Books by M. Mark Miller

In the nineteenth century people could gain fame and fortune by "discovering" and documenting things that were already known to exist like the source of the Nile and the North Pole. For decades trappers and prospectors had told about the wonders of the area that became Yellowstone Park, but no credible person had written about the falls, canyons, and geysers there. An ambitious politician, Nathaniel P. Langford, decided to make his name by promoting an expedition and publicizing its activities in 1870. An army lieutenant named Gustavus Doane maneuvered to lead the expedition's army escort for the same reason. Their written accounts of the big "discovery" of Wonderland were the basis for the park's founding in 1872. Rediscovering Wonderland brings together the words of these men, along with images of the expedition, to provide historical context for the exploration and founding of America's first national park.

The tragic tale of the Nez Perce flight for freedom in the summer of 1877 is a touchstone in the history of the American West. Chief Joseph¿s 1,200-mile running battle with the United States Army ended just forty miles from the Canadian border and safety, when he famously declared ¿I will fight no more forever¿ and accepted the fate of his people. However few people know the story of the confrontation between the Nez Perce and tourists in Yellowstone Park during that fateful summer. This collection of true stories from that extraordinary summer reveals the history of the ordinary people who were caught up in those dramatic events.

Covering the time period from 1807, when John Colter first discovered the wonders of the Yellowstone Plateau to the 1920s when tourists sped between luxury hotels in their automobiles, these tales of Wonderland come from the letters, journals, and diaries kept by early visitors and later tourists. The earliest stories recount mountain men's awe at geysers hurling boiling water hundreds of feet into the air and their encounters with the native inhabitants of the region. The latest stories reflect the "civilizing" of the park and reveal the golden age of tourist travel in the area.