Gayle M Irwin

Yellowstone National Park, the first established national park in the United States and the world, was officially created by the United States government on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone, as a national park, will be 153 years old in less than a week. What an amazing accomplishment for America ... and the world!

Numerous Native American tribes used and traveled through the area now known as Yellowstone. Including ancestors of Kiowa and Salish. However, evidence shows that as long as 10,000 to 11,000 years ago, ancient peoples hunted game and gathered plants in this region. John Colter, a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, is noted as the first European-American to view Yellowstone in 1807-1808, however, fur trappers and traders used the rivers in the area prior to Colter’s arrival. In 1869, 1870, and 1871, official expeditions traveled Yellowstone, and from these reports came calls to protect this unique landscape.

Learn more about the history of Yellowstone here: https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/historyculture/timeline.htm
 

Thanks to the foresight of scientists, businesspeople, and the American Congress and President, Yellowstone National Park, first called ‘The People’s Park” and “Wonderland,” this glorious area was set aside for generations to visit and enjoy. Last year, more than 4.7 million people visited the park, the second-highest number on record.

As a young child, I traveled with my parents from our home in Iowa to the wilds of Wyoming, hiking, camping, and driving through this incredible landscape. We encountered black and grizzly bears, bison, elk, swans, and other wildlife species, as well as steaming fumaroles, gushing geysers, and cascading waterfalls.

As an adult, I still visit this magnificent park, and I’m thankful for those 1800s visionaries who saw this region as not a place for condos and rich people, but for the natural beauty that can be seen and cherished by all. Yes, there are areas of development, for hotels, stores, gas stations, and visitors’ centers, but most of Yellowstone remains wild and majestic. Yellowstone touches souls. Wildlife encounters, fishing in streams and rivers, observing fountains of water roaring toward the sky, hearing bull elk bugle in autumn, watching trumpeter swans, a species that neared extinction 100 years ago as they glide along rivers, hearing eagles cry from nesting sites or soaring above the trees – each experience inspiring and stimulating.

 

For more than four years, I lived next door to this splendid space. Bison, elk, and moose, plus the occasional bear, were my neighbors. Observing bison in my yard, watching a grizzly chase an elk down a road, witnessing moose munch grass in the forest, encountering glorious wildflowers in hues of purple, pink, yellow, blue, and red, listening to sandhill cranes call from marshes, seeing groups of trumpeter swans fly overhead and a couple of the beautiful white birds with six young gliding in a river – such experiences are memories I’ll never forget. I am called back at least once a year and build new memories, such as bighorn sheep feeding on a hillside or a black bear building her den. I treasure each one. I treasure Yellowstone.

So, happy birthday, Yellowstone! May you always remain “The People’s Park,” “Wonderland” for us all!

As Yellowstone National Park celebrates its 153^rd birthday, take a look at some historical and contemporary photos of this splendid place provided on the Yellowstone Forever website. This organization serves as the non-profit foundation that supports the world’s first national park.

See the photos here:

https://www.yellowstone.org/yellowstone-then-and-now/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAq-u9BhCjARIsANLj-s3CIVRNLURfrYMSHPn4EW-7qxaWuLMf64bfdCyHGDrUGpDstx4GzR0aAjnLEALw_wcB

May you have opportunity to visit Yellowstone or at least one of the 63 designated national parks in America. There are more than 400 sites operated by the National Park Service (NPS), which include national monuments, battlefields, historic sites, and others. Learn more about this special treasures here: https://www.nationalparks.org/connect/blog/how-many-national-parks-are-there

One way I honor Yellowstone National Park is through my writing, not only through blogs and articles, but also with my Pet Rescue Romance series, a collection of seven sweet romance books set in and around Yellowstone. Not only do I weave pet rescue and adoption into the stories, but I highlight some areas inside Yellowstone where my characters visit, hike, and wildlife watch. The seven-book series is on sale (in e-book format) for only $6.99 starting this week and running through the month of March (normally sells for $8.99). I plan to donate a percentage of sales to two non-profit parks organizations: Yellowstone Forever and the National Park Foundation.

Join me in honoring Yellowstone and America’s other special sites known as national parks! Purchase my Pet Rescue Romance – Yellowstone Country Series from your favorite online bookstore using this link: https://books2read.com/u/bPLVX7