Yellowstone Science A quarterly publication devoted to the natural and cultural resources

Geyser Gazing A Visit with a Historian Tales from Forest and Stream Protecting Pronghorns

Volume 6 Number 4 NPS photo by Jim Peaco.

Legends of Yellowstone

It was a great legend…that near the end 1960s, while writing a comprehensive searching and writing park histories, 25 of their exploratory journey across the history of the first park. Not until I inter- years after his retirement. The above photo Yellowstone region, members of the viewed Aubrey for this issue did I learn is affectionately called “The Historian Washburn party, camped near the another Yellowstone Story. The NPS was and Three Other Guys,” though the latter confluence of the Firehole and Gibbon preparing to celebrate Yellowstone’s cen- are too modest—they include former park rivers on September 19, 1870, discussed tennial in 1972, attended by park manag- historians Lee Whittlesey, the current how to divide up the landscape among ers and supporters from around the world, archivist; Paul Schullery; and Tom themselves. Instead, reported expedition when Haines’ work was to have been Tankersley—each of whom has himself leader Nathaniel Langford in 1905, a man published by the Park Service. Accord- carried on the tradition of preserving the named Cornelius Hedges magnanimously ing to author/historian Paul Schullery, ongoing record of Yellowstone. suggested that everyone in the party who helped me interview Haines, “The Still, I was dismayed to find that NPS should support setting the region aside as old guard in the NPS and the conserva- officials had even attempted to suppress a “great National Park.” tion community was very angry that the results of Haines’ careful study. Al- The creation story of the world’s first [Aubrey] debunked the myth of the Madi- though researchers working for govern- national park was proudly told by many a son Campfire story and proved that ment agencies are often accused of being ranger for decades at campfire programs Yellowstone [Park’s] origins were much under the thumb of agency managers or in Yellowstone and across the nation. Yet more complex.” As a result of the furor politicians, in my years in Yellowstone I when I first joined the staff here in 1982, over questioning the legend in his book, have observed such scientists to be inde- we naturalists were taught that the legend Haines retired earlier than planned. Myths pendent and outspoken in their opinions. was likely false, exaggerated at least; in and legends are powerful influences on I fervently hope that it is our continued his diary of the day, Hedges noted noth- our culture, and perhaps on managers as intent to foster sound, objective studies. ing exceptional: “…No fish in river, grub well. We should not expect them to produce getting very thin…” Haines’ research was published, a myth consensus, but to at least contribute to Though earlier historians had criti- exposed—and the Service and healthy, informed debate on how to best cized the simplistic Yellowstone creation Yellowstone survived with public affec- conserve the cultural and natural resources tale, it was park historian Aubrey Haines tion intact. Aubrey has become quite a in all of our parks—even as we spin our who notably challenged its validity in the Yellowstone legend himself, still re- tales around the campfire. SCM Yellowstone Science A quarterly publication devoted to the natural and cultural resources Volume 6 Number 4 Fall 1998 Table of Contents

Gazing at Yellowstone’s Geysers 2 One of the park’s volunteers describes how and why he and many other dedicated observers spend countless hours watching Yellowstone’s lesser-known but ever-fascinating geysers. by Ralph Taylor Yellowstone History: 125 Years and More to Tell 9 A former park historian shares tales from the park’s long past— and from his own colorful career—as he urges current employees not to forget the importance of documenting the events they live and observe. Interview with Aubrey Haines Tales from Forest and Stream: News of 16 Yellowstone in the late 1800s Articles featured in a turn-of-the-century periodical, now compiled and indexed for readers’ use, were highly influential in fostering support for park expansion, resource protection laws, Old Faithful Geyser. NPS photo. and a conservation ethic. by Sarah Broadbent Editor Yellowstone Pronghorns: Relict Herd in a Sue Consolo-Murphy 20 Associate & Design Editor Shrinking Habitat Sarah Broadbent A biologist summarizes the natural history of the park’s smallest, Assistant Editor fleetest ungulate, and makes a case for additional research and management attention toward this population of tenuous status. Mary Ann Franke by James W. Caslick Assistant Design Editor Tami Blackford News and Notes Printing ¥ New World Mine Settlement Finalized ¥ New Pronghorn 25 Artcraft Inc. Studies to Begin ¥ Park Hires New Wildlife Biologist ¥ Education Bozeman, Montana on Thermal Habitats Improves ¥ Errata

Yellowstone Science is published quarterly, and submissions are welcome from all investigators conducting formal research in the Yellowstone area. Correspondence should be sent to the On the cover: A mounted Editor, Yellowstone Science, Yellowstone Center for Resources, P.O. Box 168, cavalry drill on the parade Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190. grounds, Fort Yellowstone, The opinions expressed in Yellowstone Science are the authors' and may not reflect either ca. 1910. NPS photo. In- National Park Service policy or the views of the Yellowstone Center for Resources. Copyright © 1997, the Yellowstone Association for Natural Science, History & Education. side cover: Lee Whittlesey, Support for Yellowstone Science is provided by the Yellowstone Association for Natural Aubrey Haines, Paul Science, History & Education, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to serving the Schullery, and Tom park and its visitors. For more information about the Yellowstone Association, including Tankersley. membership, write to P.O. Box 117, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190. Yellowstone Science is printed on recycled paper with a linseed oil-based ink. Photo courtesy Ralph Taylor.

Gazing at Yellowstone’s Geysers by Ralph Taylor

When the alarm goes off at 2 A.M., I that may occur during their absence, “geyser gazers.” Spanning a wide range grope to silence it. I crawl out of my warm geyser watchers like myself place a of backgrounds and levels of interest, bed and dress quickly, as it is cold in my marker, such as a small pile of sand, a these geyser gazers return to Yellowstone room at the Old Faithful Inn, even though stick, or a few pine needles, where the annually to watch their favorite geysers it is June. I move as quietly as I can, next eruption will wash it away. and socialize with other gazers. because the floors creak and the walls are After half an hour of waiting, Plume The geyser gazers can be spotted in the no barrier to sound at all. finally erupts. After placing the marker, geyser basins using CB radios to keep in I put on my coat and backpack, find the I wait another hour in the increasing cold touch with each other, notebooks to record flashlights—a white light and a small one in case there is another eruption, then geyser times, wide-brimmed floppy hats with a red lens to preserve night vision. head back to try to get a few hours sleep and long sleeves for protection during Making my way to Geyser Hill in the before dawn. long hours in the high-elevation sunlight, Upper Geyser Basin, I leave behind the What am I doing here? I am one of and backpacks in which to carry all their pools of bright light in the Inn’s parking more than a hundred amateur geyser other gear. Visitors learn to look for these lot and walk in deep shadow around Old watchers who return to Yellowstone year telltale signs because the gazers can be Faithful and down to the bridge over the after year to enjoy and learn more about good sources of information about what Firehole River. I hope the shadows along geyser activity. I am here to try to figure is happening and where to go next. The the trail are just trees growing along the out what Plume Geyser is doing this radios and word of mouth help maintain path and not sleeping bison! summer, to add a little to our store of an efficient grapevine communicating the On my first trips alone in the geyser knowledge about Yellowstone’s gey- latest lore among the gazers. basin, the shadows seemed threatening sers. The involvement of many gazers starts and the stillness a bit scary. Now Geyser with a simple desire to figure out when a Hill is a familiar place, where the white Geyser Gazers: For the Fun and Sci- certain geyser will erupt, since the park geyserite sand and lack of trees allow the ence of It naturalists at the Norris, Old Faithful, and starlight to show me the way. On this West Thumb thermal areas can provide night, I am just trying to stay warm and Yellowstone has the world’s largest predictions for only a few geysers. Fre- get to Plume Geyser quickly, to mark the collection of geysers, and thus attracts a quent visits can also lead to an interest in geyser after what I hope will be the last large group of dedicated (some say ob- geyser geology, the connections between eruption tonight. To check for eruptions sessed) geyser aficionados known as geysers, or just tracking changes in a

2 Yellowstone Science favorite geyser. But some geyser gazers encouraged the publication of dozens of strange way to operate! And because of like myself become more technically ori- reports on geysers and other thermal ac- my “real” career as an engineering man- ented, and spend years studying one or tivity. Since geysers are always chang- ager for a manufacturing company in more geysers in depth, including the de- ing, this kind of study is never complete, Ohio, I was only able to visit Yellowstone tails of the eruption sequences, tempera- but these efforts provide insights into the for a week or two at a time. I needed ture studies, and long-term patterns of behavior of the geothermal system that subjects that would allow me to observe activity. are appreciated by geyser fans who use many activity cycles and collect a lot of While most gazers keep the informa- the knowledge to enable them to see more data in just a few days. A benefit of tion they gather in their heads, others of the rare eruptions. focussing on the relatively minor geysers record their data and observations in writ- is that many of them have never been ten reports. Many of these reports, which How I Became a Geyser Gazer studied intensively. document thermal activity that would oth- erwise go unrecorded, are on file in the My lifelong fascination with geysers My First Subject: Anemone Geyser park archives in Mammoth Hot Springs. began during my first visit to Yellowstone For example, Rocco Paperiello and Marie in 1966, the year after I graduated from I’d always been interested in Geyser Wolf, a couple from Montana, have spent college. Over the next 15 years, I made Hill, a concentrated group of more than years visiting thermal areas in the almost annual trips to Yellowstone and 30 erupting features northeast of Old backcountry, writing detailed descriptions spent several days each time watching Faithful, ranging from major geysers like and preparing maps of less frequently geysers, mostly in the Upper Geyser Ba- Giantess and Beehive, to very small ones observed thermal activity. sin. My serious geyser watching began in like Anemone Geyser, my first study Other gazers have reported on the ac- 1982, when I met some of the geyser subject. Located at the southwest edge of tivity of major geysers. When Morning gazers. I found out about geysers the way Geyser Hill, Anemone is actually two Geyser in the Fountain Paint Pot area many geyser gazers do, by spending hours separate but related geysers, “Big became active again in 1991 after nearly talking (and, more importantly, listen- Anemone” and “Little Anemone” (some- a decade of inactivity, Lynn Stephens, a ing) to the endless discussions in the times known as “North Anemone” and college professor and longtime geyser basin, while waiting for a geyser to erupt. “South Anemone”). While “Big gazer and park volunteer, was present for As I began to learn the names of Anemone” erupts every 7 to 10 minutes most of the eruptions and documented Yellowstone’s many springs, vents, and to a height of about 3 meters for about 22 the whole sequence with a statistical minor geysers, I grew determined to dis- to 25 seconds, “Little Anemone” has sev- analysis. Paul Strasser, another longtime cover some of the secrets of the geysers eral different eruption patterns. I had ob- gazer, studied Fan and Mortar geysers, for myself. served that there was a sequence of events two large geysers near Morning Glory In 1986, while watching Fantail Gey- around the time of the eruption of “Big Pool that are active most seasons but ser, newly active that year, I met the late Anemone,” and wanted to determine the typically erupt only once every three to Rick Hutchinson, the park’s research ge- relative timing and the regularity of the five days, and often at night. He com- ologist. He agreed to let me help out with activity. bined temperature studies and many hours thermal observations as a park volunteer, During the four years I studied of observation in the field with a histori- which provided me with several opportu- Anemone Geyser, from 1985 to 1988, I cal search to discover the complicated nities to study geysers at closer range saw some interesting changes in the erup- sequence of activity leading up to the than would otherwise have been pos- tion patterns. In 1985, the water in “Little eruptions, and to trace long-term changes sible. Rick also suggested ways I could Anemone” rose and fell before each erup- in the eruption patterns. improve my reports, and methods of data tion of “Big Anemone,” then “Little In the early 1980s, a group of long-time analysis to help reveal patterns not evi- Anemone” usually erupted. Sometimes gazers decided to create an organization dent from the raw data. As a bonus, I had “Little Anemone” did not erupt, but the to collect and publish information about some rare but greatly treasured opportu- pattern was generally consistent. In 1987, the geysers in Yellowstone and other nities to help with other projects, such as I noticed significant changes. “Little thermal areas around the world. In Sep- the thermographic mapping of Gibbon Anemone” began occasionally having tember 1988, the Geyser Observation and Canyon and taking a film crew in the eruptions that lasted up to 15 minutes and Study Association (GOSA) was formed “thermal boat” on Grand Prismatic Spring. suppressed all activity in “Big Anemone,” as a non-profit corporation in California. My educational and professional back- and it developed a new runoff channel. Now with about 250 associates, GOSA ground is as an electrical engineer, spe- This pattern has continued, and the runoff publishes a bimonthly newsletter con- cializing in real-time software systems— channel is now well established. taining mostly geyser news from hardly a background to prepare me for Although I made no major discoveries Yellowstone. It has also published five patient observations of geothermal phe- during my study of Anemone Geyser, it volumes of GOSA Transactions, which nomena. It took some time to learn to was instructive to watch the activity, include reports and technical articles on study a system where I could make no decide which were the key factors in the geyser activity, and a sixth volume is due changes, but merely observe and deduce. activity, record my observations, and this year. The efforts of GOSA have From an engineer’s perspective, this is a analyze the data. This work led to a paper

Fall 1998 3 on Anemone Geyser that was published Photo courtesy Ralph Taylor. in the first GOSA Transactions.

A Jewel of a Project

Over the years, I have visited all of the front country thermal areas regularly, re- newing my acquaintance with the ther- mal features each year and looking for new or unusual activity. While watching Jewel Geyser in Biscuit Basin, I had noticed that the interval between erup- tions, which consist of from two to ten quick bursts, seemed to occur after a longer pause following an eruption of A large burst from Jewel Geyser, located in Biscuit Basin. many bursts. Since Jewel Geyser’s erup- tion intervals (the time from the start of one eruption to the start of the next) are number of bursts per eruption, and the baseline conditions through routine re- less than 10 minutes, I could collect a distribution of the burst sizes. Through cording of geyser activity, so that when significant amount in a few days of obser- 1991, the distribution stayed relatively some event occurs that causes change, vation. constant, with about 40% of the bursts the change can be quantified. For ex- For this study, I recruited my wife, small, 20% to 30% medium, and about ample, in November 1992 a research Brenda, to help collect data for several 25% large (Fig. 1). In 1992, however, well, “Y8,” located in the Biscuit Basin days in four consecutive summers. After although Jewel continued to erupt from parking lot about 350 meters east of Jewel observing 130 eruptions over a total of 17 an overflowing pool, there were many Geyser, began leaking about 140 liters of hours in 1989, we determined a linear more small bursts, longer intervals be- water a minute. The well was drilled in algorithm that enabled us to predict the tween eruptions, and more bursts per erup- 1967, one of 13 such wells used by the next eruption by counting the bursts of tion (Fig. 2). When I compared the data U.S. Geological Survey to study the last eruption. We observed 95 inter- for August 5, 1992, and September 27, Yellowstone’s geothermal features. The vals during 12 hours of observation in 1992, the data showed that the September well began leaking at 35 gallons per day 1990, 41 intervals in 1991, and made eruptions had many more bursts than those in early November 1992. While the leak some follow-up observations in 1992. observed in August. was being repaired, the water levels in During the study period, we observed The significance of a geyser gazer’s Jewel Geyser were observed to be much the length of time between eruptions, the work often comes from establishing lower than before; indeed, they remained

80.0%

70.0% 1989

1990 60.0% 1991

s 5-Aug-92 n 50.0% tio

a 27-Sep-92 rv

e 40.0% s b f O f

o 30.0% %

20.0%

10.0%

0.0% Small Medium Large Huge

Burst Size

Figure 1. Burst size distribution of Jewel Geyser.

4 Yellowstone Science 45.0 40.0 35.0 30.0

25.0 5-Aug-92 27-Sep-92 20.0 15.0 % of observations 10.0 5.0 0.0 [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Bursts

Figure 2. Frequency of bursts per eruption of Jewel Geyser, 1992. low from 1992 to the summer of 1997. It naturalist, also wrote about the diurnal was observed for 84 consecutive hours, is not clear whether the leak in the test changes in Plume’s interval in his study beginning at 7:31 A.M., August 1, 1992, well caused the water level in Jewel Gey- of Geyser Hill. This was an interesting providing data on 150 consecutive erup- ser to drop, but my observations clearly anomaly that I decided to investigate fur- tions. Although we found no distinguish- showed that the eruption pattern had ther. able shifts in the number of bursts, burst changed significantly by late September, Early in the summer of 1992, Rick sizes, or burst duration, I was able to weeks before the leak was discovered. Hutchinson and Heinrich Koenig, an- measure a change in the interval between Jewel Geyser has continued to erupt from other thermal volunteer, placed an elec- eruptions over the course of the day (Fig. an empty pool with more and stronger tronic temperature monitoring device in 3). The diurnal cycle is fairly obvious in bursts, probably because of the reduced Plume Geyser’s runoff channel for a 96- the plot of interval between eruptions. A water pressure. At this writing, in early hour period. The record of the runoff sine curve fitted to the data indicates a spring 1998, Jewel’s water level is re- temperature clearly showed the eruption daily variation in interval of just under ported to be higher, possibly because of intervals were longest in the early morn- three minutes. The actual variation on an earthquake in the Biscuit Basin area in ing hours, reaching 40 minutes near dawn, August 2 and August 3 was closer to 10 January 1998. The leaking research well and decreased through the day, reaching minutes. and the recent earthquake are good illus- about 30 minutes by mid-afternoon. After the 84-hour watch of Plume, it trations of the constant change in To see all the details of Plume’s behav- was clear to me that the effort to observe Yellowstone’s geyser basins. ior, it was necessary to watch each erup- such a frequent geyser around the clock tion from a position on the Geyser Hill for that length of time is not practical. It Plume Geyser: Asleep or Just Dozing? boardwalk about four meters west of the required five dedicated observers and geyser vent. Plume’s eruptions, which arduous nighttime stays on Geyser Hill Since Plume Geyser is located just 30 were about eight meters in height, con- just to get four days of data. A single meters (100 feet) west of Anemone Gey- sisted of two to five bursts that lasted observer could only obtain data on a ser, I was familiar with its habits; I had a about eight seconds each separated by fraction of the intervals. Fortunately, our lot of Plume Geyser eruption data in my about 16 seconds (counting from the start study demonstrated that the key variable field notes from the 1980s. There was of one burst to the start of the next). It is at Plume was the interval between erup- ample documentation in the geyser logs quite challenging to try to record the tions. It proved possible to use a combi- in the Old Faithful Visitor Center (where exact start and stop times of each burst to nation of eruption times derived from a park staff and research-minded geyser the nearest second while standing on the temperature monitoring device and the gazers record their observations) to show crowded Geyser Hill boardwalk in the data from the Old Faithful geyser log that for many years Plume had had con- middle of August! book. The log book data is biased, be- sistent eruption intervals throughout the Since I wanted to determine Plume’s cause fewer observations are made at day. But in the summer of 1991, Jens diurnal cycles, I needed to watch the night. The number of intervals observed Day, a long-time geyser gazer and park eruptions around the clock, every 30 to between 10:00 P.M. and 7:00 A.M. is very volunteer, noted that its interval was vary- 40 minutes, for several days. With the small—nearly all were the result of our ing from night to day. Scott Bryan, a help of my wife, Brenda, and three other study. However, the use of the tempera- geyser gazer, geologist, and former park intrepid geyser gazers from GOSA, Plume ture recorder to determine eruption times

Fall 1998 5 Above: Ralph Taylor taking notes in the field. Below right: StowAway device—a temperature monitor, showing the two- meter thermistor cable and a short cable used to download the data to a portable computer. Photos courtesy Ralph Tay- lor. Figure 3. Interval between eruptions of Plume Geyser.

remedied that problem. geyser, which might damage its plumb- the water temperature apparently rose Using the intervals from both the log ing. enough so that Plume’s eruptions resumed. book and the electronic monitor, I pro- I stayed on Geyser Hill in the early Over time, the cooling effect at night may duced a graph of the mean interval ob- morning hours of several nights, placing have lessened as sinter deposits or debris served each hour of the day for all of the the marker after what I hoped was the last blocked the channel to Plume; Plume then Plume Geyser closed intervals (intervals eruption. Often this meant waiting through began having eruptions at regular inter- during which the geyser was under obser- several eruptions until I thought Plume vals again. vation for the entire time) in 1992. The had quit. On some nights an eruption first bar represented the mean of all inter- occurred after I left. I did finally manage Electronic Monitoring of Geyser Ac- vals observed between midnight and 1 to place a marker that was still there when tivity a.m., and so on. The resulting graph I arrived at dawn the next morning, show- showed a clear decrease in interval from ing conclusively that there had been a As my Plume Geyser study showed, morning to late afternoon (Fig. 3). period of several hours when Plume did keeping watch on a geyser around the During the winter of 1992-93, Plume not erupt at all. It had apparently devel- clock, especially when it erupts frequently, Geyser became dormant. The water in the oped the habit of “sleeping” at night! can be laborious. My exposure to the geyser cooled, cyanobacteria grew in the Based on this information, and because electronic devices used by the NPS for vent, and I wondered if I’d have a geyser the diurnal variations were still present, geyser monitoring suggested several other to watch. Plume began erupting again in Rick Hutchinson maintained the elec- projects that could be done using the the spring, but it appeared to have quit tronic recorders on Plume for the rest of monitors. After getting Rick’s approval, erupting altogether during the night. How- 1993, and let me use the data to complete I obtained some monitors of my own and ever, this nighttime dormancy had not my study. Plume went dormant again in a research permit to deploy them unobtru- been proven when I arrived in May, so I the winter of 1993Ð94, but rejuvenated in sively on several geysers to obtain baseline obtained permission to leave the walk at the spring. By the summer of 1997, the eruption data. night to place a small piece of wood as a diurnal cycle was no longer evident. marker near the vent. Finding the right Why did Plume begin having these odd location and a reliable marker that will diurnal shifts, and then suspend activity remain in place during non-eruption over- at night? We will probably never know flows yet wash away during an actual for sure, but the most likely reason is that eruption can be difficult, especially on a as cooler nighttime water ran down from geyser like Plume where the eruption is Giantess Geyser, it flowed into openings mostly vertical and the runoff joins a in the sinter sheet surrounding Plume and stream close to the vent. It is also impor- cooled the water in Plume sufficiently to tant that the marker not wash into the prevent eruptions. As the day warmed,

6 Yellowstone Science to the periodic rise and fall of the water level in the crater. To identify these rela- tionships, a certain amount of direct ob- servation is necessary. However, once the action of the geyser has been corre- lated with the temperature record, it is possible to determine a lot of information from the temperature plot. Although we were able to use the tem- perature record to estimate the duration of the eruption (about 5 minutes) for Depression Geyser, this was not always possible. In the case of geysers that erupt with a slender column of water, there is no point at which the temperature sensor can measure the flow and determine the duration of the eruption. Therefore, the temperature record is only part of the information needed to characterize a Figure 4. Runoff temperature of Depression Geyser. geyser’s performance. Depression Geyser is relatively small and rarely observed between dusk and dawn, so its eruption intervals cannot be readily determined from on-site observa- Geyser researchers record geyser ac- from September 27, 1997. It is easy to see tions. But because it follows a character- tivity using battery-powered computer- that an eruption occurred at 17:00, where istic pattern of an eruption followed by an ized recorders that were first designed to the temperature suddenly rises from hour or more of declining temperatures, monitor the temperature in refrigerated around 42°C to 72°C, followed by a with periodic temperature variations in- trucks and rail cars, but have since been gradual cooling for 65 minutes. The gey- dicating the overflow cycles, we can learn applied in many other ways. The record- ser crater, which was completely emp- something about its long-term trends by ers use a thermistor to sense the tem- tied by the eruption, refilled during the looking at its temperature record for the perature of the intended subject (geyser cooling period and reached overflow at whole season. Figure 5 is a graph of its runoff water, in this case). The thermistor about 18:10. The small peaks where the eruption intervals during the summer of can be placed several meters away from temperature rose about 10°C correspond 1997 as derived from the temperature the recorder, and the device can record the temperature at preset intervals. The instrument in its waterproof container is only 10 cm long and 6 cm in diameter, making it easy to bury out of sight. The device that I use can record as many as 32,000 samples, which can cover a day or several weeks, depending on how often it is programmed to record the temperature. For geysers with long intervals between eruptions, it is sufficient to record the temperature every minute. For a geyser like Plume, where the interval between eruptions is short, I prefer to use a shorter sample interval. A simple recording of the geyser runoff water temperature contains a large amount of information. At Depression Geyser, a small geyser north of Beehive Geyser that typically erupts two or three times daily, the recorder was set to sample every 24 seconds. Figure 4 shows a ten- Depression Geyser, located in a shallow depressed area on the west side of Geyser hour segment of the temperature record Hill. It erupted from the pool of water about every 9 hours in 1997.

Fall 1998 7 Figure 5. Depression Geyser interval between eruptions (IBE) vs Date.

recorder data. The gray line is a straight- What Next? tion since 1991, and has served as presi- line regression fit to the interval data, dent of GOSA since 1994. Ralph has indicating a trend toward shorter inter- In January of 1998, a small earthquake published several papers on geyser ob- vals as the summer progressed. Although occurred near Biscuit Basin, and shortly servations in the GOSA Transactions, some of the intervals appear unusually thereafter geyser gazers noted some sig- and hopes to continue as a geyser gazer long, the temperature record shows that nificant changes on Geyser Hill. Giantess and NPS volunteer for many years to these were indeed single long intervals, Geyser erupted shortly after the earth- come. not missed eruptions. The long intervals quake, for the first time since October were probably caused by a strong west 1997, Cascade Geyser reactivated for the FURTHER READING wind that cooled the geyser pool, dissi- first time in nearly a century, and Jewel pating the heat needed to trigger an erup- Geyser has begun erupting from a full The geyser gazer’s bible is: tion. pool for the first time since 1992. I expect Bryan, T. Scott. 1995. The Gey- to be back at Geyser Hill this summer and sers of Yellowstone. The Univer- to continue my monitoring of several sity Press of Colorado. 463 pp. other geysers. There is always something For papers by geyser gazers on to study in Yellowstone’s ever-changing geysers in Yellowstone and around geothermal systems. ✺ the world, GOSA Transactions (Vol. 1 to 6) are available from the Ralph Taylor is a retired electrical engi- Geyser Observation and Study neer with a Bachelor of Science in elec- Association, c/o Janet and Udo trical engineering from the University of Freund, 39237 Yellowstone St., Cincinnati. He has been a director of the Palmdale, CA 93551. Upper Geyser Basin. NPS photo. Geyser Observation and Study Associa-

8 Yellowstone Science Yellowstone Science Interview: Aubrey Haines

Yellowstone History: 125 Years and More to Tell

Photo courtesy Aubrey Haines.

Aubrey Haines was a park ranger, en- The Early Days logging company wanted to exchange for gineer, and Yellowstone’s first historian Forest Service timber. That winter we before his retirement in 1969. He has had YS: Could you start by reviewing your moved down into the Puyallup Valley a long and distinguished career and has job background—where you came from, and built roads for the state forestry orga- written many books about this and other and how and when you first got interested nization. In the spring they sent us to the parks, including The Yellowstone Story, in Yellowstone? northwest corner of Mount Rainier Na- Volumes I and II, which tour guides and tional Park, where they put me on relocat- interpreters still rely upon as the most AH: I was ready for college in January ing foot trails that were steep, rough, and comprehensive telling of park history and 1933, and since I saw the forest industry mostly in the wrong places. legend. He continues to write; one of his as the way to go at that time, I entered the One day in June 1934, District Ranger current projects is Tales from the University of Washington during the John Rickard asked, “Would you like to Yellowstone, a compilation of what Depression, with the intent of preparing be a fire lookout?” It didn’t take a mo- Aubrey called “the minutiae of historic myself for a job as a forest engineer in the ment to answer “yes!”, and I had a sum- happenings here.” Pacific Northwest—building roads and mer job for $4 per day. Since I was to be At Yellowstone’s Fourth Biennial Sci- bridges for logging companies. on duty every day of the week, that ence Conference, held in October 1997 at The first summer after going to school, amounted to $120 a month, which was a Mammoth Hot Springs, the sponsors in- I found a job cutting hemlock cord-wood fortune in that day, believe me. In the stituted what they intend to become a for the Port Townsend paper mill—at a rainy seasons and late summer they’d regular feature of the park’s conference dollar and six bits a cord, peeled!—but have me on trail work and telephone line series—the Aubrey Haines Luncheon and soon heard there was going to be a Civil- work, things like that—good experience. Lecture, honoring a significant contribu- ian Conservation Corps, and they were I worked there every summer through tor to the study and documentation of looking for young men who didn’t have 1938. Yellowstone history. Aubrey was present much to do—who did, in that day? As The year before I graduated, the fire for the first of these tributes in his honor, forestry students could join up as dispatcher, Al Rose, sent me a letter: and was interviewed during the confer- “leadmen” for $1.20 per day, I went for “There’s going to be a Civil Service ex- ence by the editor and the former editor/ that, and spent the summer of 1933 at amination for park ranger—be sure to go sometime park historian, Aubrey’s suc- Skykomish, Washington, on survey and down and take that.” I did, and after cessor, Paul Schullery. classification of logged-over lands the graduation I went back up on the Shriner

Fall 1998 9 Peak lookout. About mid-summer came a letter from a Hawaii Volcanoes Na- tional Park offering me a ranger job. I got on the wire and Al Rose put me in touch with Superintendent “Major” Owen Tomlinson. He said, “Don’t take that one—you’ll get another chance.” About a month later came another letter, this time from Yellowstone. Tomlinson said, “Take that one—that’s good!” So that fall after work was over, I passed the physical and oral exams, got me an old car—an old Nash Twin 6 off the lot for $65—and went to Yellowstone. YS: It was the first time you’d ever been here? Aubrey Haines in his ranger-patrolman uniform next to car number 106 in AH: I grew up in Oregon and Washington June of 1940. Photo courtesy Aubrey Haines. and had never been farther than Spokane. I arrived at the park December 8, 1938, and was waiting in front of the “Temple of Truth” [an employees’ nickname for “Pahaska Bill’s got your groceries.” It When we came down the hill on our the green-roofed Corps of Engineers’ worked fine. return that morning we saw two ski men building in Mammoth Hot Springs, a.k.a. coming across Round Prairie, and as they the “Pagoda”] at 8 o’clock in the morn- The “Phantom” got closer we could see they had rifles. ing, when W. Leon Evans came over to Headquarters had sent Lee Coleman and open up. He put up the flag and said, YS: Did you have skiing experience Frank Anderson to rescue us. But instead “Well, we’ll have to swear you in.” So he before, or law enforcement training? of coming into Yellowstone, Durand took me up to T. Paul Wilcox, the judge. AH: No, no. I didn’t know a darned thing turned the other way. I got a manual and a 45 pistol and was told about it. They didn’t tell me what was YS: Did they ever catch him? what kind of extra clothes I might need. going on, but I soon found out I was there AH: They got a force of about a hundred They said, “Tomorrow we’ll send you because they were blocking the road in men up on Rocky Fork River, and he over to the East Gate to replace Walt case the “Phantom” showed up again. He killed two more there—they even had the Gammill.” And that was all the indoctri- was an unidentified person who pilfered National Guard there with a field piece to nation there was. cabins in the southeast corner of the park shell that place. But he got out and cor- Since Sylvan Pass was closed by snow, during the summer and fall of 1938, and, nered a rural mailman and used his ve- I drove around to the East Entrance by probably, was Earl Durand, the man who hicle to go into Powell where he held up way of Cody. The last two miles (from killed four officers in a wild spree of the bank. The townspeople were alerted Pahaska Tepee to the gate), the snow on lawlessness in and around Powell, Wyo- when he fired a few shots in the ceiling, the road increased from a skiff to over a ming, in the late spring of 1939. and that brought everybody; they came foot, but my old car chewed its way in. YS: So your job was to sit there and just with their guns. He was going to leave, Walt was surprised and said, “Gee, I left check every day, and provide an obstacle. pushing the teller ahead of him out the my car down at Pahaska!” The next day AH: I had nothing to do except to make door, and they shot the teller and prob- Dave Condon, the District Ranger, got sure that nobody went in or out, so if he ably wounded Durand; anyway, he went stuck in a GMC pickup about halfway did go in, at least they’d be able to send a back inside and killed himself. from Pahaska. We went down and shov- patrol after him. I was recalled from the YS: It sounds relatively boring around eled him out and brought in the snow- East Entrance about Valentine’s Day of this place since! shoes and extra lantern gasoline, stuff 1939, and made several ski patrols in the AH: It was a fun place for a young fellow. like that. I should have taken my car out interior of the park that spring. On one, right then, but I didn’t do it. In a couple of Tiny Semingsen and I had gone up to Accumulating Yellowstone Tales days we got heavy snow. So, I just took Round Prairie and over the ridge to the the oil out of the crank case and put the cabin on Cache Creek, and it happened YS: When did you start getting interested battery in the station, and figured I was that we came out the same day that Durand in history, and when did that become there for the winter. That wasn’t bad. I made his escape after killing the first two your job in the park? had a telephone line to Cody and I could officers. They thought he was going to AH: On another interesting patrol, I went call there for what I needed in the way of fade into the mountains there, directly with Verde Watson from West groceries. Somebody’d bring them up opposite of where we were on the bound- Yellowstone into Hayden Valley and to and they’d give me a ring and say, ary, and maybe hole up in a park cabin. Canyon, then back around to Mammoth.

10 Yellowstone Science work; they enclosed several miles of coun- said. So they sent me to Cody, where I try where they thought they could pen took an engineering exam and passed it, some and feed them hay—it was a silly and they said, “You’re an engineer now, idea, actually. Anyhow, I had a natural a civil engineer.” interest in history, and events like that The next two years I spent on topo- began stacking up in my memory. But I graphic mapping of what is now Grant didn’t write anything until I came back Village and construction of sewer and after the war. water lines for the Canyon Hotel and I went (in June 1941), because a young Campground. By fall 1948, Mission 66 unmarried ranger wasn’t anywhere near [an effort to upgrade roads and visitor as important as the young people around facilities across the NPS] was shaping Cody and Powell who worked the oil rigs up, and office rumor had it that the West- or herded cattle. I thought I’d be gone a ern Office of Design and Construction year and then come back. It turned out to was going to take over all engineering be four years in the Corps of Engineers work in the park. So I asked for a year’s type-mapping roads. But I did return be- leave of absence to turn my bastardized fore the end of the war, after I was dis- engineering background into a profes- abled in the New Guinea campaign. It sional degree. My request was denied, so was lucky for me, because that’s when I I resigned. We moved to Missoula, where met my wife, Wilma. I got a Master of Science degree, fol- YS: How did that happen? lowed by a year’s work toward a doctor- Sgt. Haines in the Corps of Engineers, AH: I had a little gas, not much, to do ate at the University of Washington. Our 1942. Photo courtesy Aubrey Haines. some looking around. I drove down to funds were exhausted by that time (1950), Gardiner one evening and then up the old so I returned to Mount Rainier as a district By that time I’d been able to order in road. When I got almost to the top, there ranger. some ski boots and necessary equipment. was a little drift of snow in the road in At Madison Junction, there was a little which I stalled the car. As it vapor-locked, A Historian in the Making cabin used by the naturalists in the sum- I stepped out to wait and let it correct mer. There Verde told me about the scouts itself, and there on the bank were two YS: But that was still long before you who had brought a body from South girls sitting on a rock, watching. I talked were Yellowstone’s historian. Where did Entrance to Mammoth. He thought it was with them a bit, and as the next day was you learn to do history, to do research? Phillips, who had died at Old Faithful Sunday, I asked, “Would you like to go AH: I got very good training at the Uni- from eating vegetation that turned out to over and look at the Petrified Trees at versity of Montana under Dr. Paul C. be water hemlock, but he was confused Specimen Ridge?” You see, nobody could Phillips, one of Montana’s really fine on that; this was a Yellowstone tale with travel around, and I guess anything was historians; I took many of his courses. I many versions. They supposedly stood fun. So we went out there, a nice little trip, got a lot of personal attention from him. the box with the dead man in it beside the and I took an interest in Wilma Smith; she He was the one who said, “Why don’t you window and the scouts played a game of was the superintendent’s secretary at the edit Osborne Russell’s Journal of a Trap- cards, and this lasted into the next morn- time. A year later I stole her! I think Mr. per.” So I began. In fact, while in Seattle ing. The sun warmed it and the box began Rogers didn’t mind too much; he walked working on my doctorate, I completed to shake a little, and somebody said “Wait her down the aisle at the chapel. Our the editing of the journal but I never did a minute Bill, we’ll come out and let you children were born here too; this place the dissertation. out.” Later, I found the real site of that was home to us for a long time. When I came back to Yellowstone in June 1906 happening—at Fountain Station. Wilma and I married, we had quarters 1956—strangely, by transfer into the very But anyhow, we went on up Nez Perce over the north side of the museum. same engineering position I had resigned Creek, where we ate lunch. We sat down YS: So you were at work as a ranger from eight years earlier! in front of a white panel with green letter- again, with a lot of general duties? YS: But you were beginning your histori- ing on it, which was the place where the AH: Since I was having trouble with cal research on the side. Did you think of Cowan party of Helena tourists had been malarial fever recurrences, I was used in it as a contribution to the knowledge captured during the Nez Perce war (at the fire cache that summer of 1946. It was about Yellowstone? present Cowan Creek). a bad fire year, and I got rid of most of my AH: No, it was a hobby interest. But it When we got into Hayden Valley, stick- chills and fevers on the fire line! Chief soon got to where I began writing about ing out of the snow were remnants of a Engineer Phil Whohlbrant had two assis- Yellowstone. The very first thing was massive log fence. Verde said, “This was tant engineers, but had lost one to the war The Bridge that Jack Built, which was the an old dairy ranch for the hotels.” That effort and had been unable to fill the Baronett Bridge at the mouth of the Lamar. was not true; it was an attempt to save the position. So he asked me, “Would you And Lon Garrison, who was superinten- buffalo back in the 1890s, which didn’t like that engineering job?” “Yeah!” I dent after 1956, felt the park needed a

Fall 1998 11 former Army Bachelor’s Officers Quar- ters, or ‘BOQ” [today the Albright Visitor Center] building from the late 1920s on. I started gathering records, and soon tumbled to the fact that the military record here was unique. You see, the Army is not supposed to govern people within the limits of the U.S. in times of peace; that is something that civil government is sup- posed to handle. But Yellowstone was here before any of the civil government around it, and so when the states were formed, each state—Idaho, Wyoming, Montana—was required to admit that they did not have jurisdiction in Yellowstone. So here was Yellowstone, not a civil entity in the sense of having civil govern- ment and jurisdiction established within it. The federal code covered serious things Baronett Bridge across the Yellowstone River. Photo by William H. Jackson, 1871. like murder and all the felonies, but when NPS photo archives. it came to rules and regulations, they were unenforceable, and therefore you couldn’t make a case out of minor things, historian. I was transferred from engi- and cavalry Lt. Doane], Lee Parsons, like killing an elk. This was a big prob- neering to the naturalists’ department in found a transcript of missing Cook- lem. December 1960, as the park’s first histo- Folsom information copied in the front of Fortunately, Missouri Senator George rian. Washburn’s diary. How marvelous! Lee Vest, a post Civil War legislator, had seen YS: The park had never had a historian is a good researcher, and he writes well. the wisdom of attaching a rider to another before? I’ve been pushing him to get his informa- act saying that in case of necessity the AH: In the Army days, Captain Hiram M. tion in print. He has the means to turn out superintendent could call on the Secre- Chittenden had written The Yellowstone a first-class book on Washburn. And he tary of War to provide troops. So as soon because he had a strong history interest. must do it! as civil management of the area broke But that’s all the park had in the way of a YS: What other things would you like to down in 1886—Congress had failed to history. And Garrison was getting re- see in print? fund Superintendent Wear’s administra- quests from school children and others AH: The park needs book-length bio- tion and he couldn’t run the park—Cap- interested in the park who wanted infor- graphical studies of Washburn, Langford, tain Moses Harris’ First Cavalry was mation. In the morning I’d go to the office and Superintendent Norris (the book by brought in from Miles City, Montana, and there’d be letters and a note, “Aubrey, Judge Don Binkowski is not a satisfac- and Harris became the first acting mili- would you answer these for me?” When tory treatise, though he had ample re- tary superintendent. I got that out of the way, I could gather search material), and less extensive works From then until the end of the Army archival material or read up, or chase on Walter DeLacy and John H. Baronett. administration in 1918, the U.S. Cavalry some facet that I was trying to unravel; I The study of the old Buffalo Ranch John created a unique collection of records— usually had half a day free to research and Tyers [assistant park naturalist in the it’s a large one, amounting to about two write. 1970s] is working on should be very tons. It’s the only such record of the I found chunks of the Folsom-Cook- helpful in its examination of the human Army as a civil governing agent, in spite Peterson diaries [from one of the early side of that operation—who was there of the fact that that is not their role. expeditions to what is now the park, in and how they fed the buffaloes out there Yosemite’s record wasn’t quite the same, 1869] scattered around here and there, in the winter, how they culled them and because Army occupation was not con- and I thought, where is the whole diary? gave them their shots, and where they tinuous, and state law remained active in I never did find it. But I finally put to- moved them around in the 1930s. Yosemite. But that’s a moot point; be- gether a kind of montage, published as cause those records were destroyed. Valley of the Upper Yellowstone (1965). The Importance of Yellowstone’s Mili- Somebody said, “Let’s clean the place It’s interesting that now there’s another tary Record out.” And they loaded them into pickups, chunk that I didn’t know of before. This hauled them to the dump and set fire to lad who discovered the long-lost diary of YS: Did you start a museum collection, or them. Only Yellowstone’s military H.D. Washburn [from the 1870 expedi- were there some beginnings already? records remain intact. tion he co-led with Nathaniel P. Langford, AH: There was a small museum in the YS: The Park Service has a terrible repu-

12 Yellowstone Science tation about records; they did the same along with that, and finally withdrew the Well, it was done on government time thing with Civil War records long ago— manuscript, and the YLMA (the anyhow. While this incident led to an thousands of documents thrown out. What Yellowstone Library and Museum Asso- earlier retirement than might otherwise did you do to gather up the first archives ciation) took over and found a publisher. have been the case, I was freed to do some at Yellowstone? YS: I remember several of the park staff other good work; it all balances out and AH: I kept running into fragments of this lobbying, saying, “There is no way you no regrets! military record, so I started gathering can cut the heart of that manuscript and them. I had an office upstairs in the turn it into a little book. That would not do Legends Versus Serious Research northwest corner of the BOQ. I assembled service to anybody.” And Al Mebane, the records there and catalogued them. who was chief naturalist at the time, agreed YS: You and your fellow rangers—what The first sizeable lot came from shelves and found John Schwarz and the Colo- kind of reports were you asked to write in the restroom in the back corner of the rado University Associated Press, who that helped contribute to the historic old headquarters [now called the “Pa- published it in conjunction with the former record, whether or not it was intended goda”]; a whole bunch of these letter- YLMA. that way? books—Army records—were stuffed up AH: I finished the manuscript before I AH: A written report on where we went, on an overhead shelf and in the base- retired, at the end of 1969. But you see, it the animals we saw, and what happened ment! Another cache was in the attic at traveled around a long time through the was made following each patrol. There the paint shop, and some were in the attic Service, and thus was not available as one were also reports each month and for of the wooden troop barracks [now the of Yellowstone’s centennial year publi- special incidents. As far as a particular Yellowstone Center for Resources cations, as originally intended. But I ap- interest in history, there was none at that building]…I recovered a number of vol- preciate very much that the park stood by time. But there were a lot of tales around— umes from houses on Front Row where me and published the full manuscript. like the burial at Nez Perce Creek. There people had taken them to look at. Wher- The problem stemmed from the fact that was a tale that a woman had died in ever they could find a place, they’d stuff I questioned the Madison Junction camp- childbirth there at midwinter and the baby them away. I let it be known that I was fire story of the park’s creation, and the had been raised by the father on Eagle interested in the old records, and they world-wide national park movement, Brand milk until the snow was gone in the came in from all around. There were originating from a discussion at that place spring and they could get out. I found Judge Meldrum’s court records. There on the evening of September 19, 1870. later when I got in touch with the family, were the log books they kept out at the [Ed. Note: Historians now generally ac- that’s not the way it was! She was a soldier stations, and the guardhouse cept that the campfire story is more NPS tubercular case—she’d gone in there a records. They kept an account of every “legend” than truth, as evidenced from very ill woman, and the child was 18 stagecoach that came up—the number of the records left by members of the months old. passengers, driver’s name—amazing Washburn-Langford-Doane expedition.] YS: That’s the legend of Mattie Culver, records. So I gathered it all together and YS: It should never have taken eight who supposedly died in childbirth along called it a Yellowstone archive, and it years to get the book out, but the park did the Firehole River. makes me happy to know that this unique stand by you. AH: That’s right. I made the mistake in collection is now a unit of the National AH: Yes, they did. I turned it over to the first edition of The Yellowstone Story Archives. YLMA as a royalty item—it’s their book. of telling it like the original park tale. The

The “Yellowstone Story”

YS: By the mid-60s, you were being given time to work on the two volumes of The Yellowstone Story. AH: It was after I wrote Yellowstone National Park: Its Exploration and Es- tablishment that Garrison decided he wanted The Yellowstone Story, about 1965. But there were several years where I was gathering my wits historically, collecting information. YS: It was the first fairly comprehensive history of the park? AH: It wouldn’t have been, except that I got balky! The Washington Office wanted a one-volume book and proceeded to Guard mount at Fort Yellowstone in Mammoth Hot Springs, ca. 1910. bobtail my manuscript. I wouldn’t go NPS photo.

Fall 1998 13 what I was looking for and had some idea where it was. I was able to work in the National Archives twice. A lot of mate- rial came from there, probably not as much as is there, but it did the job. YS: In his first year here, when our cur- rent Superintendent, Mike Finley, heard a story—or a reason for not doing some- thing—he’d sometimes ask, “Is that Yellowstone myth, or is that truth?” AH: I think he knows that myths grow around a place like this. We have a Jim Bridger myth here, and we have another myth about how the Indians were afraid of the place, which is baloney. Those are the major myths, but not all that have developed around the park’s interesting history. YS: There have been some interesting Above left: Philetus Norris, the second superintendent of Yellowstone, served from presentations here at the conference about April 1877 until February 1882. Above right: Harry Yount was hired as the first the Native Americans and their relations gamekeeper in Yellowstone in June 1880. The effort by Norris and Yount to protect with the park. Do you find anything you the ungulates in Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley was the first “game management hear difficult to believe or different from program” undertaken on federal land. NPS photos. what you had previously thought? AH: When miners started prowling the Yellowstone about the time of its explo- second edition corrected that. important documentation. But toward the ration—1869–70–71—the miners and YS: After you retired in 1969, the park end of that period, two of the park’s Sheepeater Indians didn’t mix. So Chief seemed to let the history program that sincere supporters, Hugh Galusha and Washakie of the Shoshoni sent word to you’d gotten started languish. I think the Isabel Haynes, made it possible for me to them, “Come down to us.” And many park is finally trying to embark on a more make two visits to St. Paul, first to exam- settled at Camp Augur on the Wind River organized program of cultural resources, ine the Langford papers at the Minnesota in Wyoming; in 1871 the Indian agency and so we have an archivist and some Historical Society, and later the old North- moved to Fort Washakie. Only a few positions devoted to cultural resources, ern Pacific Railway files. went to Fort Hall in Idaho. They were although we still don’t have a full-time When it came to getting out The Shoshoni-Bannock, but they were part of historian again. Yellowstone Story, Superintendent Gar- the same culture, the same people. AH: I was lucky in that they let me rison let me make a tour that included St. They were talking at the conference research. Paul again and Denver and the University about some of those early ideas, that YS: How did you manage? That took a lot of California at Berkeley (for early news- pictured Sheepeaters as ignorant or a of travel—you had to go to the historical paper files); Yale University (for Russell pygmy race; it’s not true. The Sheepeaters societies; you tracked down so many ob- and A. Bart Henderson manuscripts); were the “have-nots” of the Shoshoni- scure items. Philadelphia (American Philosophical Bannock people—the poorer people who AH: When I came on duty as historian, Society and Jay Cooke’s records); St. did not have the horse, did not have the Chief Park Naturalist Robert McIntyre Louis (Missouri Historical Society for gun. So they were relegated to making a informed me there were no funds for early exploration and fur trade records); living in the mountains in the old-fash- travel or for purchase of reprints or maps, Tulsa (Thomas Moran’s papers); and the ioned way, like most Indians before de- and I worked within that limitation dur- Huntington Library at San Marino, Cali- velopment of the Plains-type culture of ing the first three years. However, I was fornia (for Supt. Norris’ papers). Research the teepee, the gun, the horse, and buffalo able to make day trips by official vehicle at the National Archives and Library of hunting. They had to hunt in the moun- to the Montana State University Library Congress in Washington, D.C., was sepa- tains, and naturally they lived a furtive in Bozeman and to the Montana State rately funded for a documentary on life there. They were not numerous enough Historical Society in Helena, and to man- “Yellowstone National Park: Its Explo- to defend themselves; that’d make a per- age some research in connection with ration and Establishment.” son furtive! assigned trips to Big Hole Battlefield and I have always kept notes—everything YS: Today, ethnographers talk about in- other historic sites in Montana. Tape re- that looked like it might possibly have a terviewing natives about their oral his- corder and 35mm camera along with writ- future use got a 3”x 5” card. So, by the tory and their traditions and the stories ten notes served to capture some very time I started, in large measure I knew they’ve told—was that a technique used

14 Yellowstone Science paragraph to a page on where each came Gamekeeper Harry Yount was the first paid “scout,” forerunner of the from and his or her training and back- rangers. I always showed my students of Yellowstone history the chimney ground. When he or she leaves you have rocks where the Yount cabin was, out in the Lamar Valley, near Soda Butte, it up-to-date. The same way with build- and told them, “This is the beginning of wildlife management in the United ings—when you tear one down, you want States, right here.” I wish the park would develop that and take credit for it. to be sure you’ve got information on It’s a big thing, and it’s been almost totally ignored. when and why it was built, what it cost, and so forth, and maybe a picture of the when you were a historian? Lamar Valley, near Soda Butte, and told building. AH: No. I understood that to be anthro- them, “This is the beginning of wildlife YS: What are you going to do with all pology, rather than history, but I did find management in the United States, right your records? archeology to be helpful. here.” I wish the park would develop that AH: I’ve been asked that a number of and take credit for it. It’s a big thing, and times, and I refuse to answer, because I Untold Stories: The Minutiae of His- it’s been almost totally ignored. want to use them a while yet! Some of tory The boat industry on the lake is another them are already in the Montana State interesting thing that needs to be put University rare books room. MSU also YS: What else would you like to see the together as one whole story, not several has a copy of most of the archives. While historians work on these days? What do pieces—not just E.C. Waters or Eugene I was in Yellowstone, I’d take a car load you wish you could’ve spent more time Topping, with his sail boat, nor the of the Army records to the library for on? present-day hotel company. “Uncle” Billy microfilming and return what they had AH: One of the things I wish could be Hofer ran the boat business for a while finished. If you have a fire here, MSU has given emphasis is that Superintendent after Waters was put out of the park for a copy all the way through the Army Norris and Harry Yount began wildlife failing to take proper care of the buffalo period. Since that is a unique record, the management in the United States. It failed, he held captive on Dot Island (he was only one of its kind, it just had to have a yes; the early attempts failed! But this is guilty of much more!) A good story there. duplicate somewhere. Jim Hill money, where it happened. Norris intended to YS: Billy Hofer’s career here was so provided by the family that built the Great capture buffalo calves, and to raise buf- long…he left us a lot, more than 50 ar- Northern Railway, financed that copying falo calves you have to have milk. So ticles just in Forest and Stream (see Sa- work. he’d made an arrangement with James rah Broadbent’s article, also in this is- YS: How would you tell today’s park Beattie, who ranched just north of the sue.) and a few letters and photos—he employees to keep documenting history? park boundary near Gardiner in 1877— was a real character. We tend not to think of things that we’re his cattle could forage on park grass if he AH: He was a frontiersman who was a living today as something that’s going to could have milk for the buffalo calves. “white hat” guy. He was a good man. be important in the future. But the Nez Perce, when they came Even Teddy Roosevelt thought highly of AH: Oh! Be careful that you document as through here, killed Beattie’s cattle for “Uncle Billy.” you go along. I believe in a running traveling rations. YS: There is so much more interest in record that has three sections. One of Gamekeeper Harry Yount was the first history now. If a graduate student wanted them is places in the park, one is people in paid “scout,” forerunner of the rangers. I to know who else needs a biography here, the park, and the third is happenings year always showed my students of who would be a good subject? by year, with line entries for events and Yellowstone history the chimney rocks AH: Start with Mike Finley, and then do reference. When a question comes up where the Yount cabin was, out in the a resume on each new employee, from a about something, those quick-reference volumes are a place to go for an answer. Now, with no published annual reports and a rather short record retention, such systematic recording may be all that stands between the historian of tomorrow and a long, difficult newspaper search. Writing the history of Yellowstone’s second cen- tury of existence may be a difficult job— prepare for it! YS: I like what you said during your comments at the luncheon in your honor— about how there’s all kinds of good work to be done before we celebrate the park’s 150th anniversary. AH: You bet! ✺ Bison in show pen on Dot Island, 1906. NPS photo.

Fall 1998 15 Tales from Forest and Stream: News of Yellowstone in the late 1800s

by Sarah Broadbent

Last summer, as we celebrated Influencing the National Park Move- than the national parks. Yellowstone had Yellowstone’s 125th anniversary , we were ment been set aside as the first national park in reminded of the park’s early history. What 1872, yet at that time Americans knew was the park like in the late nineteenth The periodical Forest and Stream little about how to manage, protect, and century and what were the major issues played a central role in the early history of value this large tract of wilderness. He facing its managers? How did the Ameri- the American conservation movement. lobbied for legislation that would protect can public view and value the first na- Established by Charles Hallock in 1873, the park from developers and provide for tional park? And how did Yellowstone and taken over by George Bird Grinnell its management. The late nineteenth cen- develop over the last century to make it soon thereafter, Forest and Stream be- tury was a time when conservation and the park we know and love today? Among came a leading forum for sportsmen, natu- preservation ideas were being developed the many historical resources that teach ralists, and others interested in the protec- in the country, and a clear conception of us about the early years of Yellowstone is tion of natural resources. Grinnell de- what Yellowstone was for and how it a sporting journal called Forest and serves much of the credit for Forest and should be managed was rare. Grinnell’s Stream. Stream’s eminence. A distinguished natu- early coverage of Yellowstone affairs This periodical contains a wealth of ralist and anthropologist, founder with helped develop the idea of the park’s information about early park history, the Theodore Roosevelt of the Boone and value to the nation, and conveyed it to a conservation battles, and the conditions Crockett Club (a sportsmen’s club that wide audience. of the park’s natural resources in the took a special interest in Yellowstone The coverage in Forest and Stream latter part of the nineteenth century. Be- affairs), father of the Audubon move- alerted the nation to the problems the cause of the value of the information ment, and in many other ways a pioneer- national park was facing by focusing on found in this periodical, I undertook a ing conservationist, Grinnell used his pe- the major events in Yellowstone from the project in 1992 to collect and index riodical to alert the public to many con- 1870s through the 1910s. Grinnell wrote Yellowstone-related material. The intent servation crises. Forest and Stream re- about issues such as resource protection was two-fold: to create a very detailed mained an important voice in resource and boundary legislation, leasing and con- accounting of every article that mentions issues until 1930, when it was absorbed cessions controversies, park management Yellowstone, and to develop a method to by Field and Stream. and its needs, and the conditions of the search those articles. No issue was more dear to Grinnell geysers, wildlife, forests, and streams.

16 Yellowstone Science A New Forest Reserve “For about ten years we have been working to secure for the Yellowstone Park an enlargement of its area, and proper protection for its forests, game and natural wonders. In four successive sessions of Congress bills providing for these measures have been introduced and have passed the Senate, but have failed in the House, usually through the opposition of a small but powerful railroad lobby, which insisted that no bill for the Park’s protection should pass which did not grant them a right of way to build a railroad line through the Park.…While the President’s proclamation does not actually add this forest reservation to the National Park, it is the first step toward doing this; for since settlement with in the boundaries named is prohibited, it will hereafter be a much simpler matter to have the region formally added to the Park.” Forest and Stream. April 9, 1891. 36:225

Conserving Yellowstone’s forests and poaching in Yellowstone was finally Above: George Bird Grinnell, editor of game was a common theme. These ar- passed in 1894, in large part due to Forest and Stream and early conserva- ticles reveal both the major conservation Grinnell’s work. That winter Emerson tionist. Grinnell frequently ran stories issues of early park history and the early Hough, staff correspondent for Forest about Yellowstone, describing its scen- values associated with Yellowstone. and Stream, was sent to join Billy Hofer ery and wildlife along with the needs of In numerous articles Grinnell explained in his explorations of the park. The two park management. the usefulness of extending the park’s were in the park when Edgar Howell was boundaries. He repeatedly noted that the arrested for poaching bison. Hough land just east of the park was worthless quickly sent off the poaching story to way for the railroad was allowed. A battle for settlers but very valuable as a preserve Grinnell who published the event in For- developed between those in favor of pro- for the game, forests, and watersheds. est and Stream. This reporting helped to tective legislation and those in favor of a Forests and watersheds were resources convince the Congress to pass the Lacey railroad in the park. Repeatedly these two early conservationists attempted to pro- Act of 1894, strengthening the authority interest groups blocked each other’s leg- tect, and Grinnell promoted that in the of park managers. islative attempts. Grinnell used Forest Yellowstone region. This campaign was The main opposition to the boundary and Stream to lobby for the conservation an influential factor in the creation of the extension and protective legislation was and extension of the park. These articles first forest reservation on Yellowstone’s a railroad lobby, which wanted to build a provide insight into a very early conser- south and east border in 1891. It was line through the northern part of the park vation battle. hoped that this land would be added to the to Cooke City, Montana. Grinnell wrote The railroad was also interested in park, but that never happened. The reser- extensively about the forest and game developing concessions in the park. In vation was significant for another reason: destruction that would occur if a right-of- 1883, the railroad reached the town of it was the beginning of the national forest system. Other reserves were established following this one, and in 1905 the U.S. Our Yellowstone Expedition Forest Service was established to man- “The most important achievement of the Forest and Stream’s age these lands. Yellowstone Park Game Exploration was Mr. Hough’s prompt and Forest and Stream also lobbied for authoritative report upon the work of the buffalo butcher Howell. This better protective legislation. The organic report came just at a time when its publication in our columns was act that created Yellowstone was vague, calculated to compel attention at Washington and to demonstrate the and gave little power to the park superin- necessity of immediate action. It opened the eyes of the public and of tendents. For more than a decade articles Congress to the cold hard fact that the National Park game must be appeared detailing resource destruction protected by adequate provision of law, and the law was enacted.” and supporting protective legislation in- Forest and Stream. June 16, 1894. 42:507. troduced by Senator Vest of Missouri. Legislation that created stiff penalties for

Fall 1998 17 Snap Shots “The volume of travel to the Park has been very great this year, even to the point of evoking a remon- strance from some of the old-tim- ers, whose sentiments are probably well expressed by one of our corre- spondents when he writes: I have no further use for the National Park. It has become what Congress set it aside for, a pleasuring ground for the People—with a big P. It is full of men, women and children. Last night I counted seven boats on the lake; camping parties of women were singing; I heard a baby cry. The country is fairly populous. Doubtless this is a good thing, but I don’t want to travel where people are so thick. The Park is too crowded, and I do not mean to visit it again, unless I come in the capac- ity of a ‘tourist.’” This map, “National Park Boundaries—Present and Proposed,” was published in Forest and Stream. September Forest and Stream January 7, 1899, as part of a large effort to expand Yellowstone’s 19, 1889. 33:161. boundaries.

Cinnabar, Montana, just north of the it. This was the beginning of Grinnell’s civilian superintendents whose adminis- Yellowstone border. With the arrival of long-standing skepticism about corpo- trations were constrained by a lack of the railroad and the hope of increasing rate interest in Yellowstone. Throughout authority. Because funding for civilian park visitation, there was pressure to de- the years of Forest and Stream’s cover- management was not provided by Con- velop more visitor services. The age of Yellowstone affairs, Grinnell moni- gress, the military was placed in charge Yellowstone Park Improvement Com- tored the power of concessions opera- of park management from 1886 until the pany, which was associated with the tions. creation of the National Park Service in Northern Pacific Railroad, attempted to 1916. Articles in Forest and Stream de- acquire a lease from the Secretary of the Park Management and Tourism: a scribe superintendents and the major ac- Interior for hotel, transportation, and tele- Look Back in Time tivities of their administrations. For ex- graph privileges. Grinnell considered the ample, Superintendent Carpenter was en- power of the proposed lease to be exces- Forest and Stream also reported on the gaged in a land claims scheme on the sive and very detrimental to the park, and activities of park managers. During its borders of the park and had strong affili- used Forest and Stream to lobby against first 14 years the park was managed by ations with the Yellowstone Park Im- provement Company. Grinnell disap- proved of the superintendent and waged Putting Out the Fire a successful campaign in Forest and “…when the announcement of the fire came, the whole command Stream to have him removed from office promptly started out and put the fire out. Captain Boutelle was dining in 1884. when the fire was reported. He did not stop to finish his meal, but gave Favorable management activities were orders to have “boots and saddles” sounded at once, and in a few moments also covered. Detailed information on the the troop was off. There was no sending out of scouts who should look at early fish stocking program, feeding park the fire, see whether it was much of a blaze or not, and then report. Captain game, and efforts by the army to suppress Boutelle just went out and put the fire out. A delay of twelve or twenty- forest fires are found throughout this pe- four hours would have permitted the conflagration to assume such riodical. At the time these “resource man- proportions that it would have been beyond the control of any body of agement operations” were considered to men.” be good for the park, quite different from Forest and Stream. July 25, 1889. 33:1. modern-day management ideas. These stories show how natural resource man-

18 Yellowstone Science The National Park “The travel to the Park is increas- ing rapidly. Tourists over the stage lines are arriving in parties from forty to sixty daily. From seven to fifteen teams with camping parties pass the Hot Springs every day. On the 14th inst. twelve teams belong- ing to American immigrants from the Black Hills, on their way to Oregon, started through the Park. After doing the wonders here they will continue their journey, leaving the Park at Riverside. Following the teams from Dakota was one from northern Iowa bound for the same State. They are well provided Above left: President Theodore with everything necessary for their Roosevelt, Billy Hofer, Amos Winches- long drive and to settle in a new ter, and John Burroughs in front of a tent country…” camp, March 1903. Right: Interior of a Hofer, T.E. Forest and Stream, Wylie camp dining tent. NPS photos. July 25, 1889. 33:3.

agement ideas have changed over the state prior to intensive development and dex, completed in 1996, is now available years. use by technological humans. Sources in Yellowstone’s Research Library, along Trips to the Yellowstone region are like Forest and Stream are therefore not with copies of the articles from Forest also covered in Forest and Stream. Ac- merely of antiquarian interest. The nu- and Stream. This index allows users to counts are given of extended trips by merous incidental and intentional discus- quickly search through this large volume sportsmen hunting in the Yellowstone sions of wildlife habitats and distribu- of material and find the specific informa- region, visits by the Presidents of the tion, for example, are of considerable tion they need. For those of you inter- United States, and camping in the park value to modern biologists seeking to ested in Yellowstone’s past, exploring with the Wylie Tent Company. These retrace the history of the park’s world- this information is now much easier. articles give a feel for what it was like to famous animals. Early descriptions of tour the park more than 100 years ago. fishing conditions are of use to modern Acknowledgments Throughout the pages of Forest and managers seeking to restore Yellowstone Stream the fight to protect Yellowstone fisheries to their robust, pristine state. In Many people were instrumental in the wildlife from destruction is prevalent, these and many other ways, Forest and indexing project including Paul Schullery, especially in the articles written by Tho- Stream can help modern managers and John Varley, and Ursula Weltman of the mas Elwood “Uncle Billy” Hofer, who researchers refine our understanding of National Park Service; Dean Larson, worked as an outfitter in the Yellowstone Yellowstone’s complex past. Brigham Young University; Greg Notess, area for years, and wrote of his trips and Between 1873 and 1930, more than Montana State University; and Carrie the conditions of the park and its wildlife. 500 Yellowstone-related articles appeared Gray. Generous grants from the Hofer’s articles are examples of how in Forest and Stream. Near the turn of the Yellowstone Association and the Forest and Stream was used to teach the century Yellowstone articles were less Albright-Wirth Employee Development public about their new national park and frequent, but mentions of other national Fund made this project possible. ✺ its wonders and potential threats to the parks and debates about the forest re- resources. serves around the nation became more Sarah Broadbent has worked in As modern park managers addresses common. Forest and Stream remained an Yellowstone since 1986. During the fires ever more complicated and sophisticated important voice in resource issues until of 1988 she began working in the Re- issues, historical information about ear- 1930, when it was absorbed by Field and search Division for the National Park lier conditions becomes more important. Stream. Service, and is currently a writer-editor A century of human manipulation of the Articles found in Forest and Stream in the Yellowstone Center for Resources. Yellowstone setting has left us with many tell us about the first national park at a She earned her M.A. in history from Mon- questions about the park area’s natural very early stage. A computer-based in- tana State University in May of 1997.

Fall 1998 19 Yellowstone Pronghorns: Relict Herd in a Shrinking Habitat

NPS photo.

by James W. Caslick

As we craned our necks for a first the great-great-great-grandkids of those 1995, between 210 and 235 pronghorns glimpse of Yellowstone, the old bus that stopped our bus on that memorable have been counted each spring during lurched to a stop just inside the park’s day in the early 1950s. That, in itself, is this flight (Fig. 1). North Entrance gate. A small herd of wildly unusual in the wildlife world, Research on Yellowstone pronghorns pronghorns (Antilocapra americana) had where it is more common for at least has not been profuse, but has included a stepped into the road and now gazed at some wandering members of a local popu- study of the female reproductive cycle the noisy bus just a few yards distant. lation to breed with some of a neighbor- (O’Gara 1968). In the 1980s and Their large dark eyes seemed to express a ing population, mixing it up genetically early1990s, a park biologist studied the mixture of surprise, curiosity, and a bit of during these wanderings. But that doesn’t ecology, behavior, and management of quiet disdain that seemed to say “What happen now with Yellowstone Yellowstone pronghorns, particularly as are you doing here?” That encounter was pronghorns, say some scientists who have related to their use of lands outside the the beginning of my love affair with studied them recently. The present herd park. He also studied how their move- Yellowstone wildlife, now in its forty- of about 250 animals (sometimes called ments were affected by a fence along a seventh year. antelope or pronghorn antelope) is thought portion of the northern boundary (Scott It was May 1951 and our busload of to be the remnant of a population that is 1992). eager employees-to-be was arriving for known to have persisted in this location Lee et al. (1994) described Yellowstone the summer season, having mostly de- since establishment of the park. pronghorns as having been geographi- trained at Livingston, Montana. Little Between the 1890s and the 1940s, the cally isolated from all other pronghorns could I have imagined then that almost 50 park’s pronghorn population was esti- for 100 years or more. Some of us have years later I would be returning to admire mated to be between 400 and 600. Artifi- our doubts about complete isolation, how- Yellowstone pronghorns at close range cial reductions of the population from the ever, choosing to side with an old maxim every week for three winters (1996-1998), 1940s to 1966 attempted to maintain the in biology that nothing in nature is likely while monitoring them as a volunteer herd at 125 to 150 pronghorns. Many of to be absolute. In any case, there are wildlife biologist. the trapped animals were transferred to recent and reliable sightings of single establish herds elsewhere. In March 1967, pronghorns as near as six miles south of An Isolated Herd? the aerial count was 188. Since then, only Emigrant, Montana (24 miles north of one year has been missed (1994); the Yellowstone). Those observations within Actually, the pronghorns that my wife, lowest count was 102, in 1981, and the the last three years were made by a park Edna, and I are now monitoring could be highest count was 594, in 1991. Since wildlife biologist and the Caslicks, in

20 Yellowstone Science different years, and at close range. Last rump patches, apparently sending an in- stock fences, pronghorns seldom do so, winter, between November 16, 1997, and stantaneous warning on the pronghorn even when chased. If the lowest fence February 7, 1998, two park employees internet to others within view. An appar- wire is less than 16 inches from the ground reported as many as 11 pronghorns in the ent preference for the wide open spaces (or the snow), they have difficulty in lower Rock Creek drainage, about one also serves them well, given these special squeezing under. Through the years, many mile north of the Carbella Bridge, ap- attributes. When chased, these sure-footed pronghorn deaths have occurred at proximately 15 miles north of the park. speedsters appear to move like a flock of fencelines. Some were entanglements but We do not know whether those wander- birds that instantaneously changes direc- some have occurred during severe win- ing pronghorns had moved down the tion on some cue that we are unable to ters with deep snow, when these animals Yellowstone Valley from the park or detect. If motion pictures of this move- were virtually trapped by fences and were whether they later joined the Yellowstone ment are slowed down to allow study of unable to move to more favorable habi- population. Observations of pronghorns their running gait, there seems to be some tats; losses of 60 percent or more of some in Yellowstone have shown that during synchrony among the runners, many herds have been recorded (Bell 1954). spring migration they have moved from hooves striking the ground in concert. Martinka (1967) reported that reproduc- the North Entrance gate area to the Lamar We watched one such chase recently tive rates of Montana pronghorn herds Valley in only three days, a distance of 30 when a canid (coyote, wolf, or dog, we that survived one such starvation loss in a miles, demonstrating an ability to move couldn’t tell at that distance) pursued a severe winter ranged from 39 to 100 very rapidly over long distances. herd of 40 or so pronghorns at a fast clip fawns per 100 does, less than half the over open snow-covered ground. From usual number. We can only speculate Prairie Speedsters our higher vantage point, the herd’s move- about the numbers of chases by predators ment resembled that of a cloud’s shadow that have ended at fencelines, the tradi- Other observations have confirmed that moving swiftly over the snow, ever so tional migratory movements that have this fleet-footed beauty of the plains can smoothly gliding over and around the been changed by fences that now criss- cover a lot of ground in a short time. One small hills below. The herd eventually cross the West, and the pronghorn death- account tells of a sprinting buck in Or- split in two when its pursuer took a short- traps that have been formed where both egon overtaking a car going 61 miles per cut over a hilltop. The pursuing canid sides of the highways were fenced. hour. The same author claims that if rep- stuck to the 10 or so that had split off, then Concerned about the potential effects resentatives of all the mammals in the doubled back with them around a hill and of a wooden buck-and-pole fence con- world were lined up for a race, the chee- out of our view. We don’t know the structed in the 1980s by adjacent land- tah would lead for a few hundred yards, outcome, but our bet was in favor of the owners along part of the park’s northern but at the end of one-half mile the prong- pursued, since there were no fences within boundary at Reese Creek, park investiga- horn would be leading the pack. An Olym- at least a mile. tors found that pronghorns had trouble pic gold to the American pronghorn in the crossing the new fence and sometimes half-mile sprint! Foiled by Fences were delayed within it. However, they This spectacular speed and those huge eventually were able to cross through it in protruding eyes that constantly monitor Livestock fences have been serious about three of four attempts (Scott 1992). all surrounding activity seem to be their problems for pronghorns since combined first line of defense from preda- Euroamerican settlement of the West. Shrinking Shred of Habitat tors. When alarmed, they flare their white Unlike deer that readily jump most live- Perhaps fences and the human activi- 600 ties that accompany them have been ma- jor reasons that our Yellowstone 500 pronghorns have become only a remnant of a once-larger population that extended 400 northward for many miles down the Yellowstone Valley. Wildlife slaughters 300 by market hunters of earlier days may well have been locally important in some # animals 200 places, but changes in habitat condi- tions—often very subtle—probably have 100 been far more important in determining 0 the welfare of wildlife populations through time. Using new technology, we 1967 1971 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 are only just beginning to be able to measure and appreciate the effects of Year stress imposed upon wildlife when forced Figure 1. Pronghorn counts 1967Ð1998, Yellowstone National Park. into close encounters with humans—yes,

Fall 1998 21 even by that bus on the park road so many GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE years ago, or today by the cars, snow- plows, snowcoaches, snowmobiles, and other vehicles on park roads. We do have Livingston Closer to Park; Addition Made to Preserve effects on wildlife, even though we might not see a reaction, as has been shown by LIVINGSTON. Nov. 1, 1932. (AP). This city today learned it is three and a monitoring the heart rates of deer. When half miles closer to Yellowstone park than it was two weeks ago. they heard a snowmobile, heart rates in- Addition to the park of a 7,600-acre tract between Gardiner and the creased even though the snowmobile was former park boundary accomplished the feat. A copy of the Presidential so distant that the deer didn’t flee from it proclamation making effective a congressional act of 1926, dated Oct. 20, (Moen et al. 1982). In Yellowstone, re- was received here today. search has documented the distances The area was acquired by the government as an antelope preserve… moved by elk when disturbed by cross- country skiers and assessed the energy costs associated with these movements (Cassirer et al., 1992). gress to answer the call by adding 7,600 of this traditional pronghorn winter range. Estimates of wildlife populations in acres to the park in 1932. That land had For many years it has been the location of the 1800s ranked pronghorn numbers very mostly been owned by the government the park’s horse corrals, an outdoor stor- close to those of bison—about 50 mil- for years and was administered by the age area for park vehicles, and an area lion. By the 1920s, pronghorns had been Forest Service, but parts of two privately where rangers conduct target practice. reduced to about 130,000. Today there owned ranches were then purchased and Pronghorns apparently were quite toler- are about one-half million, with more added to the public domain. This was the ant of this sporadic and generally low than half of those in Wyoming. The 1998 so-called “Gardiner Addition” along the level of human activity. At least they spring count in Yellowstone was 231. A northern edge of the park between commonly fed and rested within a few Montana State University scientist has Gardiner and Reese Creek, the principal yards of the corrals, throughout daylight warned that an isolated population this habitat of Yellowstone pronghorns to- hours. However, in 1995, in conjunction small has an 18 percent probability of day. with intensified management efforts, new extinction within 100 years (Goodman That addition occurred a human gen- bison corrals were constructed there, and 1996). eration ago. Memories are short, people a new mesh-wire fence was erected to Because the mission of the National retire or move on, history is often ig- extend from the corrals northward across Park Service is “to preserve unimpaired nored, and new issues crowd in to replace the valley for more than one-half mile. the natural and cultural resources and old ones. No wonder that almost nobody The purpose of the fence is to help guide values of the National Park System for around now remembers that this addition bison into the corrals during capture ac- the enjoyment, education, and inspira- was acquired “as an antelope preserve” tivities. At the time of construction, the tion of this and future generations” (Lewis as described by the local press (see inset). bottom of the new fence was raised 24 1998), questions arise about attempting Park biologist Doug Houston reported an inches to allow pronghorns to squeeze to manage the uncertain future of increase in pronghorns following this beneath it. Furthermore, several 16-foot pronghorns in Yellowstone. If the popu- addition of winter range to the park. gates were installed in the fence line and lation is indeed in the process of dying Winter range of Yellowstone have remained open to allow wildlife out, should steps be taken to prevent this, pronghorns covers about 13,000 acres, passage during periods of non-use. under current management philosophy and all the park’s pronghorns move to it Resource managers and others have that embraces natural processes? If so, for the winter months. It has rolling to- long recognized the potential for such what should be done? If preventative pography, is the lowest elevation in the changes in habitat to impact wildlife. The measures are not undertaken, will the park (down to 5,265 feet), is semi-arid, Draft Environmental Assessment, Interim park face a costly reintroduction program with annual precipitation of only 10 to 12 Bison Management Plan of 12/20/95 rec- in the future? inches. This winter range generally ex- ognized that temporary displacement of tends from Mammoth Hot Springs and and stress to pronghorns and possibly Pronghorns Previously in Peril Gardiner, Montana, along the Old their unintentional capture and injury Yellowstone Trail to the park’s boundary might occur as a result of bison manage- This is not the first time that the welfare at Reese Creek and beyond to the Devil’s ment activities. To detect and quantify of Yellowstone pronghorns has been a Slide (Fig. 2). On a year-round basis, an those potential impacts occurring in the topic of considerable interest. Although average of about eight percent of the herd core of pronghorn winter range, we initi- wolves and bison share the spotlight to- is outside the park. ated a weekly monitoring of pronghorns day, pronghorns had their day on center in 1995 and continued it in 1996-98. stage about 70 years ago. Concern about Monitoring New Threats “It’s a big park and the pronghorns can inadequate winter food for pronghorns just move over,” some have said. But and other game animals prodded Con- Stephens Creek bisects the central core therein lies the biological rub! If they

22 Yellowstone Science move over, they move northward out of the park where they have become less Emigrant welcome as human settlement intensi- fies. To move southward back into the Pronghorn Summer Range Yellowstone River park would be to return to higher ground Pronghorn Winter Range Carbella 6.2 km and the deep-snow Siberian-type winters Bridge that they now escape by wintering near (10 mi) Stephens Creek. Snow depths at this lower Devil's elevation usually do not bury all the sage- Slide brush, a staple in their winter diet, and Reese Creek Stephens Gardiner shorter food plants there seldom are bur- Creek ied so deeply on windswept knolls that Mammoth Gardner these animals are unable to reach food by 's Hol Tower Junction e pawing. In biological terms, this Stephens Lama r Creek area of sagebrush and grassland is Valley truly a critical winter range for park pronghorns. Usually in April, about one-fourth of the wintering population migrates back to higher elevations in the park, spending the short summer mostly in Gardner’s Hole or in the open valley areas along the Figure 2. Pronghorn winter range is restricted primarily to lower elevation areas in Yellowstone River to Tower Junction the park and north of the park. Most pronghorns occupy these lower elevation areas and beyond to the Lamar Valley and year-round. surrounding subalpine meadows (Fig. 2). About one-third of this upland summer defend a particular breeding territory for and resting areas have generally shifted range burned in the 1988 fires, and these several months. In Yellowstone, these away from the immediate vicinity of the burned areas were not avoided by older bucks defend their territories against Stephens Creek bison management facil- pronghorns during years immediately trespass by other bucks from March to ity, pronghorn groups are now smaller, following the fires (Scott 1993). October, although the actual breeding and groups are more dispersed. Tracks Three-fourths of the population remains period is short, usually the first two weeks and trails in fresh snow indicate that they year-round on the winter range. Between of September. By mid-November, most still use or at least pass through the imme- the last week of May and the first week of have returned to the open sagebrush-grass- diate area of the new bison management July, the fawns (or kids) are born; twins lands between Mammoth Hot Springs facility, mostly at night. They use the are more common than single births. Forty and Reese Creek, their winter range. open gates to cross the new fence that years of park records show that about 25 Bucks then shed their black horn sheaths, bisects their formerly unfenced park habi- percent of these newborns survive through making them more difficult to distin- tat. We conclude that this new facility the summer months. Predation by coy- guish from yearling males until horns and the increased level of human activity otes has been the major cause of mortality have regrown by the following March. at Stephens Creek have affected prong- among fawns and adult pronghorns in Further confusing to human would-be horn use of that area. The long-term sig- Yellowstone (Scott 1993). Studies in census takers, about 70 percent of adult nificance of this displacement and this Montana, Idaho, and Utah have shown females (does) in Montana also have horns further loss of habitat remain unknown. that coyotes, bobcats, and golden eagles, (O’Gara 1986)! Perhaps it’s just as well The bottom line seems to be that or a combination of these three, have that we can’t easily figure out all of this at pronghorns are being squeezed from their been indicated in fawn mortalities of 12 first glance, and rightly humbling to sus- critical winter range by human settle- to 90 percent (Kitchen and O’Gara in pect that pronghorns probably can. Best ment, both inside and outside of the park. Chapman and Feldhamer 1982). To date, bet for us is to look for the black cheek Although we do not know whether six pronghorns (1 adult and 5 kids) have patches that distinguish the bucks. these factors are significant, it is note- been reported as killed by recently rein- For the past three winters, Mrs. Caslick worthy that the core of this critical winter troduced wolves. and I have been looking for those black range supports the only big-sage/ In pronghorn herds outside the park cheek patches as we count and classify bluebunch wheatgrass habitat type and where older bucks are selectively shot by pronghorns on a weekly basis. We also the only bluebunch wheatgrass/ hunters, bucks may move around and map pronghorn locations and record hu- Sandberg’s bluegrass habitat type in the gather harems. But in Yellowstone, as in man activities that are occurring on their park. Despain (1990) described the latter some other parks and refuges where these winter range during our surveys (joggers, habitat type as having two phases that older bucks are protected from hunting, vehicles, construction, etc.). This moni- “are the only areas where antelope win- bucks that are at least three years old may toring has shown that pronghorn feeding ter.” Within this winter range, we have

Fall 1998 23 seen pronghorns most frequently in areas of the Yellowstone River and extending LITERATURE CITED that have been mapped and described by at least two and a half miles northward soil scientists as heavily grazed by cattle from Reese Creek to the Devil’s Slide. Bell, R.P. 1954. Hunting in in the early part of this century, artifi- If given half a chance for survival, Wyoming…past and present. Wyo- cially altered by irrigated agriculture, and including undisturbed access to their win- ming Wildlife XVII:2, Feb. Wyo. now vegetated mostly by exotic species. ter foods, fences modified to BLM speci- Game and Fish Dept., Cheyenne. Exotic plants in the area have generally fications (or no fences), and suitable open Cassirer, E.F., D.J. Freddy, and E. D. been referred to as “mustards” and crested lowlands that provide elbow room mea- Ables. 1992. Elk responses to distur- wheatgrass. Based on our observations of sured in connected chunks of hundreds of bances by cross-country skiers in pronghorns pawing through snow in the acres, perhaps Yellowstone pronghorns Yellowstone National Park. Wildl. vicinity of the Stephens Creek corrals, we will persist. Perhaps, too, this would en- Soc. Bull. 20:375-381. speculate that exotic plant species may able another rookie seasonal ranger ar- Despain, D.G. 1990. Yellowstone veg- etation: consequences of environ- now be important components of the win- riving through the park’s North Entrance ment and history in a natural setting. ter diets of Yellowstone pronghorns, since gate to someday have a memorable close Roberts Rinehart, Inc. Boulder, Colo. food habits studies conducted elsewhere encounter with these speedsters of the 239pp. have consistently shown herbaceous prairies, these beauties of the grasslands, Goodman, D. 1996. Viability analysis plants other than grasses are major food inspiring yet another life-long love affair of the antelope population wintering items for pronghorns, where available. with Yellowstone’s wildlife. Let’s hope near Gardiner, Montana. Unpubl. Further identification and study of the so! ✺ rept. on file at YCR, Yellowstone distributions of all exotic plants in this Natl. Park, Wyo. 7pp. winter range might help clarify their pos- James W. “Jim” Caslick worked for three Kitchen, D.W. and B.W. O’Gara. 1992. Pronghorn. Pages 960-971 in sible relationship to the winter distribu- summers as a seasonal ranger in Chapman, J.A. and G.A. Feldhamer, tions of pronghorns that our surveys are Yellowstone in the early 1950s, long be- eds. Wild Mammals of North now documenting. fore any of the present park staff arrived. America: biology, management, and In Yellowstone, he met his future wife, economics. The Johns Hopkins Univ. Some Management Options Edna, a fellow college student who worked Press., Baltimore, Md. at a Hamilton’s Store and “got blisters Lee, T.E. Jr., J.W. Bickham, and M.D. If we continue to learn more about dipping ice cream at a nickel a scoop.” Scott. 1994. Mitochondrial DNA and Yellowstone pronghorns and their rela- Jim recalls that “the Edsel patrol car I allozyme analysis of North Ameri- tionships to the area that was purchased drove was so powerless that all I could do can pronghorns. J. Wildl. Manage. 58(2): 307-318. for them, perhaps we can at least forestall was keep the lights flashing and hope to Lewis, R. 1998. The eight-step plan for fulfillment of dire predictions about their catch up at the next bear jam.” Jim earned achieving strategic goals. USDI future. At minimum, we could make ev- a Ph.D. degree at Cornell University and People, Land and Water 5(2). U.S. ery effort to avoid taking more of their was a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish Dept. of Interior, Washington, D.C. turf or disturbing them for other pur- and Wildlife Service before joining the Martinka, C.J. 1967. Mortality of Mon- poses. We could also clear away the fa- Cornell faculty. In retirement, the Caslicks tana pronghorns in a severe winter. J. cilities we’ve constructed at Stephens are now beginning their tenth consecu- Wildl. Manage. 31:159-164. Creek, clean up the area, clear out, and let tive winter as volunteers working on wild- Moen, A.N., S. Whittemore, and B. them have it for themselves again, just as life projects and writing assignments, Buxton. 1982. Effects of disturbance by snowmobiles on heart rate of cap- some habitat in the park’s Fishing Bridge and assisting the Tower ranger staff in tive white-tailed deer (Odocoileus area has recently been returned to griz- Yellowstone. virginianus). New York Fish and zlies. Other potentially helpful actions Game Journal 29(2):176-183. might be aimed at securing pronghorn O’Gara, B.W. 1968. A study of the winter access to private lands outside the reproductive cycle of the female park, through conservation easements, pronghorn (Antilocapra americana leasing grazing rights, and the removal of Ord.). Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Mon- fences. Should fence removal be unac- tana, Missoula. 161pp. ceptable to cooperating landowners, Scott, M.D. 1992. Buck-and-pole fence crossing by 4 ungulate species. Wildl. fences could be modified to facilitate Soc. Bull. 20:204-210. pronghorn movements by adopting Bu- _____. 1993. Determination of the reau of Land Management (BLM) speci- minimum viable population size of fications for constructing fences on pub- pronghorn antelope in Yellowstone lic lands that are occupied by pronghorns. National Park. Page 208 in Annual For pronghorn winter habitat, this coop- Investigators’ Rept. Yellowstone erative habitat management area should Nat’l. Park, Wyo. include the open Yellowstone Valley Jim and Edna Caslick. Photo courtesy of grasslands and sagebrush areas lying west the author.

24 Yellowstone Science NEWS notes & tion of endangered black-footed ferrets New World Mine Settlement Finalized as well as other wildlife issues. Prior to that, he served as both acting and Assis- Two years after President Clinton tant Director of the University of Wyo- signed an agreement to trade up to $65 ming/NPS Cooperative Wildlife Research million in federal assets for land once Unit in Laramie. He and his family will proposed for large-scale extraction of live at park headquarters in Mammoth. gold, silver, and copper at the New World Mine, the settlement was finalized. On New Educational Products Focus on August 8, 1998, lands owned by Crown Yellowstone’s Thermal Habitats Butte Mines, Inc., were formally trans- ferred to the U.S. Forest Service, while From September 22-25, 1998, Walter $22.5 million was to be held in escrow for Cronkite visited Yellowstone to shoot cleanup of pollution attributed to historic segments of a new film to be shown at the Walter Cronkite and Preston Scott, WFED Director. Photo courtesy WFED. mining activity in the area. Details on Old Faithful Visitor Center beginning in when and how these reclamation funds 1999. This film will use the engaging will be spent have yet to be worked out. story of microbial life in Yellowstone’s American Gramaphone. Kurtis Produc- The head of the Environmental Protec- hot springs and thermal features to present tions of Chicago is responsible for tech- tion Agency participated in a ceremonial this and other U.S. National Parks as nical production of the film and has do- transfer of the properties on September scientifically valuable reservoirs of bio- nated footage from a previous park shoot. 15 at the LaDuke trailhead north of logical diversity and places that play a Through a cooperative agreement with Gardiner, Montana. role in national life. By providing a win- Yellowstone, WFED also has been work- dow on the unexplored biological fron- ing to enhance public understanding of New Pronghorn Studies to Begin tiers represented by Yellowstone’s the park’s bioprospecting initiative. To 10,000+ thermal features, the film will this end, WFED and the YCR are produc- In July, the Superintendent approved draw parallels between 19th-century ex- ing a report on bioprospecting at funding for a new pronghorn study that plorations of the park and 20th-century Yellowstone to be available in 1999. will take place over the next three years. discoveries that provide glimpses of the For additional information about the This work will focus on the relationship origins of life on earth and clues about film or the bioprospecting report, con- between pronghorn nutritional status and possible life elsewhere in the universe. tact: WFED, 1000 16th Street, NW, Suite fawn production as well as investigating The film is a major output from the 415, Washington, DC 20036, Fax (202) the timing and causes of fawn mortality. Yellowstone Thermophiles Conservation 463-9376, E-mail: [email protected]. The research will be led by Dr. John Project (YTCP), launched in 1997 by the Byers of the University of Idaho, who has World Foundation for Environment and Errata conducted research for the past 17 years Development (WFED) in cooperation The previous issue of Yellowstone Sci- on pronghorn at the National Bison Range with the Yellowstone Center for Re- ence featured an article about wolver- in Moiese, Montana. Dr. Byers is cur- sources, the National Park Foundation, ines, an elusive mustelid native to the rently involved in studies in New Mexico and the Yellowstone Park Foundation. park. Alert readers may have noticed that and Colorado that will provide a basis for Major support for the film has also been the opening page of the article features a comparison with the Yellowstone popu- provided by the American Society for background image of a different (though lation. This new research will provide Microbiology, the Cleveland Foundation, similarly tenacious) mustelid—the bad- valuable insights into factors influencing and other donors. Walter Cronkite volun- ger. This graphic error is the responsibil- the small, isolated, and recently declin- teered his talent for narration of the film, ity of the publications staff and not at all ing Yellowstone pronghorn population. and musical talent is being donated by that of the article’s authors. We regret the Chip Davis of Mannheim Steamroller/ case of mistaken identity. Park Hires New Wildlife Biologist

Yellowstone welcomes Dr. Glenn Plumb to the staff of the Center for Re- sources, in a newly created position as a section leader in charge of wildlife moni- toring and management programs. Dr. Plumb began his new duties in late Octo- ber. His most recent position has been at Badlands National Park in South Dakota, where he was responsible for reintroduc- Badger. Wolverine. NPS photos. Fall 1998 25