Yellowstone Begets River of Collectibles

Every so often, amid someone’s collection of heirlooms or old vacation pictures and trinkets, a souvenir surfaces that could add details to the story of America’s first national park.

That’s when park archivist Lee Whittlesey goes to work, following up on leads and e-mails from a network of Yellowstone National Park enthusiasts across the country who are on the lookout for items they believe Whittlesey would want.

“Probably once a week I’ll get a note from somebody that says they’ve seen something interesting,” he said.

Whittlesey, who has studied Yellowstone history and literature for 30 years, is in charge of trying to buy old park souvenirs--from early pictures and postcards to rare books and diaries--that find their way into flea markets or onto on-line auctions.

He knows which items could enhance an already vast collection of rare books, photos and artifacts and provide more information about the park’s early days--the tourists, the destination points and even the geyser activity, a constantly changing phenomenon in the park.

The Internet has made it much easier for Whittlesey to find many items that he used to have to find by scouring trade shows and flea markets. But the Internet also has increased competition and prices for those pieces. The Yellowstone trade is flourishing on eBay.

“There are enough [collectors] out there who are wealthy and devoted. If they’re determined to have it, they’re going to have it,” said Susan Kraft, the park’s museum curator, who regularly monitors eBay at home and sometimes bids on pieces for the park.

Park officials rely heavily on private funding to acquire old park items that can help educate visitors about park resources. Photographs show buildings long since gone and tourists standing near erupting geysers that may no longer erupt. Colorful guidebooks included stagecoach, train and bus schedules as transportation systems evolved. There are even old menus from park restaurants.

All this is useful to researchers wanting to document changes or enhance what already is known of Yellowstone.

“One thing that’s happened, historically, is that a lot of people have focused on the natural history, and there hasn’t been much focus on the human experience in the park,” said Jack Davis, who with his wife has amassed a collection that intrigues Yellowstone history buffs.

“They have, in most cases, the best samples of what’s available that still survives,” Kraft said. “They were always focused on the highest quality.”

The Davises say they are interested in selling to the Yellowstone Park Foundation, which has helped with acquisition funds, so that the collection can go to the park.

Donations and field collections account for most Yellowstone acquisitions each year, Kraft said. But she said donations seem to have declined recently, and attributes that to Internet sales.

“The choicer pieces are worth plenty of money,” Kraft said.

Last year, a ledger from Yellowstone Park Transportation Co., which provided stagecoach service during the early years of the park, surfaced on eBay, where park officials bought it for $3,815. About a dozen people bid on it, Kraft said.

This month, the Yellowstone Park Foundation acquired for the park a collection of about 140 stereo views with images by Henry Bird Calfee, a geyser enthusiast who photographed them during the 1870s.

The stereo views--double-image photo cards that, when seen through a special viewer, appear three-dimensional--were purchased from a private collector in Maryland for more than $21,000. The collector refused other offers--some for more money--because of wanting the park to have the collection, the foundation’s Kezha Hatier-Riess said.

Park officials do lose out on items, such as paintings and albums that are out of their price range, Kraft said.

“Yellowstone collectors are rabid,” Whittlesey said.

“Every week you see new bidders coming in,” said Kathie Burke, an eBay regular from Billings, Mont., who alerts park officials of unusual finds.

Families still may have vacation albums or rare collectibles, or private collectors may. Employees in the park may have taken artifacts and documents with them.

Stagecoach records, notes of an early tour guide and clothing and luggage of some of the first travelers would catch the interest of Whittlesey or Kraft. Plans are underway for a new building, with more viewing and storage space.

Because of the great interest in the park, the amount of related writings, artwork and souvenirs is vast. Pieces have become available that even those knowledgeable about Yellowstone had never seen.

“It is truly a bottomless well,” Whittlesey said.