Heritage and Research Center
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
v o l u m e 1 2 • n u m b e r 4 • f a l l 2 0 0 4 MythHeritage and History in and the Creation Research of Yellowstone CenterNational Park Yellowstone’s Botanist and Herbarium Musings from the Berry Patch The Bridge Bay Spires This 1902 first edition of John Muir’s Our National Parks includes an essay on his 1885 visit to Yellowstone. The book is inscribed to Hiram Chittenden, who donated it to the park. It now resides in the research library in the Yellowstone Heritage and Research Center. Sharing Our Heritage HE DUST HAS SETTLED. Those of you who live in or artifacts, or an original Moran painting, or some of the first pass through Gardiner may have noticed the Yellow- ranger uniforms, or the Shaw and Powell stagecoach, and on Tstone Heritage and Research Center (HRC) rising up and on. For more information on the history of the collections and taking form this past year. Finally, Yellowstone will have a and the HRC, read Tami Blackford’s article in this issue. state-of-the-art facility, commensurate with the quality of the The HRC also preserves many natural history items. In collections it houses. Prior to this, the park’s historians, archi- this building, you’ll find geology, paleontology, and archeology vists, librarians, and curators struggled heroically to preserve labs. A Yellowstone Science interview with park botanist Jennifer our invaluable items in the cramped quarters of the basement Whipple goes into detail about the park’s herbarium, now in of the Albright Visitor Center. Interpreters working upstairs the HRC. Dr. Russell Cuhel’s article about the spire removed tell stories about these faithful stewards of our history quickly from the bottom of Yellowstone Lake, which now resides in mobilizing to carry out our most treasured and sensitive objects the park’s museum collection, highlights a research effort that in cardboard boxes whenever there was a plumbing accident in was inspiring both scientifically and aesthetically. the restrooms above. This fall, after cleaning up my family’s home in Florida The title of the recent management consultant book, Who after a barrage of hurricanes, I took a well-needed vacation Moved My Cheese?, echoes in my mind the question, “Who to Europe for several weeks. I saw the remarkable natural and moved our heritage?” The answer: teams of curators from all cultural history collections in Vienna, Austria, preserved by the over the National Park System, who flew in to assist with this foresight and largesse of Empress Maria Theresa. I marveled at Herculean task that required such precision and care, all under the awesome beauty of the Swiss Alps. In Florence, I viewed the direction of park curator Colleen Curry, who not only mas- Michelangelo’s masterpiece sculpture of David. I hiked the terminded this monumental effort, but planned a wedding trails of Italy’s Cinqueterre National Park. I stayed in a restored (her own) at the same time. farmhouse villa dating back to the year 998. I was immersed When the HRC opens, we will be able to offer much not only in the Tuscan sun, but in its history, vineyards, food, easier access to our library, archives, and museum collections. wine, and the good will of its people who were proud to share We will finally be able to more readily share our heritage with their culture. Walking through the narrow stone streets of the park employees, visiting researchers, and interested members medieval hill town of Assisi to the Basilica of St. Francis, I of the public; the HRC has a large reading room and a public came upon a strangely familiar sight—the same plaque denot- research room for this purpose. The accomplished interpreter, ing a World Heritage Site as we have here in Yellowstone. I Freeman Tilden, wrote about the power of “the thing itself.” was reminded of the international significance of Yellowstone’s Yellowstone’s collection has 5.3 million such things. Together, resources, and was happier still that we will soon be better able they tell the origin stories of Yellowstone, the National Park to share our heritage with people from all parts of the world. Service, and the world-wide conservation movement. I get inspired each time I see things like a first edition of John Muir’s Our National Parks, signed by the author, or Native American a quarterly devoted to natural and cultural resources volume 12 • number 4 • fall 2004 ROGER J. ANDERSON Editor TAMI BLACKFORD Associate Editor and Graphic Designer A snowplane cockpit and a circa 1915 plate from the Canyon Hotel. Both items are part of the museum collection, which now resides in the Heritage and Research Center. MARY ANN FRANKE VIRGINIA WARNER ALICE WONDRAK BIEL Assistant Editors FEATURES ARTCRAFT PRINTERS, INC. Bozeman, Montana Printer 5 Heritage and Research Center Yellowstone’s museum, library, and archival collections finally move into a home worthy of their international significance. Tami Blackford 25 Yellowstone’s Botanist and Herbarium A YS interview with park botanist Jennifer Whipple. Yellowstone Science is published quarterly. Support for Yellowstone Science is provided by the Yellowstone Association, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to serving The Bridge Bay Spires the park and its visitors. For more information 35 about the association, including membership, These recently discovered natural wonders educate and inspire. or to donate to the production of Yellowstone Science, visit www.yellowstoneassociation.org or write: Yellowstone Association, P.O. Box 117, Dr. Russell L. Cuhel, et al. Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190. The opinions expressed in Yellowstone Science are the authors’ and may not reflect either National Park Service policy or the views of the Yellowstone Center for Resources. DEPARTMENTS Copyright © 2004, the Yellowstone Association for Natural Science, History & Education. For back issues of Yellowstone Science, please see 2 News & Notes www.nps.gov/yell/publications. Lynx Travels • Nez Perce Ceremony • Bird Deaths at Heart Lake Submissions are welcome from all investigators • NPS Archeologist Receives Honor • Fourth and Seventh conducting formal research in the Yellowstone area. To submit proposals for articles, Conference Proceedings Almost Available • Glen Cole’s Passing to subscribe, or to send a letter to the editor, please write to the following address: Editor, Yellowstone Science, P.O. Box 168, 41 Book Review Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190. You may also email: [email protected]. Myth and History in the Creation of Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone Science is printed on recycled paper by Paul Schullery and Lee Whittlesey with a soy-based ink. Kim Allen Scott on the cover: 43 Nature Notes The Yellowstone Heritage and Musings from the Berry Patch Research Center, 2004. NPS photo by Virginia Warner. Sue Consolo Murphy ALL PHOTOS NOT OTHERWISE MARKED ARE NPS. 45 From the Archives NEWS & NOTES NPS/TAMI BLACKFORD Translocated Canada Lynx Perce Creek for a memorial and pipe gifts were presented by the Nez Perce. Travels Through YNP ceremony to commemorate their ances- Everyone participated in the conclu- tors who endured hardship and died sion of the gathering, the retiring of the This past summer, a biologist with in the park during the 1877 Nez Perce eagle-feather staffs, which, to the Nez the Colorado Division of Wildlife War. The memorial was also open to Perce, is like the lowering of the Ameri- notified Yellowstone staff that a male and attended by park visitors and staff, can flag. lynx they had translocated from Brit- including Superintendent Suzanne ish Columbia to Colorado was passing Lewis and Deputy Superintendent Bird Deaths at Heart Lake through the Greater Yellowstone Area. Frank Walker, who for almost eight The lynx was released in March 2003 years was superintendent of Nez Perce During the last week of August, and equipped with a Dopplar collar National Historical Park in Spalding, park ornithologist Terry McEneaney tracked by satellite. In early June, he Idaho. was notified of several songbird deaths left his established home range in the Nez Perce Elder Horace Axtell and reported by visitors at Heart Lake. Snowy Mountains of Wyoming. At the Tribal Council Member Wilfred Scott Richard Jones, backcountry ranger at end of July, he was west of Jackson, led the ceremony. It began with a brief Heart Lake, collected several songbirds Wyoming. In early August, he was introduction, which was followed by and relayed information concerning the located near the Grassy Lake Reservoir drumming, singing, and a flute song findings to McEneaney. On September between Yellowstone and Grand Teton played by Levi Holt. All the men 1, McEneaney traveled to Heart Lake National Parks, and then near Mam- present at the ceremony were invited to identify the species and examine moth Hot Springs in Yellowstone. to join the pipe circle, and then all the scene where the deaths occurred. By late August he was north of Livings- women veterans and law enforcement Although West Nile Virus has not ton, Montana, near the Crazy Moun- officials as well. reached YNP yet, it could occur at any tains. In October, the lynx turned west Eight Nez Perce Appaloosa Horse time, and this incident was investi- and was located north of Missoula, Club members in full regalia rode gated thoroughly, to either rule it out Montana. down the hill and around the pipe or properly document it. With help This is considered an unusual move circle three times counter-clockwise. from two wildlife pathologists, necrop- for a lynx translocated to Colorado, but Kay Kidder, president of the Nez Perce sies were performed on several of the long distance moves by lynx in general Appaloosa Horse Club, Director of specimens. All concluded that because are not uncommon.