Human History of the GYE
At least 11,000 years ago:
Evidence of population by the Clovis people. Clovis Point found that was made from obsidian obtained at Obsidian Cliff.
10,000 years ago:
Widespread evidence of Clovis people hunting large game and gathering resources, concentrated around Yellowstone Lake.
9,350 years ago:
Radiocarbon dating shows evidence of a campsite along the shore of Yellowstone Lake.
9,000 years ago - 1,000 CE:
Traces of campsites are found along the shores of Yellowstone Lake dating back to this period.
8,000 years ago:
Vegetation that is similar to current species appears in the record. Atlatl technology is widely used by hunters in this period.
3,000 years ago:
Oral histories of the Salish place their ancestors in the Yellowstone Area. Bison jumps and corrals began to be used in the Rocky Mountains.
1,500 years ago:
Bow and arrow technology replaced the atlatl. Evidence of sheep traps being used in the mountains.
1400:
Kiowa history places their ancestors in the Yellowstone area from 1400 - the 1700’s.
1450:
The Little Ice Age begins.
1600s:
North American tribes in the southwest acquire horses, potentially helping the Ancestors of the Crow travel to the GYE area.
Late 1700’s:
Fur traders travel the rivers into the GYE. Tribes from the Yellowstone area begin using horses.
1804 - 1806:
Lewis and Clark expedition passes by Yellowstone.
1807-1808:
John Colter is the first known European American to visit present-day Yellowstone.
1850’s:
Little Ice Age ends, climate warms.
1860:
Failed attempt at organized expedition of the Yellowstone Plateau.
1862:
Gold strike northwest of Yellowstone.
1869:
Folsom-Cook-Peterson expedition, the first organized expedition of current Yellowstone NP.
1870:
Washburn-Langford-Doane expedition…
1871:
First Hayden expedition.
1872:
Yellowstone National Park Protection Act is enacted, creating the first national park.
1883:
Northern Pacific Railway arrives near Gardiner, Montana.
1886:
The US Army arrives to manage Yellowstone, creating Camp Sheridan.
1894:
The National Park Protection Act (Lacey Act) makes it illegal to kill wildlife in the park.
1906:
The Antiquities Act passes, protecting historic, prehistoric, and scientific features/artifacts from federal lands.
1908:
Union Pacific train service begins at Yellowstone.
1915:
Private automobiles are officially able to enter the park.
1916:
The National Park Service was established and took over management of the park in 1918.
1929:
President Hoover signed a law changing the park's boundary and expanded it again in 1932.
1930’s:
CCC and completes work in Yellowstone.
1943-44:
Much of the park closes for WWII.
1948:
Yellowstone receives one million visitors.
1955:
Mission 66 revitalizes lodging, dining, education, and infrastructure in the park.
1965:
Yellowstone receives two million visitors for the first time.
1970:
New bear management plan begins, including closing open-pit dumps in the park.
1975:
Grizzly bears are listed as threatened species in the lower 48 states.
1988:
Public Law 100-443 protects hydrothermal features in national parks from geothermal development on adjacent federal lands; wildfire burns approximately 36% of the park.
1992:
Yellowstone receives three million visitors for the first time.
1995:
Wolves are restored to the park.
2000:
Interagency Bison Management Plan is adopted by federal, state, and tribal partners.
2007:
Yellowstone grizzly bears were removed from the federal threatened species list.
2009:
Grizzly bears return to the threatened species list.
2011:
Grey wolves were removed from the endangered species list in MT, ID, OR, and WA. Remained on the list in WY until 2017.
2015:
Yellowstone receives four million visitors for the first time.