Yellowstone National Park was always a place I heard about and saw pictures of but I never thought I'd see it myself. My husband's crazy idea to buy a 1987 VW Vanagon in the summer of 2011 resulted in the road trip of a lifetime to explore the Western United States. Yellowstone National Park went from being a place in pictures and stories to a real experience full of beautiful views.

This section of Yellowstone National Park in my pictures was located in Montana but the entire park spans into Wyoming and Idaho. The name Yellowstone comes from the Yellowstone River which the park contains. My husband and I traveled from South Dakota to Wyoming. We left Wyoming for Idaho and then entered Montana to see Yellowstone and the Rocky Mountains.

Fields of Flowers In Yellowstone National Park

A Brief History of Yellowstone National Park

The first person to pursue the creation of a national park in this area was Ferdinand Hayden in 1871. This man hated the public spectacle people had made Niagra Falls out to be and sought protecting nature from those who would destroy it and pursue capitalistic interests by controlling and destroying nature. Hayden's efforts to create Yellowstone National Park were supported by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872 who signed a law setting aside the land Hayden had explored to protect it.

In the early days of the park's history there were many struggles. Capitalists hated the idea of having land that couldn't be used for business purposes. Mining companies, hunters, logging companies, and more fought against protection laws in attempts to gain permission to use the land for the benefit of the economy. Thankfully the land remained protected and people today can enjoy the beauty of the land. source

Other struggles that existed in the early years after the park was declared protected by law was the persistence of poachers who wanted to hunt animals for meat and their fur. Buffalo, antelope, elk, and deer were the most popular game targeted by hunters and those in charge of protecting the park were constantly fighting against poachers in the late 1800s. It wasn't until 1886 that poaching became controlled when the United States Army build a base there and began helping to protect and regulate use of the land. source

Getting Ready To Enter The Park

If you ever visit remember to get gas. We didn't fill up beforehand and came extremely close to running out of gas on the drive through. Going through the park, the drive was long and beautiful but I was distracted by the needle on the gas hitting empty. Thankfully we found a tiny little gas station out in the middle of nowhere that saved the day.

It was a really pretty drive. All you saw was a long road in front of you and nature all around. There were very few human structures. This section of the park didn't have many campgrounds. It was just lots of trees which is fine with me. We went for the road trip element and not to hang out camping.

Hillsides of Destroyed Trees

I have no idea what happened but we passed long stretches where trees had been knocked over and lay flat on the ground.

It's hard to imagine what would have happened to this beautiful land if President Grant hadn't approved a law creating Yellowstone National Park. It was the first national park ever created in the United States and we who get to benefit from it's existence today can be thankful there were people in the late 1800s who wanted to protect this land instead of develop it.

If laws hadn't been created to protect this park these waters might be filled with pollution from factories or may have suffered from over fishing. Logging and mining companies back in the late 1800s and early 1900s would have destroyed land and trees to capitalize off of natural resources. If this land hadn't been protected then today Walmarts and fast food restaurants would probably be all over the place instead of the natural beauty of the Earth.

First Time I've Seen Horse and Big Horn Sheep Crossing Signs

My first visit to Yellowstone National Park was wonderful and I gained an appreciation for the existence of national parks. I'm so glad nature is preserved so that corporations and humans in general can't destroy all the natural wonders of the world. I get so sick of driving and passing by big businesses and love seeking escape routes into nature to see what beauty is hidden around every corner I explore.