A glance at any current map of Yellowstone Park shows that its boundaries are mostly straight, except for the eastern edge. In fact, if you look closely at that ragged edge, you can imagine the outline of a cute snub-nosed bear cub. Its ear sticks up at the Northeast Entrance, its brow and nose squiggle through the northern Absaroka Range and you might even make a case for a right paw east of Yellowstone Lake! The original Yellowstone National Park was a perfect rectangle, its borders specified by the 1872 act of Congress that set aside the land. The eastern border ran along the 110th meridian passing ten miles to the eastward of the most eastern point of Yellowstone lake. Then why is this side of the park so irregular today?
