<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> This is from the Billings Gazette and forwarded as part of an e-letter by and to the many classmates from the Livingston, Montana schools ( where I was born and raised).  You may have seen it already. Jane Washington -------- Original Message -------- <table class="moz-email-headers-table" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">Subject: </th> <td>Former Yellowstone bus driver recalls Experiences</td> </tr> <tr> <th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">Date: </th> <td>Mon, 16 Apr 2007 07:48:22 EDT</td> </tr> <tr> <th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">From: </th> <td><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:LindieAnn@aol.com">LindieAnn@aol.com</a></td> </tr> <tr> <th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">To: </th> <td><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:toms59047@yahoo.com">toms59047@yahoo.com</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <img src="cid:part1.09010000.08050004@xmission.com" id="MA1.1176724099" datasize="25889" border="0" height="473" width="320"> Yellowstone in the rear-view mirror Longtime bus driver shares his stories in paperback book <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/m/gallery/2007/04/11/yellowstone/yellowstone1.html">Click here: Memories of Yellowstone</a> A Billings man has published a book about his experiences as a bus driver in Yellowstone National Park. Joe Mitchell's book, "My Thirty-Five Years Driving Bus in Yellowstone National Park," just scratches the surface of his experiences behind the wheel in America's first national park. "I could talk for two days just to tell you about the old days in the park," Mitchell said. The 84-year-old uses humor and detail to tell the story of how he started driving first 14-passenger buses, then the 42-passenger buses Mitchell eyes twinkle when he tells the story of testing to drive the yellow bus. In 1947, when he was on leave from a job at the Cadillac Motor Car Co. in Detroit, Mitchell's mom suggested that he try the driving gig. He took a quick lesson in double clutching and went downtown for the driving test - maneuvering the long yellow bus from the fairgrounds up Black Otter Trail. "As my turn was approaching, I was getting more and more nervous as I had never driven anything except a car," Mitchell wrote. " ... When I first got behind the steering wheel, I thought, 'Holy cow.' I felt like I was behind the steering wheel of a big Greyhound bus." Mitchell was hired and started the career that planted the seeds of a love of Yellowstone. The book details the train trip to Gardiner to start work and the five-day "frolic trip" to introduce new drivers to the park and prepare them to not only drive but also to share information with visitors. For all the sights Mitchell has seen in Yellowstone, "I always loved Canyon by far the most," he said. One of his favorite spots was the huge Canyon Hotel, a plush haven that was phased out and eventually burned. "It was a beautiful place way up there in the mountains," Mitchell said. The 45-page paperback book is written in the same conversational tone that Mitchell uses when visiting face-to-face, including interesting asides. Midway through the volume, Mitchell includes some history on Fort Yellowstone, which was active until World War I, then draws the reader back to his story with "Here I go again, getting completely away from bus driving and getting carried away with the history of Yellowstone." The book was published by Frenchy La Jesse. Both men live at Aspen View Retirement Residence. La Jesse, who has a penchant for desktop publishing, heard Mitchell's story when Mitchell shared his recollections during the "reading and writing class" at the residence. La Jesse said he just couldn't let Mitchell's interesting story go without sharing it on a wider basis. La Jesse publishes a newsletter for Aspen View Retirement Residence and volunteers for other computer work for the residence. The newsletter committee talked about printing Mitchell's story, but it was too long for one issue. The committee opted not to print it in installments. "I thought that was as far as it was going to go," Mitchell said. His future publisher disagreed. "This was such a good thing here, I could not let it go by," La Jesse said. The back of the book is an interview of Mitchell by La Jesse that answers a few questions La Jesse had after reading Mitchell's writing. In the passages, Mitchell estimated that he drove 100,000 people and said he did so without ever running out of gas and with only one tire blowout. As the book came together, the initial plan, in part to save money, was to print copies and check them out in the residence. The men decided to sell the book instead. The $7 copies sold out the first day. More than $200 in proceeds from book sales went to a Bingo Extravaganza at the residence last month. The book is in its fourth printing of a dozen copies. Copies are available by leaving a message for Mitchell or La Jesse at 534-2954. "We'll go on our fifth if we have to," La Jesse said. Mitchell has talked about the book to his friends in Yellowstone and said he hopes something may be in the works to sell it there. The book includes photos of Mitchell during tenure as a driver. Mitchell met people from around the world. He drove park and national dignitaries and world leaders, including the king and queen of Nepal. When Mitchell wasn't driving in the park, he worked for the railroad. Each summer Mitchell asked for a leave of absence, which was generally granted, and headed out to work in Yellowstone. "It worked out perfect," he said. Some years the leave wasn't granted, including during an eight-year stretch, but Mitchell kept trying to return to the job he loved. He retired after the 1996 season. Mitchell said he was still a good driver but that it was time to stop. "I loved that job more than any job I had," he said. Mitchell doesn't visit Yellowstone much anymore. One reason is the number of visitors, many in huge recreational vehicles that hinder traffic like bear jams did in the old days, he said. Another pitfall is that fishing isn't as good as it used to be and is more restricted. A fishing pole was among the small cache of personal items Mitchell carried in the back of his bus. Rather than going back and being disappointed, Mitchell likes to recall Yellowstone as he knew it. He wouldn't mind, however, going back to share his good stories with today's visitors. "I knew the park when it was a wonderful place," he said. </body> </html>