The Yellowstone River

Author: Jeff + Claude AI

Genre: River

Date: 19th February 2026

Subgenres:

Description: Journey along America's longest undammed river in the lower 48, from its wild headwaters in the remote Absaroka wilderness to the sweeping plains beyond. This sweeping account traces the Yellowstone's fiery geological origins, the Indigenous nations who called it the Elk River, and the trappers and soldiers who followed in their wake. Along the way, readers explore the ecology of a living waterway, the world's first national park through which it flows, and the modern challenges of floods, spills, and a changing climate. A rich portrait of a river that remains, remarkably, still free.

Summary

Ch. 1. Headwaters: The Remotest Corner of the Lower 48

Ch. 2. Through Fire and Ice: The Geology of a Canyon

Ch. 3. The First People of the Elk River

Ch. 4. Trappers, Soldiers, and the Opening of the West

Ch. 5. A River Runs Through the World's First Park

Ch. 6. The Living River: Ecology From Mountain to Plains

Ch. 7. Managing a Free River: Dams, Spills, and the Flood of 2022

Ch. 8. The Yellowstone Today: Recreation, Conservation, and an Uncertain Climate