Bierstadt did not visit Yellowstone until 1880.  Although he did some paintings of the area, it didn't inspire him like Yosemite and other scenic areas of the west.  This painting of Lower Yellowstone Falls, while portraying the beauty and wildness of the first national park, is darker, more monochromatic, and doesn't capture the subtle colors of the canyon as Moran's famous painting of the same subject.