Adventures in Yellowstone: Early Travelers Tell Their Tales [Paperback]

M. Mark Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 4, 2009

Indians and mountain men, grizzly attacks and geyser burns, an essential compilation of the most vivid and gripping first person accounts of the early years of our nation's oldest National Park.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Gripping first-person accounts of the early years of America’s most cherished national park

 

After its establishment in 1872, Yellowstone National Park was sufficiently famous that a surprising number of people risked bear maulings, Indian attacks, and geyser burns just to glimpse its wonders. Many of those who survived wrote about their adventures. The best of those stories are collected here, in Adventures in Yellowstone. 

This compilation includes a dozen narratives—journal entries, letters, and diaries—with individual introductions as well as historic photographs, postcards, and woodcuts. From Osborne Russell’s colorful early accounts of the daily lives of mountain men in the 1840s to a story by Eleanor Corthell, who in 1903 took her seven children on a two-month, 1,200-mile tour of the park by wagon, each story opens a new window on a long-overlooked aspect of our nation’s history.

About the Author

M. Mark Miller is a fifth-generation Montanan whose articles on Yellowstone and Montana history have appeared in Big Sky Journal and Pioneer Museum Quarterly. A participant in the Speakers Bureau of Humanities Montana, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, he has long been researching early travel to Yellowstone. He lives in Bozeman, Montana.

 

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: TwoDot; First edition (August 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762754141
• ISBN-13: 978-0762754144
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #884,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

M. Mark Miller returned home to Montana in 2003 after a career as a newspaper reporter and journalism professor. These days he stays busy researching Montana history. His current focus is early trips to Yellowstone National Park.

Miller worked for Montana newspapers while in college at the University of Montana. After graduating, he was a reporter and editor for newspapers in Utah and Kentucky. After earning a doctorate, he was a professor at the Universities of Wisconsin and Tennessee teaching mass media effects, public opinion, and communication research methods. His research has appeared in scholarly journals including Journalism and Mass Communications Quarterly, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, and Public Opinion Quarterly.

He has been researching Yellowstone National Park since in 2003 has a collection of more than 250 first-person accounts of park travel before 1915. Globe Pequot published his book, Adventures in Yellowstone: Early Travelers Tell Their Tales, in August 2009.

Miller's articles on Yellowstone Park and Montana history have appeared in the Big Sky Journal and the Pioneer Museum Quarterly. He is seeking a publisher for his middle-grades novel about a 14-year-old boy's adventures in Yellowstone Park in 1871 and is working on a narrative history of the encounters between the Nez Perce Indians and tourists in Yellowstone Park in 1877.

He lives in Bozeman where he volunteers at the Pioneer Museum. Miller also is a reader for the Montana Book Award.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating trip through early Yellowstone, October 8, 2009

By 

Patricia N. Chism (Etna, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Adventures in Yellowstone: Early Travelers Tell Their Tales (Paperback)

As promised, Adventures in Yellowstone is a fascinating account of how Yellowstone was discovered, documented, and enjoyed by the earliest travelers to the area. Anyone who has spent time in the great outdoors will appreciate the stories of discovery, and be amazed by the hardships encountered and overcome. The stories of the first women travelers to the area are fascinating, and for this female adventurer, inspiring. A must read for all who apreciate our beautiful national parks, especially the unique treasure that is Yellowstone.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Where are the "tall" tales?, October 7, 2009

By 

Ronald W. Sitton - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Adventures in Yellowstone: Early Travelers Tell Their Tales (Paperback)

If you caught Ken Burns documentary on the National Parks, you've no doubt heard that Yellowstone National Park is America's first National Park. That may be the only story not told in M. Mark Miller's book, "Adventures in Yellowstone: Early Travelers Tell Their Tales."

Miller takes those interested in Yellowstone's history on a captivating tour through the eyes of some of the earliest records from white Americans visiting the region. Those who saw Burns documentary will recognize the story of the Washburn Expedition and Truman Everts' 37 perilous days; if that's enough for you, stick to the documentary. For the rest of us, Miller abbreviates 12 fascinating accounts into an anthology of stories that made me rethink Yellowstone.

Sure, I saw the Yellowstone I know by reading Margaret Cruikshank's jaded account of too many visitors ... granted, that was in 1883. But I also gained a new appreciation for the natural wonders revealed through the eyes of Nathaniel Pitt Langford, the Earl of Dunraven and Stephen M. Dale, each of whom tried to describe the majesty of Yellowstone Falls, each of whom acknowledged their limitations through words. It reminded me of the insatiable longing to see the next curiosity described by Emma Cowan and Eleanor Corthell, as well as Carrie Adell Strahorn's feeling that I was too close to beauty to be deterred from seeing it.

I read the book tonight over 5 hours instead of making class notes or grading papers; I think that's indication enough that it's captivating. Granted, I studied under Miller, so I may be biased. But considering that was more of a "quantitative" tour, I found his "qualitative" story-telling not only informative but highly enjoyable. He documents where he found the stories, and provides additional readings for those not content with the abridged versions. Though he doesn't claim to be a historian, he provides the trail for historians wishing to follow his tracks.

Lest I forget, Miller does provide the "tall tale" of creating a national park in Langford's account. He corrects misunderstandings in the accounts of Langford, Strahorn and Henry Calfee, and generally warns you about "outlandish" tales. But I cannot pinpoint any other "outright fabrications" he warns the reader about in the preface. Miller claims not to fret over the "literal truth" in seeking to compel modern readers; I think he succeeded in his goal.

Besides, only the most exaggerated embellishments must have done justice to a pristine Yellowstone. If there's a better sample, somebody please send it to me.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So interesting even my husband (who does not read) picks it up!, September 12, 2009

By 

I love to read! "SEB" (Batavia, New York USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Adventures in Yellowstone: Early Travelers Tell Their Tales (Paperback)

You'd have to be a National Park or a history buff, but if either fits you, this is a very interesting book. Little vignettes from different people who travelled thru the region.