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Sweating out a Yellowstone Lake windstorm in a small open boat, matching wits with bugs and bears, and going from winter to summer in the high country were some of the memorable events of a backcountry research trip undertaken by the Wyoming Game & Fish Department in 1962. At that time no one had yet verified where the elk that wintered west of Cody went during the summer.

In June that year, Rex Corsi and I worked on an elk migration study. We were both game wardens in the Cody G &F District. From the east side of Yellowstone Lake to the upper drainages of the Yellowstone River , we looked for collared elk that might have moved from the North Fork of the Shoshone River into Yellowstone Park and the Thorofare. During the previous winter on the North Fork , we had trapped elk and collared them with a colored neckband.

We spent the first week of June at the Park Service cabin at Park Point on the lakeshore and rode each day from there. (This cabin no longer exists.) Traveling was tough work for the horses as you were either in a bog, downed timber, or a snowdrift. Still, we covered quite a little country.

The weather at that elevation in June made you wonder at times if winter was really over. We had plenty of snow and rain. I didn't mind coming back to camp in snow or rain, but Rex had to wave a big stick to get me on my horse a few mornings when the weather was bad. Still, we rode every day on that trip and covered quite a few miles each day. The weather at that elevation in June made you wonder at times if winter was really over.

There was no feed for the horses in early June, so Ron Bell, District Supervisor in Cody, and George Reesy, Cody Game Warden, had to haul hay along with our groceries by boat across Yellowstone Lake . Every few days they would bring supplies to a drop point at Beaverdam Creek after we had moved on from Park Point. We used a large steel toolbox with a hasp to lock and chain it to a tree so the bears wouldn't beat us to the grub. The fellows would put horse cubes and groceries in the box and lock it and stack the hay by the box. That way we didn't have to wait for the boat and could pack when we had the time. About the middle of June, the grass started getting good enough so we could quit using the hay.

From Park Point the next camp was the Cabin Creek Park Service cabin above the lake on the Yellowstone River . Ron towed my 14-foot boat with an 18-horsepower motor to Beaverdam Creek, where they would be hauling our supplies for the rest of the month, and leave them there for us. The first thing we had to do was get back to Park Point, pick up the hay we left there, and transport it back to Beaverdam Creek in my boat. Rex and I rode our horses from the Cabin Creek camp down to Beaverdam Creek, then took the boat to go fetch the hay and the metal lock box. We started back up Yellowstone Lake in our well-loaded boat but covered only a short distance when a heck of a windstorm came up. The wind blew us off shore, so we had to ride out the worst of it out on the lake. We were pretty sure we would drown. Finally, the wind changed direction enough that we were able to work toward shore, but the boat got swamped as we landed.

Our luck wasn't good the rest of that day, either. We had to walk several miles back to our horses. Then, when we finally got back to our camp on Cabin Creek, we found a bear had somehow gotten up into our grocery cache (bear-proof??) and cleaned us out of everything but canned goods. I learned soon enough there's nothing like pork and beans for breakfast. It just wasn't our day.

We moved camp next to Mountain Creek where we set up a tent. At that time there wasn't a Park Service cabin on that creek.

Besides looking for banded elk, we also tagged elk calves when we found any too young to run. For about two weeks, we would find calves one to two days old and give them ear tags, marking 12 in all. After that, all the calves were too old to handle.

We struck the Mountain Creek camp on June 21 and rode to the Thorofare cabin where we worked from during the rest of the month. That cabin looked pretty good to us, and it is in one of the nicest places in all outdoors. You can ride for days in new country from there because it is near so many drainages. Thanks to Ronald Bell, the location of the cabin and its construction were very well thought out.

High water in June could present problems, however. You wanted to pick the time of day when you crossed the Thorofare River in order to hit the low water on hot days. On some of the other streams it was different, where it was the rapidity of the water, not its depth, that could give you trouble. Fortunately, there is a bridge across the Yellowstone River at Hawks Rest, so we didn't have to ford that river.

Bugs became a serious problem the last part of this trip. We had to be very careful how we put our horses out at night because the mosquitoes were so bad. We had no repellent (as if that would work), and the horses were just eaten up. Given the chance, our faithful horses would have quit us in a second. But bugs were just one reason this trip was pretty hard on the horses. They also were asked to cover lots of country at a time of year when trails were in rough condition, as was nearly all the rest of the terrain.

Looking back, though, I must say this probably was one of the most enjoyable months of my life.

Jim Oudin
Fish Division, June 1956–July 1958 Game Warden, 1958–1974
Investigator, 1974–1996

June 1962 Diary

June 1

Flew up through Sunlight and Crandall Creek to check elk bands and then over through the Lamar. Saw one orange band on the Lamar. Flew with Winters and Miller. Drove over to Lake with Corsi and Reesy. Rode from the highway into Lake Point and set camp up there in the cabin.

June 2

Took boat up the Lake to Beaver Dam Creek to look the country over this morning. Rode the country between Clear Creek and Columbine Creek today checking on elk. Saw about 65 head. Quite difficult getting around with horses. Rode back over to the old fish egg station this evening on Clear Creek.

June 3

Rode from Park Point up to Beaver Dam Creek this morning checking on elk trails. Followed their main migration trail from below Beaver Dam Creek over toward Clear Creek. Quite a number of elk have moved south. Saw 61 elk and all but one were cows. Tagged one calf along the Lake this evening.

June 4

Rode down to Alluvial Creek and checked for tracks crossing. About 12 head had gone south. Rode back up above Columbine Creek to look for cows but did not find any. Snowed all day and quite miserable. Saw 33 head of elk today, 28 cows and 5 bulls.

June 5

Rode up to Columbine Creek this morning. Spotted 48 head of elk just this side. Made a circle back into the high country then came back down and hit the main elk trail. The herd we had seen this morning had come in that way so I took out trailing them to see where they had come from. Followed them across Meadow Creek, Clear Creek, and Cub Creek to the highway. Bell came in this evening in boat.

June 6

Took off this morning with Bell to help haul hay across the Lake. Got into a storm and couldn't get back. Drove down to Cody and picked up a load of supplies and hay to take back to Lake. Was able to get back across this evening. Made two trips.

June 7

Made a circle back up through the head of Columbine Creek. Fifty head of elk were still in the big park there. Tagged three calves today. Took boat this afternoon and moved some hay and a tent up to Beaver Dam Creek and set up tent. Two rangers were at Park Point when we got back. One stayed over to go out with us tomorrow.

June 8

Covered all the open ridges looking for calves this morning on the way to Columbine Creek. Checked the crossings at Alluvial Creek. Approximately 60 head crossed going up country the last two days. Rode the country back up toward Beaver Dam Creek this afternoon. Rex tagged one calf today.

June 9

Packed up camp at Park Point this morning and I moved everything up to Beaver Dam in the boat. Rex rode the horses up. Then we packed part of our gear up to the Cabin Creek cabin where we will stay. Rode on up toward Trappers Creek this afternoon. Most of the elk seem to be between Beaver Dam and Cabin Creeks. About 100 elk, mostly bulls, up above.

June 10

Took packhorses down to Beaver Dam Creek this morning and took boat on down to Park Point to get rest of our hay. The wind came up right after we started back. Spent most of day trying to get back to Beaver Dam. The water finally swamped our boat so we walked several miles back to our horses. Packed up what hay and groceries were there and packed to Cabin Creek.

June 11

Saw 35 head of elk in a park back there. All but one were cows.Rode down this morning and picked up the boat and hay and brought it around to Beaver Dam Creek. Made a circle this afternoon up Beaver Dam and back north. Saw 35 head of elk in a park back there. All but one were cows. Tagged three calves today. There were all quite young. There still doesn't seem to be much movement up country. Still, the 70 head along the river are gone. Packed packhorses with hay from Beaver Dam Creek to Cabin Creek.

June 12

Took packhorses with us this morning and covered the country between here and Beaver Dam Creek. Saw 22 head of cows back there but no calves. Covered part of the Yellowstone River this afternoon, looking to see if anything is crossing. There still isn't any movement up past us. Didn't see anything crossing the river. Bell and Winters came in and left some hay and groceries which we packed back to Cabin Creek this evening.

June 13

Tried checking out some more of the river today but didn't have much luck. Rode up Beaver Dam Creek to the forks and then up over the divide and back toward the head of Beaver Dam Creek. Not many elk tracks up high but what tracks we saw were coming down. They may have come over from Middle Creek. Saw about 50 elk today. Saw one calf up running with the cow. Rex tagged one calf this evening. Ranger Bill—came in this evening.

June 14

Made a circle up around to Trapper Creek and Mountain Creek this morning. Saw about 90 elk, 24 bulls. Possibly the bunch of 65 we saw at Beaver Dam. Saw three green neckbands in the big park north of Mountain Creek, one just south of Trapper Creek and three south of Mountain Creek. One band seen at Cliff Creek we think is a Gros Ventre elk. Rode toward the Thorofare River. Saw about 120 elk up that way. Saw several calves running with the cows up there. Doesn't seem to be any definite pattern of tracks going any place in particular.

June 15

Took packhorses and rode down to Beaver Dam Creek this morning. Met Bell. Packed hay and groceries back up to Cabin Creek. Rode back down to Beaver Dam Creek this afternoon, took tent down and packed back up to Cabin Creek. Rex and the park ranger tagged three calves this morning. I saw 26 cows, mostly south of Beaver Dam. Had a real downpour this afternoon and evening. The trail crew came in and stayed all night here.

June 16

Packed up our horses this morning and took everything we didn't need up to Mountain Creek. Set up tent, stove, etc. so camp would be ready to move into tomorrow. Rode on up the Yellowstone River to the Thorofare River this afternoon. Saw 104 elk up there, mostly in the big meadow below the Thorofare. Saw 10 more below Mountain Creek tonight. Saw two green neckbands. One was across the Yellowstone just north of the mouth of Lynx Creek and the other one was north of Mountain Creek between Mountain and Trapper Creeks.

June 17

Saw 14 cows south of Beaver Dam. Took packhorse this morning and packed things we didn't need up above and took them down to Beaver Dam Creek. Picked up what we needed from there and packed back up to Mountain Creek this afternoon. Saw 14 cows south of Beaver Dam. They look like they had come across the creek. Saw two green bands up at Mountain Creek this evening.

June 18

Rex and I rode down to Trapper Creek this morning and spent day riding that country. Saw only four elk up in Trapper Creek. There were some old trails coming over into the south fork of Trapper Creek made several weeks ago.

June 19

Took packhorse this morning and rode down to Beaver Dam Creek where we met Bell and some of the other fellows. Picked up groceries and grain. Saw one elk with a green band in the Park with our horses this morning and three more just south of Trapper Creek. Saw two cows with ear tags in the same meadow coming back. Rode up to Cliff Creek this evening. Saw one cow with green band west of the river at Lynx Creek. One cow with red or orange band on island north of Lynx Creek. Got good look at cow but still couldn't tell. Saw big grizzly on the big meadow. Saw 47 elk below and 42 at Cliff Creek.

June 20

We rode up Mountain Creek this morning. Quite a trail coming over from Eagle Creek. It looks as if most of the elk have come this way and are still coming over at this time. Followed their trail just about to the top and had to quit as there was too much snow. Quite a few deer tracks coming over. Rode up the south fork this afternoon. Quite the country back there. Found Al Davis's campsite. Quite a few elk tracks back in there but wouldn't say if any had come over the top. Didn't get to look that country over as well as would have liked because it got too late. Saw 17 elk on the main fork and 18 on the south fork.

June 21

Tore down our camp at Mountain Creek this morning. Packed everything up to the Thorofare Cabin. Rode over to Bridger Lake this afternoon. Saw two banded elk that we are quite sure are Gros Ventre, because I got close to one of them. In the left ear the tag was on the front of the ear with numbers up. On right ear, back of ear, numbers down. Seamed with dark thread.

June 22

We rode up the Thorofare this morning. Saw one green band below the Hammit Cabin. We split up this afternoon. Rex rode up Butte Creek, and I rode up Pass Creek to the head. By the looks of the trail quite a few elk have come over and also quite a number of deer. Threw a shoe and rode into Bowman's campsite. Found nails, etc., and reshoed my horse on front. Met Rex back at the Thorofare. Saw one bunch of 40–50 elk. There were both a green and a red or orange band in the bunch. Saw 5 head in Pass Creek. Saw 45 head going up and 60 head coming back. Black house cat at campsite from last fall.

June 23

Rode across the Thorofare and the Yellowstone Rivers this morning. Saw one bunch of about 45 elk on other side of the river and one red band. Saw 11 moose in there also. Rode on up to Two Ocean Pass. By the looks of the tracks the elk had come over from the south in large numbers and the deer had traveled from the Yellowstone south over the pass. Rode up to near the Hammit Cabin this afternoon to see what was on the meadows. We didn't see any elk on Atlantic Creek today. The Thorofare isn't too hard to cross.

June 24

By the looks of the tracks there are elk coming over, and there are fresh tracks going up Open Creek also. One of my horses got graveled and is crippled pretty bad. Rode up the Thorofare to Open Creek and then up Open Creek to the head. Saw three green bands up there and 40 elk. Saw one other green band on the Thorofare. Saw 16 elk on the Thorofare, and a half-curl bighorn ram was running with them. Buggered up the withers on my other horse so am about afoot. Mosquitoes are eating up the horses.

June 25

Spent most of day cutting wood with crosscut because we couldn't get the chain saw started. We were waiting around for Bell to come in on the helicopter. He never showed but there was a helicopter flying around. Rode up the Thorofare this afternoon and then swung north and tried getting up on the Trident but couldn't make it.

June 26

Rode up the Thorofare River to Pass Creek and then up Pass Creek and over the divide to Scatter Creek. Then to Silvertip Creek. Could get a real look at the country from up there. Then I rode up the Thorofare to Butte Creek this afternoon. Didn't see any neckbands up that way. Altogether about 60 elk. Was going up into the Thorofare Meadows this evening but the River was too high for Rex's small horse that I was riding.

June 27

Closed up cabin this morning and packed out as far as Cabin Creek today. We weren't planning to go until tomorrow but left a day early as we had two crippled horses.

June 28

Rode from Cabin Creek to Park Point today.

June 29

Packed out from Park Point to the highway where we met Bell, who took us back down to Lake and to our pickups. Moved my horses as far as Cody.