Yellowstone National Park, a global icon of conservation and natural beauty, was born at the most improbable of times: the American Gilded Age, when altruism seemed extinct and society’s vision seemed focused solely on greed and growth. Perhaps that is why the park’s “creation myth” recounted how a few saintlike pioneer conservationists labored to set aside this unique wilderness against all odds, when in fact, the establishment of Yellowstone was the result of complex social, scientific, economic, and aesthetic forces. Paul Schullery and Lee Whittlesey, both longtime students of Yellowstone’s complex history, present the first full account of how the fairy-tale origins of the park found universal public acceptance, and of the long process by which the myth was reconsidered and replaced with a more realistic and ultimately more satisfying story.

Myth and History in the Creation of Yellowstone National Park

History

Schullery, Paul

Whittlesey, Lee

Americas

Bison Books

University Of Nebraska Press

By 1883 when the rail lines of the Northern Pacific reached the tiny town of Cinnabar, Montana Territory, newspaper and magazine stories of the wonders to be found in Yellowstone National Park had been firing the imaginations of eager potential visitors around the world for a decade. Once the railroad completed that critical bit of their route, the world was poised to actually see the magic of Yellowstone, and the prospect of a trip was no longer just exciting—it was a possibility. It seemed like everyone who could afford the ticket—from middle class residents of New York City to Army Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Philip Sheridan to President Chester A. Arthur—wanted to ride the train to see Yellowstone . Their jumping off point for their journey into “Wonderland” was the town envisioned by Hugo Hoppe, a raucous Wild West town poised for greatness as the Gateway to all of Yellowstone’s offerings. The town of Cinnabar, Montana, no longer exists, but when it did, it served as the immediate railroad gateway for a generation of visitors to Yellowstone National Park. Visitors passed through its streets from September 1, 1883, through June 15, 1903 This book tells the story of its place in the West, and the legend of the town and its promoters. Its story is one of aspiration and dreams in the American West and its place in the legend and lore of Yellowstone has kept the spirit of Cinnabar alive for more than a hundred years since the town itself faded away.

Gateway to Yellowstone: The Raucous Town of Cinnabar on the Montana Frontier

Whittlesey, Lee H.

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