Widely believed to be the first national park in the world, Yellowstone is an American national park situated in the western United States spanning parts of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. World famous for its wildlife and geothermal features, it contains a large range of biomes and is part of the South Central Rockies forests ecoregion. First published in 1871, “Thirty-Seven Days of Peril” is an account of Truman Everts' visit to Yellowstone before it became a popular tourist and hiking destination. Within it, he recounts how he sustained an injury and was forced to spend thirty-seven days completely alone in the unforgiving wilderness. A compelling account of human ingenuity and determination in the face of dire circumstances not to be missed by those with an interest in Yellowstone park and its history. Contents include: “Yellowstone National Park”, “Trees in Yellowstone Forest, A Poem By Florence Riley Radcliffe”, and “Thirty-Seven Days of Peril”. Read & Co. History is proudly republishing this classic account now in a brand new edition complete with an introductory article from “Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 28” (1911).

From historian and critically acclaimed author of The Three-Cornered War comes the captivating story of how Yellowstone became the world’s first national park in the years after the Civil War, offering “a fresh, provocative study…departing from well-trodden narratives about conservation and public recreation” (Booklist, starred review). Each year nearly four million people visit Yellowstone National Park—one of the most popular of all national parks—but few know the fascinating and complex historical context in which it was established. In late July 1871, the geologist-explorer Ferdinand Hayden led a team of scientists through a narrow canyon into Yellowstone Basin, entering one of the last unmapped places in the country. The survey’s discoveries led to the passage of the Yellowstone Act in 1872, which created the first national park in the world. Now, author Megan Kate Nelson examines the larger context of this American moment, illuminating Hayden’s survey as a national project meant to give Americans a sense of achievement and unity in the wake of a destructive civil war. Saving Yellowstone follows Hayden and two other protagonists in pursuit of their own agendas: Sitting Bull, a Lakota leader who asserted his peoples’ claim to their homelands, and financier Jay Cooke, who wanted to secure his national reputation by building the Northern Pacific Railroad through the Great Northwest. Hayden, Cooke, and Sitting Bull staked their claims to Yellowstone at a critical moment in Reconstruction, when the Ulysses S. Grant Administration and the 42nd Congress were testing the reach and the purpose of federal power across the nation. “A readable and unfailingly interesting look at a slice of Western history from a novel point of view” (Kirkus Reviews), Saving Yellowstone reveals how Yellowstone became both a subject of fascination and a metaphor for the nation during the Reconstruction era. This “land of wonders” was both beautiful and terrible, fragile and powerful. And what lay beneath the surface there was always threatening to explode.

No one knew more about Montana’s history than the late, great Dave Walter, and no one told the state’s stories with more eloquence, humor, and accuracy. This new edition of the classic Montana Campfire Tales invites readers to gather around the campfire as Walter revisits the tragic Baker Massacre, recounts Truman Everts’s harrowing ordeal in Yellowstone, and sheds light on more forgotten but fascinating aspects of the Treasure State’s past. Evocative historical photos and maps further bring to life the rich details in this book. Visitors and residents alike will treasure Montana Campfire Tales for many years, whether in an armchair next to a fireplace or around a fire at a campground.