Wonderful Wyoming (1951)

mail baggage Express and passengers are transferred to all points on the continent for Chicago is the Hub of air transportation in the midwest mail baggage and express are carried in the front and rear cargo pits the food supply is placed on board thermos bottles of coffee milk and soup containers of fried chicken Meats vegetables salads butter and ice cream are stowed away in the galley in the back of the cabin now the crew dad and Bob 19 other passengers board the main liner seated in large comfortable seats the thrilling moment has come the all clear signal is given to the pilot and Captain Wallace moves the throttles forward and the ship trundles along the apron waddling like a goose to an assign runway in the background stands hundreds of people wishing us a happy Landing in the land of cowboys the mainliner passes the terminal passes the hangers and taxies far down the long flat field from a standing start the mainliner races along the runway and sails into the sky with the ease of great Albatros Dad we're off the ground Bound for Wyoming Chicago land fades in the distance several thousand ft below our wings is the old Overland Trail which has been blazed boldly across the pages of American History it began with the Indian on His Pony then came the Pony Express the first Iron Horse the telegraph the telephone the automobile and now the Aeroplane linking the Atlantic Seaboard with the Pacific [Music] Ocean the checkered board fields of Illinois and Iowa pass and review we see ribbons of concrete forming a network of Highways streams flowing on to join the father of waters captain go back to headquarters all's well on trip 15 then Miss Brown came forward to visit with Bob and asked him if this is his first air [Music] trip the bad lands a Wyoming PA in review Captain Wallace Pilots the main liner higher and higher and mother nature dipped into her Treasure Chest to Splash on the canvas of blue a masterpiece the passing parade of the [Music] sky now sailing along in the cloud Canyons 12,000 ft below our wings is the earth still full of turmoil and confusion illusion while we Revel in a world of mechanical wonderment and much natural beauty the bigness of nature made us feel insignificant but there was a sense of power we usually have to look up for a little while we could look [Music] down then came a dinner fit for the gods think of eating chop or steak with all the trimmings while sailing along at 200 M hour [Music] [Music] after the motors hum like two happy bees for nearly 2,000 mil Captain Wallace brings the mainliner down from the sky for a happy Landing in the land of cowboys W Wyoming by and wishes us lots of good fishing luck Captain Wallace presents Bob with a pair of wings as token in memory of his first trip by [Music] air we open our tour of Yellowstone with the grand old showman Old Faithful Geyser picturesque and weird spouting hot water and pillowy steam 150 ft High day and night summer and winter for countless centuries Yellowstone was discovered in the year of 187 by members of the Lewis Clark expedition wed around this region They Came Upon a natural phenomenon never before known to mankind they found gers mud volcanoes paint pots and waterfalls Beyond human imagination as they s around the evening campfires they resolved this area should be set aside as government owned property free of commercial Enterprise when they returned to civilization these Adventures told stories of what they had seen But the public was skeptical no one would believe such accounts could be be true and not until 60 years later did the United States government send an official Expedition for further investigation it is to the wearers of the buck skin that we owe a great debt of gratitude for it was through their efforts that Yellowstone became the beginning of our national park [Music] system leaving Old Faithful Castle Grotto Daisy Riverside and ganst gu we traveled to Mammoth Hot Springs to view an act that's been playing a million years on the stage built by Mother Nature in centuries past the water burst from the mountain side with a mineralized flow here lime and solution is quickly precipitated forming basins and Terraces and slopes of Exquisite design the whole adorned with intricate and fantastic fretwork of pink and white at one time Mammoth Hot Springs was the greatest show in Yellowstone and abundance of water flowed over Angel Terrace but today we can only visualize the Grandeur of its beauty as we see a small portion of its color due to the algae living in the hot [Music] water the present Road system of Yellowstone touches most of the greater and lovely attraction the Golden Gate is the northern entrance to this curious Workshop broad two-lane highways are supplemented by a system of trails to the more mountainous parts of the park electric mountain is one of the high points of Yellowstone the park is a home of countless number of animals this Wildlife Paradise contains several thousand Elks a few hundred moose many deer and numerous bands of mountain sheep and a herd of about a thousand Buffalo in fact the park has so large a population of wild animals that in most respects it is the greatest Wildlife Preserve in the [Music] world within a few hundred feet of the main Highway are the famous pools known as Morning Glory emerald and sapphire these quiescent Springs and Prismatic pools have a delicate quisite gemlik Beauty unlike anything else in nature or art this is the fire Hole River Basin the paint pots are the Curiosities of the park they are craters in the Earth Earth filled with brightly colored mud thick and hot a fine texture and an appearance resembl a mixed and colored [Music] paint given for which was made famous by President Hoover when he fished in Yellowstone looking down the highway one sees a multitude of white colums irregular Jets and puffs of Misty Vapor ascending from the bottom of the valley this is geyser Basin not spectacular geysers as those found around Old Faithful but a series of smaller ones equally as fascinating minute man and whirly gig have played their acts through countless of centuries it is a common sight to see them teasing for food from mat tourist lunch basket because by Nature a bear has a sweet tooth for cake or cookies Yellowstone Lake with Mount Sheridan in the background is a Scenic attraction of first order it is the largest lake in North America at so high an altitude at the outlet of the lake is fishing Bridge since the bridge abounds with Nave trout many fish are caught by Anglers from all parts of the continent again our attention is drawn to mother Mother Nature at work as a chemist or cook cunningly compounding a variety of mineral messes cooking whole mountains boiling and steaming plenty rocks to smooth paste pots of black ink are tossed and stirred in sticky rank smelling masses with gasping belching thuing sounds if a fierce furnace were burning beneath them the scenery Yellowstone is yet to come here is the Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River falling into a canyon 800 ft deep, 1600 ft across with all the colors that mother nature could pack into rock and Clay the green serpent winds its way through the Cameo Canyons to join the Missouri in on Mississippi standing upon Inspiration Point looking Upstream into the upper end of this Canyon the river about 75 ft wide makes a sheer leap of 330 ft from the nearby Rim this wonderful waterfalls appears like an enormous fluffy endless pouring of the whest snowflakes the Magnificent and the wildness of its setting combined to make it [Music] what we travel Southward to the Teton Mountain one of the nation's newer national parks standing on Signal Hill with view the Grandeur of the Majestic Grand Teton standing in Soldier fashion snow cap reaching into the sky 13,500 ft a series of Peaks then Mount Moran with Jack Lake in the [Music] foreground in historic Days Jackson Hole was claimed by the bad men of the range horse thieves and cattle wrestlers who live by the protection of a sick shooter today it is given away to the home of the bald-faced cattle and the dude ranch and is visited annually by tourists who come to Revel in the atmosphere of the rip roaring old [Music] west Jenny Lake one of the most photographed lakes on the continent of North America is one of mother Jewels set in a rim of granite lined with Ridge pole [Music] Pine our short tour of Teton National Park terminates a John Turner's triangle X [Music] Ranch Arrangements have been made with John to guide us on a pack train trip in the two ocean pass country far off the beaten path of civilization a region where Colonel Peter Roosevelt spent his youthful days hunting elk and fishing Mountain trout John tells us that we will ride a full day over the range trails to a base camp and from that point ride out to the fishing grounds [Music] when Bob heard Jon talking about horses his ears stuck out like sails on a Wind Jammer he had visions of his horse and hoped it would be a Blackman by the name of beauty Bob being a city boy makes friends with the animals on the ranch JN has two dogs each equally jealous of the other if one didn't keep a hand on both of them there was up to be a good dog fight horse sh is almost a lost Arc but not new shoes to assist them to climb the rough and rugged Trails it's been a busy day making preparations for the trip hey what's going on here old dinner time for the young pry and that means dinner time for the ranch hands and us is this little fellow hungry you would be too if f 2 days old early the next morning John rode over the range to round up the horses there will be five people on the [Music] trip here come the two ricking Bronco Busters the writers of the Purple Sage the two toughest gunmen that ever rode South a dead man's gouch but to an old Cowan more commonly known as d MO [Music] hand saddle the riding horses and we will soon be ready to head for the trails leading to the Continental Divide [Music] [Music] the pack train winds its way up the mountain slope through Parks wooded areas through Meadows and over the range behind us is civilization and the work a day world ahead is vacation land around each Bend in the trail there's a little of the unexpected over the crest of the range is the land of new mystery and adventure [Music] wild animals spy on us across the valley it is the time of the year when they have their young and knowing man is an enemy they share from the safe distance but ever ready to move to safety an old bull elk lying on the ground gives his permission to take his picture with the reservation that we include his wife and kids the pack train pushes on [Music] climbing the are by by and together we will [Music] [Music] R We Ride Along [Music] together in the distance across the valley on the side slope we catch our first glimpse of our new campsite [Music] no that's not rheumatism it's the results of an all days ride for a tender foot as we approach the campground two monarchs of the forest are on hand as a reception committee extending a hearty welcome to their Homeland the baggage arranging the food supply in the open air kitchen preparing the sleeping quarters Gathering the wood [Music] supply [Music] again will be [Music] our water supply is a nearby cool Clear Spring Tex is our cook and horse Wrangler and he is an expert coffee maker he has a recipe all of his own he boils it and boils it and then he boils it some more then too he has a technique of testing the finished product now comes that part of the trip for which we've traveled nearly 2,000 miles we head for the fishing grounds along the the Pacific Creek Trail into the two ocean pass country on the Continental Divide near our camp is a mountain lake filled with trout and Dad couldn't resist challenging them to a fight every cast produced a member of the finny tribe native cutthroat trout a beautiful fish with an ugly name and it receives its name by two red markings on the lower [Music] y then Dad sat down under a tree to admire his first catch a mountain trout yes to gloat and tattle admires of his luck a right that belongs to Trout fisherman only John has his own technique for fishing trout we'll see him down down the trail [Music] away there he sits on his horse casting a fly from the saddle We Begin fishing in Earnest in a canyon leading into a meadow at the very headwaters of the Yellowstone River rushing from melting snow down the mountain side [Music] there sits John again in the saddle and he says out here all you have to do is drop the fly in the water the horse backs away and pull them up and put him in the cre [Music] the fish were like fish in a trout hatchery they laid side by side and as if they'd run to tell their brothers and sisters come over here there's a lot of excitement lot of Attraction all they do is throw something in the water's nice and shiny and you open your mouth grab it and they do all the heavy work there's a real demonstration of Landing one a beautiful cat but Bob says never mind I'm only interested in getting the fish in the bank never mind the technique [Music] [Music] [Music] fish on the bank of a Rippling Brook is a sight to behold but there's one place better for my money and that is in the frying pan sizzling over an open fire flavored with Smoke and Ashes do you get the aroma and the spuds take on a deep coat of tan then tails of the fish turn up crisp and brown it's a dish Fit For A King Bob's mother taught him always to use his knife and fork properly wherever he may be dad said mother is right but she doesn't know much about eating trout throw the silverware on the ground and go after them with your fingers they reminded me as if they were two Chipmunks sitting on a log shucking out peanuts after lunch and a short ride we try our luck in Jackson Lake Jackson Lake is the largest of a series of Seven Lakes which form a necklace at the base of the Tetons the lake was filled with reflections of Mount Moran reaching into the sky and upended into the waters below [Music] Western fishermen use a peculiar looking bait for luring these tackle Busters of the deep I haven't figured out to this day whether it's railroad iron pancake Turners or sleigh bells that causes the attraction and why a decent respectable fish should give even as much as a passing Glimpse to such a bait is still a mystery [Music] I know of no other sport that covers such a wide range of folks and reaches so many as a sport of fishing it appeal us at all times and is enjoyed by all in one form or another it offers many simple and unique attractions and we wear what we please some men go fishing to benefit their health some men fish because love Venture it is the same Spirit H the Pioneer the prospector and the driver of the covered wagon to go in quest of gain new lands and new minerals men like to go fishing because it means a break with routine experience suspect there is something that you haven't found out some kind fish that hasn't been caught no two catches are alike the calmness of the food and the discomforts of the boat are soon forgotten after a night's sleep under the stars breakfast at daylight and a fresh start for the fishing ground one Goes Forth with his tackle fully oiled everything ready with New Hope fully expecting to get the biggest fish of his experience or one that will give him the biggest battle he has ever he fails he knows it was because the moon was full and the fish were feeding at night or the water was too rough or too smooth or the bait was too small or too large or the fish migrated for a day or for some [Music] reason the day on Jackson Lake passed all too soon the hours slipped by as if they were minutes The Long Shadows and the golden Western Sky forecast the event of a closing day it's time to reel in the line and head for sure for a few moments to relive the thrill and the excitement of the catch and to say goodbye to our good friend John in the Twilight over the Wyoming Sky the mainliner wings its way back home on board is that little man of mine Bob and dad and your cameraman and narrator Rudy Swanson wrapped in dreams of cowboy land Yellowstone with its geysers tank pots waterfalls mud volcanoes the snowcap Tetons The Mystery of the Wilderness country passing review as memories which will become more golden as the years pass by truly Outdoor America is at her best in the Great American West wonderful f