#42 Postcard Trivia 1.15.19
Postcard published by F. Jay Haynes, St. Paul, Minnesota, early 1900’s. From the collection of J Garner.
Take a good look, but don’t get too close! This couple in the early 1900’s is visiting a basin full of geysers in Yellowstone National Park. The Norris Geyser Basin is the hottest place in the park! Some geysers can reach 380 feet in height and the emerging steam can be heard from miles away. Don’t you love the trail of wooden planks provided for the walk among the geysers? It’s easy to imagine this lovely lady lifting her long skirt to tiptoe over the boards and keep her shoes clean! Besides the awesome geysers, the other great story from this postcard is the photographer. This card was published by F Jay Haynes, one of the greatest natural U.S. photographers from the period between 1880 and 1920. He was hired by the Northern Pacific Railway Company to photograph the vast western lands crossed by their railroads and he became the official photographer of Yellowstone National Park. Northern Pacific even provided him with his own railroad car to use as a photography studio during his travels. See photos below. His photos were some of the first to reveal the beauty of our American West!
See more of the fantastic postcards of F Jay Haynes and his son in Postcard Hangout’s Yellowstone Gallery!
Trivia Question:
True or False: Yellowstone National Park was the first national park established in the United States.
Answer to Trivia Question:
True! Yellowstone National Park was established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. It is also a widely held belief that Yellowstone was the first national park in the world.
Source Links:
F Jay Haynes, Official Photographer of Yellowstone National Park.
Yellowstone National Park, Wikipedia.
Yellowstone Geysers, Norris Geyser Basin.
National Park Service, Yellowstone Geysers.