In 1870, Truman Everts visited what would two years later become YNP, traveling with an exploration party intent on mapping and investigating that mysterious region filled with natural wonders.  Everts, 54 years old, nearsighted, and an inexperienced woodsman, had been determined to join the expedition.  He was soon separated from the rest of the party and from his horse, setting him on a grueling quest for survival.  For over a month he wandered Yellowstone alone and injured, with little food, clothing, or other equipment.  He recounted his experiences for the readers of Scribner's Monthly in "Thirty-seven Days of Peril," which is included here.

In June 1996, Everts's granddaughter arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs in YNP to meet with park archivist Lee Whittlesey.  She brought two handwritten documents by Everts that her father had kept hidden.  One was a brief autobiography that gave new insight into his early life.  The other was an unpublished alternate account of his confused 1870 journey through Yellowstone.  Both of these handwritten documents have been added to this volume, further illuminating Everts's unlikely tale of survival.