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2. History of the Cody Road to Yellowstone
- University Press of Colorado
- Chapter
- Additional Information
29 When J. E. Stimson traveled the Cody Road in July 1903, he was probably one of the first fifty people to take the new route to Yellowstone’s East Entrance. His images record a brand-new highway cut through the wilderness. Except for his conveyance, a survey of his photographs shows no other tourist or wagon. Indeed, a close look reveals only a few wagon tracks embedded in the soft dirt. When I followed in his footsteps more than a century later, hundreds of cars whizzed by every time I set up the camera. But as I looked through the viewfinder, I found that most of the scenes Stimson had captured remained. Comparing his images with my own, I began to think about what it must have been like to be one of the first travelers on this new road. As I heard those cars and trucks rushing by, I thought about what had happened over the last century and why this route had become so popular. At the same time, I questioned how a place seemingly so different remained so much the same through my viewfinder. An overview of the history of the Cody Road, with special emphasis on what it was like in July 1903 and then in July 2008, is a good place to begin. Since Yellowstone National Park’s creation in 1872, railroads have been key figures in developing its resources for tourism. The Utah and Northern, a subsidiary of the Union History of the Cody Road to Yellowstone 30 H I S T O R Y O F T H E C O D Y R O A D T O Y E L L O W S T O N E Pacific, first brought tourists toward the park’s West Entrance in 1881 when it built its line to Monida, Idaho. From there, travelers had to endure a long stagecoach ride of more than sixty miles to reach the park. Two years later the Northern Pacific built its first line toward the North Entrance, depositing tourists in Cinnabar, Montana—still outside the park but only three miles from the entrance. That year the Army Corps of Engineers sent an officer to take charge of road building within the park, and soon the familiar Grand Loop, or “Belt Line” as it was called at the time, was organized. This route entailed a great circle through the park, connecting the five main attractions: Mammoth Geyser Basin, Norris Geyser Basin, Firehole Basin, Yellowstone Lake, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. In addition, a crossroad from Norris to the Grand Canyon cut the circle in half. Along the route, the railroads built hotels and lunch stations at spots both conveniently located and interesting to see.1 At the time, no one discussed an eastern connection to the loop. Possible routes had been explored by Captain William A. Jones in 1873, who described the fantastic scenery along the Shoshone River—then called the Stinking Water River—from Wyoming’s Big Horn Basin through the Absaroka Range to the park. Eight years later Yellowstone superintendent Philetus Norris escorted a group, including Wyoming territorial governor John Hoyt, along the Stinking Water and into the park. But such a path would be difficult to justify . The adjacent Wyoming population was very small, and no railroads connected to larger cities further east. In addition, a road to the park would have to bisect the Yellowstone Forest Reserve—established in 1891 just to the east of the park—and then cross the Absarokas at either Jones Pass, elevation 9,500 feet, or Sylvan Pass, 1,000 feet lower. This combination of distance, population, lack of railroads, and terrain deterred the construction of an eastern road throughout the nineteenth century.2 The first governmental mention of a change in attitude about an eastern entrance to Yellowstone appeared in the 1899 annual report of Chief Engineer Hiram Martin Chittenden. Chittenden had come to Yellowstone in 1891 to serve as an assistant to William Jones. Although he stayed in the park for only two years, Chittenden remained interested, authoring the first book-length history, The Yellowstone National Park, in 1895. He then served in the Spanish-American War before returning to Yellowstone in 1899 as chief engineer . That year Chittenden recorded in his annual report that while there might eventually be the need for an eastern approach, there were still too few Wyoming tourists to warrant it. He wrote: [44.192.16.116] Project MUSE...