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Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park History

Yellowstone History

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Millions of visitors each year visit Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone was the first area to be designated as a National Park and as such to be protected by federal law in 1872. Since that time, few features of the Park have changed. Located in areas of three states – Montana, Idaho and Wyoming – the majority of the Park lays in the State of Wyoming. Most well known for its geothermal features – geysers, mud pots, and hot springs - travelers also gravitate to Yellowstone to view the variety of wild animals that make the Park their home.

Yellowstone National Park has remained a natural wonder to modern day man since it was first viewed by members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1806. John Colter had left the expedition and had joined a group of fur trappers. He is credited as being the first non-Native American to visit this area. After spending over a year in Yellowstone Country, traveling, exploring and trapping, and surviving capture by unfriendly Indians, Colter was able to make his way back to Missouri. No one would believe the stories of his adventures or give much credence to his tales of boiling mud or steaming water rising from the ground. In 1857, Jim Bridger, returned to the Midwest after leading an expedition to Yellowstone. He, too had stories of boiling springs and spouting water, but again his stories were considered"tall tales".

Finally, in early 1871, the U.S. Geological Survey sponsored a trip to Yellowstone that included naturalists, geologists, a landscape artist and two photographers. Armed with pictures and photographs, the public now believed the wild stories about Yellowstone. The U.S. Congress declared the area a National Park in 1872.

Currently, Yellowstone is the most popular national park in the United States. It remains unique due to its natural wonders, which include hot springs, geysers, canyons, lakes, rivers and a vast number of wildlife. Through out its history, Yellowstone has remained a geological wonder.

The Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, WY - A Comprehensive Look at the American West- featuring the best the west has to offer in the Western Art Museum, Natural History Museum, Plains Indian Museum, American West Research Library, and the world's most comprehensive assemblege of American arms.

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