier lure in America’s original Wonderland!

I enjoyed the stories recounted here relating to America’s first national park. A good mix of adventure, history and fun as seen through the experiences of those who lived it. I first visited Yellowstone when I was ten years old. It was so awesome then that I can still clearly see the majestic sites in my minds eye as I read these stories. Now 48, I look forward to exploring it again sometime soon. This book brought back many fond memories of the sights I saw back then and has inspired me to make more great memories in this land of awesome unique beauty at least once more.

[Chanté]

Short stories from early Yellowstone