Through Early Yellowstone: Adventuring by Bicycle, Covered Wagon, Foot, Horseback, and Skis

by Ray Stannard Baker, Frank D. Lenz, Nathaniel P. Langford

An anthology of entertaining accounts of travel through Yellowstone, this book takes readers back to 1871, before it was a tourist destination, through the time when autos were allowed into the park. The adventurers include an intrepid mother who posted the sign “Park or Bust” on her family’s covered wagon, a strong cyclist and a hiker who traversed the whole park for fun, an expert guide on skis, and a New York horsewoman who presented park management with a plan for an interconnected circuit of bridle trails. Along with numerous historical photos and artwork, the book features a color gallery of watercolor paintings by Thomas Henry Thomas from 1884 and have never been seen outside of Wales.

Genres: Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

Published June 9, 2016

About the author

Also known by his pen name David Grayson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Stan...


see also David Grayson

Reviews

[Brandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Janet Chapple's "Through Early Yellowstone: Adventuring by Bicycle, Covered Wagon, Foot, Horseback, and Skis" is an attractive, well-layed out anthology of writings by people who have traversed Yellowstone Park via bicycle, covered wagon, etc. There are also photos included, which I just love by the way.

Accounts include my favorite by Eleanor Quackenbush Corthell. I would love to travel Yellowstone in a covered wagon, but I would be more likely to attempt to follow in the footsteps of C. Hanford Henderson. The watercolors by Welsh artist Thomas H. Thomas (which I would love to see in person) enhanced the book as well.

I would recommend this book to any travel and/or history buffs out there. The book is highly detailed and well done. My copy of this work was obtained from the Goodreads website and I appreciate the opportunity to read and review it.

[Quentin Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This collection of early stories by the people who traveled through Yellowstone prior to the influx of people that are visiting the park today. They traveled by horse, foot, skis, and bicycle and they left the stories of what they saw and experienced for us to read today. Ms. Chapple has collected those stories and put them in one place for us to get to know the park before it became so crowded. In these stories we can see places that are off of the beaten path and that we may not have the wherewithal to visit today. Through these early explorers we can see these areas and experience the park from years ago.

The earliest explorers, the mountain men, had stories but they were not believed and they did not write anything down. These stories here are the earliest written accounts of what Yellowstone was like. For us today it is the closest that we are able to get to seeing what it was like more than a hundred years ago.

An excellent read and one that all visitors to Yellowstone should read. From a historical point of view it is a good read for understanding the park system.