Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the Saratoga on July 1, 1976. It is the recount of Jessie (Cunningham) Miller’s trip to Yellowstone Park in 1915. Jessie is the mother of Alice Parrie Swanson. Alice had several photos she shared with us that did not appear in the 1976 paper, and since this trip was taken 100 years ago, we decided to share it again.
On July 5, 1915, we left Encampment, by covered wagon and horseback to tour Yellowstone Park. In the company were 11 young people (I was 15 at the time) and two chaperones, Mr. and Mrs Charles Boyce and their two children from Rawlins, making a total of 15.
This trip was sponsored by our Presbyterian pastor, the Rev. Robert Marquis, for the benefit of his two sisters, Merle and Martha and his cousin, Olive Girard, and Howard Twitchell, who came out from Chicago to make the trip. The ones who were invited to go with him from Encampment were myself and my cousin, Leila Fathergill, Alice Toothaker, Harry Anderson, Mr. Bunny Sherer and another man whose name I don’t recall. It took us about two weeks to prepare for the trip after having discussed it at our Bible study class.
Each one in the party was to pay a share of the cost to provide for food and other items we would need. And, in order for me to go along on this trip, my father, Lewis Cunningham, (who owned and operated a blacksmith shop in Riverside at this time) offered to shoe all of the horses we would use free of charge. This was my contribution.
There was quite a stir getting out clothes and things ready to go. We girls didn’t need very many clothes as we wore riding skirts and blouses most of the time. Other necessary items were a large hat, boots and a heavy coat. Some of us didn’t have rain coats and so would ride in the wagon if it rained. We all rode horseback and would carry our gear, bedrolls, tents, and so on, in the wagon. A laundry tub, washboard and flat iron (which we heated in the fire), were also brought along.
Our wagonmaster and cook was Harry Anderson, and he also assigned us our duties. I was appointed horse wrangler (with the help of the boys). Our job was to see that the 19 horses (four pulled the wagon) were watered and fed grain after they grazed for a while in the evening. A rope corral was made by wrapping the rope around trees and forming a sort of circle. The horses were kept inside the corral at night so it wasn’t hard to get them saddled up and into harness the next morning. I was glad they stayed in the corral so well or we would have had to run all over the country to round them up! Of course, I helped with dishes and other chores too.
So, we finally got everything together and left on the morning of July 5. We went to Saratoga the first day and the girls from the east were a little sore and tired from riding horses for the first time. We camped on the outskirts of Saratoga that night and went on to Walcott the next day where something happened to our wagon, and some of the boys had to go to Hanna to get repairs. This held us up about a day and in the meantime we were joined by the Boyce family. Mr. Boyce was to be our guide. He was the County Assessor at the time and knew the country pretty well.
After the repairs were completed we headed north toward Pathfinder Dam, averaging about 20 miles a day. This was one of the things we wanted to see on our trip, as Pathfinder Dam was only about six years old at the time and was one of the wonders of Wyoming. It was the first dam to be built on the Platte River. When we reached the dam I remember walking across the top on foot. One of the members in our party took pictures with a camera they had brought along. We were all quite impressed with the size of the dam.
After seeing Pathfinder we went north towards Moneta and somewhere along the way got off the road and got lost in trying to find a shortcut that would save us some miles. In making our way to the main road again we had to cross a dry ditch which was kind of deep and our cupboard (that held all of our dishes and cooking things, and was attached to the back of the wagon) was torn almost completely off. The ditch was narrow, and when the wagon started up the other side the cupboard hit the bank behind it, knocking it loose. Fortunately, none of the dishes were broken as it was fitted for travel and also had a door that dropped down to form a table to work on.
From Moneta we made our way to Shoshoni and stopped at Shoshoni Dam (now named Boysen Dam). Then on to Thermopolis where we saw the hot springs coming out from under the foot of a hill. We crossed the stream on a bridge before going on in to town.
Our next stop was Meeteetse and then on to Cody where they were having a rodeo. The others talked me into riding my horse in a cow-pony race and I came in third (there only being three in a race), ha ha! Anyway it was a lot of fun.
I celebrated my 16th birthday on July 21, while in Cody or somewhere near there, and the rest of the party presented me with a checkered cap with a bill on it and a red scarf tied around it. This was my pride and joy for quite a while.
From Cody we went in the east entrance to Yellowstone Park, over Sylvan Pass and on up to Mammoth Hot Springs. We made the circle through the park, camping all the way. We didn’t stay in any hotels or eat any meals in restaurants.
When we got down to “Old Faithful” they were feeding the bears. It was after supper and the bears came up near the Old Faithful Inn to be fed. There were seats there where we could sit and watch them while they were eating. It was quite an entertaining thing to see!
We saw “Old Faithful” erupt and it was doing so every hour on the hour at that time. We also stayed near the Norris Geyser Basin one night and it sounded like a steam engine going all night.
At Old Faithful Inn we were told that it was all put together with wooden pegs and that there wasn’t a nail in it. This was something new to us. We got to look at some of the rooms, and it was a fabulous place. There were no cabins there at that time. We also picked up our mail here, and at the Lake Hotel.
We camped one night on the Firehole River and here saw a little brown bear cross the stream a little way above us. This was quite a curiosity to all of us. We enjoyed all of the wildlife in the park, but I don’t remember seeing any elk or buffalo.
Along the way we would catch fish to eat and sometimes Harry, our cook, would shoot sage chickens with his .22 rifle. They were quite plentiful out on the flats then. These he would roll in flour and fry in a lot of grease in the Dutch oven until it was tender.
He also baked biscuits in a Dutch oven which he would bury in a hole in the ground, after having first made a fire in the hole and letting it burn down to form coals. He then took some of the coals out and put them on top of the lid of the oven which had a rim around it to hold the coals. He would next fill the hole with dirt and the biscuits would bake. They were really good! He also made pancakes in the morning which he would toss up in the air and catch in the skillet when he turned them, making quite a show.
Another form of entertainment was an Edison phonograph that one of the girls had brought along and which played the flat, thick records. She had a lot of Hawaiian music which we would listen to quite frequently in the evenings and on Sundays. We always held church services on Sunday and didn’t travel on this day.
We saw all of the attractions of Yellowstone Park and being on horseback could see a lot more than today when touring by car.
After leaving the Park we traveled past the Teton Mountains and the beautiful lakes at their base. The folks from the east were very taken with our mountains and all of the different rock formations that we had seen in Yellowstone.
We passed through Jackson Hole and headed south through the Hoback Canyon. Along here somewhere one of our wagon horses, “Old Suse”, died. We had quite a time finding a replacement for her, but finally found someone who sold us a mule. We then headed for Bondurant and Pinedale.
After looking over Pinedale, our company dropped down out of the mountains and we began our journey across the Red Desert. We crossed the desert without further mishap, coming in to Willow Springs where there was a roadhouse.
Having been gone for two months we were all quite suntanned and travel weary, but it was a wonderful trip and I’ll never forget it!
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