A Weird and Wild Beauty: The Story of Yellowstone, the World's First National Park

Gr 7 Up—Peabody tells the story of one of the first scientific expeditions into the vast Western wilderness surrounding the Yellowstone River. In 1871, Ferdinand Hayden led an expedition of geologists, naturalists, artists, photographers, soldiers, and adventurers into a remote corner of what was then the Montana Territory. The expedition's documentation of the fantastic natural wonders found there ultimately culminated in the passage of the Yellowstone Park Bill, which protected the wilderness from business interests that sought to exploit it and created America's first national park. Peabody does a fine job of conveying the awe-inspiring aspects of Yellowstone without resorting to clichéd descriptions, and her explanations of the science behind the wonders of the wilderness are easy to understand without being overly simplistic. Peabody's narrative is thin in regard to her treatment of native peoples in the Yellowstone region. However, since the purpose of her text is to relate the history and legacy of the expedition, her focus on the reports of the expedition members makes narrative sense. The carefully selected and well-organized photographs, maps, and other illustrations draw the eye and keep the copious text from becoming dry or tedious.