Location
Yellowstone national park is located in the northwest region of the United States of America. The park spans three states; Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. A huge chunk of the park is located in Wyoming about 96%, 3% to the north and northwest is Montana and some 1% to the west is in Idaho. The park is located in a rural setting with five entry points. In Montana, there are two gates with the towns of Gardiner at the North entrance and Cooke City at the silver gate being the closest to the park. In Idaho, the closest town to the park is Island Park that is home to the famous State Park. In Wyoming, the park is in proximity to the towns of East Yellowstone at the east entrance and Jackson Hole that is located in a valley between Teton Mountains and popular ski destination. The park is neighbored by other several parks that are within a day’s or two days’ drive from it and these include: Grand Teton National Park, Glacier National Park, Badlands National Park and Devils Tower National Monument.
Yellowstone National Park covers approximately 3500 square miles in the northwest corner of Wyoming (NPS.gov). The highest point in the park is Eagle Peak at an altitude of 3,462 meters. The lowest point in the park is Reese Creek at an altitude of 1610 meters. The park boasts of 80% forest cover. With most of the park being above 6000 feet, the park has very unpredictable weather with both extremes of temperatures experienced throughout the day. Rain and snowfall almost every other month of the year. The park is located on Yellowstone plateau and is virtually surrounded by mountain ranges of the Middle Rocky Mountains. The park is traversed by the continental divide of North America in the southwestern part with about a third of the park lying on the west side of the divide. This geographic feature causes the park to have two different drainage systems, one to the Pacific Ocean and another to the Atlantic Ocean.
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The park boasts of being home to the largest high-altitude lake in North America; Yellowstone lake that is about 400 feet deep with a shoreline of about 110 miles at 7,700 feet above sea level. The park has two main rivers; Snake River draining into the Pacific Ocean and Yellowstone River that flows to the Atlantic Ocean. The rivers of this park have curved out three deep canyons through the volcanic tuff of the plateau. Lewis Canyon in the south and two beautiful canyons the Grand Canyon and the Black Canyon curved by Yellowstone river. The park also has over 200 waterfalls of at least 15 feet on the rivers that flow through it with the highest being Lower falls at 308 feet.
Yellowstone national park sits on a volcanic hotspot along the route of the North American plate on the Yellowstone caldera which is the largest volcanic system in North America. The park hosts more than half of the world’s active geysers totaling to about 500. The most famous is the Old Faithful geysers that erupt about every 90 minutes. The park also hosts the world’s largest active geyser; the Steamboat Geyser in the Norris geyser basin. There are over 10,000 hydrothermal features in the park. The park experiences up to three thousand earthquakes annually, a proof of the active volcano plate beneath it.
Yellowstone national park is at the center of the larger Yellowstone ecosystem with over 300 different species of animals and thousands of plant species. Some are endangered species including the Canada lynx and grizzly bears. Most of the forest trees are of the pine Species
The park boasts of more than 1,800 archeological sites, twenty-six Native American tribes, thousands of museum items including 30 historic vehicles and millions of archived documents. The park has over 900 historic buildings, thousands of rare manuscripts and periodicals plus a national historic trail just to mention in brief its historical richness.
Origin
The large Yellowstone area was discovered by explorers and traders as they traveled across the country and a proposition to protect the beautiful sceneries they encountered soon became a force (Joel, 2002). This land of Hot Springs and geysers attracted awe, admiration and passion in equal proportions. The park was founded on March 1 st, 1872 by an act of Congress signed into law by the then President Ulysses Grant (Schullery & Whittlesey, 2003). It was the first national park in the U. S. and is primarily prided as the world’s first national park. The park derives its name from the features of the park as described by the various explorers that came across the park. It was initially under the army, but with the formation of the National Park Service, it fell under its jurisdiction.
Controversies
Yellowstone national park’s greatest controversy has always been the control of the wild animal population. In 1963, there was public controversy about the control of elk population as the natives complained about the spread of diseases to their domesticated animals from the wild ones. This led to the Leopold report that recommended management of Yellowstone’s elk population (Leopold et al., 1963)
Student Gains from a Visit to the Yellowstone National Park
A student of history would acquire a lot of historical insight from a visit to Yellowstone National Park. The student would get to see, appreciate and learn a great deal from the rich diversity of archeological sites, historic buildings and historical manuscripts stored at the park.
References
Joel C. Janetski, 2002 Indians of Yellowstone Park, revised edition Journal of a Trapper, 1997. Osborne Russell
Leopold, A. Starker; et al. (1963). "The Goal of Park Management in the United States." Wildlife Management in the National Parks. National Park Service.
National Park Service Yellowstone National Park. Accessed at https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/basicinfo.html
Schullery, P., & Whittlesey, L. H. (2003). Myth and history in the creation of Yellowstone national park . U of Nebraska Press.
