A Journey through Yellowstone in 1905

In
the summer of 1905, a teacher from Buffalo, New York visited Yellowstone National Park. Along the way, she kept a detailed journal of her experience, the sites she
saw, and people she met on her journey.

Yellowstone Travel Journal Map (1905) by Author UnkownWyoming State Museum

A trip through Yellowstone National Park around the turn of the 20th century would have taken about 6 days. Starting at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel near Gardiner, Montana at the north end of the park, travelers boarded a wagon that took them counter-clockwise in a loop around the park.

Yellowstone Travel Journal Page 24 (1905) by Author UnkownWyoming State Museum

Approaching the Park
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Day 1: Visitors arrived in Gardiner on one of two daily trains from Livingston. In Gardiner, they boarded a six-horse coach that took them to Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel for their first night in the park.

Yellowstone Travel Journal Page 34 (1905) by Author UnkownWyoming State Museum

Mammoth Hot Springs
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Day 1: Upon arrival at the hotel, visitors checked in and received passes for the touring wagons. After that, they were free to explore the terraces and formations of Mammoth Hot Springs for the rest of the day.

Yellowstone Travel Journal Page 56 (1905) by Author UnkownWyoming State Museum

A Roomy, Comfortable Coach
00:00

Day 2: As many as 300 visitors rose early and gathered in the hotel plaza where they were assigned a seat on a four-horse touring wagon that would transport them on a five-day loop of the park.

Yellowstone Travel Journal Page 88 (1905) by Author UnkownWyoming State Museum

Old Faithful
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Day 3: After a night at the Fountain Hotel, tourists took the short coach ride to the Old Faithful Inn. They spent the afternoon exploring the Upper Geyser Basin and enjoyed the Inn’s fireplace and popcorn in the evening.

Yellowstone Travel Journal Page 138 (1905) by Author UnkownWyoming State Museum

Yellowstone Lake
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Day 4: The next morning tourists took the 19-mile trip to the shores of Yellowstone Lake, where they stopped for lunch before continuing on to the Lake Hotel.

Yellowstone Travel Journal Page 146 (1905) by Author UnkownWyoming State Museum

Seeing Bears
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Day 4: In the early days of Yellowstone, bears were intentionally drawn to open garbage heaps near hotels. Visitors looked on while accompanied by an armed ranger. As the number of bear injuries rose, the park banned bear feeding.

Yellowstone Travel Journal Page 170 (1905) by Author UnkownWyoming State Museum

Yellowstone Canyon
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Day 5: Tourists continued to the Canyon Hotel where they ate lunch before visiting Inspiration Point to view Yellowstone Falls and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Yellowstone Travel Journal Page 186 (1905) by Author UnkownWyoming State Museum

Journey's End
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Day 6: The journey ended where it began. After a ride to Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, visitors returned to Gardiner, where they boarded a train that would take them back to their homes.

Credits: Story

The Yellowstone Journal comes to the Wyoming State Museum courtesy of the Wyoming State Archives.

The Journal is on view on the first floor of the museum, in the Wagon 99 exhibit. A digital copy of the entire journal is available at the Wagon 99 kiosk.

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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