In 1907 a young group of Butte residents took a road trip to Yellowstone National Park. One traveler, James Murphy, kept a journal during the outing. Now the journal is being published in a new book about the park, revealing details regarding how much travel has changed in 116 years, and how much is still the same. The group took an entire month to travel to and from the park in wagons, spending about two weeks touring the Grand Loop. Along the way, they camped out. Back then, this meant they were called sagebrushers. Dudes could stay in camps provided by companies, or hotels. While there is more wildlife today in the park, there were a lot fewer travelers in 1907. In fact, the entire yearly visitation back then is now equal to the month of March, around 30,000 tourists. The fishing back then was incredible, with a lot less pressure and bigger fish than are around today.
To read more about the trip, check out my story at https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/retracing-a-historical-adventure-journal-book-recount-1907-yellowstone-roadtrip-from-butte/article_3db07778-a344-11ed-868b-339ce1800b73.html.
