Lamar Valley
| Lamar Valley | ||
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 Bison in the Lamar Valley |
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| location | Wyoming (USA) | |
| Waters | Lamar River | |
| Mountains | Absaroka Range | |
| Geographical location | 44 ° 52 '6 " N , 110 ° 11' 13" W | |
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The Lamar Valley is the valley of the Lamar River in the Absaroka Range in the US state of Wyoming . Only the lower reaches from the confluence of the Soda Butte Creek to the confluence of the Lamar River into the Yellowstone River are considered to be the actual Lamar Valley . The valley is located in the northeast of Yellowstone National Park and is accessible year-round by US Highway 212 .
Like the Lamar River, it is named after former United States Secretary of the Interior Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar (1825-1893).
An early description of the valley comes from the Mountain Man Osborne Russell (1814-1892), who roamed Lamar Valley in 1834. Russell described Lamar Valley under its then name "Secluded Valley" as "a beautiful valley, about eight miles long and three or four wide, surrounded by dark and towering mountains".
As of 1901, the Lamar Valley was the location where the first herd of bison was rebuilt in the United States. There were only 25 wild bison left in the national park, they were herded into large pens in the Lamar Valley and 21 other animals were bought from private property. A herd was raised from this until the 1950s, from which all bison in Yellowstone Park and most of the other bison on public land in the United States can be traced back. The facilities of the Buffalo Ranch , established at the time, are now the base and venue of the Yellowstone Association Institute , a non-profit partner of the national park administration, which offers guided tours, courses and training. The Lamar Buffalo Ranch Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places .
When wolves were released into the wild in Yellowstone National Park in 1995 , a side valley on the north side of the Lamar Valley was chosen as the first place where the animals were prepared for life in the wild over several weeks in ever larger enclosures. The Druid Pack , named after the nearby Druid Peak , was the largest wolf pack in the national park until 2001, and the Lamar Valley has the largest wolf density to this day.
Today Lamar Valley is best known for its abundance of animals and is known as the "Serengeti of North America". The valley became known to a wider audience through documentaries such as In the Valley of the Wolves , which thematized the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone in the mid-1990s.
literature
- Aubrey L. Haines: The Yellowstone Story - A History of our First National Park , Volume 1, Revised Edition, Boulder, Colorado 1996, ISBN 0-87081-390-0
Web links
- National Geographic: In the Valley of the Wolves (2007) - Video on YouTube (cf. Daniel M. Gold's review, Predators Who Fight to Control Yellowstone , in: New York Times, November 3, 2007)
Individual evidence
- ↑ “beautiful valley about eight miles long and three or four wide, surrounded by dark and lofty mountains”, Osborne Russell, Journal of a Trapper , Boise, Idaho 1921, p. 31.
- ^ National Park Service: Yellowstone National Park - Lamar Buffalo Ranch Historic District, 1906
- ^ Yellowstone Association: website
- ^ National Park Service: Yellowstone National Park - Wolf Project Report 2002
- ^ National Park Service: Yellowstone National Park - Wolf Project Report 2014
- ↑ Watch Wildlife in Lamar Valley and Hayden Valley on the Yellowstone National Park website, last accessed April 11, 2016.
