Members of this same expedition also visited the Heart Lake and Norris Geyser-basins.[290] Hayden and Langford were more than pleased with the results. Wonderland’s charms were still a potent draught to the thirst of these great nature lovers. Their enthusiasm never flagged, although there were many discouragements. Several accidents must have induced considerable reflection, if not doubt, about the realization of their hopes. One horse went to its doom in quagmire; another broke its neck in a somersault. Horses sensed the inexperience and uncertainty of their riders in this environment, and there were several stampedes.[291] This time Langford viewed Yellowstone in the light of what the public would require, and the task ahead must have appeared insurmountable. Still, his good judgment told him that the Park would surely become a favorite resort for future tourists. Plans were conceived for trails, roads, and accommodations, and in the spring of 1873 he appointed David E. Folsom as assistant superintendent, also without pay.
Langford’s annual report of 1873 showed that five hundred people visited the Park that season. A request was made for an appropriation of $10,000 for improvements, but no funds were provided for any purpose. As time passed, the general situation became increasingly untenable. The frontiersman’s indifference to schedules and comforts caused much inconvenience and dissatisfaction to the travelers. A program of development and a system of concessions was imperative. Of course, these things would require time, planning, and money, but this fact was little recognized by newcomers. Langford was roundly criticized in the press for conditions over which he had no authority or means to control. However, during the winter he faithfully devoted his spare time to making plans, and his full time in summer was given to their execution. For five long years he gave the best that was in him, without funds or support, never losing his faith in the future of Yellowstone, and because of his enthusiasm his friends called him “National Park” Langford.[292]
In 1877 a new superintendent succeeded Langford. Philetus W. Norris, of Michigan, received the appointment, with pay, and the following year a $10,000 appropriation was made available “to protect, preserve, and improve Yellowstone Park.” Norris, although a rather quaint man, proved to be extremely zealous and energetic. On foot and horseback he eventually toured all of the Park and its immediate environs, considering a thorough personal exploration of Wonderland essential to a wise administration of his office. In 1878 he discovered Monument Geyser Basin, and later in the season an attempt was made to explore the Hoodoo area on the upper Lamar River drainage, but the Crow Indians challenged his right, and “Miller, Rowland, and myself, narrowly escaped.”[293] However, he persisted, and in due time the world learned about
Superintendent Philetus W. Norris
... that mysterious Hoodoo region, where all the devils now employed in the geysers, live and kill the wandering bear and elk, so that the sacred hunter finds in Death Gulch piled high carcasses of the dead whom no man has smitten.[294]
There is obvious exaggeration in Kipling’s description of wild life destruction by natural gases. However, evidence confirming the lethal power of Yellowstone’s natural carbon dioxide gas may be secured without going into the remote Hoodoo region. Birds die almost daily from inhaling the fumes that arise from springs on Orange Mound in the Mammoth Hot Springs. Park naturalists are in a quandary as to the procedure of warning birds concerning the danger.
Norris wrote voluminously and accomplished much, leaving his mark and name upon various sections of the Park. He caused trails, roads, bridges, and crude campgrounds to be made, in so far as the limited funds would allow. A policy of wild life protection was also adopted. In 1880 Harry Yount was given the assignment as gamekeeper. Yount was a typical leatherstocking frontiersman. He was rough, tough, and intelligent. In the role of game protector he spent the winter of 1880 in the Park. He thereby became one of the first white men of record to spend the entire year in Yellowstone.[295] Harry initiated many of the practices of resourcefulness and traditions of good will that characterize the ranger service, and he may be considered as its father.
The need of a game protection program was apparent from the outset. Indian, trapper, and miner visitations had taken a heavy toll of elk, deer, antelope, and buffalo. After 1872 tourist parties were largely made up of, or guided by, mountain men who undertook to provide game for the campers. Thus, a trip through Yellowstone was, in effect, a hunting and fishing expedition, actuated by the slogan “slay and eat.”
In 1876 William Ludlow, a government surveyor, was moved to write an effective appeal for game protection to George Bird Grinnell, editor of Forest and Stream. His argument was buttressed by many observations of the slaughter “of the largest and finest game animals in the country.”[296] In 1879 Superintendent Norris made a similar observation in his annual report. He stated that, with the rapid influx of tourists and the demand for such food, the policy could not long continue without serious results. He, thereupon, issued an order for the protection of the bison as the herd was not in excess of six hundred. However, this commendable move proved ineffective, and the hunters went merrily about their avocation.