Wolf Mountains Wolf Mountains A History of Wolves along the Great Divide Karen R. Jon UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY PRESS © 2002 Karen Jones. All rights reserved. University of Calgary Press 2500 University Drive NW Calgary, Alberta Canada T2N 1N4 www.uofcpress.com National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data Jones, Karen, 1972- Wolf mountains (Parks and heritage series, ISSN 1494-0426 ; 6) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-55238-072-6 1. Wolves—Rocky Mountains. 2. Wolves—Public opinion. I. Title. II. Series. QL737.C22J66 2002 599.773 C2002-910480-7 The University of Calgary Press acknowledges the financial support of the International Council for Canadian Studies through its Publication Fund. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Canada Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDIP) for our publishing activities. Canada Council Conseil des Arts for the Arts du Canada All rights reserved. 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Interior design by Jeremy Drought, Last Impression Publishing Service, Calgary, Alberta Contents Preface and Acknowledgments ix Introduction: National Parks and the Wolf 1 IWolves in Yellowstone National Park 15 The Thunderer and Canine Howls 15 The Changing Nature of Yellowstone National Park 22 The Wolf's Last Stand in Yellowstone 31 From Dissenting Opinion to Park Policy 36 Lupine Ghosts in Yellowstone? 43 The Wolf Returns to Yellowstone 47 2Wolves in Glacier National Park 59 The Demise of Chief Wolf 59 The Establishment of Glacier Park 64 Wolf Policy in the Early Park 67 Changing Opinions in Glacier 75 The Rise and Fall of Wolf Fortunes in Glacier 79 Wolves Resettle in Glacier 82 3Wolves in Banff National Park 99 From 'Wolf Country' to the ' Whoop-Up Trail' 99 The Establishment of Rocky Mountains Park 107 The Development of Predator Policy 11ll1l From Cages to Wild Habitat: Re-Appraising the Wolf 119 Canine Battles in Banff National Park 123 Lupophobia and the Rabid Wolf 133 A Den of Wolf Defenders 136 Wolves Retake Banff 140 Wolf Paradise Lost? 147 4Wolves in Jasper National Park 153 From Earth-Maker Wolf to the Fur Trapper 153 Nature, Railroad, and National Park 162 Wolf Policy in Jasper Park 166 Wrestling with Wardens and Wolves 169 From Outlaws to Lupine Legends 183 Nature's Cycles and Human Constructions 187 Conclusion: The Trials and Trails of Wolf History 201 Exceptionalism in the Rocky Mountain Wolf Parks 201 Crossing National Park Boundaries 210 Restor(y)ing the Wolf 215 Epilogue: Legal Wrangles, Canine Appetites, and Shifting Cultural Attitudes ..219 Notes 223 Bibliography 301 Index 325 Wolf Mountains is dedicated to the memory of Lagi. Preface and Acknowledgments Y ELLOWSTONE, GLACIER, BANFF, and JASPER NATIONAL PARKS are situated in the North American Rockies, an imposing mountain range that dominates the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, and the U.S. states of Montana and Wyoming. Physically connected by wolf trails, each of the four parks enjoy distinctive lupine histories. Attitudes towards Canis lupus have changed drastically over time. Prior to the establishment of national parks, wolves in the Rockies interacted with Native peoples, who regarded the large canines as powerful supernatural hunters, and white trappers, who valued lupine animals for their pelts. From the late nineteenth century onwards, Rocky Mountain wolves encountered patrolling national park wardens and awe- struck visitors. Whilst park authorities engaged in zealous campaigns to exterminate 'noxious' predators in the early 1900s, federal officials reintroduced the wolf to Yellowstone in 1995 under the terms of the Endangered Species Act (1973). Wolf Mountains explores this progression in Canadian and American ideas concerning national parks and wildlife protection, tracing how the wolf figured in competing visions of the North American landscape. Numerous individuals offered valuable assistance during my own travels across the Rocky Mountains. I thank the staff in Ottawa at the Public Archives of Canada, and Celine Racette and Barry Hughson at Parks Canada. Park historian Graham MacDonald and regional biologist David Poll never failed to answer my e-mails, while Walter Hildebrandt from the University of Calgary Press proved an enthusiastic supporter of this project. Thanks also to John Bonnett in Ottawa, and Marge Lasky in Berkeley, California, for providing exemplary hospitality. In Yellowstone, Lee Whittlesey and Sue Consolo-Murphy enthusiastically responded to my requests for information, and Deb Guernsey kindly allowed me to tag along on a trip to feed ' Big Sandy,' a wolf-hybrid interned in one of the reintroduction pens. Regards also to John Varley, Wayne Brewster, and Douglas Smith, who took time out from their busy schedules to offer personal recollections of Canis lupus. On my journey north along the ' Backbone of the World,' wildlife ix