Travels with Grace: The Wonders of Yellowstone

In today’s #TravelingWithGrace we explore more geysers, enjoy the landscapes of Wyoming, and even eat some fish. To read more of Grace’s travels, click here.

Saturday, July 19, 1947

Yellowstone Park, Wyoming

Weather: Fine

The governor of West Virginia is also staying here but plays second fiddle to Dewey who held a reception for all the guests last night as they queued up to shake hands with him and his wife (Charles among others). Today I took quite a long walk with Helene and then we sat on the porch, read and watched the ever-changing throngs milling around Old Faithful. From the porch we can see the whole upper geyser basin. Every now and then another fountain gushes up in the air and the plumes of white steam wave constantly. There is a geyser swimming pool too.

Vintage WPA poster for Yellowstone National Park, c. 1930-940, designed by C. Don Powell. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Sunday, July 20, 1947

Weather: Fine

Sat on the porch at Old Faithful this morning, our last day here, watching the geyser and writing letters. Left the hotel after lunch and rode to Canyon. Scenery along the way magnificent. First to Madison Junction, then the Gibbon river and Gibbon Falls, then the Norris Geyser Basin where we saw a [puddy?] geyser and one which was old rose in color. There is a plateau called white porcelain and it looks just like that. Some of the geysers in this area look and sound like steam locomotives. Our first view of the canyon and falls of the Yellowstone was breath-taking.

Norris Geyser Basin, c. 1940. Courtesy of the National Park Service.

Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River, c. 1892. Photo by William Henry Jackson, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Monday, July 21, 1947

Weather: Fair

Last night we listened to a nice organ concert and several members of the Lyons Club sang solos very well. Today we went to Artist’s Point where we had a marvelous view of the lower Yellowstone Falls and part of the canyon. The colors are soft and lovely with yellow predominating. Hence the name. The water in the gorge is jade green where it is not flecked with foam and the walls shade from yellow to orange to brown with a but of red and gray for added interest. We saw an eagle’s nest high up in the crags. Lots of ospreys here.

Basalt columns in Yellowstone National Park, June 23, 2008. Photo by Brocken Inaglory.

Tuesday, July 22, 1947

Weather: Sunny to rainy

Left the hotel at 10 this morning going to the Northeast Gate. On the way we stopped to look at the Basalt Flow, a strange rock formation which looks like a double row of paling fences fused together and at one side of the road, overhanging it by several feet is a black basalt rock which looks like a curtain to a giant stage. Near here is Camp Roosevelt where we stopped for gasoline and notices the cabins which are very tiny and poorly furnished. We followed the Yellowstone River and later it joins the La Mar. In this section we saw several fawns and good-sized moose in addition to the ubiquitous bears, mostly brown. We passed a strange rock form like a sugar loaf which is called Salt Butte. Here we met some people who told us to go some 40 miles beyond the fate in Montana for more beautiful scenery. At this side of the park the mountains loom higher and rockier with seams of snow in their sides.

Cooke City Montana the North East entrance to Yellowstone Park, c. 1940s. Courtesy of the Montana Memory Project.

Outside the park we went thru Cooke City which looks just like a camp town. We stopped in a little clearing in the pines near a mountain stream with a background of high peaks and ate our picnic lunch which we brought from the hotel. As we went further the country took on a wilder appearance, the road mounting constantly and the mountains looming higher and blacker/ There are some beautiful groves of silver birches and the wild flowers are simply gorgeous: Indian paintbrush (bright scarlet), yellow buttercup, pink daisies, tiny white ones, blue bells, purple fire weed, wild roses, lavender thistle, poppies, sky blue forget-me-nots, Queen Anne’s lace and many more. Helene picked a large bunch as we are not allowed to gather any in the park.

We rode into Shoshone National Forest and went up a high mountain to the observation tower where a government watcher is stationed to look out for fires and make meteorological studies. He lives like a lighthouse keeper and is almost as isolated. He seemed genuinely glad to see us and invited us in saying that occasionally a motorcyclist visits him but rarely an automobile party. We are now at an elevation of 11,000 feet and there is a sea of shimmering snowy peaks around and seemingly on a level with us. While here a severe thunderstorm broke and the lightening display is quite formidable. For a little while it hailed and coming down the clay road was very slippery, so we all held our breath as the car once or twice skidded toward the edge. We went on a little further and saw some beautiful falls descending in speedy torrents throwing out volumes of spray and making a thundering noise as they plunged headlong from the upper precipices. We went up a zigzagging road called the switchback which went to the top of a 12,000-foot mountain and looked down on a countless number of little lakes, one of the most charming panoramas we have seen to date. Altogether it has been well worth the ride. We returned to the hotel about 6 and after dinner watched the dancing in the lounge which continues every night until 11. It is quite dignified.

Mud volcano, Yellowstone National Park, c. 1912. Created for the Northern Pacific Railway, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

July 23, 1947

Weather: Morning clear followed by rain

We visited the mud volcano basin this afternoon. The big sputtering gray bubbles fascinate me. On some of the lakes we saw a number of pelicans diving for fish. Another pretty sight are the large rocks near the upper Falls completely covered with sea gulls. A lot of fisherman (male and female) were out in boats or up to their knees in water despite the drenching rain.

Fishing Bridge, c. 1940. Courtesy of the National Park Service.

At Fisherman’s bridge we met a little tow-headed boy proudly displaying his catch of 2 trout. I asked if he wanted to sell them. He hesitated and said, “If you wait 15 minutes, I will let you know.” In 5 minutes, he ran back nodding agreement and said he would sell them for 20 cents apiece. They were silver beauties fresh from the lake and I paid him willingly. We put them in a candy box which we had just emptied and then he ran back to say his mother wanted to snap his picture holding the fish. So, we took them out and he put them back on the hooks and posed with them help out conspicuously. When he gave them back, he said, “This is a good way to make money for my vacation. The only reason why I’m selling them though is because my mother won’t cook them.” The chef at the hotel however cooked them for me and I thoroughly enjoyed my dinner this cold evening, consisting of: tomato bisque, the broiled trout, peas, baked potato, fruit salad, fresh strawberry sundae and coffee. Today we found a card on our windshield “Hi neighbor, we’re from Balto. Md. too,” engraved Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Muhly. But we didn’t bother to look them up. Watched dancing and exchanged travel talk with others.

Thanks for reading “Traveling with Grace,” a series where we’re sharing (and annotating) posts from the travel diaries of Grace Amelia Hecht, native Baltimorean, b. 1897 and d. 1955. As mentioned in my introductory post transcription errors sometimes occur and I’ve made my best guesses where possible, denoted by [brackets]. – Rachel Kassman, marketing manager