Mother bear and cub hiking, Norris Geyser Basin, WY, circa 1937

About this postcard

A black bear and her cub climb a rocky, brush-covered slope, the mother in the foreground and the cub behind her to the right. The caption reads "Mother Bear and Cub Hiking" and notes that the picture was taken near Norris Geyser Basin, where the cub "received his first lesson in the art of getting food from motorists." The scene reflects a familiar early twentieth-century Yellowstone ritual: bears drawn to roads and handouts became an attraction for park visitors, and feeding them from cars was common before the practice was discouraged.