#76: Megan Kate Nelson - "Saving Yellowstone"

If you've been there, you'll never forget it. If you haven't, you probably want to go. But what makes Yellowstone National Park a destination in the first place? Dr. Megan Kate Nelson explores how one of America's crown jewels, the two million acres that make up the one-of-a-kind place, was preserved for all of us. In her new book, "Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America," she explains how the array of trees, geysers and animals was "discovered" by white men, and how the effort to keep Yellowstone as-is, intersects with Reconstruction-era politics, race and mystery. Contemporary Americans are used to Yellowstone as a hotspot for mystery, and the 1870s were no different. She also describes how Native peoples' were not able to share in the glory that Yellowstone would provide for so many. Spend an hour with us as one of America's most-brilliant nature historians takes us on a journey through the wildnerness, and explains how it's never far from any of us.

Dr. Nelson's website is megankatenelson.com

She is on social media at twitter.com/megankatenelson

Her book is available from Simon & Schuster at https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Saving-Yellowstone/Megan-Kate-Nelson/9781982141332

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