Yellowstone Addenda

We heard from an Airstream friend, one adept at winter camping, that his weekend in Yellowstone was a little hair raising. He had blithely taken his snow chains out, figuring Spring was here, and had several exciting trips over nearly snowed in passes. Many of the smaller roads and camping areas are still snowed in. We are very glad we went with plan B, as we own no chains. Another winter Airstreamer chimed in saying that this snowy spring time is his favorite at Yellowstone. Hmm, maybe we need to get some chains for Darth.

I wondered about the Norris Geyser Basin Museum, which looks to be classic late 1920’s National Park Rustic. It is, along with the similar museums at Madison and Fishing Bridge, a national Landmark for just that reason:

Wikipedia- Norris Museum
“…one of a series of "trailside museums" in Yellowstone National Park designed by architect Herbert Maier in a style that has become known as National Park Service Rustic. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is one of three parts of a National Historic Landmark, the Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums.[2] Built in 1929 to 1930, the Norris Museum is sited on a hill between the Porcelain Basin and the Back Basin of Norris Geyser Basin. Its central breezeway frames a view of the Porcelain Basin for arriving visitors.”

The stone foundation grows out of the ground and the huge logs support low eaves, as though it just grew there. All the wood is painted regulation NPS brown, and the shingle roof has weathered to a mossy grey. Inside, it is pretty dark, like a cave, without any lights on as it isn’t open yet. Classic NPS rustic.

While looking up the Norris Museum, I stumbled on an article about 5 dead bison found on the Gibbon River, just down hill from that geyser basin. On March 4, 2004, they were found dead, legs out straight, no signs of disease or struggle by rangers who monitor such things, partly to know where the bears are likely to be hanging out. My understanding of the bears is that they would all be fast asleep at that point. Yellowstone NP is open all winter, at least some of it, only the road in from the north through Mammoth Hot Springs over Red Lodge Pass. There are various winter activities accessible only by Ski bus or skimobiles, and cross country skiing too.

The rangers suspected the 5 bison had been essentially gassed to death by either Hydrogen Sulfide or Carbon Dioxide. The temperature was 1 the night of the 1st, with no breeze and they think that the gasses pooled down hill of the vents. Like everything else the NPS does, there were many attached tables of gas level testing, dead bison vitals and etc, along with other NPS articles about deaths from gasses in the park. There is also an area called Death Gulch where it happens now and then.

I was entranced by the thought of the bison sleeping next to the warm vents on a cold night, and wondered if the warnings to us about staying were we were supposed to be were over stated. I guess not. Those 5 bison apparently just keeled right over, dead.

I was also wondering about the Native Americans and Yellowstone, did they avoid the place as bewitched, for example. Apparently not, stone tips and tools have been found here from just about every period, as well as Shoshone teepee circle (rings of stones). The NPS admits to have done very little archeological surveying of the park. As though the Native American’s presence somehow spoils the idea of virgin wilderness perhaps, or maybe the battle of the Little Big Horn (which happened only a year after the park was official) and other similar horrors were not the image of the park they had in mind. An Indian* on a nickel is one thing, Sitting Bull was another matter, and not good for tourism

Further investigation finds the Nez Perce Indians passing through Yellowstone on the run in 1877. Their route, the Bannock Trail, was an old one they regularly traveled to get from their winter home in Western Washington to the plains of MT to do their buffalo hunting. There were two parties of tourists, one from Radersburg MT and another from Helena MT, going in to see the geysers. They ran into the Nez Perce who were pretty hot at this point having been battling Gen. Howard and the Cavalry all the way. This band of Nez Perce had not signed any treaty with the US Gumment relative to staying put on a reservation. The USG considered that if one Nez Perce signed, that was good for all. Two tourists were killed, another left for dead, two ladies were captured and released unharmed (and not insulted in the words of their captors). However, with Sitting Bull still on the loose, and Custer’s Last Stand (oops, the Battle of the Little Big Horn) fresh on everyone’s mind, I’ll bet it put a damper on the tourist traffic into Yellowstone. There are, in fact, historical markers along the Nez Perce route which probably tell this story.

Clearly murder by noble savage is too wild for tourists, but even today Yellowstone has an edge of danger in its spectacular scenery.

*In 1911James Earl Fraser featured a profile of a Native American on the obverse of the coin, which was a composite portrait of three Native American chiefs: Iron Tail, Two Moons and John Big Tree. Big Tree's profile was used to create that portion of the portrait from the top of the forehead to the upper lip. The "buffalo" portrayed on the reverse was an American Bison, possibly Black Diamond, from the Central Park Zoo.