Sunday, November 17, 2024

Publishing My Mom’s Children’s Story: Henrietta and Weber Find a Friend

Chasing History: Exploring My Ancestral Roots - Blog Post #48

By Tonya McQuade


Cover photo drawn by my son, Aaron Silva, for my mom's book:

"Henrietta and Weber Find a Friend"


Are you looking for a great gift idea for a child in your life who enjoys animals? Well, let me tell you about my mom's new book ...


Years ago, I remember my mother talking about wanting to write a children’s book about her chicken Henrietta. I didn’t know she had actually written one until I was helping my parents go through boxes of old cards and photos this past summer, and I came across a folder with both a story about Henrietta and Weber, as well as an essay about raising chickens. I could see my mom had even gotten some feedback from someone on the manuscript; but then, she tucked it away inside a folder, where it stayed hidden for more than thirty years.


I was in high school when my dad first brought home chickens, and since I soon went away to college, I did not have as much experience with the chickens as my mom and the rest of the family did – but I watched as she fell in love with the chickens, started painting chickens, and started decorating the kitchen with chickens (on the walls, not in the oven!). I watched as she nursed Spot (aka. Weber) back to health, saw how upset she was when she learned Filo had been killed, and tried to comfort her when I found her crying by the phone one day, thinking she had just received some tragic news. She had: Peanut (another one of the chickens) had died.


One of my mom’s paintings of a chicken and young girl


My mom has always been an animal lover, taking in many stray cats over the years, as well as dogs, chickens, hamsters, fish, birds, and even a goose. On a recent trip to visit her in Antioch, she wanted to go to Walmart so she could buy more birdseed for her bird feeders in the backyard, as well as peanuts for the squirrels. Her favorite vacation was to Africa, where she was able to see many animals on safari, as well as hike the trail to see the mountain gorillas in Uganda.


I’m so glad I came across her lost manuscripts and so happy I could help make my mom’s dream a reality by publishing her work. Henrietta and Weber Find a Friend is her children’s book about our family pets Henrietta, Weber, Tippy, and Scruffy. My mother, of course, is the “kind lady” in the house!


I surprised my mom with her newly-published book on her birthday in September.


Aaron drew the cover and inside illustrations for her book.


The paragraphs above that you just read appear in the book as my “Editor’s Note” at the end. I had so much fun reading my mom's story, typing it up, and preparing it for publication. Aaron, too, was happy to contribute his artwork. My mom was very excited to see her story and essay in print - and was thrilled to see photos of young relatives reading her book (thanks to Jennifer and Joy for sending photos!). She was also grateful to be asked by some of her friends to autograph their books!


According to their mom, this is their new favorite book!

Another fan of my mom's book

Here, I share an excerpt from my mom's essay that appears after the children’s story:


I knew from the very beginning that they would mean trouble for me. Doug knew how much I loved animals, but he still decided to buy some baby chicks to be part of our living-off-the-earth plan. It wasn’t enough for him that we already had a large garden, which kept me busy with canning and various other preserving methods. We had built out own passive solar home together, which he designed. Reading "Mother Earth News" and "Organic Gardening" had become a way of life for us. So, it was only expected that raising chickens would also fit into this plan. But that’s where we ran into some definite differences in values.


I had gone along with most of the changes we were making in our lives pretty well, at least in my opinion. Now Doug would have a different tale to tell, especially when he first proposed the whole idea to me of selling our lovely home and building one ourselves. It meant we would all have some sacrifices to make for a while. Once I got over the shock, I was able to adjust quite well. There was an old house already on the property that we could live in while we were building our new home. Of course, it was full of fleas, but we managed to get rid of them. We considered the year we spent in the old house as camping out. Everyone pitched in and worked to help build the house, and it was exciting to see it all taking shape. Of course, there were those times when things didn’t go quite right, but the end product made up for any discomfort any of us experienced.


Once the house was finished, we settled in to complete our new life-style change of living pattern. We landscaped with drought-resistant plants and planted a wonderful vegetable garden, along with many fruit trees. It seemed as if our long-range goal and dream of the future had finally happened.


Why did he have to bring home those baby chicks and spoil it all? He knew I would get attached to them and NEVER be able to eat any of them. So, he proceeded to tell me they were his chicks, and I wasn’t to have anything to do with them. I managed to barely converse with him for about three days. Meanwhile, the chicks lived in the garage while he prepared their living quarters.


A photo of Henrietta - who survived the longest of all the chickens


I snuck a peek at them more than once. Eventually I got over my stubbornness, and we all named a chick. Doug named his Friar, or should I say, “Fryer.” He was going to make sure he got his point across. As luck would have it, Friar ended up being a rooster. Now, it was okay to have chickens within the city limits, but a rooster could cause some problems. Our neighbors didn’t seem to mind when I checked with them. The problem took care of itself, however, because Friar ended up dying before too long. The chickens became a part of our lives, and I loved watching all their crazy little antics. Having been raised in Chicago, I had never even been close to a chicken, so this was a new experience for me.


Eventually, I was able to find out what brooding meant because Patience decided to brood. Since we no longer had a rooster, Doug went to a farm and got her some fertilized eggs. During the night he switched her eggs for the fertilized ones. Some weeks later, I was to see the miracle of life peeking out from under the mound of black and white downy feathers.


If you want to read the rest of my mom’s essay, as well as the cute story of how Henrietta and Weber find a friend, I encourage you to buy her book at this Amazon link. Below is one of the photos Aaron drew for the book, showing the kind lady in the house holding the new “friend” Henrietta and Weber found. He said this is his favorite of the illustrations, and I have to say, it’s my favorite, too!







Tuesday, November 12, 2024

A Historic Trek: The Amazing Honeymoon of W.F. Traughber and Nora Petree Traughber in 1905, Part VI

Chasing History: Exploring My Ancestral Roots - Blog Post #47

By Tonya McQuade


A page from the Traughber photo album filled with family photos

Over the last six weeks in my blog posts, I have described the wedding and adventurous honeymoon my great-grandparents Frank and Nora Traughber enjoyed in August and September of 1905. I started by describing their wedding in San Jose at the Petree House, then moved on to their honeymoon adventures in Del Monte (Monterey), Pacific Grove, and Santa Cruz (Part I); Catalina Island (Part II); San Francisco (Part III), the Pacific Northwest (Part IV), and finally Yellowstone National Park (Part V).


They also visited Missoula, Montana, and Salt Lake City, Utah. However, since I have no photos or details from those stops, I have decided to skip ahead to their ultimate destination: Mexico, Missouri, where they planned to begin their married life together. That is where their photo album next picks up. Frank and Nora arrived in Mexico in mid-September of 1905 after their four-week honeymoon trek. What stories they must have had to tell! 


Wedding Announcement in the Mexico Weekly Ledger, dated 15 July 1905


As seen above, the local newspaper announced their wedding in July since Frank - aka. Dr. W. F. Traughber - already had an established medical practice and residence in town. He had traveled to California for the wedding, there to join Nora who had been living in the Bay Area since she had been attending (and recently graduated from) Stanford University. The journey to Mexico was a return trip for him, to a place with which he was familiar, but this was to be a new life for Nora. I wonder how she felt about the move after experiencing life in California.


Since Mexico is just fourteen miles from Centralia and offered more hotel selections, Mike and I stayed there for two nights during our recent visit to Missouri since I had two book talks scheduled in Centralia. I was anxious to visit the history museums in both cities since we had not been able to see either on our earlier visit to the area. So, our first stop in Mexico was at the Audrain County Historical Society/Graceland Museum Complex. We arrived just in time for a tour of the Graceland Mansion, which now houses the historical society. Below is a page from the scrapbook I have been working on for our trip.



The house was built in 1857 by John P. Clark, who lived in the house until 1867. He then sold it to Colby T. Quisenberry, who renamed it “Graceland.” In was Quinsenberry who brought purebred saddle horses to Mexico (more on that later). In 1874, Quisenberry sold the house to James E. Ross, whose family lived in it for the next half century. It was the Ross family who owned the house in 1905 when Frank and Nora were in Mexico, though James Ross died in 1900. As described on the museum website, the house is a two-story, frame dwelling with Italianate style decorative features, topped by a hipped roof with widow's walk and featuring an imposing Classical Revival style two-story front portico.


Graceland Mansion, aka. the Ross House


The original owner, Clark, hosted Colonel Ulysses S. Grant for dinner on several occasions when Grant was stationed in Mexico. I'll be writing more about Mexico's Civil War connections in a post for the Emerging Civil War website. That, however, was long before Frank and Nora lived there.


Mexico, as explained on the sign below, “was laid out by Robert C. Mansfield and James H. Smith not long before Audrain County was organized, 1836. Named for legislator James H. Audrain and settled mainly by Southerners, the county lies in the Little Dixie Region of Missouri.”  The city is “internationally known for its firebrick industry and famed for its saddle horses,” and we learned more about both of these at the museum.


Sign describing Mexico’s history in front of the Audrain County Historical Society


Back side of the informational sign about Mexico


As explained on the back side of the sign, Mexico is “a commercial and industrial hub, served by 3 railroads … [and] lies in the glacial plains region of Missouri, a highly fertile area of rich grain and livestock farms…. In the Civil War, Mexico, mainly Southern in sympathy, was early occupied by Union troops. U.S. Grant, while stationed here, July 1861, learned of his commission as a general.” 


While no battles occurred in Mexico during the war, such was not the case in nearby Centralia. I already wrote about the Centralia Massacre and the Battle of Centralia in previous blog posts, including my Traughber and Bryson family connections. Both the massacre and battle also come up in my book A State Divided: The Civil War Letters of James Calaway Hale and Benjamin Petree of Andrew County, Missouriwhich includes a letter from Hale saying he had a “lucky escape” by not getting the furlough he had requested, or he would have been on the massacred train. That’s a key reason Centralia was on the line-up for my Book Tour.



At the museum, we viewed photos of more early buildings that Frank and Nora likely saw in Mexico (shown above), and learned more about the Saddlebred Horses that played a large role in Mexico’s history (shown below). According to the book Images in America: Mexico (2010), by Vicki Berger Erwin, "Mexico was home not only to great horses, but to great trainers as well. The door to George and Will Lee's Lee Brother Stable on Western Boulevard is said to have had more champion show horses (and trainers) pass through it than any other barn in the country." The stables were eventually purchased by Art Simmons, who had a 60-year career in horses, and became known as Simmons Stables.



I know from their honeymoon photos that Frank and Nora enjoyed riding horses, as they rode them in both Seattle’s Washington Park and at Yellowstone National Park. So, perhaps they enjoyed riding in Mexico – or, perhaps they enjoyed watching the horse competitions that were a popular attraction. The American Saddlebred Horse Museum is another part of the Graceland Museum Complex. Mexico was once noted as the Saddlebred Horse Capital of the World. Museum exhibits include an extensive range of equestrian memorabilia as well as displays about Tom Bass (a famous black horseman), Art Simmons (a local trainer), the Callaway Hills stallion Will Shriver, and more. 


While I cannot be sure whether Frank and Nora had anything to do with saddlebred horses, I do know that after graduating from A.T. Still University’s College of Osteopathy in Kirksville, Missouri (see Blog Post #3), Frank set up his medical office and residence at 120 W. Promenade in downtown Mexico. So, why not return to Centralia, where most of his family lived? Mostly likely due to his potential clientele - Mexico’s population was significantly larger than Centralia’s at the time he was starting his medical practice – 5,099 vs. 1,722 (according to the 1900 Census). He must have been successful, for by 1903, he was serving as president of the Missouri Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons.


My father's printing appears on this photo, with identifying info about Dr. T


In the above photo, you can see “Doctor Traughber - Osteopath” written on the side of the building. I’m not sure who the two women and the four children are in the photo, but that’s Dr. Traughber standing on the right. He had three older and two younger sisters living in the area, as well as quite a few nieces and nephews, so it is likely some of them can be seen here. Mike and I went looking for the office, but all we could see at that address was a warehouse and an area under construction. It looks like his office building no longer exists, but across the street many old buildings do still exist, so it's likely his office/residence looked something like the ones seen in this photo.


Older buildings in downtown Mexico, near where Dr. Traughber’s office was located

From the photos in their album, it is clear Frank and Nora spent time visiting the Centralia relatives. One sad event I noticed in looking more closely at the Traughber family tree is that Frank’s brother Leslie died in November 1905 - just two months after he and Nora arrived in Mexico. Perhaps the woman in black in the office photo above is Leslie’s wife, Blanche. His death likely contributed to Frank and Nora’s decision to name their first son, born in July 1906, Francis “Frank” Leslie Traughber. Interestingly, Leslie and Blanche named one of their daughters (born in 1903) Nora - perhaps their future sister-in-law had already won their hearts! Little Nora may be one of the small girls sitting on the right in the office photo, and perhaps her brother Lowell (born in 1898) is seated second from the left. 


The album page at the top of this post includes photos of Frank’s parents (my great-great grandparents), as well as his sisters, though I don’t see any of his brothers or brothers-in-law. Some of the photos can be viewed more closer up below. I especially like the one of Frank and his mother. Frank’s siblings included:


Sisters:

  • Stella Lee Traughber (1869-1919) + William A. Johnson
  • Hattie Belle Traughber (1870-1941) + John Lewis Skaggs
  • Elizabeth “Lizzie” Traughber (1873-1943)
  • Ida Lou Traughber (1880-1969)
  • Myrtle Francis “Fannie” Traughber (1882-1981) + Dr. Charles William Bryson

Brothers:

  • Leslie Bryson Traughber (1877-1905) + Lola Blanche Rowland
  • Charles Weaver “Carl” Traughber (1886-1965) + Georgia Alice Powell
  • George Burnett “Bernie” Traughber (1889-1966) + Hallie Glenn McCabe

My great-great grandparents, Francis Marion Traughber (1848-1931)

and Mariah “Marnie” Agnes Bryson Traughber (1849-1927)


Frank with his mother in front of the Hathaway Seed & Produce Co.


Nora (on the right) showing a book to one of the Traughber sisters


The two of them smiling for the camera


A group of the Traughber women (Nora is seated second from left)


While in Mexico, I also learned that Frank sometimes helped out his father at the Centralia Mill, which his father partially owned. I found the following photo of father and son in a book titled History of Centralia, Missouri, written by Edgar T. Rodemyre and published in 1936. It said the photo was taken about thirty years earlier.


A page from the 1936 book History of Centralia, Missouri


That seems, though, like a story for another day - not really related to this series on Frank and Nora's historic honeymoon trek. In a future post, I will share more of what I learned during our recent visit about the Traughbers' lives in Centralia. In the meantime, thanks for following along on their amazing adventure!




Saturday, October 19, 2024

A Historic Trek: The Amazing Honeymoon of W.F. Traughber and Nora Petree Traughber in 1905, Part V

Chasing History: Exploring My Ancestral Roots - Blog Post #46

By Tonya McQuade



Over the past several weeks in my blog posts, I have explored the adventurous honeymoon my great-grandparents Frank and Nora Traughber enjoyed in August and September of 1905. I started by describing their wedding in San Jose (Petree House Connections), then moved on to their adventures in Del Monte, Pacific Grove, and Santa Cruz (Part I); Catalina Island (Part II); San Francisco (Part III), and the Pacific Northwest (Part IV). In Part V, I explore what I consider the most adventurous part of their honeymoon: their visit to Yellowstone National Park from September 4-9, 1905.


When Mike and I visited Yellowstone National Park in July 2017, we did so from the comfort of our car. We drove through Nevada and Idaho on our way to West Yellowstone, Montana, where we entered the park in the late afternoon. We made our first stop at Upper Geyser Basin to see Old Faithful and check out Old Faithful Inn, before heading to Grant Village Campground to pitch our tent for the night and take an evening hike along nearby Yellowstone Lake. The next day, we met up with a tour group as part of a Geology class we were taking through the University of the Pacific, then began our three days of exploring the park—two days with the group, and one day on our own.


As I looked through my great-grandparents’ honeymoon album, I saw that they visited many of the same locations we did, including Upper Geyser Basin, Old Faithful, Yellowstone Lake, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Yellowstone River, Yellowstone Falls (both the upper and lower sections), Mammoth Hot Springs, Liberty Cap, and the Golden Gate. However, they arrived on the Northern Pacific Railway, which had first reached Gardiner in June 1902, and got off at the Gardiner Depot. Furthermore, theirs was a six-day journey on a “wagonette” pulled by horses, traveling with a large group of people on a set course, and they were able to walk in many places today’s tourists are no longer allowed to go. 


They, too, saw elk and bison–but it’s likely they also saw bears feeding from the garbage bins near area hotels. This was a regular tourist attraction, with some visitors even hand feeding bears from their carriages and later cars. Park rangers finally put a stop to it after too many visitors were injured and they finally recognized the damage this was doing to the bears.


“Our favorite rig and driver” - visitors traveled in eleven-passenger coaches.


Wealthy visitors who took the “Grand Tour” stayed at fancy lodges throughout the park. Those who chose the more economical route stayed at “Wiley Camps.” Established by William Wallace Wylie, the Wylie Camping Company fed, sheltered, and guided thousands of Victorian vacationers from 1896 to 1905 through relaxed week-long tours of geysers, hot pools, waterfalls, and trails. These were not rustic campgrounds, nor was the tent they stayed in like the one Mike and I pitched. As explained online, “Despite the park’s wilderness setting, Wylie lured travelers with promises of comfort, ease, and delicious meals, claiming such luxuries as ‘woven wire springs under fine mattress beds; no sleeping on the ground… [and] fine covered buggies to ride in.’ 


“His new method of caring for tourists’ embraced separate dining tents, partitioned sleeping tents heated with stoves, informative outings, and fresh-air bonfires. His policy of hiring honest, hard-working college students and teachers who utilized the park as an outdoor classroom set an example for concessions throughout Yellowstone and other national parks” (1).


Captions: Our party at camp. / We rode in one wagonette.


Frank and Nora took this more economical route, though I’m guessing they took “peeks” at the fancy lodges along the way. The first “grand hotel” in the park was the Mammoth Hotel, originally named the National Hotel, built in 1883 in Mammoth Hot Springs, but today’s structure has been rebuilt. The Canyon Hotel, near the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Yellowstone Falls, followed in 1886, but it, too, has been rebuilt. The oldest operating hotel in the park is the Lake Hotel, built near Yellowstone Lake in 1891. Mike and I actually ate dinner at its restaurant overlooking the lake. Old Faithful Inn opened its doors in June 1904 in the Upper Geyser Basin, so Frank and Nora probably visited the inn to look at its beautiful interior when they stopped to see Old Faithful.


Thanks to a traveler’s journal I found online from the summer of 1905, I could see the itinerary they would have followed, with slight variations since they stayed in the Wiley tents (2):


A trip through Yellowstone National Park around the turn of the 20th century would have taken about six days. Starting at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel near Gardiner, Montana at the north end of the park, travelers boarded a wagon that took them counter-clockwise in a loop around the park.


Approaching the Park

Day 1: Visitors arrived in Gardiner on one of two daily trains from Livingston. In Gardiner, they boarded a six-horse coach that took them to Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel for their first night in the park.


Mammoth Hot Springs

Day 1: Upon arrival at the hotel, visitors checked in and received passes for the touring wagons. After that, they were free to explore the terraces and formations of Mammoth Hot Springs for the rest of the day.


Day 2: As many as 300 visitors rose early and gathered in the hotel plaza where they were assigned a seat on a four-horse touring wagon that would transport them on a five-day loop of the park.


Old Faithful

Day 3: After a night at the Fountain Hotel, tourists took the short coach ride to the Old Faithful Inn. They spent the afternoon exploring the Upper Geyser Basin and enjoyed the Inn’s fireplace and popcorn in the evening.


Yellowstone Lake

Day 4: The next morning tourists took the 19-mile trip to the shores of Yellowstone Lake, where they stopped for lunch before continuing on to the Lake Hotel.


Seeing Bears

Day 4: In the early days of Yellowstone, bears were intentionally drawn to open garbage heaps near hotels. Visitors looked on while accompanied by an armed ranger. As the number of bear injuries rose, the park banned bear feeding.


Yellowstone Canyon

Day 5: Tourists continued to the Canyon Hotel where they ate lunch before visiting Inspiration Point to view Yellowstone Falls and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.


Journey’s End

Day 6: The journey ended where it began. After a ride to Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, visitors returned to Gardiner, where they boarded a train that would take them back to their homes.


In the summer of 1905, a teacher from Buffalo, NY visited Yellowstone National Park and kept a detailed journal of her experience, the sites she saw, and people she met (3). 


As specified in the above itinerary, Frank and Nora began and ended their trip in Gardiner, which is located near the North Entrance to the park, just a five minute walk from Gallatin Forrest and about five miles from Mammoth Hot Springs. Mike and I stayed in Gardiner after two nights of camping in Grant Village Campground, and we were both definitely ready for a hot shower and a cozy bed. We found both at the Victorian Inn and Carriage House on Main Street, which was built in 1895, so it’s likely Frank and Nora saw this beautiful house in its heyday. 


We also ate at the Iron House Bar and Grill, which was established in 1902, so it’s possible they even ate at the same location we did! The Iron House Bar and Grill “offer[s] a mouthwatering taste of the American West right on the banks of the Yellowstone River, just a few blocks away from Yellowstone National Park” (4). While there, Mike enjoyed one of their bison burgers and some “Moose Drool” beer, while I happily ate their rainbow trout. I wonder what Frank and Nora ate while they journeyed around Yellowstone.


The restaurant definitely stands out in my mind for its delicious food, its local feel, and rustic ambience, and its interesting decor. As described online, “The interior of the restaurant is filled with authentic western decor, including countless pieces of memorabilia, historical photos and oddities mounted on the walls and ceiling. A full bar complete with local craft beers and unique specialty cocktails will quench your summer thirst while you enjoy scenic views of Yellowstone’s first entrance town” (5).


Roosevelt Arch: “FOR THE BENEFIT AND ENJOYMENT OF THE PEOPLE” (6)


The Victorian Inn is also just a six minute walk from the historic Roosevelt Arch, which was built in 1903, with the cornerstone laid at a dedication by President Theodore Roosevel on April 24. While today’s park service would not likely approve such a construction, it was thought at the time that the “approach to the park was barren and lacked suitable grandeur,” and since “Gardiner was the most important gateway to Yellowstone—the first park and a jewel in the national park crown,” plans commenced for the new entryway (7).


The 50-foot-high arch was completed in six months and is made of hundreds of tons of native columnar basalt which were quarried from nearby. According to some interesting facts I read online, “The Arch was not originally intended to honor Roosevelt, but was so named because the president happened to be vacationing in the park during the Arch’s construction, and was asked to speak at the dedication ceremony” (8).


A stereoscopic image of President Theodore Roosevelt speaking at the arch in 1903


As President Roosevelt stated at the dedication, “Yellowstone Park is something absolutely unique in the world so far as I know. Nowhere else in any civilized country is there to be found such a tract of veritable wonderland made accessible to all visitors, where at the same time not only the scenery of the wilderness, but the wild creatures of the Park are scrupulously preserved as they were, the only change being that these same wild creatures have been so carefully protected as to show a literally astonishing tameness. The creation and preservation of such a great national playground in the interests of our people as a whole is a credit to the nation; but above all a credit to Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. It has been preserved with wise foresight” (9).


After proceeding through the Roosevelt Arch on the first day of their journey, Frank and Nora stopped at Mammoth Hot Springs. At the time, Mammoth Hot Springs was part of a military reservation, with soldiers whose job it was patrol the park in order to arrest poachers, provide medical care, manage wildlife, fight fires, expel squatters, prevent vandalism, and educate visitors, according to what Mike and I learned when we visited Fort Yellowstone, which now houses a museum. Mammoth Hot Springs also included the Mammoth Hotel, the Cottage Hotel, and other buildings, as well as a “game corral” where some bison and elk were kept. Since bison had been hunted nearly to extinction in the 1900’s, only about two dozen bison existed in the park at the time, but efforts were being made to preserve and replenish their numbers, with breeding programs underway. 


Two photos in their album show Frank and Nora walking on what appears to be the formation known as “Minerva’s Terrace,” which is something no longer allowed. Today, visitors are expected to stay on marked trails or boardwalks and platforms so as not to damage the hot springs.


Frank at Mammoth Hot Springs


Nora at Mammoth Hot Springs


Minerva’s Terrace, named after the goddess Minerva (Roman goddess of artists and sculptors, among other things), is located in the middle of the Mammoth Hot Springs Geothermal Area. As described online, it “is a favorite not only because of its wide range of bright colors but also for its ornate travertine formations. Since the 1890s, when records were first kept on the activity of Mammoth Hot Springs, Minerva has gone through both active and inactive periods. For several years in the early 1900s, it was completely dry, but by 1951 reports state that Minerva was again active. During some cycles of activity, water discharge and mineral deposition have been so great that boardwalks have been buried beneath mounds of newly deposited travertine. Consequently, an elevated and movable boardwalk now spans the hill in the vicinity of Minerva. In recent years, hot spring activity has shifted dramatically from Minerva to other features on the Lower Terraces, and back again” (10). 


Since this description points out that “for several years in the early 1900s, it was completely dry,” that may be why Frank and Nora were able to walk on it. Here is Minerva Terrace as it appeared when Mike and I visited, looking out from a nearby overlook:


Minerva Terrace as it appeared in July 2017


The photo below shows a page from Mike’s and my photo album, which also includes an explanation of this “different” side of Yellowstone: “Mammoth Hot Springs looks different from other hydrothermal areas in Yellowstone. The white mounds and stalactite-like balconies are products of hot water sculpture in overdrive. At times, more than one hundred hot springs have been present at Mammoth-–but not a single geyser or mud pot. The water is cooler than that of many other hydrothermal areas. The rock of the terraces-–travertine–-is quickly built, causing new forms to emerge every day. Bright colors indicate abundant microbial life.”


Mike and I visited Mammoth Hot Springs in July 2017.


Another feature of Mammoth Hot Springs that Frank and Nora enjoyed is “Liberty Cap,” a 37-foot tall formation that “was created by a hot spring that was active in one location for a long time. Its internal pressure was sufficient to raise the water to a great height, allowing mineral deposits to build slowly and continuously for perhaps hundreds of years” (11). I don't recall seeing this in Yellowstone, but perhaps we did.


Frank standing beside Liberty Cap


Frank and Nora’s next stop was at Upper Geyser Basin, where they saw the park’s most famous feature: Old Faithful. So what exactly is the difference between hot springs and geysers? Here’s a photo of an explanation Mike and I saw at the Fort Yellowstone Museum:



During their 1905 visit, Frank and Nora got a much closer view of the geysers than visitors today, who are required to stay on designated boardwalks, both to protect the geysers and for their own safety. Their album includes several photos of Old Faithful, as well as others showing both of them getting close-up views:


Old Faithful is one of nearly 500 geysers at Yellowstone and is one of only six that park rangers predict, with eruptions every 35-120 minutes.


Nora in Upper Geyser Basin, where about 150 hydrothermal geysers exists within one square mile, five of which can be predicted: Castle, Grand, Daisy, Riverside, and Old Faithful


Frank standing beside a geyser


The group squeezes in for a closer view.

Nearby Old Faithful Inn, which as I mentioned above had just opened its doors one year before their visit, must have been a sight to see for Frank and Nora. As described online, “The building is a rustic log and wood-frame structure with gigantic proportions: nearly 700 feet in length and seven stories high. The lobby of the hotel features a 65-foot ceiling, a massive rhyolite fireplace, and railings made of contorted lodgepole pine. [Visitors can] stand in the lobby and look up at the exposed structure, or walk up a gnarled log staircase to one of the balconies” (12). Mike and I did just that - and it was certainly impressive. We also ate lunch at the inn, and I enjoyed a delicious Huckleberry margarita. 


Built at a cost of $200,000, the inn at that time had 140 rooms that could accommodate 316 guests. An early guest, James J. Murphy, who was staying in the tents, described it this way in 1907: “After supper we all shaved and walked down to Old Faithful Inn with the object of dancing, but when we got there, we had not the nerve as the place was grand, the swellest hotel I ever laid my eyes on. Coming towards it in the dark, all the lights burning from the windows, and the search light playing on Old Faithful, I have never seen a prettier sight in my life!… 


“It was entirely constructed of logs and very artistically built. Inside in the lobby the floors were hard wood, oiled. I almost broke my neck [slipping] on them. Sitting around in the chairs were men and women all swelled up, and all looked at us as we came in our glad rags… Inside, upon looking up you could see rows of balcony and all built of logs. The staircase was of split logs for steps. A huge fireplace, built entirely of lava rocks, go[es] all the way up the four stories and a great massive clock hangs on the wall and great large doors with their quaint hinges and bolts [are] a sight never to be forgotten” (13).


A page from our photo album showing Old Faithful Inn


Mike and I did not explore Upper Geyser Basin as much as we would have liked due to time constraints and huge crowds. Nora and Frank would not have faced such huge crowds, for “visitation was light during stagecoach days, unlike today when the park receives three million visitors per year. While visitation to Yellowstone has always proceeded as a gradually increasing phenomenon, the stagecoach era was a time of relatively few visitors: 4,000 per year before 1900; 17,327 per year for 1900-1910; 37,800 per year for 1911-20; and 262,792 per year 1921-1940” (14). 

 

A different philosophy also reigned in the park at that time: “During the period 1903-1940, the park's army and then NPS administrators favored use over preservation, and thus human development in the form of buildings, roads, bridges, trails, and infrastructure at Old Faithful proceeded unfettered. This was a time before strict preservation as a concept had entered the consciousness of park managers. Because visitation was relatively light, administrators considered park resources to be in no real danger and thus available in general for use. Swimming in hot springs; using them for cooking, bathing, and clothes-washing; the use of thermal ground for growing plants; the feeding of animals at garbage dumps or with hay; the stocking of streams with fish; and the cutting of trees for construction were all activities that were accepted and practiced in the park. Changes of opinion in these areas came only gradually to Yellowstone” (15). 


One “change of opinion” came in 1936, when park rangers finally shut down the bear feeding shows that were so popular. But when Frank and Nora were there, such shows were among the highlight attractions, and it’s likely they saw bears this way. As described in F. Dumont Smith's Book of a Hundred Bears (1909): "Just way back of Old Faithful Geyser itself you may see, at sunset, black and brown and grizzly he and she bears, cubs, and two-year-olds (I think we counted twenty-four that night); and, after the great searchlight [on top of Old Faithful Inn] was turned on, we went to the roof with the glass and watched the light flash upon them. Some of them paid no attention to it; [they] just went on feeding" (16). 


According to then-Park Superintendent Horace Albright, he “established garbage dumps within walking distance of Upper Basin and Canyon, where bears of all kinds congregated every evening just before dark, and it was a regular practice for people from the hotels and camps to go to see them. A wire was firmly stretched between trees and posts to keep people from going beyond the danger line, and a ranger was placed on duty with a rifle to protect them. This is one of the most interesting features of the park to the majority of tourists, but [it] requires careful regulation” (17). 


Mike and I kept a close lookout for bears when we were at Yellowstone, anxious to see them in the distance but not in our campground or on the hiking trail! We got a view of a mama bear and two cubs in the very far distance, running into the trees, but in my photos, all you can see is a black dot. I would have loved to see them up close, but I understand the problems caused by feeding them garbage to guarantee tourists a bear sighting! I'm glad that is no longer allowed.


From Upper Geyser Basin, Frank and Nora traveled to Yellowstone Lake, as seen in the photo at the very top of this post, as well as the one below. According to the photo’s caption, they went fishing on the lake and were able to rent the boat for $3.50 for two hours. There is another rather funny photo right underneath this one in the album, one of my favorite’s, but I’m not sure exactly where it was taken. It shows Nora “caught unawares while drinking from the springs.” LOL.




Following their time at Yellowstone Lake, they headed to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, which involved crossing the Yellowstone River on the recently-constructed Chittenden Bridge. Built in 1903, the 120-foot concrete and steel arch bridge, constructed by park engineer Capt. Hiram M. Chittenden, crossed the river just upstream from the Upper Yellowstone Falls. The bridge provided access from the Grand Loop Road to the secondary road on the south rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, allowing visitors to see the upper and lower Yellowstone Falls from the south rim. In 1961, the bridge was replaced with a wider, more modern structure and rechristened Crittenden Memorial Bridge.


Captions: Yellowstone River / Cement Bridge across the Yellowstone River


In his 1915 history of Yellowstone, Chittenden described the process: “Until 1903 there was no bridge across the Yellowstone in the vicinity of the Falls, and the right bank of the Grand Canyon was practically inaccessible to the public. As some of the finest views were to be had from that side, it was considered desirable to provide means of getting across. This section of the river, immediately above the Upper Falls, presented numerous sites on which an ordinary bridge could be built at no great cost; but the remarkable scenic attractions of the rapids made any ordinary structure seem out of place.


"Accordingly it was decided to build something worthy of the situation, and a single arch of slender profile was selected as the type of structure. The exact form was a matter of careful study in order to get the lines which would appeal to the eye as meeting the artistic requirements. The span of the bridge is 120 feet and the rise of the arch is 15 feet. The height of the roadway at the center is 43 feet above low water in the river. The abutments are natural rock. The arch contains ten steel girders, which give it great strength. The body of the structure is solid concrete. The forms for the ornamental railing were manufactured in St. Paul, but the railing itself was molded in rich Portland cement mortar in place” (18).


From their photos, it looks like Frank had fun playing in the Yellowstone River and pointing out things to Nora that she should look at. I can imagine her on the riverside, nervously watching him and telling him to be careful. Perhaps a bit of my father’s daring and adventurousness comes from his “Papo” Traughber!


The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is truly breathtaking and has been photographed and painted by many artists through the years. Frank and Nora viewed it from Inspiration Point, as well as Uncle Tom’s Trail. Originally named Promontory Point in 1878, Inspiration Point juts out from the rest of the canyon and offers panoramic views up and down the canyon. The canyon itself runs northeast for over 20 miles, “starting with the Upper Falls of Yellowstone Falls … [then] carving a 1,000-foot deep gash in the pine-covered landscape. The north and south rims are separated by a mere 3/4 of a mile, with treacherously steep canyon walls painted in oranges, yellows and reds” (19). 


Frank and Nora’s photo of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone - this is definitely an example of the limitations of black and white photography!



View of Great Falls from “Uncle Tom’s Trail”


“Uncle Tom’s Trail” was a steep stairway that descended from the south rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone to a viewpoint near the base of the lower Yellowstone Falls. The trail was named after "Uncle Tom" H. F. Richardson, who constructed the original trail in 1898 when the Department of the Interior granted him a permit to operate a ferry across the Yellowstone River prior to the construction of the Chittenden Bridge. At that time, visitors traveled to the lower viewing deck via a series of 528 steps and some rope ladders. In 1905, the government built a wooden stairway with 328 steps, so Frank and Nora would have had an easier journey to get their view of the lower falls  (20).  


Captions: Near view of the Great Falls / A view of the canon and lower falls


It was artist Thomas Moran’s painting of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, which he created  after participating in the federally-funded 1871 Hayden Expedition, that helped move Congress to establish Yellowstone as the first national park in March 1872. Moran described the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone as “beyond the reach of human art.” The spot he was (mistakenly) believed to have used as the viewpoint for his painting is now called Artist Point. The federal government ultimately purchased Moran's painting for $10,000, and the piece hung in the United States Capitol until 1950. Mike and I have run into many of his other paintings in museums we have visited throughout the West over the years.


“Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,” by Thomas Moran, 1872


I found this description online: “This painting by Thomas Moran (1837-1926) depicts the canyon of the Yellowstone River's Lower Falls. The river is barely visible, snaking from the central portion of the painting toward the lower left. Coniferous trees dot rocky outcroppings in the foreground and middle distance. The foreground's plateau is in heavy shadow, while the rocky spires on the right side of the canyon are bathed in golden light. The landscape is humanized with the symbolic placement of people in the foreground--a Native American, the explorer Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden (1829-1887) and purportedly Moran himself” (21). 

The Hayden Expedition was an 1871 geological survey of the Yellowstone region led by Dr. Ferdinand V. Hayden. In the days before color photography, early survey teams often included artists and photographers to help with documentation. As described online, “The Hayden party included eighty-three expedition members who often splintered into smaller parties. One group included Moran and survey photographer William Henry Jackson (1843 – 1942). Jackson and Moran developed a close personal friendship and highly productive professional partnership …  [and] collaborated in selecting views and creating images that brought the near-mythical Yellowstone region to life. While many visitors to Yellowstone are most captivated by the geysers and other thermal features and wildlife, Moran and Jackson devoted more time to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone than anywhere else in Yellowstone” (22).


Frank and Nora also visited the Golden Gate of the Yellowstone, which serves as the “gateway” to the interior of the park. Golden Gate Canyon runs between Mammoth Hot Springs and the Yellowstone Plateau. According to the Yellowstone Explored website: “As sunlight hits the canyon walls they take on a golden-orange appearance due to colored lichen that cling to the rugged walls and peaks. Cathedral Rock in particular, that juts out from the northern part of Bunsen Peak, takes on a golden appearance. As you travel through the canyon you are traveling the path of the first stagecoach route into Yellowstone. The initial bridge (The Golden Gate Bridge of Yellowstone) was built entirely of wood planks in 1885 by Lieutenant Daniel Kingman and the U.S. Corp of Engineers. Because of his pioneering development of this passage through Golden Gate Canyon, it is called Kingman Pass in his honor. Located directly above the bridge is Huckleberry Ridge Tuff, a volcanic ash formation that came from the first Yellowstone caldera, 2 million years ago” (23).


Frank and Nora passed through the “Golden Gate” as they traveled back to Mammoth Hot Springs and Gardiner.


When Mike and I were there, our tour guide/geology teacher, Ted Reeves, spent a good amount of time explaining the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff and the roles various volcanoes had played in the creation of the canyon. We also took our photo  with this view—and the rebuilt road—in the background.


 

Mike and I enjoyed this more colorful view of the Golden Gate.


There are a few final photos I want to share, though I’m not sure exactly where they fit into the trip. In my last post, I shared photos of Frank and Nora riding horses at Seattle’s Washington Park. Here, they are once again riding horses, which is something Mike and I did NOT do in Yellowstone National Park, but we did do a week later at Grand Teton National Park. I loved being able to ride a horse along the trail as we took in the amazing views, and I‘m sure Frank and Nora must have enjoyed the same. Since these photos are not labeled, it’s possible they did this in one of the other locations Nora mentions having visited: Missoula, Montana, or Salt Lake City, Utah. There are no photos that I see from either of those locations, so I do not plan to explore them further in this series. 




Frank and Nora’s six-day adventure in Yellowstone National Park ended back at Gardiner, where they again boarded a train to continue their journey. About a week later, they arrived in Mexico, Missouri, where Frank, aka. Dr. Traughber, had his medical practice and where they would begin their married life. But more on that next time, in the final installment of this “historic honeymoon trek.”


For those who are still reading and want more history and photos:


Endnotes


  1. Wyoming State Museum. “A Journey through Yellowstone in 1905.” Google Arts and Culture, https://artsandculture.google.com/story/a-journey-through-yellowstone-in-1905-wyoming-state-museum/8wUxVL4NRccaJQ?hl=en.

  2. Ibid.

  3. Ibid.

  4. Iron Horse Bar and Grille, https://ironhorsebarandgrille.com/

  5. Ibid.

  6. “History of the Roosevelt Arch: 10 Fascinating Facts.” Yellowstone Forever, 24 April 2024, https://www.yellowstone.org/history-of-the-roosevelt-arch-10-fascinating-facts/.

  7. Ibid.

  8. Ibid.

  9. Roosevelt, Theodore, and Jack Haynes. “Celebrating the Roosevelt Arch: A Centennial History of an American Icon / Window Into Gardiner.” Yellowstone Science, Vol. 11, Number 3, Summer 2003, https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/upload/YS_11_3_sm.pdf.

  10. Minerva Terrace Stop on Mammoth Tour, https://www.nps.gov/features/yell/tours/mammoth/minerva.htm.

  11. “Liberty Cap (U.S.” National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/places/000/liberty-cap.htm.

  12. “Old Faithful - Yellowstone National Park (U.S.).” National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/exploreoldfaithful.htm.

  13. Johnston, Frances Benjamin. “A History of the Old Faithful Area.” NPS History, 13 March 2007, https://npshistory.com/publications/yell/old-faithful-area-history.pdf.

  14. Ibid.

  15. Ibid.

  16. Ibid.

  17. Ibid.

  18. Chittenden, Hiram M. “Chittenden Memorial Bridge.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chittenden_Memorial_Bridge.

  19. Smigelski, Seth. “Inspiration Point | Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone | Yellowstone National Park.” Hikespeak.com, https://www.hikespeak.com/trails/inspiration-point-grand-canyon-of-the-yellowstone-river/.

  20. “Uncle Tom's Trail.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tom%27s_Trail.

  21. “Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Thomas Moran, 1872.” Google Arts and Culture, https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/grand-canyon-of-the-yellowstone/BgGVMnQig7OMJw?hl=en.

  22. “Museum Management Program, Thomas Moran Virtual Museum Exhibit.” National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/thomas_moran/expedition.html.

  23.  Moran, Thomas. “Golden Gate Canyon and Bridge.” Yellowstone Explored, https://www.yellowstoneexplored.com/golden-gate-canyon-yellowstone.

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