In the winter of 1894, the magazine Forest and Streamsent one of its most talented writers, Emerson Hough, to Yellowstone National Park to document the decline in bison. Under the tutelage of legendary guide Billy Hofer, Hough learned to ski on 12-foot-long wooden slats. He witnessed the arrest of notorious poacher Ed Howell—caught red-handed skinning a bison—and met pioneering photographer F. Jay Haynes. Undertaking a tough, 200-mile trip on skis, Hough, Haines and Hofer came up with the best census of the park’s bison and elk that anyone had yet achieved. Hough wrote up the expedition in a series of 14 articles. His reporting motivated the United States Congress to pass the anti-poaching Lacey Act and helped turn public opinion against a proposed railroad through the park. Moreover, Hough’s articles are immensely entertaining. He remains one of the wittiest writers ever to describe the park, and his series, edited and annotated by University of California writing professor Scott Herring, is as fun to read as it is historically significant. Includes nine Yellowstone National Park photos by F. Jay Haynes.
Author
Emerson Hough was an American author best known for writing western stories and historical novels. He married Charlotte Chesebro of Chicago in 1897 and made that city his home. During World War I, he served as a Captain with the Intelligence Service. He died in Evanston, Illinois, on April 30, 1923, a week after seeing the Chicago premiere of the movie The Covered Wagon, based on his 1922 book. Covered Wagon was his biggest best-selling novel since Mississippi Bubble in 1902. "North of 36", another Hough novel, later became a popular silent film as well, "making him one of the first Western authors to enter into the motion picture industry." He is buried in Galesburg, Illinois. Asked in 1918 to provide some details of his own life, he replied in the context of World War I: "This is no time for autobiography of men of letters. This is the day of biography for men who have been privileged to act in the great scenes of today. It is the time for boys of 23. At least we can bless them and back them the best we know. I will not tell about myself. It is of no consequence." Hough's hometown, Newton, Iowa, has honored him in several ways. A school named for him opened in 1926. Emerson Hough Elementary School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. His boyhood home bears a marker provided by the Daughters of the American Revolution. The school grounds include a playground with a western theme called Fort Emerson Hough. The local chapter of the Izaak Walton League also bears his name, as does a street, Emerson Hough Avenue in Lambs Grove, Iowa, a suburb of Newton. In March 2010, the school board voted to close Emerson Hough School.Efforts to prevent its closure have included a fund raising and a Facebook page.
