100 Years in Yellowstone - Then and Now

Forty-four years after Yellowstone became a national park, the National Park Service was established on Aug. 25, 1916.

Author:: Staff
Publish date:: Jul 21, 2016

In the 101 years since the NPS took over park management, Yellowstone National Park has changed profoundly. Here's how things looked in 1916 compared to 2016.

Early Yellowstone visitors at Handkerchief Pool (1923). Photo courtesy NPS

2015	1916
4,097,710 park visitors	35,849 park visitors

A stagecoach leaving the Gardiner train station headed to Yellowstone (1904). Photo courtesy NPS

2016	1916
0 train stations at entrance towns	5 train stations, the closest being Gardiner and West Yellowstone

The Old Faithful Inn in 1912. Photo courtesy NPS

2016	1916
$208 for a standard hotel room in Old Faithful Inn	$50 for an all-inclusive 5.25-day package that included lodging, meals and stagecoach tours

A car stuck on a muddy road in Yellowstone (1925). Photo courtesy NPS

2016	1916
310 miles of paved roads	0 miles of paved roads

Cars driving under the Roosevelt Arch at Yellowstone's north entrance (1924). Photo courtesy NPS

2016	1916
$30 park entrance fee	$5-10 park entrance fee, depending on the number of seats in your car

A Yellowstone park ranger feeding a marmot in the 1930s. Photo courtesy NPS

2016	1916
800 park rangers	~25 park rangers

Yellowstone's Mammoth Hotel in 1913. Photo courtesy NPS

2016	1916
9 park lodges	8 park lodges

Removing the snow with hand shovels on Swan Lake Flat (no date). Photo courtesy NPS

2016	1916
12 months open to park visitors	2.5 months open to park visitors (June 15-Sept. 1)

"Half Dome, Apple Orchard, Yosemite,” Ansel Adams, April 1933 via Wikimedia Commons

2016	1916
410 national park sites across the nation	30 national park sites across the nation

Yellowstone rangers with coyote pelts in 1927. Photo courtesy NPS

2016	1916
99 wolves in the park	Darn-near 0 wolves in the park, according to park historian Lee Whittlesey

Officers Row has some of the 35 remaining structures from the 1890s to the early 1900s when the U.S. Army oversaw Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Sheffieldb via Flickr

History and Culture

U.S. Army cavalry men protected the park from poachers and those looking to exploit its natural resources before the National Park Service 32 years later.

Little Bighorn Memorial

History and Culture

Yellowstone National Park area is full of Indian lore and reservations to explore.

Stagecoach at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel in Yellowstone

History and Culture

The trip E.H. Harriman, president of the Union Pacific Railroad, and Frank J. Haynes, president of Monida & Yellowstone Stage Line, made to Yellowstone National Park in 1905, led to the existence of the town of West Yellowstone.

old-faithful-ghost

History and Culture

With geysers hissing and the earth gurgling, it’s no wonder that Yellowstone National Park is home to its share of ghost stories.

Philetus Walter Norris in his trapper clothing

History and Culture

Horace Albright, Nathaniel Langford, and Philetus Norris were essential to the success of Yellowstone National Park, and quite the characters.

This 1894 photo of Yellowstone soldiers posing with bison killed by a poacher led to national public outcry and spurred Congress to give the Army the power to prosecute park violators. Photo by NPS

History and Culture

A 1894 photo of Yellowstone soldiers posing with bison killed by a poacher led to national public outcry and spurred Congress.

Yellowstone at the Movies

History and Culture

Documentaries aside, movies about Yellowstone National Park tend to focus on fiery natural disasters.

Yellowstone elk sticking out his tongue

History and Culture

At What Altitude Does a Deer Become an Elk? Read a compilation of mostly funny, some weird and a few tragic tales of adventures in our national parks.

Last Stand Hill (named for Custer's Last Stand), over the mass grave of the Seventh Cavalry soldiers, U.S. Indian Scouts, and other personnel killed in battle. Earlier interpretations were largely mono-cultural, honoring only the U.S. Army's perspective, with headstones marking where each fell.

History and Culture

At the battlefield, retrace steps of Indian warriors and U.S. soldiers. At the Crazy Horse Memorial, see the world’s largest mountain-carving-in-progress.