Janet Chapple

Travel is much more accessible these days than it was a century ago, and as a result travel narratives proliferate, both in print and on the web. That means there's not much that's truly new in the genre, not much left to write ... though that doesn't stop people from trying. As much as nearly anywhere, that axiom is especially true for America's great National Parks; a place like Yellowstone, for example, get around four million visitors these days, nearly all of whom share what is show more essentially the same oft-told experience that has characterized the park since the arrival of the automobile. People know that, and at some level, they know what their experience is likely to be even before they arrive.

Things were much different, though, a century ago. In 1900 fewer than 10,000 people visited the park, and Yellowstone was far from becoming a national tourism cliché. Regardless of how one traveled through the park, the experience was still bound to be an adventure into the unknown, one marked by a feeling of excitement and wonder. The narratives of that day, no matter how prosaic in tone, couldn't help but reflect that sense of real adventure. And that, in short, is what makes this book so wonderful. The stories have a trailblazer's romance to them, a feeling of being part of something new and grand ... and this gives them a remarkable, evocative power that makes them well worth reading.

The volume itself is well-done, too, giving these stories the respect and presentation they deserve. The selection of essays is balanced and appropriate; the annotations and notes are professional and thoughtful, even including definitions of arcane terms; and the book is well composed, with relevant period illustrations, quality page layout, and good paper. All in all, this is an outstanding publication effort, one of the best anthologies of National Park literature I've seen.

Highly recommended. show less

This is a wonderful collection of early travel accounts through Yellowstone during the years 1870 to 1916. Selected and annotated by Janet Chapple, this anthology effectively presents the awe and amazement of travellers as they experienced the remarkable natural wonders of Yellowstone. The stories are a joy to read, as these adventurers documented their experiences with a delightful style, descriptively and enthusiastically detailing their wonderment at this unique sector of the American show more landscape.

With an evident passion for Yellowstone, Chapple provides detailed prefatory notes on the illustrations (including Thomas H. Thomas’s sublime watercolor sketches), and an informative introduction providing historical context. In addition, she meticulously introduces and annotates each individual account, providing the reader some welcomed background on both the writer and the circumstance of the excursion.

Highlights of the anthology include Elwood “Billy” Hofer’s 1887 “Winter in Wonderland” ski excursion; Frank D. Lenz’s 1892 cycling tour; hiker C. Hanford Henderson’s 1899 walk around the Grand Loop Road; and journalist Ray Stannard Baker’s 1903 tour via horseback. Another small, but noteworthy, touch is the evocative old-fashioned fonts used for the chapter headings. This is an exemplary work, fully immersive to time and place; and highly recommended for lovers of Yellowstone and those appreciative of fine historical travel writing. show less

I found the early accounts of traveling through Yellowstone Park a real treat to read, interesting and engaging, and sometimes quite fun. My favorites were Eleanor Quackenbush Corthell's account of traveling by wagon with her eight young children; and the beautifully illustrated account by Welsh artist, Thomas H. Thomas, including many color plates. The most memorable selection to me, though, was only two pages long, the very brief, but tense, account by George L. Henderson of his horse show more being stuck in a bog. This is a very handsome book, with many maps and illustrations, and notes for each selection. In particular, the introductions and biographical sketches of the authors that preceded each account provided very welcome context. show less

This book is a compilation of early accounts (late 1800s and early 1900s) that individuals wrote about their experiences visiting and exploring Yellowstone Park, under very difficult and sometimes dangerous conditions. The book is very well illustrated, with maps and early drawing, plus a whole section of reproductions of coloured watercolour paintings by Thomas H. Thomas. The book is well annotated with all kinds of extra information to put the accounts and drawings into context, and to show more give modern names and information when this differs from how things were back then.

There are lots of amusing anecdotes in some of the tales. I particularly liked the account by a mother who took her 7 children (oldest barely 16) in a wagon on a journey to Yellowstone of some 1200 miles, living outdoors for 2 months and crossing mountains and deserts. When their wagon broke down and they had to look for help in getting it fixed, she discovered that she had left her pocketbook on the hall table at home and so had no money to pay for any supplies or fixing the wagon! Luckily, the rancher she asked for help was kind and trusting. Another account describes how his poor pack ponies would sometimes get stuck trying to jump over fallen logs, and one got over a log by somersaulting several times and was none the worse for it!

This is a very interesting book to treasure. Highly recommended. show less