Yellowstone Park Circa Early 1920s contains some beautiful images by Asahel Curtis for Northern Pacific Railway. This Yellowstone Park screensaver features more than 20 gorgeous color images by Asahel Curtis for Northern Pacific Railway. Screensaver has interesting transitions. There are no railroad images in this screensaver, just gorgeous scenery.

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Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista

While 2022 marks the 150th anniversary of Yellowstone National Park, human history in Yellowstone dates back more than 10,000 years. Here’s an at-a-glance look at the history of Yellowstone, with some key dates and happenings highlighted along the way.

Paleoindian & Archaic Period: A Clovis point from at least 11,000 years ago, a Folsom projectile point from 10,000 years ago, and other Paleoindian artifacts have been found across the land currently preserved by Yellowstone National Park. Many artifacts have been found around Yellowstone Lake, and a site on the shore has been dated to 9,350 years ago! The area around the lake continued to be used as a camp into the Archaic period (1,500-8,000 years ago).

500–1800s CE: As the Little Ice Age began, the Kiowa, Crow, and Lakota Sioux people are believed to have come into the area. In the late 1700s, fur traders entered the region via rivers. The Lewis and Clark Expedition never traveled in the area currently within park boundaries but John Colter, one of the expedition members, is thought to have explored the area after the expedition ended. When the Little Ice Age ended in the 1850s, expeditions (including the Folsom–Cook–Peterson expedition, the Washburn–Langford–Doane expedition, and the Hayden expedition) began to map the park and share its wonders with the world.

March 1, 1872: President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act, officially designating Yellowstone the world’s first national park.

Late 1870s: The U.S. Congress approves measures to “protect, preserve, and improve the Park.” Superintendent Philetus W. Norris oversees the construction of roads and of a park headquarters at Mammoth Hot Springs. Today’s Grand Loop Road follows much of Norris’ original road system.

1886: Due to issues with poaching, vandalism, and other crimes, the U.S. Army takes over the supervision of Yellowstone, guarding major attractions and enforcing regulations throughout the park as well as patrolling the interior.

Postcard of the Lake Hotel; Frank J Haynes;

1891: Lake Hotel is built. The iconic columns and extended gables were added in 1903-04, and the hotel is further renovated in the 1920’s to add a port cochere, Sun Room, East Wing of guest rooms, and other interior features. In 2013-14, a major structural and interior renovation is completed and Lake Hotel received National Historic Landmark designation in 2015.

Late 1800s: Development of the Mammoth Hot Springs commences, including the Mammoth Post Office and, in 1903, the Roosevelt Arch, located approximately five miles north of Mammoth in Gardiner, MT.

1904: The Old Faithful Inn is completed, which was designed to complement the natural setting around the lodge and became a significant inspiration for rustic architecture. In 1987, it is designated a National Historic Landmark.

1916: The National Park Service Organic Act is passed by Congress and approved by President Woodrow Wilson. Yellowstone’s first park rangers are appointed in 1918 and become responsible for the management of the park.

1920: The Roosevelt Lodge is constructed. It replaced a tent camp where what was originally known as Camp Roosevelt. The accommodations today remain rustic, with most cabins heated by wood stove, but is also one of the most popular lodges in the park.

1929: The park’s boundaries are adjusted to include a region of petrified trees in the northwest corner and the watershed of Pebble Creek in the northeast corner. The eastern boundary now includes the headwaters of the Lamar River and part of the Yellowstone River’s watershed. In 1932, an additional 7,000 acres between the north boundary and the Yellowstone River are added, to provide a protected winter range for wildlife such as elk and deer.

1940s: During World War II, park activity declines sharply as employees, visitors, and money for national parks are all redirected to the war efforts. Once the war ended, visitation jumped again, reaching one million visitors in 1948.

1955: The years of neglect during the war are apparent – visitors complain about poor facilities and infrastructure. National Park Service Director Conrad Wirth develops a plan for an improvement program called Mission 66 to enhance the park in time for the National Park Service’s 50^th anniversary in 1966. New buildings are constructed and Yellowstone, along with many other national parks, is revitalized. Mission 66’s first project in Yellowstone, Canyon Village, opened in July 1957.

1970s: A number of acts are introduced and passed by Congress to help protect the environment. These include the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Air Act (1970), the Clean Water Act (1972), and the Endangered Species Act (1973).

1988: More than 50 wildfires ultimately burn into five massive fire complexes that impact 793,880 acres in Yellowstone National Park – a full 36 percent of the park’s area. The largest, the North Fork Fire, burned more than 410,000 acres. The cause of the North Fork Fire was a discarded cigarette.

1995 and 1996: Wolves are reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, wolves were identified as predatory animals and were routinely killed, and in 1923 the last pack of wolves had been eliminated from the park. The restoration begins with 31 gray wolves from western Canada in 1995 and 1996. An additional 10 wolves are brought in from northwest Montana in 1997. The wolf population continues to be carefully monitored, and in 2012, wolves were delisted from the endangered species list.

The New Millennium: At the turn of the new millennium, federal, state, and tribal partners adopted the Interagency Bison Management Plan while grizzly bears and wolves were removed from the federal threatened species list. In 2016 the National Park Service celebrated its 100^th anniversary, and Yellowstone welcomed a record 4.2 million visitors.

Yellowstone has witnessed a multitude of changes over its 150-year span while many things have remained the same.  Throughout time (or over history), people’s love of this special place has remained a constant, and Yellowstone is sure to attract people for 150 more.

Angling in Yellowstone National Park is a major reason many visitors come to the park each year and since it was created in 1872, the park has drawn anglers from around the world to fish its waters. In 2006, over 50,000 park fishing permits were issued to visitors. The park contains hundreds of miles of accessible, high-quality trout rivers containing wild trout populations—over 200 creeks, streams and rivers are fishable. There are 45 fishable lakes and several large lakes are easily accessible to visitors. Additionally, the park’s remote sections provide anglers ample opportunity to visit rivers, streams, creeks and lakes that receive little angling pressure. With the exception of one specially designated drainage, all the park’s waters are restricted to artificial lures and fly fishing. The Madison, Firehole and a section of the Gibbon rivers are restricted to fly fishing only.

Anglers visiting the park to fish will encounter westslope cutthroat, Yellowstone cutthroat, rainbow, brown, brook and lake trout, mountain whitefish and Arctic grayling. The park’s fishing season runs from the Saturday in May associated with Memorial Day to the first Sunday in November each year. The National Park Service regulates angling in the park and classifies different fish available to the angler as either native or non-native species. Any native species—cutthroat trout, grayling and whitefish—caught must be immediately released unharmed. Non-natives—rainbow, brown, brook and lake trout have different bag limits depending on the waters fished. Some non-natives are also subject to catch and release regulations and all lake trout caught in Yellowstone Lake or river must be killed. All hooks used in the park must be barbless or have their barbs pinched down. Many specific waters or sections of waters are closed either permanently for either safety reasons, wildlife management or to protect thermal features. The National Park Service may also enact emergency closures and restrictions because of low water, high temperatures or fires.

Anglers should always be familiar with the most current regulations, restrictions and closures. A Yellowstone National Park fishing permit is required to fish in the park. State licenses are not required.

Angling supplies are available in the park’s concession stores and in the towns associated with major entrances to the park—West Yellowstone, Montana; Gardiner, Montana; Jackson, Wyoming; Cody, Wyoming and Cooke City, Montana.

In the early days of government stocking operations, all types of attempts were made to introduce desirable species for the angler. In the case of Yellowstone, both landlocked Atlantic salmon and largemouth bass were introduced but never established themselves in the park.^[5] Yellow perch were inadvertently introduced, established themselves in a few lakes, and were later poisoned out. By the early 20th century, a number of hatcheries were established in the park by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. These hatcheries not only produced stocks for the park, but also took advantage of the great spawning stock of cutthroat trout to supply eggs to hatcheries around the U.S. Between 1901 and 1953, 818 million trout eggs were exported from the park to hatcheries throughout the U.S.

The hatcheries and stocking operations had both positive and negative impacts on the quality of angling in Yellowstone National Park in the first half of the 20th century. Many native populations were displaced by non-natives, but there was quality brown and rainbow trout fishing in the Firehole, Madison and Gibbon river drainages. Stocking and hatchery operations had had an overall negative impact on the Yellowstone cutthroat and Westslope cutthroat populations and in 1953 the National Park Service began closing the hatcheries and stopping stocking operations. The last fish stocked for the benefit of anglers was in 1955 after some 310 million fish had been released in park waters since 1889.

The regulation of anglers in the park also evolved significantly since the park’s creation. Original angling was a subsistence affair to fill a camp’s larder and feed visitors to the park. Although fishing methods were limited to hook and line early in the park’s history, there were no limits. In the 1920s, a daily limit of 20 fish was set. This was reduced to 10, then five and then three in 1954. Limits have fluctuated based on waters and species ever since then. Until 1969, bait could be used in most waters. In 1950, the Madison and Firehole rivers were designated as “Fly Fishing Only”. The lower Gibbon River was given that designation in 1968. In 1970, regulation turned to minimum size limits for cutthroat trout and there began an era where the emphasis of regulation became the protection of native species. Angling permits were free in the park until 1994, when a $10 fee was charged for a seven-day permit. In 2013, the National Park Service began allowing unlimited taking of non-native species in some waters and required mandatory killing of rainbow and brook trout caught in the Lamar River drainage to protect native cutthroat trout.

In 1936 and 1937, a British businessman and fly fisherman who emigrated to New York in 1930 by the name of Howard Back visited the park and compiled the first real assessment of the various waters and what the fly fisherman could expect from them. In his The Waters of the Yellowstone with Rod and Fly (1938), Back described his fishing experiences on what he called the Four Rivers which include the Madison, Firehole and Gibbon rivers, as well as the Yellowstone River. Prior to Back’s work, the only available serious reference for anglers was a 1921 Bureau of Fisheries publication entitled The Fishes of the Yellowstone National Park—With Description of Park Waters and Notes on Fishing, a publication that Back encouraged all prospective anglers visiting Yellowstone to read. In 1938, at the same time Back was publishing his work, Dan Bailey, another eastern angler was opening Dan Bailey’s fly shop in Livingston, Montana 55 miles (89 km) north of the Gardiner park entrance. Although Dan Bailey guided and serviced fly fisherman throughout South Central Montana, much of his business was guiding and outfitting fishermen in Yellowstone National Park. Dan Bailey’s Fly Shop is still in business today servicing anglers visiting Yellowstone.