Yellowstone Homestead Grant

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The park was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress through the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. Management originally fell under the U.S. Department of the Interior, with Columbus Delano as the first Secretary of the Interior to supervise the park. The U.S. Army was commissioned to oversee management for 30 years between 1886 and 1916. In 1917, administration was transferred to the National Park Service, created the previous year. The park covers 3,468.4 sq mi (8,983 km2) and contains Yellowstone Lake, one of the largest high-elevation lakes in North America, covering part of the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest super volcano on the continent. The caldera is considered a dormant volcano, having erupted with tremendous force twice in the last two million years. Well over half of the world's geysers and hydrothermal features are in Yellowstone, fueled by ongoing volcanism. In 1978, Yellowstone was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In Their Own Story

The first detailed expedition to the Yellowstone area was the Cook–Folsom–Peterson Expedition of 1869, consisting of three privately funded explorers who followed the Yellowstone River to Yellowstone Lake and recorded their findings in a journal. Based on that information, the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition was organized in 1870, headed by surveyor-general of Montana Henry Washburn, including Nathaniel P. Langford and a U.S. Army detachment commanded by Lt. Gustavus Doane. The concept of a national park had been proposed as early as 1833 by painter George Catlin, who suggested America could benefit from maintaining a home where Native Americans could continue traditional patterns of land use. By the 1860s, public opinion had shifted toward confining Native Americans to reservations, and the national park was reimagined as a pristine wilderness free of human activity. Figures like lawyer Cornelius Hedges and Congressman William D. Kelley began writing in support of preserving Yellowstone this way around 1870.

Reader's Guide

Yellowstone National Park offers numerous recreational opportunities including hiking, camping, boating, fishing, and sightseeing. Paved roads provide close access to major geothermal areas as well as some lakes and waterfalls. During winter, visitors often access the park by guided tours using snow coaches or snowmobiles. The park is inhabited by grizzly bears, cougars, wolves, and free-ranging herds of bison and elk. The Yellowstone Park bison herd is the oldest and largest public bison herd in the United States. Forest fires occur each year; in the large forest fires of 1988, over one-third of the park was burnt. Hundreds of species of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians have been documented, including several that are endangered or threatened. The park is the centerpiece of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the largest remaining nearly intact ecosystem in the Earth's northern temperate zone.

Did You Know?

• Yellowstone was the first national park in the US and is widely understood to be the first national park in the world.
• Well over half of the world's geysers and hydrothermal features are in Yellowstone, fueled by ongoing volcanism from the Yellowstone Caldera.
• The U.S. Army oversaw management of Yellowstone for 30 years between 1886 and 1916 before the National Park Service took over in 1917.
• In the large forest fires of 1988, over one-third of the park was burnt.
• The Yellowstone Park bison herd is the oldest and largest public bison herd in the United States.