Human History of the GYE

Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Timeline

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.