Images from the Past, Part 9 - My Grandmother's 1915 Yellowstone Journal

One of Yellowstone's Geyser's ... possibly "The Thumb".  Taken 1915

Saturday, July 3, 1915

Had about 200 dudes last night.  150 were a Texas party being taken through by Rev. Young of Texas.  They were such a jolly bunch, gave yells, songs, etc.  There were so many pretty Southern girls and our boys surely made use of the short time they were here.  The Texas crowd stayed to lunch so we have had to work all day.  The second crowd from Beloit, WI came tonight.  They had their trip before arriving here.  Yesterday, Ethel, Vera, and Phill went by boat to the "Thumb" to help serve lunch to the Texas party.

I believe this is the inside of a tent my Grandmother shared

 Had an exciting time tonight.  Just as we began eating dinner, one of the lights in the office exploded and set the tent on fire.  Drivers and all came to the rescue and cut the tent through the middle saving half of it.  Win was certainly scared.  Ruth L.  had a raincoat burn up.

Holmes Ferris, Esther Kellogg, Phill Sprague & Dorothy Dinsmore - some of my Grandmother's friends from camp.

Ethel & Joe Gibson - my Grandmother's friend's from camp

Ethel & Joe Gibson - close-up

My notes:


Sifting through the plethora of photos, I struggle with what photos go with her journal entries.  I have always loved the last photo - unusual to capture "in-the-moment" smiles like that back then.  I assume my grandmother might have known a few of the Beloit WI "gang" that came to Yellowstone as it was close to Roscoe IL - where she spent much of her early years.

This post is a participant in "Sepia Saturday's, post #83."    If you want to see my Grandmother's journal, which is a work in progress, Click "Images From the Past" .  If you do, please keep in mind the chronological order is the "beginning" is at the end (the very first entry) of the blog.

Images from the Past, Part 8 - My Grandmother's 1915 Yellowstone Journal

Marguerite is second from right.  Looks like a fun working crew!  The bungalows are in the background.  I love all the pots on the left hand side.

June 28, 1915, Monday

Last night Vera Elma, Helen, Mary and I and some of the other girls and boys were sick all night.  Guess it was something we ate; haven't recovered yet.  Did tent work all morning.  Helped settle some bungalows this p.m.  Elna and I washed our heads.  Feel quite stiff from my walk yesterday.  Watched the moon rise over the mountains last evening - it was certainly beautiful.  Also saw a beautiful sunset.  114 dudes tonight.

Marguerite is under the buckets, sitting holding the watermelon!.  They don't look like they are in working clothes, but ready for a bit of fun.  Maybe a picnic?  I wish I knew which ones were the girlfriends she mentions.  I believe Helen, her sister is the 3rd one standing from the left hand side.  

June 29, 1915, Tuesday

Ruth and I made 50 beds this a.m.  Had 165 dudes tonight.  Over 100 of them were from Iowa.  Mable Smith of Rockford (Illinois) was in the party.  Many of the crowd were teachers and all were so jolly.  They gave yells, etc.  Had a dandy program for them and then dancing, as usual.


June 30, 1915, Wednesday

This p.m. Mary, Vera, Helen, and I went down to hotel and went on top.   Took pictures of the lake and "Elephant Back".  Went through part of hotel and then visited the fish hatcheries.  Saw them separate the bad eggs from the good ones; also saw eggs that were just hatched.  We had 95 dudes tonight.  Had popcorn for the first time since we have been here.

This might be Elephant Back Mountiain in the background and Yellowstone Lake, but I really don't know.  I find it interesting that the man jumping off the tree was caught in mid action as photography tended to blur...  Marguerite is second from left, partially hidden.

Marguerite's 1915 Postcard, well preserved!  

My notes:

"HERE" is a thorough and fun read as to how the "Old Faithful Inn" was built.  I THINK this dining room was inside of the Inn I featured here.  If someone knows, differently, please let me know!

The photos I shared with this post are some scattered throughout the box I have and I posted them with the journal's daily posts, realizing they don't exactly correlate with her words.  Oh how I wish there had been a bit more writing on the backs of all the photos I have!

This post is a participant in "Sepia Saturday's, post #80".  Click to see other memorable nostalgic photography.

Images from the Past, Part 7 - My Grandmother's 1915 Yellowstone Journal

1915 was nearing the end of the horse drawn carriages in Yellowstone.   A couple of years and they would be gone, replaced by automobiles.  Here are a few photos that feature horses and the various vehicles they pulled...  My grandmother, I believe, is to the left of the white horse.  I had NO idea she could ride!  I am participating in "Sepia Saturday" - please give yourself a treat and see what other photos and memories from the past are being highlighted today.

I like the above as the horse drawn vehicles were soon to be replaced by the automobile... which is "lurking" in the background, above right.    My grandmother is sitting on the far left.

I believe Marguerite is the second to the right.  Doesn't it look like LOADS of fun to trial ride these mountain trails!

This is one of my favorite photos.  

Images from the Past, Part 6 - My Grandmother's 1915 Yellowstone Journal

June 27, 1915, Sunday

Got tent work done early and at 10 to 12 fourteen of us went to Natural Bridge, 4-1/2 miles away.  Mary B. Vera C., Elma J., Amy, Minnie M., Helen J., Helen H, Jerry R., Ruth L., Ethel W., Harson, Aerial, Frank T. and myself.  Ate our lunch on top of the mountain, took pictures up there and all along the way.  On way back caught a ride a little way with a driver from Trans. Co.  We had such a good time, enjoying every minute.  Our first hike.  113 dudes tonight.

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This is linked to "Sepia Saturday" #77, a blog where old images share their history.

My Notes:

I am copying word for word what is on this site "HERE":

After the 1916 season, all transportation companies were merged into a monopoly called the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. under Harry W. Child.  In August of 1915, automobiles were first allowed into the Park.  That year and the following one was a time of transition with both modes of travel operating under strict guidelines.  The introduction of automobiles brought major changes to the entire way of doing business in the Park.  With shortened travel times now available, hotels were no longer needed at Fountain, Norris and West Thumb.  Many tent camps were also closed to eliminate duplication of services.  The quicker travel times and increased freight tonnage available with motorized trucks eliminated the need for the various dairy and slaughterhouse operations inside the Park.  Also, with the elimination of the "weed-burners", the parks' pastures would no longer be needed for intense grazing that had been necessary.  

In 1917 the stagecoaches and stock were sold out. 

"HERE" is a site that explains the "touring" cars first used in Yellowstone - in this site is a black and white photo (bottom of page) that shows a "stagecoach" which is identical to the horsedrawn stagecoach photo I posted above.

The photo in front of the bungalow has 13 people in it.  My grandmother listed 14 names that went on this hike.  I see two men in the group, so maybe the third man is taking the photograph.  I really think this is the group that hiked to Natural Bridge.   One of my very favorite photos is of the group of woman all laughing and my grandmother is sitting on the far left, laughing the hardest.  Looks like they are really having fun, but I can't imagine wearing all those clothes in the middle of summer!

Next week I plan on posting all the horse drawn touring coaches and "wagons" that I have since I mentioned that these would be gone by 1917.

"HERE" is a flicker video of Natural Bridge and if you cursor back and forth on "Zoyx's photostream" you will see other videos and nice photographs of the area as well.  If you continue to look, he has a video of a herd of buffalo.

Images from the Past, Part 5 - My Grandmother's 1915 Yellowstone Journal

Yellowstone 1915.  Marguerite Hutchins (Beckington) on the far right.

June 19, 1915 - Saturday
Ruth & I work together.  Made 32 beds and cleaned up 8 tents.  75 dudes to-night.

June 20, 1915 - Sunday
Ruth and I worked all morning.  Had 136 dudes to-night.  Sang sacred songs and wrote letters in evening.

June 21, 1915 - Monday
Made 49 beds.  This p.m. Mary, Vera, Elma and I went along lake to hotel.  Took 3 pictures.  Came back way of Sunset Hill.

June 26, 1915 - Saturday
Have had an average of a hundred dudes every night and have been settling bungalows.  Last two days have been very cold.  Mrs. Rhodes came to-night and we were so glad to see her.  Elma, Helen, Ethel S., Jam, and I washed yesterday.   (p.m.) saw the most beautiful sunset Wednesday evening.  Mountains were pink, lake blue.   Farther down, the mountains blue & lake pink.  Beautiful rainbow in the sky!

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My Notes:

Here is my grandmother, far right, and her friends cleaning the tents (bungalows), it looks to me.  All with beautiful smiles on their faces.

I could not find a specific "Sunset Hill" featured in Yellowstone today, so I am guessing it is just one of many that people walk to and enjoy the sunset.  HERE is a beautiful photo of buffalo in a field during a sunset taken by professional photographer Ron Niebrugge - his photo blog in general (HERE) is quite stunning!  Another beautiful set of Yellowstone photos from "Ron" are HERE. of a waterfall and a view from an observation point overlooking a beautiful view of Yellowstone.

This was part of the "Sepia Saturday" fun.  Click and check it out!

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. 

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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

Images from the Past, Part 3 - My Grandmother's 1915 Yellowstone Journal

Yellowstone Transportation 1915

June 15, Tuesday, 1915

Started for Canyon 7:30 a.m.  Stopped at Apollinaris Spring and saw a Cinnamon Bear, Obsidian Cliff, Roaring Mountain, Twin Lakes, Bigah's Spring, and Frying Pan.  Saw two black tail deer, Virginia Cascades, Wedded Trees.

Snowstorm about 5 miles from canyon.  Highest altitude 8,221 feet.   Arrived at Canyon Camp 12:15p.m. for lunch.  Had ridden 25 miles.  Saw Canyon Hotel.  On drive saw Upper Falls 112.  Followed Yellowstone River most of the way to Lake Camp (20 miles).  Went thru Hayden Valley.  Saw elk along way.  Saw Antelope Creek and hill, Green Gable, Mud Geyser.  Saw a grouse and many pelicans, hot pools and hot streams along the road.  Drove along high mountains and deep valleys.

Lake Camp 1915

Snow capped mountain in distance.  Snowstorm in mountains.  Saw herd of 22 elk about 50 feet away.  Arrived at Lake Camp about 6:00 o'clock.  Helped do dishes after dinner.

Marguerite Hutchins far left.  Lake Camp, Yellowstone 1915

Went over to Lake and Lake hotel.  Saw four bears.  Had 24 dudes tonight.  (just wanted to clarify that this means tourists... Her job was to help prepare for their arrival and help in the kitchen.  In today's "language" this could be misunderstood!  :)

Elk behind Lake Camp, Yellowstone National Park, 1915

Behind Lake Camp, Yellowstone 1915.  You can see the lake and mountains in the background

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My Notes:  


This day seems extremely long to me!  After all that travel, she started her job, helping with the kitchen work and preparing the tents.  "Dudes" are vacationers (or tourists).  She never mentions HOW she travelled.  She didn't ride on horseback all that way, and it wasn't by train nor car in 1915.  So, the photo I had of the carriage being pulled by 6 horses might be this trip...  I had to take a guess as it wasn't labeled.  


I love the last photo because my guess is the scene is vastly different today.  Horses aren't quite as needed anymore.  I wonder what it looks like today.  


I also wonder what that tall pole is on the right hand side.  Does anyone know?


The flickr site "HERE" has beautiful "wild" photos of animals that made Yellowstone their home then and now.


As I add more of these journal entries, the whole sequence of these "Images of the Past" can be found on my sidebar.  


This is linked up to a fascinating blog:  Sepia Saturday.  Click HERE to check out other images from around the globe.

Images from the Past, Part 2 - My Grandmother's 1915 Yellowstone Journal

June 14, 1915, Monday

Arrvied at Livingston, Montana at 5 o'clock.  Saw elk horn fence and snow capped mountains.  Arrived in Gardiner Montana at 10 o'clock.  Took dinner at Gardiner Hotel.

Left for Mammoth Hot Springs 12 o'clock (5 miles).  Arrived there and stayed two hours.  Saw Soldier's Fort and hospital and chapel, homes of soldier's officers, Terraces, Hot Springs, Devil's Thumb, Liberty Cap, started for Swan Lake.  On way saw Devil's Slide, Eagle (Nest) Rock,  Hoodoos (Basin), "Golden Gate", and Swan Lake.  Stayed there all night.

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(Click on information in red to see modern photos and some information.)

My Note:  HERE are 100 amazing photos of Yellowstone taken in 2003 by Charles M. Kozierok.  Granted, my b&w photos are almost 100 years old, but she saw the same magnificent colors - that hasn't changed. 


As to the elk fence, elk retain thier antlers throughout the winter and shed them with the onset of spring.  The local rodent population makes short work of this high quality source of calcium.  Size of the horns does not indicate the age of the male, but does help indicate the health of the animal.  The antlers are renewed each year.  I got my information from Mountain Nature.  I read somewhere that people could literally "stumble" upon valleys of elk horns.  I wonder if that is still true of today?


The entryway into Yellowstone is well captured in the above unique angle - I believe that is an ox or a cow in the foreground.  It is funny to see it just wandering around.  I like the stone foundation of the building on the left; I wonder if it is still there?  


I am not sure of the age of the postcard. I have a vintage postcards that her sister, Bertha, sent to her when she visited the park in the 1920's.  (I will share these here someday, too.)  The back of the "Gardiner Gateway" postcard reads...  Gardiner Gateway to Yellowstone Park.  At Gardiner Gateway, the original entrance to Yellowstone, begins the incomparable "In Gardiner - Out Cody" tour of the Park.  The Northern Pacific Railway serves all principal gateways to Yellowstone, permitting the traveler to go in one entrance and leave by another - at no extra cost. (the bottom left corner has a circle with Northern Pacific written inside)


I will be adding photos the next couple of weeks that depict the sites she mentioned above.  The b&w photos I have are small and in pretty good shape.  But I have highlighted each with a link that shows what each looks like today.


I have linked up with "Sepia Saturdays" - a wonderful site where people share vintage and nostalgic photos of the past.  It is really fun, so check it out.


On my sidebar is a complete compilation of what I have journaled to date.  I hope you come back next Thursday!

Images from the Past, Part 1 - The Badlands, South Dakota, 1915

Marguerite Hutchins is seen above in her highschool graduation photo.  She attended Northern Illinois State Normal School in Dekalb (which is now Northern Illinois University).  The summer of 1915, when she was 23, she and a group of friends traveled to Yellowstone National Park to work for the summer.  I have her journal and her photos.  This is my attempt to document this period in her life.

June 12, 1915 - Saturday

Took North Pacific line at St. Paul at 10 o'clock at night.  Came through S. Dakota.  Saw Bad Lands in afternoon on Sunday.  Came through Montana.

The above is a photo I particularly like that she took in 1915.  My guess is there are places that still look a lot like this.  But I do wonder what the big building on the left with the bell tower is.  I would hazard a guess to say it is a school as it seems in the middle of nowhere for a courthouse or post office.  Below I have linked the National Park Service's web site and a link to Google images of the Badlands.

Click HERE to be transported to the National Park Service Web Site

Click HERE for images of the Badlands National Park.

I will be hooking up with "Sepia Saturday" every week.  It is a site that gives bloggers an opportunity to share their history through the medium of photographs.

Most Wednesdays I will be posting "Images from the Past".

"Grandmother's Journal" - a Triolet Poem, 167/365

My daughter picked some blooms Sunday from a flowering tree in our backyard and put them in a jar.  I asked her to set them on the patio table so I could photograph them... and look what I found.   We weren't the only ones enjoying their beauty.  Needless to say, she decided to leave the vase outside.  I have decided this is perfect for "Movement in March".  This is also for "Macro Monday".  Of course the above photos are also part of my "365 Photographic Journey"

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Over at One Stop Poetry, it is "Form Monday" and the featured poetry form is Triolets (Part II).   Copying from their site:  The features of the Triolet are: 8 lines.  Two rhymes.  5 of the 8 lines are repeated or refrain lines.  First line repeats at the 4th and 7th lines.  Second line repeats at the 8th line.  There is also a specific rhythm... Here it goes, again...

Grandmother's Journal

A century old, they still ring true,
These words of yesterday are dear.
'Tis faint and small these words in blue.
A century old, they still ring true.
A time of youth and deja vu,
Enlightened life at which I peer.
A century young, they still ring true,
These words of yesterday are dear.

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens, 03-14-11

I have in my possession a box full of photos taken in 1916 when my grandmother, Marguerite Hutchins Beckington, and her friends traveled to Yellowstone National Park to work for the summer.  She was, I believe, 23 at the time and had just finished college.  I mentioned to my mom how I was copying and using Photoshop to restore and preserve these almost 100 year old photos.  My mom surprised me with saying she had a dainty size journal of my grandmother's youthful experience.  My job now is to pair up as many photos as I can with these precious words.  I had to laugh as my grandmother talks about dancing around the firelight and even missing a curfew once.  Truly insightful as I NEVER would have associated her with either!  I will be sharing this journal and accompanying photos as it nears completion here on my blog.

Admirable Women - a poem, 152/365

Margaret Bednar's archival family photograph - early 1900's

Admirable Women


Post victorian women, 

sidesaddle adventurers,

educated and free.

Dared to partake, a bit,

in a man's world.

Exceptional individuals

who forged paths

 mostly forgotten now

except in sepia images,

looking old fashioned and quaint.

But look closely and you will see

energy, determination and spirit.

Three qualities still valued today.

by Margaret Bednar,
03/01/2011, Art Happens

For "In the Moment" Challenge
Please click to find out more about this monthly photography, art, poetry and writing challenge!

I also submitted it to One Stop Poetry's "One Shot Wednesday" Poetry forum - literally over one hundred poets tend to enter their work - it is quiet an array of talent!  I think this also fits in with "Poetry Potluck's" theme of "Idols, Role Models and Mentors"

The above is also my quick reflection loosely based on the theme "camping" for the "March Challenge".    The host noted that Yellowstone National Park was established on this day in 1872 and it sent me hunting for a shoebox of old photos.  My grandmother traveled from Northern Illinois with a group of friends when she was a young lady to I thought Yellowstone National Park.   I need to question my mother about this as I have numerous photos and post cards from early 1900 similar to the one above.  I plan on doing a future post about this.  My grandmother is front and center on the mule.

The photo is a picture taken in the "Garden of the Gods" in Colorado Springs, Co.  Click HERE to see google images of this amazing place.  I'm thinking this might be a formation known as "balanced rock".  The proportions are a bit off from what I can find on the website, but it has been over 100 years and maybe the elements have been at work.

In my very brief research, I found out that the song "America the Beautiful" was inspired by the beauty Katherine Lee Bates saw in 1893 while she journeyed in private wagon to the summit of Pikes Peak.   Katherine Lee Bates was a long-time professor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, and lectured at the summer session at Colorado College.

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My 1st and 3rd photos below are for today and tomorrow's "Movement in March".  The second is for "The Creative Exchange".  I remember sitting and enjoying the sun as my girls kayaked in the little pond.  They had just spent a day horseback riding at Boyne Highlands Resort - 20 minutes from where we used to live in Northern Michigan. 

I have been unable to carve out time to visit all my blog friends sites and it is killing me.  I hope to swing by and see what creative energies are flourishing out there this evening.