#Death in Yellowstone

[book-ish-ly]

Review: ★★★★☆

Aspects of this book seemed a bit rambling. Lots of information about the settler history of the park. Surprisingly, a relatively short book.

Notes:

The ground around hot springs can easily give way, so standing too close is dangerous on its own

Dumb people have looked directly into geysers and gotten their faces scalded

Even today people believe the animals are “tame” or “zoo animals”

Yellowstone’s first bear death was by Old Two Toes. 

First 2 deaths by him were of men who tried to trap and kill him (first trap “chopped” 3 of his toes off - hence “Old Two Toes”

Final death was of a man who was attempting to sleep on a pack of bacon

Old Two Toes met his demise when the companions of the bacon man blew him up with TNT and dynamite

2 people died in the summer of 2011 - the most recent bear deaths

Recommended Reading: Chuck Neal - Grizzlies in the Mist

Rules for hiking in bear country:

Don’t hike alone (the more the merrier)

Make noise as you hike (bear bells)

Carry bear spray

No headphones (you need to be able to hear your surroundings)

Avoid bears with cubs

Avoid bear food sources - especially carcasses

Do not startle the bears

2 main poison plants in Yellowstone

Water hemlock

Death camas

6 deadly mushrooms

Death cap

Destroying angel

Conocybe

Cort

Galerina

Conifer false morel

90% of fatal mushroom poisonings are destroying angel… most of the others will just fuck you up

Water hemlock 

is related to and looks like carrots and parsnips. 

is the most poisonous plant in the northern hemisphere. 

Causes severe neurological issues (especially convulsions)

Children have died from blowing “whistles” made from its hollow stems

One mouthful of the root is enough to kill a man

Charles Phillips was a botanist who died of poisoning from water hemlock. Phillip’s Cauldron at Norris Geyser Basin is named for him.

Death Gulch contains hydrogen sulfide in concentrations that can kill grizzlies 

A large group of people were struck by lightning when it struck an erupting geyser and shot under the boardwalk. One lady had her clothes burned off from the force. 

Snowfall in the park averages between 100-400 inches annually

80% of trees in the park are lodgepole pines

A canker is a diseased/dying/dead part of a tree - sometimes refers to a specific disease of the tree

Too many people walking around shallow-rooted trees can “tamp” the earth down and make the trees more likely to fall - it is part of the reason some campgrounds in Yellowstone have no trees

A workman fell and died during the building of the National Hotel at Mammoth Hot Springs. His partner, who also fell, survived and returned to work (1883)

Another workman died building the bridge over the Lamar River, 6 miles east of Tower Junction (1940)

Another man fell 12 ft off a ramp at the Canyon Hotel and died (1953)

Our reaction to wilderness is “an endlessly interesting mixture of sympathy and fear, of love and hostility, of the impulse to embrace and the equally powerful urge to flee” - Phillip Terrie - Forever Wild

Earthquakes occur in the park every day - Yellowstone is so seismically active that where some maps of seismic activity have small black dots, Yellowstone is a large black square

Yellowstone used to have public swimming pools

Gardiner River is deeper and faster than it seems, especially in the summer months

High altitude lakes are very cold and can become very dangerously turbulent in bad weather

A woman went to rangers to report her husband missing after he was late returning from a fishing trip. The ranger was trying to calm her, when she noticed a sapphire that she had placed into her ring (representing her husband) had disappeared/fallen out and she said “something’s happened and he’s gone”. 

Rules for boating on Yellowstone alpine lakes

Stay reasonably close to shore, especially in smaller, shorter boats

Get off the lake for storms

Do not overload canoes

Do not stand up in small fishing boats

The worst time to boat on these lakes are between 1 pm and 6 pm

Life jackets are not enough - if a boat overturns, get out of the water and try to prevent hypothermia

Rules for boating in any body of water

Do not swim or fish alone

Wear a life jacket

Do not combine water activities with alcohol

Beware of fording even small streams, as you don’t know how strong they really are

Fisherman's waders can fill with water and drown you

Native tribes and their relations to the Park:

Shoshones and Bannocks to the west and south

Blackfeet to the north

Crow to the northeast

Sheepeaters the only nation that lived year-round in the park

This book only accounts for white deaths related to settler/native battles - “not much is known” about Native deaths

1839 - Piegan nation (offshoot of Blackfoot) vs 40 hunters/trappers. 

Battle was 2 days and trappers won

Then they continued down a native made trail to a warm spring creek (irony)

General William Sherman sought to make Nez Perce natives pay “for the murders they committed in Idaho, and also be punished as a tribe, for going to war without any justification or provocation” (bro you’re literally stealing their land and killing them but pop off)

The Nez Perce were crossing through Yellowstone to escape genocide/murder/relocation in their homeland

Trischman Murder 

Margaret Trischman cut her youngest son’s throat with a hunting knife and chased her other children with it in an attempt to do the same to them (the other children were present for the murder)

Trischman Knob named for oldest surviving son Harry Trischman

Anna and Elizabeth Trischman ran a curio store and “soda fountain” until 1953, called the “Devil’s Kitchenette” on the upper terraces

Schlosser, Stroup and Baker Murder (1970)

Baker called himself Jesus and would later admit to cannibalism and Satanism

He was on LSD at the time of the murder

He said he “hadn’t been the same” since being electrocuted at age 17

When Schlosser was sleeping, Baker shot him in the head. Then dragged his body to the river, dismembered it, cutting out the heart and eating it. He kept finger bones as a trophy that were later found on him at his arrest

Schlosser was stabbed 27 times

Ishawooa Creek was named for the Shoshone native word meaning “Laying Warm”

People who fall into hot springs disintegrate and can undergo silification

Joe Osimic (or Zimec) disappeared north of the park and no sign was found of him until his skull was found several years later near a lake in the backcountry. Today that lake (north of Yellowstone) is called Little Joe Lake.

“Grist for the mill” = “Par for the course”

[alyseatleast]

The best books I read in 2023

It is such an odd experience to look back at books I read in the beginning of the year and think, That was this year?! Why does it feel so long ago? I thought this year went by quickly, but this sensation makes me think otherwise. So much happens in a year, I suppose. Looking at pictures of my nieces a year ago makes me wonder how they can grow and change so much in one year. Thinking back on…

[dewitty1]

'Yellowstone' Spinoff Actor Cole Brings Plenty Is Dead At 27

'Yellowstone' Spinoff Actor Cole Brings Plenty Is Dead At 27

Cole Brings Plenty, star of the “Yellowstone” spinoff “1923,” was found dead on Friday morning after going missing earlier this week, according to the New York Daily News. He was 27.

The actor was found dead in a wooded area in eastern Kansas. His had gone missing on Sunday, according to flyers put up on Instagram by his uncle, “Yellowstone” actor Mo Brings Plenty.

[socialjusticeinamerica]

Expect gun violence to become even more commonplace if Trump gets re-elected.

[scottishaccentsareawesome]

(Ed gives Stede a ring) Stede:...Ed, I don't need presents. I just need you. Ed: Well, that's what it means. That you have me, that I'm yours. It means come live your life with me. Only thing I ask is that you outlive me so I never have to live another day without you.

[aster-spiral-30]

Worst-written TV shows I’ve seen in my short life so far:

-Girls (HBO)

(only for a few episodes, I had raw hatred for every single character in it)

-Hannibal (NBC)

(I sat through all of that godawful AO3 fanfic -Michael Mann, Jonathan Demme, & Ridley Scott movies are superior adaptations)

-Yellowstone

(Only for a few episodes, mighty Christ, how I hate the Dutton family except for their abused lawyer/ slave)

-Death Note

(the first show I regretted watching as I got older, not a single likable or interesting character in there- kill em all)

-American Horror Story after HOTEL

(only the teasers & intros are good after that)

Shows like Velma & Big Mouth were way too obvious- those shows are so bad that it’s not even worth making fun of ‘em.

…Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel are on the thinnest ice you can imagine.

Watch Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Fargo (the movie & the show), The Sopranos, True Detective (seasons 1 & 4), I Think You Should Leave, The Boys, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Cuphead Show, & The Regular Show instead.

[rabbitcruiser]

The United States National Park Service was created on August 25, 1916.

National Park Service Founders Day    

The National Park Service was created when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Organic Act on August 25, 1916. The anniversary of its creation is known as National Park Service Founders Day, or simply as Founders Day, and is celebrated by all national parks. They offer free admission and host special programs, both in-person and virtual. The celebration happens to take place during National Parks Month.

According to the Organic Act, "the Service thus established shall promote and regulate the use of the Federal areas known as national parks, monuments and reservations" and their "purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." This is not too far removed from the National Park Service's current mission statement: "The National Park Service preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world." The National Park Service is a bureau in the U.S. Department of the Interior. It is led by a director who is nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

The first national park was Yellowstone National Park. It was established on March 1, 1872, with the Yellowstone Act, "as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people." Yellowstone was administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, as were other early parks and some monuments, while other monuments and historical areas were administered by the War Department and the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture. When the National Park Service was created on today's date in 1916, it managed 35 parks and monuments. With an executive order in 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt brought 56 national monuments and military sites administered by the War Department and the Forest Service into the National Park Service. This move brought areas of historical, scenic, and scientific importance together. For a new park to be created, there must be an act of Congress. But, on account of the Antiquities Act of 1906, the president can proclaim national monuments on lands under federal jurisdiction.

By the 2020s, there were over 420 national park sites, or units, in the National Park System, covering over 85 million acres of land, located in every state, in the District of Columbia, and in a number of US territories. Collectively they are referred to as parks, although there are many naming designations, such as National Battlefields, National Military Parks, and National Historic Sites. There are also "related areas"—these are not managed by the National Park Service, but "are linked in importance and purpose to places managed directly by the National Park Service by preserving important segments of the nation's natural and cultural heritage." Examples are National Heritage Areas, Affiliated Areas, and trails in the National Trails System. The National Park Service employs about 20,000 people, and has almost 300,000 volunteers! With such an expanse of land in its jurisdiction and so many people involved in the land's preservation, it's apparent that the National Park Service's original goal of conservation for future generations is still being met, and this is celebrated today with National Park Service Founders Day!

How to Observe National Park Service Founders Day

There are numerous ways you could celebrate the day:

Visit a national park or other location managed by the National Park System. Remember, there is free admission today! If you can't visit in person, you could do so virtually.

Get the NPS app.

Check out the National Park Service's "Games and Challenges."

Read a book about the national parks.

Watch National Parks: America's Best Idea and read its companion book.

Learn about the past directors of the National Park Service.

Volunteer or work for the National Park Service.

Follow the National Park Service's social media accounts.

Source

[sunshine-girl-shines]

Just some ominous signage from a recent trip

[the-nomadicone]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Brody Kennen (@thisisthelinephotography)

[scuro-sideblog]

The one circled in red is me, all the others are NPC's who are out to kill me

help

[tsurangaconundrum]

to be honest some peaple earned the mauled by bears

[randomlonelytorment]

Not to get super violent on Tumblr but I really want to see Beth choke Jamie to death with a piece of wire.

Can just image her sat on his chest while he's staring up at her, true fear in his eyes that slowly dulls with life leaving him, and she smiles as the purple ring around his neck darkens and his body falls limp.

That's my wish for the end of Yellowstone.

[champ-wiggle]

'She is so old': One-eyed wolf in Yellowstone defies odds by having 10th litter of pups in 11 years

By Patrick Pester, published June 3, 2024

Wolf 907F recently gave birth to her 10th litter of pups, which researchers say is likely a Yellowstone National Park record.

Wolf 907F walking past a trail camera in Yellowstone National Park. (Image credit: Yellowstone Wolf and Cougar Project)

The alpha female of a Yellowstone gray-wolf pack has defied the odds by having a 10th litter of pups at the age of 11.

The one-eyed wolf elder, named Wolf 907F, gave birth to her latest litter last month, the Cowboy State Daily reported. Gray wolves (Canis lupus) have an average life span of three to four years, so it's rare for them to reach 11, let alone have pups at that age.

Wolf 907F has given birth to pups every year for a decade straight since she became sexually mature, which Kira Cassidy, a research associate at the Yellowstone Wolf Project, said is likely a record for the wolves of Yellowstone National Park.

At age 11, Yellowstone’s Wolf 907F has lived more than twice a wild wolf’s average life expectancy. In this photo from April, she was pregnant with a litter of pups that she’s since given birth to. (Courtesy Yellowstone Wildlife Project)

"Every day, I expect that she might die just because she is so elderly, but I've been thinking that for the last few years, and she keeps going," Cassidy told Live Science.

Cassidy has calculated that only about 1 in 250 wolves in Yellowstone make it to their 11th birthday, with just six recorded examples since wolves were reintroduced to the park in 1995. The oldest of all of these great elders lived to 12.5 years, according to the National Park Service.

Wolf 907F lies in the snow in Yellowstone in 2015. (Image credit: Kira Cassidy/NPS)

Wolf 907F is the oldest wolf to have lived her whole life in the park's Northern Range, where there is more prey but also more competition from other wolves. Wolves rarely die of old age in the wild, and in Yellowstone National Park, the biggest threat is other wolves.

"In a protected place like Yellowstone, their number-one cause of death is when two packs fight with each other," Cassidy said. "That accounts for about half of the mortality."

One of Yellowstone's oldest wolves, Wolf 907F is pictured here with her pack last year. She's the gray collared wolf on the lower left. (Courtesy Yellowstone Wildlife Project)

Wolf 907F is the alpha female of the Junction Butte pack, which has between 10 and 35 members at any given time. Cassidy noted that this is a large pack — the average wolf pack size is about 12 individuals — and that reduces the risk of being killed in territorial fights. Wolf 907F's experience also gives her pack an edge.

"Packs that have elderly wolves are much more successful in those pack-versus-pack conflicts because of the accumulated knowledge and the experience that they bring to that really stressful situation," Cassidy said.

Wolf 907F has likely boosted her pack's survival chances outside of battle, too. Cassidy noted that the Junction Butte pack rarely leaves Yellowstone's border and that Wolf 907F is "savvy" when it comes to things like crossing roads and avoiding humans.

Wolf 907F, Yellowstone's aging matriarch at 11 years old, only has one eye. She's the fourth wolf to pass by this trail cam. (Courtesy Yellowstone Wildlife Project)

What makes Wolf 907F even more impressive is that she does all of this with only one functioning eye. Researchers aren't sure what happened, but her left eye has been small and sunken since before she turned 4. "You would never know [when] watching her," Cassidy said.

Like other elders, Wolf 907F takes a back seat in hunts now that she's older, and she spends most of her day hanging around with the pack's pups. Cassidy and her colleagues have counted three pups in her current litter, which is smaller than the average litter size of four to five but not surprising. A 2012 study of Yellowstone wolves published in the Journal of Animal Ecology found that litter size declines with age.

"The fact that 907 is still having pups is amazing, and her litter being small is expected given that she is so old," Cassidy said.

A few of Wolf 907F's offspring now lead packs of their own, but most of her pups never reach adulthood due to the perilous nature of being a wolf. However, Wolf 907F and the others in the park don't seem to live like death is on their mind.

"They are happy to be with their family going from day to day," Cassidy said. "Even if they have injuries or are missing an eye or something really stressful is going on in their life, they move through that stress and go back to seemingly really enjoying their life."

At age 11, Yellowstone's Wolf 907F - the gray wolf in the center of this photo from 2020- has lived more than double the typical lifespan of wolves in the wild. (Courtesy Yellowstone Wildlife Project)

[mrsjdavis]

Awesome wolf story! Episode 866, The Female Alphas of Yellowstone https://www.atlasobscura.com/podcast

[2009isitanyways]

imma be honest celibate sasquatch you gotta lighten the fuck up

[poisonhemloc]

@mechafeef had a taco truck au question

'what're the vacation spots like?'

and. it's not in the main city. that's a university town, people dont vacation there generally.

There are cities people go to! with actual night life or Buildings and Places of Historical Significance I don't want to figure out 'cause building the history of all this isn't the fun part of the au for me

But there's areas- i'm thinking something like national parks but without the 'kicking the native folk who live here out' issue that happened in the states- that're similar to the in the actual game planets.

A park where sand moves back and forth between several areas, one fairly barren and the other full of cave systems worn smooth by sand.

There's a small ocean/large sea that, by some weather quirk, is known for having a high proportion of cyclones (...think waterspouts rather than hurricanes) during rainy/storm season.

A series of connected caves in a basalt heavy area, the insides are almost entirely crystal. There are a series of boardwalk type paths set up inside the most habitable one.

A dense forest- unlike any other found on this planet- seemingly made up of something like bramble thorn bushes. Visitors reports feeling like the branches are moving, but, it's just the wind. Also known for the flora and fauna native to pretty much just this region (Not giant anglerfish! probably small ones that live in ponds under the thickets! there's nothing person eating in this probably)

An expansive swamp, trees that might predate any historical landmark you care to name, crouched over the water protectively...

(Not in describing/'Poison just spent half an hour reading about tornadoes trying to find proper terminology for what the games calls cyclones and gave up' mode- this is a bit of the sandbox called the taco truck au thats free to play in! I love more world building.)('Poison is there any bit that isn't free to play in?' due to Its My AU Granite's the only hatchling who gets to work for Outer Wilds Tacos but otherwise it's fair game)