Images from the Past, Part 11, My Grandmother's 1915 Yellowstone Journal

Feeding a bear.  Not sure if this is "Old Jack" the largest bear around, but big enough at this close of a range!

Thursday, July 8, 1915

210 dudes tonight.  Over a hundred were a party from Cincinnati, the Chamber of Commerce.  Quite a lively crowd - little too much so.

Friday, July 9, 1915

220 dudes tonight.  Rained all day so took nearly all day for tent work.  Very and Elma moved into a tent with Jerry, Fritz, Helen J. & Minnie McC.  Then tomorrow Helen, Ethel, Ruth, Mary, Ethel L. and I move into a tent back of where we are now.


Saturday, July 10, 1915

Worked all morning.  I took most of p.m. for moving.  We have such a nice tent, all fixed up with pennants and pictures.  All of us are so tired but glad to get settled.  Only 140 dudes tonight.  Some here from Illinois.  One was a Mrs. from Mendota.  She went to Dekalb for two summer schools 1912 and 1913.  After curfew the six in our tent and Johnnie, Esther, Vera, Elma, Nurse, Lile, Joe, Herb, Harson, Holmes, Fritz, and Win were invited to Jerry's tent in honor of Paul's birthday.  On the table were 19 candles; in center of table was birthday cake and there were two kinds of candy.  Everything tasted so good.


Sunday, July 11, 1915

Harson and Win left this morning.  Harson could not stand the work and I guess Win was homesick.  Joe took a number of us girls up to the bear dump in the cart to see "Old Jack" the largest bear around here.  We also saw a mother bear and her two tiny cubs were high in a tree.  This p.m. some of the crowd went up "Elephant's Back"(1) and some took a lake trip.  As for me, I slept all the afternoon.  Only 110 dudes tonight.  We had a M. E. minister in from Belton, Texas and he gave us such a nice talk.

A scene photographed while Marguerite hiked the Yellowstone trails in 1915.  Most likely the Yellowstone River


* * * **

My thoughts:

I have many photos of nature and some are very small.   The one of the river above is about 1 inch by 2 inches.   I love the excitement of the "after curfew hours" tent party... do you think they snuck over?  I just can't IMAGINE my grandmother doing that!  ha.  Harson and Win - I just love those names!

(1) A link to a photograph of WHY it is called Elephant Back.  The views from this terrace are beautiful.  And a photo I have requested permission to use here (I will take it down if Mr. Wanserski wants me to, but please hop over and view his wonderful photographs below.

Photo by John Wanserski

The photo above is by John Wanserski and he photographs many beautiful places, he calls "sacred places" and I can't argue with him.  One of my favorites is "Prairie Sentinels".


This entire post is linked with the AMAZING! "Sepia Saturday".  Below is my "theme" participation for Sepia Saturday 113:

I couldn't find an amazing photo of a famous actor, nor a man pointing, or anything to do with film... So I resorted to a man sitting in a chair.

This photo is of Marguerite (the writer of this journal) sitting in a rocking chair next to her father, Herbert Hutchins.   The youngest girl is Marguerite's youngest sister, Ann Hutchins, born 1898 and looks to be a little over one year old.  Her mother, Helen, died in 1899.  So at the taking of this photo, they were mother-less, or about to be.  My grandmother, Marguerite, adored her father, and he never remarried.  The Aunts helped raise the girls during the farming season.

Funeral of Mrs. Hutchins of Latham.
A large concourse of sorrowful people gathered at the darkened home of Bert Hutchins, near Latham Park yesterday to do the last rites to one who had been the light and joy of the home. The faithful wife and loving mother of four little daughters. Clearly Mrs. Hutchins was the favorie of the entire community, and freely did tears flow - and indeed was the parting.