Megan Kate Nelson takes us on a journey to Yellowstone, the first national park and a site of iconic western beauty. From the scientific surveys that explored the park's geysers, to the railroad expansion through Native American territory, Dr. Nelson's book paints a vivid portrait of the place. Join us for a conversation about the American environment, economic panics, landscape photography, and how to write narrative history.

Essential Reading:

Megan Kate Nelson, Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America (2022).

Recommended Reading:

Ferdinand V. Hayden, “The Wonders of the West II. More about the Yellowstone,” Scribner’s Monthly (February 1872): 388-396.

Thomas Moran, The Grand Cañon of the Yellowstone (1872).

Ernie LaPointe, Sitting Bull: His Life and Legacy (2009).

M. John Lubetkin, Jay Cooke’s Gamble: The Northern Pacific Railroad, The Sioux, and the Panic of 1873 (2006).

Heather Cox Richardson, West from Appomattox: The Reconstruction of America after the Civil War (2007).

Mark David Spence, Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks (2000).

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