Contents Acknowledgments ix Map xiv 1 Passage to Wonderland 1 J. E. Stimson, Photography, Rephotography, and Me 7 2 History of the Cody Road to Yellowstone 29 3 Photographs and Rephotographs 51 4 Afterword 141 Select Bibliography 145 Index 153 vii
Photographs and Rephotographs When J. E. Stimson explored the Cody Road over four days in the summer of 1903, he made images both going to Yellowstone and on his return to Cody. I have reconstructed these images into a single linear geographic passage moving westward on the road from Cody to Yellowstone, representing the scenes a traveler would encounter during the trip to the park. From the town, the route flanked Cedar Mountain to the south, crossed over to Irma on the South Fork of the Shoshone, then moved over to the North Fork and followed it all the way to Yellowstone Park s East Entrance. Along the way it passed through fields and canyons, past volcanic rock formations, and through the nation s first national forest. It then climbed over Sylvan Pass, past Eleanor and Sylvan Lakes, then descended to Yellowstone Lake. The four images that follow this organization represent four additional images Stimson made in 1910 on the new road past Shoshone Dam and Reservoir. The numbering system of the rephotographic pairs (1 42) was constructed for this book. The number that follows each photo number for example, #613 after number 1 is Stimson s original index number. Those interested in viewing or obtaining copies of any historic photograph can provide this number to the Wyoming State Archives. 51
The caption titles are based on Stimson s original photograph caption titles often listed on the bottom of the original negative. They have been modified for clarity and to reduce repetition. The Global Positioning System (GPS) information provided was either calculated in the field using a handheld GPS unit or approximated on US Geological Survey (USGS) maps or Google Earth from known locations. Data are presented in degrees, minutes, and decimal minutes. It is said that civilian GPS units are accurate enough to place one within an area about the size of a tennis court near a location, so entering this information into a mapping system or Google Earth should take viewers very close to each camera station. Viewers will need to be at the sites, however, to find exact vantage points. As noted earlier, Google Earth provides an application called Street View with a small person-shaped icon called Pegman. To get both a topographical view of the surrounding landscape as well as a 360-degree photographic panorama, enter the GPS coordinates and then drag Pegman to the site, making sure it is within the application boundaries marked in blue. After a computer-generated topographical view appears, the application switches to the photographic image if Google Earth has photographed the site. Drag the image to the proper direction, and it should match the computer image to Stimson s original photograph and my rephotograph. Exiting Street View returns the viewer to a satellite image. Several captions note that my rephotographs are not made from Stimson s original camera stations. Although each case is unique, natural obstructions such as tree growth facilitated moving from the original point to show the essence of the original image. In other cases, earth removal for highway construction or the damming of the river made it impossible to find the exact Stimson location. Each of these occurrences is noted in its respective caption. Captions are not footnoted. Information from them was gleaned from sources provided in the bibliography. 52
THE CODY ROAD
1910 1. #613 Bird s-eye view of Cody GPS coordinates: 44 31.373n, 109 03.523w The road to Yellowstone begins in Cody, and this view is a classic Stimson shot. As with many of his town photographs, Stimson composed this one from a nearby hill to give the viewer a bird s-eye view of the town. The vantage point is the north side of Cody s upper bench below the current community building. The photo looks to the northwest, with Heart Mountain on the right horizon, the Shoshone River in the center, and Rattlesnake Mountain to the left. The absence of the far distant mountains attests to the fact that Stimson s dry-plate emulsions were very sensitive to blue light; thus they are washed out in his image. Stimson s shot was taken in the early morning, as evidenced by the well-lit right walls and the long shadows. The lack of any trees taller than a person allows one to see into every property. As do many of his views, the composition shows his boosterism ethos, with an irrigation ditch running diagonally from the mid-center of the image to the lower 54
2007 right corner, separating the sagebrush plain from the community. The town appears neat and orderly, with its commercial district clearly visible in the center of the image, Buffalo Bill s Irma Hotel at left center, and the town grid, telephone poles, and at least two churches in view. Moreover, with the ditch clearly symbolically separating the civilization of the town from the wilderness of the sagebrush plain, Stimson is suggesting that water was the key to Wyoming s development. The modern view, taken in the summer of 2007, shows no sign of the irrigation ditch, although water s effect namely, the many deciduous trees is its most striking feature. The far horizon, with Heart Mountain and the far benches, identifies the vantage point. The trees on the right mid-horizon show the town s growth along Highway 120 toward Montana. As I wandered around the site, I could pick out individual houses still standing, but this particular point limited their appearance. 55
1903 2. #615 Irma Hotel, Cody GPS coordinates: 44 31 34.10n, 109 3 49.75w Buffalo Bill Cody s Irma Hotel was constructed in 1902 and named for his daughter, Irma Louise Cody. The hotel, considered the finest in town, was the favorite starting point for travelers heading to Yellowstone. Within a couple of years, Cody built two more hotels along the route to the park: Wapiti Inn, located thirty-eight miles from Cody, and Pahaska Tepee, just outside the eastern gate. Stimson s photo was taken in the late morning, as evidenced by the well-lit eastern wall and the shadows. It is a classic building portrait, framed dead center with no other buildings in view. In Stimson s photograph, note Cedar Mountain in the right distance 56
2007 and the careful composition, which includes a telephone pole as a symbol of progress but just off-center so the hotel s name is clearly seen, as is its buffalo head. The Irma remains the center of the Cody scene, and its restaurant and bar (the addition at right) are always busy. The hotel still accommodates visitors, and on the left porch, local actors stage daily gunfights for tourists. A comparison of the two images reveals that many original design elements remain, including the flagpole, name plate, buffalo head, windows, and porch. It s fun to see that automobile parking spaces have replaced the hitching posts. The many signs in the modern image hint at the increased competition for the tourist dollar in Cody, even at the Irma. Although Buffalo Bill was certainly selling the passing frontier to western fans in his Wild West Show, with his mock stagecoach attacks, cowboy paraphernalia, and fake Indian battles, the Irma was always presented as a symbol of civilization for those traveling into the Yellowstone wilderness. It s interesting that a century later, that role has changed to one in which the hotel serves not as the last facet of progress but as the first step into Wild West nostalgia. 57
1903 3. #576 Cedar Mountain GPS coordinates: 44 26.722n, 109 13.531w When Joseph Stimson traveled the Cody Route to Yellowstone in 1903, there was no road through Shoshone Canyon. Instead, the route swung south out of Cody around Cedar Mountain, crossing the South Fork of the Shoshone River first and following the present Stagecoach Lane south of the North Fork of the river. The route changed when construction began on the Shoshone Dam; when completed, its reservoir inundated the original route. Like his view of the Irma, Stimson s view of Cedar Mountain is a straight-ahead portrait, with sagebrush plains in the foreground and the mountain centered in the frame. Since the view looks to the east-northeast, the lighting suggests that exposure was made late in the day. 58
2008 It was a problem to get close to the site of Stimson s original, and we eventually discovered that doing so would clearly require a boat. But before we made that discovery, Lauren and I set out trying to trace Stimson s route around Cedar Mountain, working our way along public roads, weaving in and out of the public lands of Buffalo Bill State Park, and trying not to cross into the many private lands that spread out across the south side of the reservoir. From Irma Flats we worked our way over Stagecoach Lane, eventually figuring out that it took us too far away from Cedar Mountain and too far north. We backtracked to a causeway that had been constructed into the reservoir in 2008 when the dam was heightened. With camera in tow, we walked the entire distance of this causeway out into the reservoir, visiting with locals out walking their dogs or fishing from its banks. The result is obviously not the same vantage point Stimson used but one that is fairly close and clearly highlights the fact that the original site is now under Buffalo Bill Reservoir. 59