Yellowstone National Park has evoked awe in every generation of America.

Every year, more than four million people like Judith L. Meyer visit Yellowstone National Park. The park's famous geysers, exotic landscape, and beautiful wildlife partially explain its enormous popularity, but there is something more to the Yellowstone experience: a powerful spirit to the place that is more than the sum of its parts. This fascinating history of America's favorite national park shows how that spirit has endured over Yellowstone's 125-year existence. Using the words, drawings, and photographs of park visitors, employees, and reporters, Meyer shows that Yellowstone has consistently evoked awe in different generations of Americans, even as our attitudes toward nature have changed over the years. Meyer argues that Yellowstone's unique and sacred sense of place makes it worth preserving not only for its ecological value but for its lasting importance in American culture.