After we crossed the South Dakota border, we were in Wyoming.
Buffalo Bill statue in Cody WY
"Buffalo Bill -- the Scout," a bronze sculpture of William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody as a western scout at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming. The statue was created in 1924 to commemorate the town's most famous resident and de facto founder, Buffalo Bill Cody
We got to Yellowstone National Park on the 4th of July. In Yellowstone, because of the bears they would not let us camp without a tent, so we stayed in a cabin. The only fireworks we could have were sparklers.
A bear
Bear holding up traffic - Yellowstone
Back then the bears still came to the dump by the Old Faithful Inn (people staying there would go out on the veranda at night to watch-it was a central part of the Yellowstone experience (both advertised and felt) for decades.) and they came right up to the cars begging for food. It was not until 1970, when Yellowstone banned visitors from feeding bears and set up bear-proof garbage containers around the Park, that bear feeding came to a full stop.
Mostly the animals that we saw were bears, but we did see a moose. I took a photo of it with my little Brownie camera - when the film was developed and the print came back, disappointingly, the moose was only the size of my little fingernail.
Old Faithful
Old Faithful
My sister, my mother and me at Biscuit Basin
Boardwalk around thermal pools
Biscuit Basin
Morning Glory Pool
Morning Glory pool was still a beautiful blue. The vents hadn't yet been clogged by people throwing things in it. (It was said that if you threw in a linen handkerchief, it would come back laundered)
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
There are two falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone but because the river bends between them, you can't see both of the falls from the same point.
Lower Falls Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
When we went to the park in 1948, we were given some kind of schedule with the locations of the geysers and their normal schedule. We tracked some of them down and then waited for them to erupt. My sister remembers the smell of sulfur.
Steam
Geyser
Waiting for an eruption
Grotto Geyser
When we left Yellowstone we went by the Grand Tetons and we camped in the car late one evening - it was dark so we couldn't see our surroundings. We woke up next to a snowbank.
My first visit to Wyoming (that I remember) was back about 1943 to visit my Great Uncle Leonard and Great Aunt Bertha That's where we went next. Uncle Leonard was the brother of my grandmother (my father's mother). He was born in Germany and came to the US in 1893 with his family when he was 11. He worked at various jobs including as a cowboy, but he met his wife Bertha Meyers when he was in engine service with the Union Pacific Railroad. They married in 1914, and in 1917 they built their home at 1310 Garfield in Laramie Wyoming
They lived there until he died in 1965. She outlived him by 20 years.
Great Uncle Leonard and Great Aunt Bertha in front of their house
Me and my mother and sister sitting on the steps with Uncle Leonard and Aunt Bertha
Great Uncle Leonard - a fault in the film makes it look like his gun has fired from the holster
Uncle Leonard brought out his cowboy gear for us to try - hats and chaps.
Me dressed in chaps
There was a photo of Daddy in cowboy gear too, but I can't find it.
Buffalo Bill statue in Cody WY
"Buffalo Bill -- the Scout," a bronze sculpture of William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody as a western scout at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming. The statue was created in 1924 to commemorate the town's most famous resident and de facto founder, Buffalo Bill Cody
We got to Yellowstone National Park on the 4th of July. In Yellowstone, because of the bears they would not let us camp without a tent, so we stayed in a cabin. The only fireworks we could have were sparklers.
A bear
Bear holding up traffic - Yellowstone
Back then the bears still came to the dump by the Old Faithful Inn (people staying there would go out on the veranda at night to watch-it was a central part of the Yellowstone experience (both advertised and felt) for decades.) and they came right up to the cars begging for food. It was not until 1970, when Yellowstone banned visitors from feeding bears and set up bear-proof garbage containers around the Park, that bear feeding came to a full stop.
Mostly the animals that we saw were bears, but we did see a moose. I took a photo of it with my little Brownie camera - when the film was developed and the print came back, disappointingly, the moose was only the size of my little fingernail.
Old Faithful
Old Faithful
My sister, my mother and me at Biscuit Basin
Boardwalk around thermal pools
Biscuit Basin
Morning Glory Pool
Morning Glory pool was still a beautiful blue. The vents hadn't yet been clogged by people throwing things in it. (It was said that if you threw in a linen handkerchief, it would come back laundered)
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
There are two falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone but because the river bends between them, you can't see both of the falls from the same point.
Lower Falls Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
When we went to the park in 1948, we were given some kind of schedule with the locations of the geysers and their normal schedule. We tracked some of them down and then waited for them to erupt. My sister remembers the smell of sulfur.
Steam
Geyser
Waiting for an eruption
Grotto Geyser
When we left Yellowstone we went by the Grand Tetons and we camped in the car late one evening - it was dark so we couldn't see our surroundings. We woke up next to a snowbank.
My first visit to Wyoming (that I remember) was back about 1943 to visit my Great Uncle Leonard and Great Aunt Bertha That's where we went next. Uncle Leonard was the brother of my grandmother (my father's mother). He was born in Germany and came to the US in 1893 with his family when he was 11. He worked at various jobs including as a cowboy, but he met his wife Bertha Meyers when he was in engine service with the Union Pacific Railroad. They married in 1914, and in 1917 they built their home at 1310 Garfield in Laramie Wyoming
They lived there until he died in 1965. She outlived him by 20 years.
Great Uncle Leonard and Great Aunt Bertha in front of their house
Me and my mother and sister sitting on the steps with Uncle Leonard and Aunt Bertha
Great Uncle Leonard - a fault in the film makes it look like his gun has fired from the holster
Uncle Leonard brought out his cowboy gear for us to try - hats and chaps.
Me dressed in chaps
There was a photo of Daddy in cowboy gear too, but I can't find it.
- Next entry in the series 'Exploring the USA by Car': Cheyenne Rodeo - 1948 - Fourth Post
- Previous entry in the series 'Exploring the USA by Car': Camping in the Badlands in 1948 - Second Post
