Teacher Planning Information

Through the years, many different cultures and types of people have played a part in Yellowstone's history. Humans began arriving in Yellowstone at the end of the last Ice Age, 11,500 years ago. Evidence of their presence is still being discovered today. Years later, various Native American groups passed through this area, while others stayed year round. Early European Americans followed the fur trade to Yellowstone or delved in its streams and hills for prospector's riches. Explorers mapped and surveyed the region, describing its treasures through photographs and paintings. Today, nearly three million modern visitors come to Yellowstone each year from around the world.

Through the years, Yellowstone has attracted many people for many reasons. It is known for its abundant wildlife, spectacular scenery and unusual geology, including geysers, hot springs and mud pots. People have also been drawn to Yellowstone by the wish to experience its sheer grandeur and spiritual significance.

This electronic fieldtrip will help you to gain insight into human history in Yellowstone. Open your thoughts and learn how the presence and actions of people in the past continue to affect the world's first national park today.

History Program Teacher Previews:
Part 1: Yellowstone, the Pre-Park Era
Indians & Early Explorers in Yellowstone

Part 2: Yellowstone, the First National Park
U.S. Cavalry Protects the Park until the National Park Service is Born

Be sure your students view the Park Orientation Program first.

Pre- and/or Post-Program Lesson Plans:

Indians of the Yellowstone Plateau

Trappers and Traders

Your Expedition to Yellowstone

What is a National Park

Interview a Ranger

Where Are Our Green Spaces?

http://www.nps.gov/yell/tours/ftyell/index.htm (a tour of historic Fort Yellowstone)

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest

http://www.lonehand.com/ (music, old west links, recipes, ghost towns, etc)

http://www.americanwest.com/ (westward expansion, art, traders, gun slingers, cowboys, etc)

http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/amm.html (Mountain men/fur trading)

http://grounder.freeyellow.com/ (Pioneers)

http://www.pbs.org/homeland/timeline.html (Great Plains Indian Timeline)

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/places/states/wyoming (PBS site for Wyoming history)

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/places/states/montana (PBS site for Montana history)

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/places/states/idaho (PBS site for Idaho history)

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/events/1840_1850.htm (western timeline from 1840-1850)

http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/descrip.htm (Teaching with Historic Places Homepage)

• Climate Change, Geologic Change, and the early Yellowstone landscape, post-Ice Age
• What the first humans might have seen in this landscape
• Hunting and tool making techniques of early native peoples
• Early European American’s travels and the Fur Trapping Era
• Explorers: Lewis and Clark; John Colter; Jim Bridger
• Explorations and survey groups: Washburn Party of 1870; Hayden Survey of 1871
• Artists: Thomas "Yellowstone" Moran sketches and Henry Jackson’s photos
• Civilian park superintendents
• Poaching of the park’s wildlife
• The Lacey Act (precursor to the Endangered Species Act
• U.S. Cavalry’s influence on the protection of Yellowstone, 1872-1918
• National Park Act of 1916

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