The Madonna of the Wilds, black bear with cubs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, circa 1940

About this postcard

A large dark bear, presumably a black bear sow, stands beside a thick pine trunk with two cubs at her feet, the group framed by grass and evergreen branches. The card titles the scene "The Madonna of the Wilds," a sentimental name typical of the Haynes family's long-running Yellowstone concession photography, which popularized the park's roadside bears in the early 20th century. Feeding and photographing bears along park roads became such a tradition that the animals were a signature Yellowstone attraction until the practice was curtailed in the mid-20th century.