[Geysers] Lee Whittlesey stumbles onto the 1960s GOSA predecessor organization!

[Lee_Whittlesey at nps.gov]

Dear All:

Again the Yellowstone Library and Archives has yielded a fascinating find.
Perhaps some of you know of it, but I certainly didn't!

While looking through back issues of the YELLOWSTONE NEWS (we have it for
the years 1947-2005), I found the following interesting article written by
my old friend Ted Parkinson, who was a ranger-naturalist in Yellowstone
many years before I arrived here. It seems that the resurgence of activity
by Steamboat Geyser in 1961 stimulated the forming of an loose-knit
organization that seems to have been the predecessor to GOSA and that was
formed because of the renewed activity of Steamboat Geyser.

The attached article is interesting not only for the look it gives us at
Steamboat Geyser in the early 1960s but also for the mention of members of
the organization who made it a practice to "sit on Steamboat," before GOSA
was ever a gleam in Paul Strasser's eye. So where are these folks today?
Does anyone know? Apparently the organization folded in the late 1960s as
Steamboat became less frequent.

As you read, pretend it is the summer of 1963, when this piece was written.
Enjoy!

Lee Whittlesey
Park Historian, NPS
YNP



                     THE ASSOCIATION OF GEEZER GAZERS
            By Ted J. Parkinson, Park Naturalist, Old Faithful
              From Yellowstone News 17 (August 8, 1963): 3-4.

Steamboat Geyser has attracted nationwide attention because of its
magnificent eruptions 300 to 400 feet high every seven to twenty days since
August 27, 1962. Through the years we have conferred a respectful title on
the Park visitors who wait to see a grand geyser eruption—“Geyser Hound.”
Some of the geyser hounds who have been most determined to “catch” the
eruption of Steamboat have conferred a new title on themselves; in fact
they have formed a new fan club for geyser hounds interested in
Steamboat—THE ASSOCIATION OF GEEZER GAZERS.

The president of the Association of Geezer Gazers is Mr. Joe LaMotte, a
retired Air Force Major who lives in Madeira Beach, Florida. Mr. LaMotte
was elected president not because he earned the office, but because he
missed the July 15 eruption. He and his wife, Yolanda, slept in their
trailer at Madison Junction, but they spent all the daylight hours at
Steamboat. On July 15 they left just two hours before Steamboat played.
They were overcome with grief and remorse when they learned they had given
up too soon. They were so penitent and so determined to catch the next
eruption no matter what, that the other Geezer Gazers elected him president
and his wife, Yolanda, secretary. The LaMottes were there when Steamboat
played again at 12:15 p.m. on July 30.

As time passed and Steamboat remained more or less indifferent, some
members became discouraged. Frank Rentchler, Ranger-Naturalist at Norris,
showed his marvelous pictures of a previous eruption and some of the
wilting Geezer Gazers decided to stick with it. One couple said they would
stay “only today, and that’s all,” but the next day they were back
again,–for five successive days! But on July 30 they were conspicuous by
their absence—and Steamboat played!

Jim Greenough, Treasurer of the Association of Geezer Gazers, and Douglas
Whiteside, member-at-large, were determined to see Steamboat at night if it
didn’t play during the day. They had their sleeping bags and laid them down
on the hillside near the sleeping giant. Jim Greenough is a college student
from Woodside, California. Mr. Whiteside is a professional photographer
from Yosemite, California who was just passing through. He kept on staying
one more day till he made it. They found their campsite of the night before
buried undersix inches of silt, sand and gravel washed down the hillside by
the discharge from Steamboat after it played.

At 12:00 noon on July 30, all the Geezer Gazers were despondent. There was
no sign of impending activity. They were commiserating with each other
about the growing possibility that the Steamboat had given its all, like
the bee which loses its vital organs with its stinger. How could Steamboat
continue to blast its insides out during each violent eruption? The whole
area was littered with tons and tons of ejects, boulders, gravel, sand and
silt. For four days there had been no indications that the sleeping giant
would rouse once more. Suddenly a powerful column of water was blasted 150
feet in the air! The despondent Geezer Gazers were immediately galvanized
into a frenzy of activity, shouting, taking pictures, pounding each other
as Steamboat did it again, higher and higher, with rocks, sand and silt
mingled with water arching up three or four hundred feet over a trajectory
of 600 to 1000 feet.

Will Steamboat erupt again? It has never had such a series of powerful
eruptions. It usually plays every two to three minutes, 15 to 25 feet high
[in minor phase eruptions]. But once in 1878, once in 1882, 1902, 1911 and
again on September 2, 1961, it erupted 300 to 400 feet high [sic—we now
know of many more major phase eruptions]. On August 27, 1962 another
powerful eruption initiated a series of giant eruptions every seven to
twenty days. These powerful eruptions have caused a great deal of erosion.
Some of the debris is washed back into the orifice, only to be hurled high
in[to] the air again, making it wise for spectators to remain a respectful
distance away. With each new eruption of Steamboat, its fame spreads
farther and membership in the Association of Geezer Gazers increases. It is
already nation-wide with members from Florida to California. Where will it
end? It will end when Steamboat ends. We will wait and see.