The Road to Yellowstone's East Gate
Near Cody, Wyoming
Heading west out of Cody, the highway follows the North Fork of the Shoshone River more than fifty miles to the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park. It is a stunning drive, threading a canyon past strange eroded pinnacles, the great reservoir behind Buffalo Bill Dam, and the volcanic cliffs of the Absaroka Range. You will often hear that Theodore Roosevelt called it the most scenic fifty miles in America.
It is a wonderful line, and it is almost certainly not true. Cody historians who dug into the story have found no record of Roosevelt saying any such thing, and there is a good reason to doubt it. The modern automobile route was not really established until the nineteen twenties, after cars were finally allowed into the national parks, and Roosevelt died in nineteen nineteen.
The historians believe the words got pinned to Roosevelt long after his death. The drive earns its praise regardless of who first said it. You do not need a president's endorsement to see how beautiful it is.
