Yellowstone National Park's First 130 Years

In 1878, Luther "Yellowstone" Kelly, a frontier scout, described travel through Yellowstone in the following account:

"In the chill mist of early morning, we passed like ghosts along a rude road into the geyser basin . . .the trail had disappeared and we were treading a crust that sounded hollow and was hot to touch. I dismounted and led my horse carefully around the thin places for fear he would break through and scald his legs. . .at this time there were practically no trails in the park aside from game trails, only a rough track connecting the geyser basin with Mammoth Hot Springs."

When Norris arrived in 1877, there were approximately 32 miles of roads and 108 miles of trails. By the time he left in 1882, there were five times as many roads and twice as many trails. The roads were crude and many described them as only "fair" wagon trails. Still, they provided access to "the land of wonders."

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