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one with Yellowstone Expeditions and the Several movements coalesced to change the
other with BackCountry Adventures. Both nation’s attitude toward its natural resources,
were professional, but Yellowstone Expedi- and with Theodore Roosevelt in the White
tions were a cut above. Their coach was House in the early 1900s, the practice of
equipped with tracks, like a tank, to negotiate killing bison gave way to preserving them. To
deeper snow. Both coaches carried eight or replenish the Yellowstone herd, bison from
nine passengers quite comfortably and the private herds were imported and their num-
drivers kept us warm inside. The vehicles eas- bers grew to the 5,500 that live in the park to-
ily managed Yellowstone’s groomed roads and day. The park cannot accommodate more than
shared the routes with bison, who have that, however, and if bison wander outside the
learned that traversing packed snow is easier park they are culled, a polite word for shot.
than bulling their way through drifts. The one secret about all this is that there is
When this country established Yellowstone no such thing today as a genetically pure bison
as the first ever national park in 1872, it un- in the United States. To keep the species vi-
wittingly caused an unintended consequence. able, bison were crossbred with beef cattle, so
Yellowstone became the only place in the there is not a single bison in Yellowstone that
United States where bison have lived continu- has the same genetic makeup as before the ar-
ously since before humans appeared on this rival of white settlers.
continent. Yellowstone is probably the most popular
The 19th century witnessed wholesale slaugh- destination in this country to view live bison,
ter of these wonderful beasts, and at their nadir and during our visit we saw more of them than
only 23 bison remained in Yellowstone. The any other animal.
species was on the brink of extinction. On our first tour we entered the park before
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