Thomas Pickels is an experienced IT and professional services executive with more than 25 years of leadership across enterprise software, utilities, and consulting environments. Currently serving in a senior role within the customer success and professional services division at BMC Software, Thomas Pickels oversees sales solutions and guides complex client engagements across the Western United States and Canada. His career has included leadership positions at Accenture and Duke Energy, where he managed large scale contracts and vendor negotiations. He holds a biology degree from Villanova University and a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. An avid outdoors enthusiast who enjoys hiking and surfing, he recently visited Yellowstone National Park, sparking an interest in the early history of one of America’s most iconic protected landscapes.
Exploring the Early History of Yellowstone
Yellowstone National Park, a crowning achievement of early conservationists’ efforts, President Ulysses S Grant established it in 1872, when development threatened the uniquely scenic and wild area within the Wyoming and Montana territories. The earliest people to inhabit the region included tribes such as the Shoshone, Crow, Blackfeet, Salish, Bannock, and Nez Perce, who considered it sacred because of its unique hot springs, geysers, and other geologic features.
The accounts of Western explorers do not mention Yellowstone and its treasures. The theory states that the locals tried to keep their presence hidden from outsiders who didn’t share their spiritual values. While French trappers may have inhabited the area earlier, the first known explorer to visit Yellowstone was John Colter in the winter of 1807-1808.
Colter, the pioneering mountain man, returned from a successful mission with Lewis and Clark across the continent. His retinue reached St. Louis on the Mississippi River, and a few weeks later, the expedition arrived at Mandan Village in North Dakota. Colter met a pair of beaver trappers who requisitioned his services in leading them through the upper Missouri River country.
Having received an honorable discharge from Lewis and Clark to leave the government party early, Colter acted as a guide for a short time before heading for civilization in St. Louis. He came across Manuel Lisa, the founder of the Missouri Fur Trading Company. He accompanied a band of frontiersmen to where the Yellowstone and Big Horn Rivers meet, the perfect location for a trading post.
At this point, Colter struck off into the wilderness solo, seeking Crow tribespeople to trade with. Covering 500 miles at the dead of winter, he made his way to what is now Cody, Wyoming, and from there along the unexplored Jackson and Yellowstone Lakes. Here, he recorded numerous geysers, bubbling mud pots, steaming pools, and hot springs.
When Colter arrived back in civilization, people laughed at his stories, considering them fanciful embellishments, and even dubbing the region “Colter’s Hell.” For two decades, nothing changed, with Colter’s legend giving way to legendary mountain man Jim Bridger, who established an annual fur Rendezvous that brought together fur trappers, including native people, from around the region. With furs traded for provisions and cash, whisky flowed freely at these events, which were like multi-day festivals. Bridger himself visited Yellowstone in 1825 while leading an expedition from southwest Montana to the Great Salt Lake.
As with Colter, no one believed what they called Bridger’s “tall tales” at first. These told of a journey westward through Sylvan Pass, along a river with a hot bed (Firehole River) and a dark cliff of glass (Obsidian Cliff). Bridger also spoke of seeing petrified trees that had petrified birds still roosting on their branches. He described a spot on a great lake where the angler could fish in cold water and, without taking fish caught off the hook or even moving, boil them directly in a hot spring. One Kansas City Journal reporter compiled the stories for publication, but the editor axed the series, as he “would be laughed out of town if he printed any of Old Jim Bridger’s lies.”
Captain John Gunnison, who contributed to an 1849 survey of the Great Salt Lake Valley, did record descriptions given to him by the illiterate Bridger directly: “A lake 60 miles long… the rivers issue from this lake and for 15 miles roars through the perpendicular canyons… waterfalls are sparkling, leaping and thundering down the precipices…” He also made this description: “Geysers spout up 70 feet, with a terrible hissing noise, at regular intervals.”
Finally, the Washburn Expedition of 1870, followed by the Hayden Expedition of 1871, marked the time when the US government set out to formally survey and catalogue this region. It immediately considered the area worth protecting and preserving, confirming earlier descriptions.
About Thomas Pickels
Thomas Pickels is a senior IT and professional services leader with experience at BMC Software, Accenture, and Duke Energy. He has managed enterprise level contracts, guided cross functional teams, and overseen vendor negotiations involving major technology providers. He earned a BS in biology from Villanova University and an MS in biomedical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. An outdoor enthusiast, he enjoys hiking, surfing, and following baseball, particularly the New York Yankees.
MOBI ROLLER is a tech enthusiast with a background in technology. He writes about the latest trends, tools, and innovations in the tech world, sharing insights based on both knowledge and experience.