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| Copyright � 2001-2002 Lee Romrell All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. "Neither the United States Parks service nor any other component of the Department of Agriculture has approved, or endorsed, or authorized this product/service/activity in anyway." |
| Lee's Yellowstone |
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| Yellowstone has changed over the years. The Park was established in 1872. It was the nation's first national park. Yellowstone changed again in 1988 when fires raced through the park and destroyed many of the trees, and even some cabins. My family and I were just leaving the park that summer when the fires began. I have many photos that were taken that summer. It is interesting to compare the photos before and after the fires. Another change that has taken place, which I think is for the better, is that the management of the park did away with the policy of feeding the animals in the area. Most people remember in the good old ways as they call them, the bears would come right up to the cars, and people and eat the food left for them. This was dangerous and the bears did not stay in their natural habitat. Some people miss those times, but I think it is so much nicer to be able to see these animals now compared to then. So let us take a look at the past and work our way up to the present. I think that you will find it very interesting. Enjoy........ |
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| This is a photo of Thomas Moran, taken in 1871 at Mammoth Hot Springs. He was the artist who helped encourage Congress to make Yellowstone a park. |
| Yellowstone has an interesting history. This will be a short history. The Indians were the first into the Yellowstone area, which should be obvious to us. Then some say John Colter may have been the first white man to explore the area, but we are not really sure about that. In the 1820's fur trappers began to explore the area. They came through the Jackson Hole area into the park. Finally, to make a long story really short, the government became interested and began expeditions into Yellowstone, the most famous in 1871. This is when a man named Willian Jackson took the first photos of the area and Thomas Moran painted his famous pictures, led by Dr. F. Hayden. Because of this expedition, Congress created the park in 1872. There are some excellent books on the subject so I didn't want to do that here. So let us proceed with some photos of the Old and New of the park and then photos of before and after the fires of 1988. |
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| Old Faithful Geyser, 1878 |
| One of my ancestors, just happened to build the first hotel in Yellowstone. George Washington Marshall and his wife, Sarah Ann (Romrell), moved to the area near the park to deliver mail. He soon seen the need to have a hotel in the park. He build the hotel in 1883 by the Lower Midway Geyser Basin, by the Nes Perce campground, heading towards Old Faithful. Soon another hotel was built in the same area. The Marshall hotel was open for business for 11 years. It was torn down in 1909. George used water for one of the hot springs and made use of the local game for the guests dinner meals. For more info on this see the Montana Magazine, Jan. 1980. |
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| An artist's drawing of the Marshall Hotel |
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| The George Marshall Family George and Sarah seated in front |
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| Old Faithful Inn in 1920 |
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| Painting by Thomas Moran, Yellowstone Falls, 1871 |
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| My Grandmother and Grandfather Romrell I think this was in the 1920's |
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| Grandmother Romrell at Uncle Tom's Cabin |
| My first trip to the park in 1954. My father took this photo of a bear. When they were close. |
| My grandfather and grandmother, Joseph and Esther, lived in St. Anthony, Idaho, which is not very far from Yellowstone. As you can see by these photos, the bears could get really close. When we went to Yellowstone in 1954, my mother was sitting in the car eating some grapes. She could feel this hand reach in and grab her grapes. She jumped and screamed, the bear that grabbed the grapes was frightened, and ran away. This is one of the reasons for the problems in the park. The bears were used to just coming up for a hand-out. |
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| Old Faithful 1976, my first time as an adult in the Park. Then, 1957, my late wife's first trip to the Park |
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| Old Faithful, Summer 1988, just before the fires, second photo I took in Summer of 2000. See the difference in the landscape and lack of trees in June 2000. |
| The Yellowstone fires of 1988 is something that I and my family will always remember because we were there that summer. We were just leaving Grant Village and could see the fires off in the distance. The public was very aware of what was happening due to the news coverage. Many felt that the fires should be immediately put out, but the policy was to let nature take care of the situation. We went to the Park in Jan. 89, and again in June 1989. It was interesting to see the effect of the fires on the area. Many again believed that the Park would never be the same. My late wife and I counted over 75 dead animals in June. But, we also noticed small trees already begining to grow. That is nature's way. The old is being replaced by the new. Understanding that, brings us to a greater appreciation of the World around us and the beauty that is before us. The following photos show the before--and---after of the Park. I hope that this gives you a better understanding of the Park as you look at it today...... |
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| The photo on left is June 2000, right 1988. It is interesting to see how the animals have adapted to the lack of forest area. Some had moved to other areas but now are starting to come back to where they were before 1988. |
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| Photo taken during the fires of 1988 |
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| Old Faithful cabins just after the fires |
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| This photo was taken just before Madison Junction, at about the same location in 1988 and 2001. This is one area that you can really see the difference that the fire made on the area.But the trees are coming back and in another 20 years you want be able to see the mountains for the trees. |
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| Along the Madison, 1988. The area is still beautiful. |
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| The Firehole River Falls was really beautiful before the fires of 1988. In the winter though it looks cool, and I mean cool. Top was 1986, bottom, Jan. 2000. Notice the trees. |
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| Coyote feeding on buffalo carcass left from the fires. June 1989. |
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| These photos were taken the summer after the fires. It was neat to look at all the trees that were down. IF you look close you can see that small trees and vegetation are already begining to appear. |
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| Old Faithful area in Summer 1989, rebuilding the cabins that were burned from the fires. |
| I think that we can see from the photos that Yellowstone has changed over the years. But I think that we can also see that it is still a beautiful place with lots of things to offer. We need to just remember that part of the cycle of life takes place constantly around us and if we are patient and wait a bit, then we can always behold the beauty again. I hope that you can enjoy the Park the way that I do. |
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| The beauty of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Sept. 2000. Just as beautiful as it looked when Thomas Moran did his painting in 1871. |
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| Riverside Geyser in 1949. Notice the trees... |
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| Riverside, top, 1983, bottom, 2001. Notice the difference.. |
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| This map shows the fires of 1988 and where the fire burned. As you can see, much of the park was on fire that summer.. |