YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. More than 4 million people a year visit this 3,648-square-mile, seemingly unbounded paradise to watch boiling springs. They come to see thundering waterfalls and majestic mountains, elk and bison—the pure, unadulterated Northwestern wilderness.
Humans didn’t enter this scene for millions of years. Then more than 20 tribal nations discovered Yellowstone and used it as a thoroughfare, hunting ground, and ceremonial site. Fur trappers and traders appeared in the early 19th century, but no one believed their stories of bubbling springs and exploding geysers. Then, in 1871, the federal government sent an expedition to explore and map Yellowstone territory in pursuit of valuable natural resources. In a historic twist, the Reconstruction Era Congress enshrined the land as the world’s first national park.
Megan Kate Nelson, whose book was a finalist for the 2021, which recently came out in paperback.
