Evening star., 1947-08-15
Stampede on Yellowstone
Nearly Million Tourists Will Have Visited the Greatest
of National Parks This Summer

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (By
Mail).-A leathery-faced Wyoming rancher sat
on a rock, gloomily studying his feet His back
was turned to one of the magnificent spectacles
of America-the lower falls of the Yellowstone
River. Peerfng into the Canyon from a lookout
perch on the rim were members of the small
party Of dude tourists he was shepherding
through the park. Other tourists passed back
and forth before him, on their way to and from
the lookout, winding their cameras clicking
their shutters, oh-ing and ah-ing at the seem
cry.
"They's too many people in the park this
year." he said, still studying his feet. "Au these
people! Where'd they come from? What are
they doing here? hate to see so many people
come to the park And all that water" he
added, as an afterthought, sweeping a hand to
include the boiling Yellowstone, thousand feet
beiow-"and all that water going to waste, too"
There are others who share the rancher's dim
view of a phenomenon this summer that
matches any of those for which the Yellow
stone is famous. from Old Faithful on down.
The phenomenon is the unprecedented stam-
pede Of American tourists to the Yellowstone
National Park. When the season comes to an
end early in September, more than 900 900 OF
them will have passed through the gates since
the middle of May. They will have come by
train, by automobile, bus, bicycle, motorcycle,
horseback and on foot. No pilgrimage since
the park was dedicated rs years ago last
March has equaled it. But next summer-if
people still have their pockets full of money
and If production of automobiles still contin-
ues-the present seasons record will be beaten.
Officials Register Concern.
This prospect offers some concern to the
National Park Service of the Interior Depart
ment, custodian of this largest and most
famous of national parks, and to the Yellow
stone Park Co., owner Of the concessions under
which the visitors are fed housed and trans
ported.
When the Yellowstones 3,471 miles of wilder
ness were set aside as national park IS
years ago we were still fighting Indians on
the frontiers to the east of it. 1t was remote
and untouched and the idea was to keep it
that way. The park services mission-"To
conserve the scenery and natural and historic
objects and the wildlife therein and to provide
for the enjoyment of same in such manner
and by such means as will leave them unim-
paired for the enjoyment of future generations"
seemed a relatively simple one For years
the rambling, commodious hotels operated by
the Yellowstone Park Co., with the lodges,
the cafeterias and the cabins, never were filled
to capacity tourist could travel to the park
and be assured, without advance reservations,
of ample accommodations to suit his fancy.
The buffalo, the deer, the elk, the moose the
bears and the antelope probably outnumbered
the tourists, and pictures of Old Faithful a
few years ago reveal mere handful of spec
tators as he did his stuff.
And then the deluge! 1t began last summer,
when some $4,000 visitors came to the park.
And this summer, when the figure will ap-
proach million, the parks 300 miles of roads
take on the appearance at times of Rock Creek
on a warm Sunday afternoon in spring. When
there is "bear jam" on the roadway, traffic
backs up for hundreds Of yards in both direc-
tions from the wandering bear.
A bear jam is a notable spectacle. A mother
bear with one or two cubs wanders down to
the highway. Cars stop and tourists pile out
for a camera shot at the bears and despite the
regulations against it, the most desirable
photograph is one which shows little Willie
or Aunt Liz feeding bear from the window
of the car. The bear jam lasts until the tour
lists or the bears get bored. Usually it is the
bears.
Edmund B. Rogers, superintendent of the