The Yellowstone Ranger Series: Looking Back (Year Ten)
1895
Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry bounded up the entrance stairs of the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and strode past the impressive map wall in the lobby. The Assistant Park Superintendent and the Park Ranger Chief of Yellowstone National Park paused to assess the immediate situation, their experienced eyes missed nothing. Not noting anything unusual in the comings and goings of the early spring tourists, the partners exchanged a brief puzzled look before advancing to the reception desk. Where was the V.I.P? The big important, disgruntled easterner, demanding the park's senior leadership's presence to resolve an unknown crisis, was nowhere in sight. Curry, already annoyed at himself for responding against his instincts but at the strenuous behest of his on-duty staff, sought to reign in his pique at having his precious time purloined for political appeasement. Heyes, adept and resigned to acting in the public relations arena, was more puzzled than annoyed at the urgency of the summons in relation to the apparent reality before them.
Kid's sharp eyes spotted the Hotel's General Manager speaking with a bespectacled stocky gentleman behind a large potted plant outside one of the hotel's event rooms. A sharp nudge with his elbow pointed them out to his partner as he listened to the desk clerk.
"Well, what do you know, it appears that the V.I.P. is TR," observed Heyes before he headed over to ascertain the truth of the situation while the Kid concluded the conversation with the clerk.
Theodore Roosevelt looked up and spied his former ranch hands and silently congratulated himself for recommending them for the important Yellowstone positions ten years past.
"Heyes! Kid! So good of you to come over so quickly. Glad to see you again." TR's incongruously high-pitched voice carried across the lobby, conveying genuine pleasure.
"Kid Curry! Mr. Curry is that you, sir?" called a young boy of about ten, from the gift shop entrance. He bee-lined towards the blond man crossing the hotel lobby, waving a paper book excitedly.
Kid stopped, turned around, and waited for the youngster to reach him, while Heyes looked on curiously. TR went to stand by the door of the event room and waited patiently, at least patiently for him.
"Yes, I'm Kid Curry. What can I do for you, son?"
The youngster gulped in a deep breath. "My parents just bought me this book over there. It's volume one of the series. I already have up to volume seven but my little sister ripped up my volume one and I needed a new one. Can you autograph it, please? I can't believe my good luck to have spotted you. I was hopin' but who woulda thought? My name is Jimmy." He thrust the paperback at the Kid.
Kid read the title as he took the book in his hand. "Volume One. Kid Curry and the Yellowstone Rangers Series. Kid Curry in the Rescue at Yellowstone Falls." "I'd be happy to sign it for you but I don't have a pen on me."
"No problem. I'll get one. Be right back. My father will have one in his pocket." The boy spun on his heel and hurried to the rest of his family that had just exited the hotel gift shop and were looking around worriedly for their missing family member.
Curry looked across to Heyes with a lifted eyebrow and puzzled frown. He asked with a hint of disbelief, "The gift shop is selling dime novels? Since when?"
Heyes watched Jimmy obtain the pen from his father then his eyes traveled to the gift shop entrance as he answered his best friend, "We've been carrying the Yellowstone Rangers Series for about a year now, they're good sellers. Have you read them? You used to read the dime novels about us as outlaws. In fact, the publisher wants to place the Heyes and Curry with the Devil's Hole Gang series of novels in the shop as well but so far, I've said no. Besides the fact that I can't believe that they're still in print that's not the image we want to convey, at least not to the tourists."
Curry frowned, not sure how he felt about still being a subject of dime novel authors, which until now he avoided thinking about, no knowing they were for sale in the National Park he helped oversee.
The Kid took the pen offered by Jimmy and signed his name on the inside cover page. "Here you go, Jimmy. Do you want my partner, Hannibal Heyes' signature, too? He was there at the real rescue and ran things from the top."
Jimmy was all smiles when he glanced at the dark-haired man beside the Park Ranger Chief. "Are you a Park Ranger, also?"
Heyes smiled back, dimples in evidence. "No, at that time I was the Director of Community Relations and Planning. Now I'm the Assistant Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park."
"Oh. Well, I guess since you were there you can sign the book, too." Jimmy held out the book and pointed at the page. "Here, sign it right under Kid Curry's signature."
Heyes dimples flattened out in suppressed chagrin as he perceived the less than enthusiastic response from the boy. He didn't need to see Kid's face to know that Curry was struggling to contain a smug smirk.
Book signing completed, the Yellowstone officials responded to the invisible waves of impatience emanating from their mutual eastern friend, who was waiting for them. They set off across the lobby.
Heyes stopped after a few steps and glanced to his side. "You never answered me, Kid. Have you read any of the Rangers series?"
Kid shook his head no as they both turned and watched the boy return to his parents, who were all smiles. "No, I haven't read one but I know some of the rangers have 'cause I've seen one or two around the staff offices and lounge."
Heyes glanced at the gift shop once more before giving his partner a thoughtful look. "You should look at one, and that brings up something the publisher recently wanted me to discuss with you."
"With me?"
"Yeah, they want to do a deal with Yellowstone to include two new sections in the novels in addition to the story. One section is kinda like fun facts. The way it was explained is that if the story has the Yellowstone Rangers tracking wolves than the book would include a few facts about wolves, say, how many are in Yellowstone, where and how to find them, you know that sort of thing. Depending upon the story they might want someone to write a small bit about an animal, or a feature of Yellowstone, or even a wilderness survival tip."
Curry looked up interested. "That's actually not a bad idea. Between all of us working here, there is a lot of knowledge about all sorts of stuff. What's the second section." He started to walking again.
Heyes coughed and cleared his throat, "Well, erhm, it seems as if they're getting a lot of letters from readers addressed to the Yellowstone Rangers, mostly to you personally." Heyes gave a light slap to Curry's back. "It seems, Kid, that these books are causing you to get fan mail."
Kid stopped in his tracks abruptly and swung his arm out, grabbing Heyes by the coat sleeve. "You're kidding me, right, Heyes?"
"Nope, no joke. They sent a bunch. I'll show you the letters when we get back to Park Headquarters. Anyway, the last part of the book is the "Ask a Ranger" section. This, apparently, is where you or one of the rangers answers a letter or two out of a few letters the publisher has selected. So, what do you think?"
"I like the first part but I'm not so sure of the last letter part. What do you think?"
"I think we can talk it over in the next few days. Right now, we better find out what TR is doing here."
The partners got moving a little faster and quickly reached their impatiently waiting friend.
"So, TR, what brings the new President of the New York City Board of Police Commissioners all the way out to Wyoming. Is everything alright at your ranches in Dakota?" Kid asked curiously. They had kept in touch with TR over the years and the budding politician made a point of visiting on his sporadic excursions west.
Heyes added, "And is there really an urgent problem that only the senior Yellowstone officials, meaning us, can address?"
TR smiled, his mouthful of white, even teeth in display beneath the bushy mustache. "Come on in and see for yourselves." TR threw open the door to the small ballroom and raised his arm in a sweeping gesture of invitation.
Clapping hands and loud cheers swelled from the gathered off-duty employees of Yellowstone Park, the surrounding community members, and the friends and family of Hannibal Heyes and Jedediah Curry. The partners faced a sea of smiling faces, their own faces exhibiting frank amazement and surprise.
Superintendent Robert Carpenter banged on the wooden podium at the front of the room. "Will everyone take their seats. Come join us gentlemen while I make a few short remarks before the celebration of your ten years of service begins."
Curry and Heyes, guided by TR, made their way to a table to join their waving wives.
"Yellowstone National Park has been in exitance since March 1st, 1872. It was born out of a vision from our great nation's leading conservationists and nature's enthusiasts. Yellowstone, as you all know, is our first National Park, a grand experiment which has proved the concept and led to the Creation of Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park in 1890. All of you in this room, in many ways and at all levels, have contributed to its success but perhaps none has worked so hard day in and day out at the practical operations than Hannibal Heyes and Jedediah "Kid" Curry. These gentlemen, in the last decade, have presided over, managed, cajoled, persisted, and built a shared vision for the public and scientific success of Yellowstone with limited resources and often under trying, if not downright hostile circumstances."
A spontaneous round of applause burst from the audience. Alicia Heyes' dark intelligent eyes shone with pride as she turned to meet her husband's confident gaze. Kirsten Curry reached out under the table to grasp Kid's calloused hand and gave an excited squeeze while she leaned over and whispered in his ear. Kid embarrassed expression resolved into a wide amiable smile. He relaxed back into the chair as his youngest daughter, frightened by the loud noise and clutching a slightly tattered flannel baby blanket , crept up into his lap and snuggled in under his arm.
"The Superintendent gets the blame and the glory for the failures and the successes but that position is a politically appointed post that comes and goes with the different administrations. Looking back over the last ten years it is a truth that the last three superintendents would join me in thanking Theodore Roosevelt for having the remarkable insightful idea and for managing to convince Philateus Norris to have the courage to hire such an unorthodox, resourceful pair of reforming outlaws. I can point to their …."
The evening was winding down with only a few close friends remaining. Curry had just finished corralling his two sons and one daughter, while the youngest girl was asleep in her mother's arms. He came up behind Kirsten Curry, loosely wrapped his arms around mother and child, and rested his chin on the top of his wife's pale blonde head. He grinned as he caught the tail end of the conversation between TR, an enthusiastic family man, his wife, his partner, and his partner's wife, Alicia Heyes, whose tall, angular, thin frame was just beginning to show signs of being in the family way.
"…and congratulations on the upcoming happy event. I think you'll find that the joys and responsibilities of parenthood will eclipse any previous doubts you may have had about being a father, Heyes. Just look at your partner. He and Kirsten have a fine family." TR looked around at the blonde, blue-eyed brood of Irish/Norwegian Currys. "Why they're catching up to Edith and I with only one child short of my five."
Kid laughed and bent to kiss Kirsten on cheek without disturbing the sleeping toddler. "Now TR, let's be fair, Kirsten and I got started later than you and with Heyes and Alicia only being married for eighteen months, what do you expect?"
Heyes pulled his wife in closer and looked straight into her deep brown eyes, almost level with his own. "I don't regret waiting so long to get married since it …."
Kid interrupted in good natured teasing tone, "Yeah, it took him that long to find the perfect woman for him, smart, handsome, a woman who can match his sharp wit, and shares his wide-ranging interests." Curry smiled knowingly at Alicia Heyes, genuinely happy for his best friend.
Heyes continued an earlier thought, uncomfortable having his family situation the topic of conversation. "It has been a long ten years of hard work, particularly since I wasn't sure I would be staying past the obligatory three years of the original contract. I knew Kid would be in his element but I wasn't sure of me staying in one place and at one thing for so long. But I found I enjoyed the challenge and it hasn't been boring. Looking back over the last ten years, d'you know what bugs me most?"
"What?" Everyone asked in near unison.
"What bugs me most is that Kid Curry is the main hero of all the new dime novels, especially by that author N. McKeon. The Irish must stick together." Heyes offered in jest
Curry laughed along with the rest of the little group, however, a lifetime of experience had him detecting an underlying current of reluctant and repressed hurt. Kid knew Heyes wasn't jealous of a dime novel character with only a tenuous connection to the real Kid Curry, partner of Hannibal Heyes. It wasn't the regret of the former leader of the most successful gang in the West for not being as famous in the popular culture as he once was. It wasn't even a result of any perceived blow to Heyes' considerable ego but perhaps the unspoken and unacknowledged hurt was a result of few people knowing the full worth and considerable effort and finesse involved in the achievements of the prior ten years.
Kid's blue eyes widened with sudden excitement. "Heyes, I've got an idea."
Heyes' mouth opened but Kid cut him off before he could get out the usual teasing remark regarding Curry's mythical lack of ideas.
"No wait, you should write your own book. Not a dime novel but a real bona fide book about the beginnings of Yellowstone up to now. A ranger's job is easy to turn into short adventure books. After all who gets called when a person is lost, a herd of elk break through the ice and need rescuing, poachers are killing the bison, or a bear decides he wants breakfast in the hotel kitchen. No, the real story of Yellowstone is better than any made up tale by some author in Chicago. The story you can write for adults will have all sorts of intrigue, plots, struggles, conflicts, deals, action, adventure, a whole lot of colorful characters, and even romance."
TR pounded Heyes on the back enthusiastically in support. "I think that's a bully idea. There's a great deal of interest in the West right now. You know, Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail, my book of my experiences in the West, has recently become a best seller. And you're just as good a story teller as me. I think Kid's on to something. You could even sell it in the Park Gift Shops. Get started, man."
Kirsten jumped in the conversation, "Alicia can take the photographs. After all it's only fitting since you two met when she was working as the photographer for that magazine doing an article on the Park."
Alicia was nodding her head in agreement as she grabbed her husband's arm, "I could Han. It would be great to work with you in a professional capacity again. The photographs will be better too, now that I have lived here and gotten to know Yellowstone and its people more intimately. I think the idea of you working on a book is a lovely idea. You really should start it as a project."
"Celebrate your success. What Bob Carpenter said tonight had more than a grain of truth. You are a major reason this park has grown and prospered. I mean you got Ray Taylor to shake my hand for the first time tonight and I even detected a flicker of acceptance, finally." Curry turned to explain to Alicia and TR "Ray Taylor is a rancher in the Wyoming Stock Grower's Association, a park neighbor, and the father of one of my rangers. He started off barely tolerating Heyes and now I suspect he respects and likes my partner. Me, not once in the last ten years have I looked into his eyes and seen anything but the belief I should be a permanent resident of the Wyoming Prison instead of Park Ranger Chief until tonight."
"I don't know about a book. It wasn't just me, Kid, you too, are a big part of the story. We worked together every step of the way, dragging, pushing, and walking with a whole gang of others to where we are today."
"I'm not saying don't include us all in the book, I'm saying you should write the book from your perspective, the big picture planner who was in for the long game. I'm okay with being one of the players with you the dealer and the Superintendent owning the house."
"You all think this is a good idea? That people would want to read about the creation and running of Yellowstone National Park?" Heyes ran his eyes over the faces of each of the little remaining group, counting on them to give an honest opinion before the thought took hold and could not be ignored.
"We do!"
Notes:
Robert Carpenter was the fourth superintendent of Yellowstone from 9/9/1884 to 6/30/1885.
Yellowstone's first large hotel opened in Mammoth in 1883. The opulent National Hotel was over 400 feet long, had 150 rooms, electric lights, a large lobby, and "a long line of vermilion spittoons precisely arrayed down the hall."
connect/yellowstone-hot-spot/mammoth-hotel-gets-a-makeover/
The next two National Parks to be named were:
Sequoia National Park, USA (1890)
Established in 1890, Sequoia National Park is located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California. The park's natural wonders include gigantic mountains, canyons, caverns, and some the world's largest trees. Mount Whitney, which stretches 4,418 meters above sea level, is the highest point in the contiguous 48 United States and one of Sequoia's main attractions. Sequoia's Giant Forest contains five of the 10 largest trees in the world, including the General Sherman tree. Today, Kings Canyon National Park, established in 1940, is jointly administered with and connected to Sequoia National Park.
Yosemite National Park, USA (1890)
First placed under deferral protection by Abraham Lincoln in 1864, Yosemite wasn't officially established as a national park until 1890. The park is located in California's Sierra Nevada, and it's one of the oldest, largest, and best-known national parks in the United States. It contains granite cliffs, clear streams, huge sequoia groves, diverse wildlife, and the beautiful Yosemite Falls, which is North America's tallest waterfall. The Yosemite Valley lies in the center of the park with giant vertical rock formations rising around it, namely the Half Dome and El Capitan. Almost 95% of the park is designated wilderness, and it's known to be home to many rare plant and animal species.
/north-america/articles/the-10-oldest-national-parks-in-the-world/
In 1895, Roosevelt became president of the New York City Board of Police Commissioners, and in 1897 William McKinley named him as assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy. Among his writings at this time was a series of articles on western life published by the Century Magazine and later collected as Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail. Drawing on his experience as a rancher and sportsman, Roosevelt painted a picture of the West that prompted many well-to-do eastern readers to head onto the plains as tourists. In Dakota, where the "Great Die-Up" of 1886-87 had decimated cattle ranching, many of Roosevelt's old neighbors welcomed these visitors eagerly, converting their operations into what would soon be called "dude ranches." Beyond contributing to the growth of this new industry, however, Roosevelt's articles also contributed to the perception of western life as imbued with special virtues - self-reliance, honor, loyalty, determination - that made it a proving ground of the American character.
On his 22nd birthday in 1880, Roosevelt married socialite Alice Hathaway Lee. Their daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, was born on February 12, 1884. Two days after giving birth, Roosevelt's wife died due to an undiagnosed case of kidney failure, Bright's disease, which had been masked by the pregnancy. On December 2, 1886, Roosevelt married his childhood and family friend, Edith Kermit Carow. TR had six children in total, five of which were born at the time of this story.
Alice Roosevelt Longworth was an ambassador for her father and later in life, a colorful Washington, D.C. doyenne who earned the moniker, "The Other Washington Monument"; TR famously said of Alice, "I can either manage Alice or manage the country. I can't do both." Alice was named after his first wife.
Theodore "Ted" Roosevelt, Jr., born in 1887, was a noted political and business leader who fought in both the World Wars and posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions on Utah Beach during the D-Day landings in World War II;
Kermit Roosevelt, born in 1889, was an explorer, soldier, writer and businessman who joined his father on African safari and on the fateful River of Doubt expedition in Brazil;
Ethel Roosevelt Derby, born in 1891, was a pioneering World War I nurse and Red Cross volunteer who later led the successful campaign to preserve Sagamore Hill;
Archibald Roosevelt, born in 1893, was a distinguished Army officer who was seriously wounded in battle during both World Wars and also was a successful businessman;
Quentin Roosevelt, born in 1897, said to be the child most like Roosevelt, dropped out of Harvard to volunteer as a pilot during World War I, and died heroically in battle at age 20.
. 8H/b.8344383/k.8F18/The_Family_