Yellowstone National Park is the definition of the sublime, capable of being beautiful and terrifying all at once. Since its founding as the world’s first national park in 1872, the location’s majestic forests, otherworldly hydrothermal features, and wild animals have been the cause of numerous tourist deaths. A terrible topic that has fascinated the park’s visitors for decades, many popular movies, articles, and books have been written exploring Yellowstone National Park’s fatalities, such as newly released fictional anthology, Deadly Yellowstone. A collection of thirteen mysterious stories taking place in one of the nation’s deadliest parks, Deadly Yellowstone explores the idea that sometimes the park itself isn’t as dangerous as the people who inhabit it. Bozeman Magazine contributor Katie Thomas penned the eleventh story in the collection, following a group of friends who are gradually killed throughout their employment at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. Inspired by this compelling thriller, I’ve compiled some of the most well-known fatalities that took place in the stunning Yellowstone National Park, including everything from wildlife encounters to murderous cannibals. 

Murder  

Only eight recorded murders have taken place in the history of the park, with one of the more spine-chilling instances occurring in 1889. Margaret Trischman, a mother known to struggle with mental health issues, returned to Mammoth (near the location where Katie Thomas’s chilling story takes place) from a stay at a mental hospital after an attempt to take her own life. Soon after her arrival, Trischman fatally lacerated the neck of her youngest son and chased her remaining three children around their home with a hunting knife. While being apprehended and sent to a hospital for the clinically insane, the woman leapt from the train transporting her into the Yellowstone River, never to be seen again.  

Cannibalism 

One of the most unusual murders to take place in the park was the killing of James Michael Schlosser, who unknowingly picked up two homicidal hitchhikers looking for a ride to a nearby campsite. When the group found the campsite to be full, the three men ended up sleeping at a more secluded location, giving the perpetrators the opportunity to enact their brutality. Stanley Dean Baker and Harry Allan Stroup fatally shot Schlosser before mutilating his body. Baker divided their victim into six parts, ate his heart, and stole his car for their getaway. Later stopped in California, the two men were found to be carrying human finger bones in their pockets. A truly appalling chapter in the bloody history of Yellowstone, the event reminds us of the importance of approaching strangers with caution and keeping ourselves safe at all costs.  

Suicide  

Suicide rates within Yellowstone National Park are difficult to calculate; however, we know that such incidents do occasionally occur. In 2023, Catheryn Danyelle Griffin was found dead south of Old Faithful, in a car that had been driven into a snowbank. The thirty-eight-year-old’s cause of death was ruled a suicide, as the woman was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. These intentional deaths always come as a shocking loss, and it’s crucial to be aware of such tragedies so that we are better able to prevent them.  

Ice Climbing 

In 2010, the lives of two young men were tragically cut short in an ice climbing accident in Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon. Michael Kellch and Mark Ehrich were killed after the ice column they were climbing collapsed, subjecting them to a drop of hundreds of feet onto the rocky canyon floor. The pair are remembered by their family and friends for their adventurous spirits and unflinching bravery, and are reminders of the treachery adventurers must be aware of when traversing the park. 

Hot Springs 

With just over twenty cases of tourist deaths in Yellowstone’s hydrothermal features, the park’s stunning hot springs and geysers tend to be dangerous only when visitors are unaware of their potential for destruction. The most well-known instance of death is the case of David Kirwan, who dove into a two-hundred-degree pool to save his friend’s dog, who had jumped in. The dog could not be recovered; Kirwan was blinded, and suffered from full body third-degree burns,  and the flaying of his skin. He succumbed to his injuries the following morning, becoming another victim of dangerously uninformed interactions with the park’s more perilous features.  

Grizzly Bears  

Although fatal bear maulings are relatively rare (around 12 people killed in the last 30 years between Montana and Wyoming), they remain one of the more avoidable causes of death in Yellowstone National Park. With less than ten deaths by grizzly bear attack since the park’s founding, the uncommon instances are no less appalling when they do occur. The most recent mauling took place in 2023, when a solo jogger was killed near West Yellowstone. The victim, Amie Anderson, had been running alone without bear spray when she was tragically killed. Practices such as hiking in groups and traveling with bear spray can make a fatal attack far less likely.  

Lightning  Strikes  

Death by lightning strike sounds like something that essentially never happens, which isn’t untrue. Still, five visitors in Yellowstone National Park have died after being struck by lightning since the park’s opening, which is a notable number. In 2022, a twenty-two-year-old student was killed after a lightning bolt struck the campground of an outdoor school. This devastating event is a reminder of the unpreventable terrors that abound in the outdoors.  

Bison  

After approaching these animals for a photo op, tourists commonly find themselves on the receiving end of an angry bison’s bucking horns. Thankfully, these attacks aren’t often fatal, with only two reported deaths in the history of Yellowstone National Park. Still, it’s important to treat these majestic creatures with caution; disrespecting a bison’s space tends to end with a charge, resulting in the offender being subject to goring, being horrifically injured, and permanently damaged.  

Shooting Threats 

On July 4th, 2024, Samson Lucas Bariah Fussner was fatally shot by park rangers after he opened fire on a service entrance close to a dining area holding 200 people. Rangers had been searching for him after he had held a woman at gunpoint while threatening to commit a mass shooting during the park’s celebrations. Fussner died before he was able to kill any innocents, although he did manage to wound a responding ranger in the altercation. Shootings are a rare cause of fatalities within Yellowstone National Park, and the ranger’s quick and heroic response demonstrates their commitment to keeping the park a safe place for visitors. 

Zone of Death 

While exploring the bounds of the Sixth Amendment, law professor Brian Kalt found that a fifty-mile section of Yellowstone National Park in Idaho could present a jurisdictional loophole; without any inhabitants, the necessary jury of peers could not be provided to a perpetrator of a crime in the area, allowing the criminal to theoretically avoid prosecution. Minor crimes not requiring a jury would still be prosecutable, but major crimes (including murder) could be harder to properly penalize. Although no such tragedy has yet occurred, the location remains a point of fascination in numerous works of fiction, and is a legislative concern.  

If these true stories interested you, check out Deadly Yellowstone for some compelling fictional takes on one of the world’s most dangerous national parks. The anthology is available on Amazon, the editor’s website (lisemcclendon.com), and elsewhere.