Five Old Men of Yellowstone

FIVE OLD MEN OF YELLOWSTONE

The Rise of Interpretation in the First National Park

by Stephen G. Biddulph 

"Five Old Men of Yellowstone: The Rise of Interpretation in the First National Park" was written by Stephen Biddulph and published by the University of Utah Press in Spring of 2013. The author provides a unique and compelling view into the educational program in Yellowstone through the work of five ranger-naturalists who helped to develop, conduct, and direct its nature walks, campfire programs, auto caravans, and game stalks between 1930 and 1975, and helped millions of visitors better understand and appreciate the natural wonders to be found in the Park. Its examination of the early days of Yellowstone and the activities of its first ranger-naturalists is unique. It is a comparative work, more than biographical, which puts the time and work of these men in context with the whole story of our nation’s oldest national park.

            This interestingly written and thoroughly researched history is of a time that is gone forever in Yellowstone. The Park was only 56-years old when the first of these Old Men came to work in 1928, and their service in Yellowstone continued through a half century of time, ending when the last man left Yellowstone, literally hauled out by hearse. Informative in its detail and compelling in real-life action, “Five Old Men” reveals remarkable insights to the geology, botany, animal life, thermal features, and human experience of Yellowstone Park.

            The book contains wonderful stories of life in early Yellowstone before Mission 66 and modernization came to the Park, and before it became congested with crowds and limited by necessary restrictions. Its pages are filled with stories of intimate and exciting interaction with wildlife and tourists. The reader views Yellowstone the way it was when bear feeding shows were yet staged, before roads were paved, when black bears begged along its highways, daily fish limits were twenty per day, and the famous Cutthroat trout were artificially propagated.