Scholarship & Research
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/1
Browse
3 results
Search Results
Item Western nature--German culture : German representations of Yellowstone, 1872-1910(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 1994) Pfund, Johanna MariaItem Wonder and spectacle in the world's first national park : railroad imagery of Yellowstone National Park(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2011) Kress, Ellen Rae; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Robert Rydell.Much has been written about Yellowstone National Park, but little of it considers images as representations of the Park. In this study, I examine the imagery of two series of railroad advertisements for Yellowstone: the Northern Pacific Railroad's Wonderland campaign (1883-1910) and the Union Pacific Railroad's bear campaign (1923-1960). Despite the axiom "you can't judge a book by its cover," clearly the creators of these brochures think otherwise; they intend these images to convey the essence of Yellowstone. Both sets of railroad imagery refer to Yellowstone as an unusual place, a wonder, a curiosity, even a freak show. The Northern Pacific Wonderland series emphasizes the geothermal and geological features, while the Union Pacific series features bears. The Northern Pacific brochures are in and of themselves a collection of fragmented pieces of Yellowstone, like a cabinet of curiosities, a pre-modern collection kept by European social elites. By focusing on the unique and the singular, they question the laws of nature. They co-opt the metaphors of gender and race in order to portray Yellowstone as an island untouched by humans that resisted the march of Progress and Civilization. This idea of Yellowstone's separateness is what gives it commercial value and situates it squarely within American commercial culture. The Union Pacific bear images feature a theme of performance and entertainment. The Park and its bears and geysers are now tamed and serve to entertain tourists; Yellowstone is now a mass spectacle. The bears are entertainers, clowns, and freaks; they question the boundary between human and animal and thus cause anxiety. But traditional gender roles are upheld, and issues of class are largely avoided, which serve to calm the anxiety that was raised. In both railroad representations, Yellowstone National Park serves as a foil, a place modern tourists can visit to define themselves. These representations of Yellowstone chart a shift from elitism to consumer democracy; clearly ideas about Yellowstone National Park, and representations of it, have changed and continue to change with the times.Item More than mere camps and coaches : the Wylie Camping Company and the development of a middle-class leisure ethic in Yellowstone National Park, 1883-1916(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2010) Watry, Elizabeth Ann; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Mary Murphy.This thesis examines the influences of tourism upon the American West and its relationship with Yellowstone National Park in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In addition, this inquiry investigates the development and evolution of the Wylie Camping Company in Yellowstone and the company's connection with the advancement of tourism to the American West. Furthermore, within the context of changing ideas of work and leisure time in the past two centuries, this study explores the advancement of the idea of nature appreciation in America, and the interaction of Yellowstone's tourists with the natural environment. Through a cultural lens this examination aims to illuminate an understanding of tourists' complex emotional, physical, and ideological encounters with the mythic West and the equally fabled Yellowstone. With an eye on nineteenth-century middle-class cultural ideals, this study provides insight into the stagecoach-era tourists' experience of Yellowstone with the Wylie Camping Company. Finally, drawing on archival documents, published literature, and unpublished photo collections, this thesis demonstrates that the Wylie Camping Company played an important role in the establishment of Yellowstone as a legendary tourist destination and in the creation of a model of touring that set a precedent for camping and touring operations in other national parks around the West. To date there is no existing study of the Wylie Camping Co. in Yellowstone National Park.