Friday, May 13, 2011

Images from the Past, Part 4 - My Grandmother's 1915 Yellowstone Journal



June 16, Wednesday

Settled tents.


June 17, Thursday

Settled tents.  From our tent, can see lake and snow capped mountain beyond.  One mountain is "Sleeping Giant".  One mountain is "The Witch".

This looks to me to be above the camp looking down upon the tents.  The mountains on the right look snow capped, but whether or not it is "Sleeping Giant", I do not know.
June 18, Friday

Settled more tents.   A very rainy afternoon.  122 dudes.  Ruth, woodchopper, milk boy and I went with a number of dudes over to hotel to see bears.  Saw three big bears and two cubs.


Had big campfire and musical program, then dancing after program.  There is always dancing after program until curfew at 10 o'clock.   Trunk came!

A postcard sent in 1926 from Marguerite to her two sons, Herbert & Arthur Beckington. 

* * * * *
My Notes:


This is linked up to "Sepia Saturday's".  My sidebar has the whole journal up to this date.  Click HERE to see other images and memories from the past.  

The only "Witch" reference I could find was of a creek in Yellowstone.  I also linked an article about the earth's activity of Sleeping Giant and not a photo.  I also have a small photo (maybe two) of a campfire they were constructing and then lit on July 4th and will share it with that post.

The above postcard was sent in July, 1926 to my uncles (both recently passed away).  I believe she travelled to Yellowstone with my Grandfather, Ralph Beckington.  My mother was not born yet.  She wrote:

Dear Herbert & Arthur:  I wish you were with me.  We got into the park tonight.  We are staying in a cabin which has two beds.  Hope to see some bears tomorrow.  Yesterday we could touch snow on one side of the road and pick flowers on the other.  Mom

28 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

that photo of someone feeding the bears... YIKES!!!

Lisa Gordon said...

I am so enjoying your Grandmother's journal Margaret.
What a treasure to have, and thank you for sharing it here.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Anonymous said...

i like seeing the dresses, skirts and hair styles...

Postcardy said...

The twin cubs look adorable, but I wouldn't want to get close enough to feed them.

Brian Miller said...

this is really fascinating deciphering the messages from the past...yeah i dont think i would get that close either...

Margaret said...

Yes, the bears are young and it almost looks like a mother bear too... I have read ahead in her journal, of course, and there are some fun and interesting things ahead. When she finished working here for the summer, she and friends traveled to California and then a bit south. I have photos from that adventure as well.

Some of the photos are really tiny and I am taking a photo of them with my camera which allows me to blow them up to a bigger size.

Christine H. said...

What a treat. I guess I didn't realize after the previous post that there were more of these to come. To have these pictures and a journal together is just an amazing treasure. Thanks so much for sharing them with us.

Kristin said...

i agree, feeding a bear YIKES! and it's not photoshopped since there was no photoshop.

Pitterle Postings said...

Totally love these old pictures. Makes me want to get out the sketch pad and play!!

Justine said...

What a fantastic glimpse into the past.

Tattered and Lost said...

I have several of those bear post cards and a few others of bears standing like this in Yellowstone. Perhaps they were a team that travelled the park posing.

And who knew there were so many photos out there of women feeding bears. I have a few myself.

The journal entries are wonderful.

Martin said...

Not sure I would have had the nerve to feed the bears!

Jinksy said...

Not your usual teddy bear's picnic!

forgetmenot said...

What wonderful photos to have from the past--a real treasure. Such fun to learn about "adventures" in our parents' lives. I wish I had asked a lot more questions of my Mother when she was alive--so much to be learned from the past. Mickie :)

Alf and Lily Creations said...

wow, how great to have a journal and photographs...Karen

Jo said...

What a wonderful treasure to have - but someone being so close to a bear gave me the heebie-jeebies. Were our ancestors not afraid of anything? :-) Jo

Little Nell said...

I agree with the other posters; there is no way I would stand that close to those bears. Brave indeed!

Bob Scotney said...

I think I would stick to the bears on the card, that would be safer.

Meri said...

The bears at the bottom look like they've formed a conga line.

Margaret said...

I don't recall my grandmother ever liking animals, but she didn't seem to fear them. I really can't imagine feeding bears like this, but it seems it was the thing to do back then. I wonder when the first bear attack occurred - you know it had to happen!

Mike Brubaker said...

When I traveled out west to the Rockies, both Amrican and Canadian, bus loads of Japanese and Chinese tourists at the photo sites would jingle from the "bear bells" they wore to scare off the bears.

Margaret said...

Mike, that is awesome! How times change.

21 Wits said...

Oh my how brave to be feeding the bear! Such great photos of surely a wonderful time they all had! the tents back then were so large weren't they? Or should I say tall as compared to the tents of today! Very nice SS post, thanks@

Alan Burnett said...

Marvelous - I am thoroughly enjoying following this journal. So glad it has been brought to life and shared after all these years.

Bruno Laliberté said...

unwise woman to feed the bears!!! but a delightful post nonetheless. just glad no one got hurt...
oh, how unwise!!
let the wild things be and not meddle in their business, or even their habitat...

:)~
HUGZ

Howard said...

Great pictures! I don't think feeding wild bears is considered safe practise these days...

Nancy said...

I wonder if the bears were less aggressive when she was there. But, I do remember feeding the bears in the Smokey Mountains when I was a kid. Dangerous but oh, so fun! I love the first photograph.

Margaret said...

Thank you for all coming along and enjoying the journal! I have to imagine the bears have become "used" to people and therein lies the danger. Hard to imagine, but it seems like "everyone" was feeding the bears back then... sounds crazy today, though.