Historical Archeology of Tourism in Yellowstone National Park

270 Pages·2010·8.88 MB·English

by  William J. Hunt Jr (auth.)

Historical Archeology of Tourism in Yellowstone
National Park
WHEN THE LAND MEETS THE SEA: An ACUA and
SHA Series
SeriesEditors:AnnaliesCorbin,PASTFoundation,Columbus,OH,USA
J.W.Joseph,NewSouthAssociates,Inc.,StoneMountain,
GA,USA
HISTORICAL ARCHEOLOGY OF TOURISM IN YELLOWSTONE
NATIONALPARK
editedbyAnnaliesCorbinandMatthewA.Russell
AContinuationOrderPlanisavailableforthisseries.Acontinuationorderwillbringdeliveryofeach
newvolumeimmediatelyuponpublication.Volumesarebilledonlyuponactualshipment.Forfurther
informationpleasevisittheseriesonlineatwww.springer.com/8370
·
Annalies Corbin Matthew A. Russell
Editors
Historical Archeology
of Tourism in Yellowstone
National Park
123
Editors
AnnaliesCorbin MatthewA.Russell
1929KennyRoad,suite300 NationalParkService
Columbus,OH43210 12795W.AlamedaParkway
Lakewood,CO80228
614-340-1208
303-378-6282
[email protected]
[email protected]
614-292-7775
Published in cooperation with the Society for Historical Archeology and the Advisory Council on
UnderwaterArcheology
ISBN978-1-4419-1083-7 e-ISBN978-1-4419-1084-4
DOI10.1007/978-1-4419-1084-4
SpringerNewYorkDordrechtHeidelbergLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2009935073
©SpringerScience+BusinessMedia,LLC2010
Allrightsreserved.Thisworkmaynotbetranslatedorcopiedinwholeorinpartwithoutthewritten
permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York,
NY10013,USA),exceptforbriefexcerptsinconnectionwithreviewsorscholarlyanalysis.Usein
connectionwithanyformofinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,
orbysimilarordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdevelopedisforbidden.
Theuseinthispublicationoftradenames,trademarks,servicemarks,andsimilarterms,eveniftheyare
notidentifiedassuch,isnottobetakenasanexpressionofopinionastowhetherornottheyaresubject
toproprietaryrights.
Coverimages: (Top)Figure2.12frombook:JeanD(left)andZillah(right)onshoreatLake,about1922
(YellowstoneNPArchivesphotono.36372-1).
(Bottom)Figure2.13frombook:RentalboatsatLake(YellowstoneNPArchivesphotono.18771).
Printedonacid-freepaper
SpringerispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia(www.springer.com)
ForRickSprague,LarryMurphy,
andDanLenihan–mentors&friends
When the Land Meets the Sea – Series
Introduction
Fartooofteninthefieldofarcheology,thewheelofunderstandingandinsighthas
a narrow focus that fails to recognize critical studies. Crucial information regard-
ingpivotalarcheologicalinvestigationsatavarietyofsitesworldwideisextremely
difficult, if not impossible, to obtain. The majority of archeological analysis and
reporting,atbest,haslimitedpublication.
The majority of archeological reports are rarely seen and when published are
often only in obscure or out-of-print journals – the reports are almost as hard to
findasthearcheologicalsitesthemselves.Thereisadesperateneedtopullseminal
archeologicalwritingstogetherintosingleissueorthematicvolumes.Itistheinten-
tionofthisseries,WhentheLandMeetstheSea,toaddressthisproblemasitrelates
toarcheologicalworkthatencompassesbothterrestrialandunderwaterarcheology
onasinglesiteoronacollectionofrelatedsites.Forexample,despitethefactthat
we know that bays and waterways structured historic settlement, there is a lack of
archeological literature that looks at both the nautical and terrestrial signatures of
watershedsinfluenceonhistoricculture.Byaddressingthesetypesofoverarching
themes of interest on a specific topic under one cover the Society for Historical
Archeology(SHA),theAdvisoryCouncilonUnderwaterArcheology(ACUA),and
Springer will provide academic institutions, cultural resource management firms,
and mandated archeological programs within governing agencies a set of power-
fulreferencetoolsthatmorecloselybindthedisciplineandelevatethestandardof
access.
With this in mind, it is our pleasure to introduce the first volume of this new
series. “Historical Archeology of Tourism in Yellowstone National Park” explores
the growing interest in the archeology of historical tourism as more and more
cities, municipalities, historic districts, local, state, and national parks worldwide
are being preserved and re-invented to interpret the historic role of tourism in the
area. Nowhere is the idea of worldwide historical tourism more pertinent to plan-
ningandresourcemanagementthaninnationalparksandpreserves.IntheUSA,our
firstnationalpark,YellowstoneNationalPark,hasreceivedextensivestudyofboth
environmental and cultural resources, both terrestrial and nautical. In both cases,
one of the primary issues concerning park management is tourism – modern and
historic.Withthisinmind,avolumeontheArcheologyofTourismanditsinterplay
vii
viii WhentheLandMeetstheSea–SeriesIntroduction
between both terrestrial and underwater archeological sites was clearly seen as a
themeworthyofpublicationinthisnewseries.
AnnaliesCorbin,PASTFoundation,SeriesCo-Editor
J.W.Joseph,NewSouthAssociates,Inc.,SeriesCo-Editor
∗∗∗∗
Allofthereferencescitedabovearelistedinthevolumebibliography.
Preface: Archeology in Wonderland
Centuriesbeforetheideaoftheworld’sfirstnationalparkwasdiscussedarounda
frontiercampfire,theYellowstoneRegionwasthefocusofhumanactivity.Amer-
ican Indian groups had long moved through the area, hunting and living along the
shoresofthehigh-altitude,volcaniclakes,rivers,andvalleys.Evidenceindicatesa
longhistoryofhumanoccupationanduseoftheunusualareasassociatedwiththe
Yellowstoneregion.TheearliestEuropeanAmericanactivitiesintheareamirrored
thoseofAmericanIndians,includinghuntingandtrapping.Theseactivitiesshifted
toward scientific studies in the 1870s and, before the end of the century, included
recreation,withheavyinfluencefromconcessionairescateringtothegrowingtourist
trade.TheactivitiesofbothindigenousgroupsandEuropeanAmericansleftbehind
arichmaterialrecordforarcheologiststostudy.
Untilrecently,however,archeologistshavestruggledtofindanappropriatecon-
text to apply to Yellowstone’s historical sites. This is due in part to the relatively
immensescaleofthenearlystate-sizedstudyarea(3,472mile2/8992.5km2)andan
extremely diverse historical archeological record. The problem is compounded by
historical archeological projects in the park that are typically driven by construc-
tionornaturaldisasterandarethereforenecessarilyshortindurationandnarrowin
scope.Asaresult,Yellowstonehasbeensubjectedtoaconstantlychangingfieldof
investigators with little time to become familiar with the park, the historical land-
scape,andregionalhistory.Inanattempttoaddresstheseissues,aTreatmentPlan
wasdevelopedforYellowstone’shistoricarcheologicalsites(Hunt1993).Drawing
from Yellowstone National Park’s 1872 enabling legislation as “a public park or
pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people,” the plan utilizes
tourismasthemostlogicalcontexttostudy,assess,andinterpretmosthistoricsites
withintheparkboundaries.
Althoughunprecedentedasasubjectofhistoricalarcheologicalinquiry,tourism
has been a topic of anthropological inquiry for more than 30 years and its appeal
to the discipline is both basic and quite timely (Bodine 1981; Nash 1981; Crick
1989). Tourism represents the single largest movement of human populations
outside wartime and is a powerful force for culture contact and change (Crick
1989:309–310). Furthermore, the form and goals of tourism are culturally deter-
mined,shiftthroughtime,andvarybetweencultures(Graburn1989).Asarcheology
hastraditionallydirectedthegreaterportionofitsresearchtowardissuesofculture
ix
x Preface:ArcheologyinWonderland
change, tourism would seem a natural and entirely valid subject for archeological
inquiry.
This volume contains three studies that trace the history of tourism in Yellow-
stone National Park through material remains discovered in both terrestrial and
underwaterarcheologicalsites.Aresearchapproachwithanarcheologicalfounda-
tionopensnewavenuesofinquirynotavailablebyusinghistoricaldocumentsalone.
Incorporating archeological materials into our interpretations of historical tourism
in Yellowstone can help counter research biases that hamper use of a sometimes-
fragmentary archival record. Archeology gives voice to people otherwise missing
fromwrittenhistory,andthereforegivesusthebroadestviewofthepast.
AGeological Wonderland
Arguably the most popular tourist attractions in Yellowstone National Park are its
naturalwonders,largelytheresultofacomplexanddynamicgeologicalsetting(this
discussiondrawsheavilyonBradfordetal.2003).WesterngeologistF.V.Hayden
(1872,1873,1883)pioneeredgeologicalstudiesintheYellowstoneareaasearlyas
1871followedbyA.Hague’sclassicstudiesdonebetween1883and1902(Hague
1899, 1904). However, the area’s complexity was not well-understood until the
workofBoyd(1957),andstudiesbyPierce(1979),Christensen(1984)andothers
haveincreasedandrefinedknowledgeofYellowstone’scomplexgeology.Themost
dramatic elements of Yellowstone’s natural landscape are due to volcanism. The
Yellowstone Plateau has been repeatedly destroyed, altered, and reshaped through
geologic time.Beginning about 2millionyears ago, aseriesof volcanic eruptions
occurredinthegeneralYellowstoneareacreatingfourlargecalderas,threeofwhich
directly affect park topography. The first caldera eruption, about 2.1 million years
ago, produced 965 km3 (600 mile3) of volcanic rock – 2,400 times more than the
1980Mt.St.Helenseruption.ThiscalderaiscenteredinwestYellowstone,extend-
ingwestwardintoIdahoandeastwardtoincludetheareanowcontainingthewestern
halfofYellowstoneLake.Asecondexplosion,theislandparkcaldera,occurred1.3
million years ago outside the current park boundaries but within the westernmost
extensionoftheearliercaldera.Thethirdcalderaeruptedabout650,000yearsago
in the same vicinity as the first, overlapping and extending the newly formed Yel-
lowstoneCaldera16km(10mile)northeast.Thisthirdcalderaencompassedallof
whatwouldbecomeYellowstoneLakeexceptforthetwosouthernfingers(South-
eastandSoutharms).Morerecently,about160,000yearsago,aminoreruption,by
comparisontotheearlierones,formedtheWestThumbCalderawithinthesoutheast
portionofthemuchlargerYellowstoneCaldera(Tayloretal.1989).Thisformative
geologicactivityiscausedbywhatgeologistsnowbelievetobetheslow,southwest-
ernmovementoftheNorthAmericantectonicplatepassingoverastationaryther-
malmantleplume–abulbousmassofmagmathathasrisenfromtheearth’score
towardthecrust,whichisslowlybeingflattenedbycrustalplatemovement(Good
and Pierce 1996:21). This tectonic movement over the mantle plume also uplifted