Yellowstone Kelly loved the Yellowstone River valley so much that he asked to be buried overlooking the valley from one of its highest points. Kelly joined the United States army and spent the last part of his enlistment in the Dakotas. After his term ended, he came into the Yellowstone valley and became a jack-of-all-trades. He did a little trapping, hunting, exploring, mapping, and scouting for the military. Kelly was a very colorful person. Once, when Kelly wanted to meet General Nelson Miles, he sent him the paw of a large bear with his named engraved on a claw as a calling card. Another time, Kelly met up with two trappers hidden along a riverbank. The trappers were able to hear Kelly hundreds of yards away because he was singing and playing a concertina(an instrument similar to a small accordion).

One of Kelly's greatest contribution to the Yellowstone region was a map that he drew in 1879 of the northern plains, written on linen in pen and ink.