LAKE VILLAGE — Former President Jimmy Carter turned 100 on October 1. He is the oldest living former president and the longest-living president in U.S. history.
Carter also has a history in Yellowstone National Park. According to the Christian Science Monitor, he visited the park for a fishing trip in 1978. He came back several times and literally made his mark on the park, with an autograph on a wall.
Everyone who comes to Yellowstone has to see Old Faithful, and President Jimmy Carter was no exception. National Park Service archives show him and what appears to be Secret Service agents near the geyser, and among the throngs of people who came to see Old Faithful and the president of the United States.
“Everybody just about, who’s ever had anything to say or know or do about Yellowstone Lake is interested in fishing," retired park historian Lee Whittlesey said.
Whittlesey said Carter was also very interested in fishing in Yellowstone Lake and spent several days doing so.
“He went to Peale Island, and Peale Island is in the south arm of Yellowstone Lake. It’s a Park Service backcountry cabin for VIPs," Whittlesey remarked.
Whittlesey explained the cabin was so remote, it provided a safer spot for Secret Service protection.
“'Cuz you’re out on the island, and you’re so far back in the Yellowstone backcountry that nobody can get there," he said.
Whittlesey said Carter made several return visits to Yellowstone Lake, and the proof is in a building near Lake Lodge. The employee pub is not open to the public, it’s known among employees as the best place for pizza. The autograph behind glass on the wall says so.
The handwriting says, “Great Pizza. Beautiful Park. Fine Rangers. Jimmy Carter.”
The former president of the United States wrote on the wall, but there are names all over the walls here. Xanterra spokesman Rick Hoeninghausen showed off his wall autograph. He said it was a tradition for people to sign these walls even before the place was a pub.
“Because this was originally a laundry it goes back so many years, I remember seeing signatures that go back to the '40s," Hoeninghausen remarked.
So, the president who loved the park so much he came back to see it, left his mark, not only on America but on the world’s first national park.
