Yellowstone Historic Resource Study The History of the Construction of the Road System in Yellowstone National Park, 1872-1966

Prior to the creation of Yellowstone National Park, miners began exploring and settling in the Upper Yellowstone Valley, an area extending from present-day Livingston, Montana, to the northern boundary of Yellowstone National Park at Gardiner, Montana. Miners who had worked the Idaho gold fields moved on to Montana after news of John White's gold strike on Grasshopper Creek (Bannock) in 1862. The following year Thomas Curry's discovery of gold near Emigrant Gulch in the Upper Yellowstone Valley brought a rush of miners to the area. The strikes also brought miners to the southern part of the Upper Yellowstone Valley. The town of Jardine, Montana grew out of the success of the Bear Creek discoveries. [1]

In the late 1860s, more mining activity developed along Crevice Creek and eastward toward Lake Abundance and down into the Clarks Fork Valley. In 1870, silver and lead deposits were discovered in the Cooke City, Montana area, soon to be named the New World Mining District. [2] Some of the men associated with other aspects of Yellowstone history, A. Bart Henderson, Frederick Bottler, Adam "Horn" Miller and others, explored and traveled around the Lamar River, Slough Creek and Soda Butte Creek country, In fact, the extinct hot spring travertine cone and the nearby creek, were named "Soda Butte" by the 1870 prospecting party consisting of Henderson, Miller and James Gourley.

As the mining activity increased in the New World Mining District, an enterprising middle-age Scot, John H. "Yellowstone Jack" Baronett, gave up prospecting and pursued "mining the miners" by controlling the only known good bridge site on the route from the Upper Yellowstone Valley to the New World Mining District. [3] In the spring of 1871, Baronett began building a bridge near the confluence of the Yellowstone with the east fork of the Yellowstone, the Lamar River. After cutting out a trail on either embankment, he built "a timber pier . . . upon a huge boulder amidst the roaring torrent and covering it with huge cross-timbers formed a good footbridge for men and mules . . . ." Nearby he built a cabin. [4]

Baronett's site was well chosen as the Yellowstone was only approximately 100 feet wide at that point and the "rocky bank on the east side formed a ready footing for that abutment, and a rocky ledge, just exposed near the west bank at low water, provided a footing for a rock-filled, log-crib pier 20 feet in height. Thus, the river was bridged with 2 spans, 1 of 60 feet and the other of 30 feet. The superstructure consisted of a 10-foot roadway carried on 3 stringers, which were in turn supported by a pair of queen-post trusses in each span. The timbers were all of square-hewn pine with a minimum of iron fastenings. . . . The cost of the work, including the house and outbuildings, is given as $4,000 . . . ." [5]

Thus the rough trail or "road" from the Upper Yellowstone Valley to the Cooke City mines predates the creation of Yellowstone National Park. Dr. Ferdinand Hayden crossed the bridge just one month after Capt. John Barlow's 1871 expedition. [6] Dr. Hayden depicted the construction and the possibility of its future historic importance in his report:

Just below the junction of the East Fork, a bridge was constructed across the Yellowstone about a year ago, to accommodate the miners bound for the "diggings" on Clark's Fork. It was evidently built with a considerable amount of labor and boldness, for the river flows with great rapidity along the narrow, rocky channel, and is about 200 feet in width. I make mention of this bridge in this connection from the fact that it is the first, and only one as yet which has been erected across the Yellowstone River, and may in the future assume some historical importance. [7]

Prior to 1877, only pack trains could manage the park "roads". But during 1877, the first wagons entered the park. One ox-drawn wagon, which left Gardiner for the Clark's Fork mines, had to be disassembled before it could be taken over the Baronett Bridge. [8] During 1877, Superintendent Philetus Norris searched the park for new road routes, including exploring in the Lamar Valley and the adjacent region south of the valley for possible routes through the Big Horn or Shoshone Range from the main branch of the Yellowstone. During the two week pursuit of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce by Gen. O. O. Howard in the August of 1877, the Nez Perce partially destroyed the Baronett Bridge by burning the stringers near the east abutment. [9]

During 1878, Norris continued his exploration for new and improved routes in the park. Among those examined was a "route for approach and crossing of the main Yellowstone near the forks, far preferable to that of the Baronett Bridge, now so decayed and burned as to be very dangerous; or to the abutments of the miner's bridge commenced above it." [10] Norris stated that he assisted Baronett and his associate, John Ponsford in repairing the bridge after the burning, but even then he thought that it was unsafe. He urged the construction of the "heavy and expensive bridge over the main stream" for the wagons to reach the East Fork, Amethyst Mountain, and Soda Butte sections of the park and the smelting and mining camps of the Clark's Fork area. [11] Nevertheless, Norris also felt that Baronett should be compensated for his investment in an outright purchase or a lease. In 1879, two Montanans failed to gain permission from the Secretary of the Interior to build another bridge to replace the Baronett Bridge.

During 1880, John Ponsford offered to sell the bridge to the Interior Department and sought an inspection and report by an Interior official. [12] He received no reply. [13] In 1881, Baronett followed up with a proposal to the Interior Department to either "obtain a permit or license to maintain the bridge or sell to it to them." Baronett claimed that at "great cost he constructed a bridge on the Yellowstone to "enable the miners to go to and come from the Clark's Fork Mines. . . . that it was absolutely necessary for that purpose that without it mining could not have been carried on only a very short time each year." He stated that the bridge and adjacent buildings cost $4,000 and that it was kept as a toll bridge until 1877. He further claimed that since the principal users, who were the miners, were often unable to pay the toll, he was not able to keep up the needed repairs. Baronett maintained that General Howard ordered the dismantling of one of his buildings for use as building material for the first repair of the bridge. He further claimed that he kept the bridge in good repair until 1880, and at that time he spent an additional $2,000 putting in new stringers and iron floor braces. In concluding, Baronett advised the secretary that the bridge, which he now considered safe and in good condition, had been useful to the miners, the military and to the park staff. In his transmittal to the secretary, he included a postscript from Superintendent Norris which read "I am cognizant of the facts herein before stated (except as to the cost of the bridge) and recommend the same to your careful and favorable consideration." [14]

In the meantime, Norris improved the "road" from the forks of the Yellowstone to Soda Butte and began blazing Amethyst Mountain and the Fossil Forest for 30 miles to Pelican Creek and on to Yellowstone Lake. While Norris thought that the possible new route from Soda Butte to Yellowstone Lake would offer interesting viewing for visitors, he perceived that the high elevation would probably preclude a road in the near future. [15] Norris' explorations, which also encompassed the unusual Hoodoo regions on the east side of the Park prompted him to consider an extensive exploration of the east side and the possible repercussions of opening up that area of the park. One of the first considerations to be addressed was the question of toll roads and or toll bridges in the Park. [16]

After a more thorough examination of the Baronett Bridge, Clarence Stephens, Superintendent Norris' assistant decided that the bridge, which had been built for pack animals was too narrow for wagons and too light for the passage of heavy loads. He felt that the crossing at the narrow part of the canyon resulted in the approaches being narrow and steep with sharp curves. Norris determined that it would be less costly to build a new bridge further up the river using some of the timber and iron from the Baronett Bridge. He selected a spot where a small creek empties into the river from the west and on the road to Tower Falls. He also inspected the Soda Butte Creek area for a bridge site. He found a point, approximately 160 feet wide, bank to bank, at the mouth of the Soda Butte Creek that would command a grade but no rock work and no nearby timber. However he reported to Norris that available timber could be found higher up the stream. [17]

After the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers assumed the responsibility for road construction and improvement in the Park in 1883, the question of ownership and fee collection of the Baronett Bridge again became an issue. Lt. Dan Kingman wrote "I do not think it should be allowed in the National Park and it is for this reason that I recommend its purchase by the government." [18] During the first year of the Army's supervision, $12.00 worth of ditch and culvert work was done on the Clark's Fork road.

In 1885, Kingman reported that an unsafe and unsightly bridge had been built over the East Fork of the Yellowstone in 1884 by a private individual, but no toll was charged from this bridge. [19] In 1886, the acting secretary of the Interior responded to a congressional report on Yellowstone National Park in which he explicitly expressed the view that Congress should appropriate the sum of $1,500 for the purchase of the Baronett Bridge. He called it "not such a one as would have been built in the first instance by the Government, yet it answers all purposes." He explained that the Baronett and Ponsford had charged both private parties and government officials a fee to cross "There had undoubtedly been enough toll collected to pay for the bridge. It is an anomaly that a private toll bridge should be permitted in the National Park and there should be at once a stop put to the imposition of toll." [20]

The following year, the new superintendent Army officer, Moses Harris's report indicates that the Baronett Bridge was now under a partnership of John Ponsford and J. L. Sanborn. He revealed that "I have attempted no interference with the business as conducted by these parties, as it would seem business unmolested has given them a certain right of possession which should be settled by investigation and adjudgment. A statement of the fact that free travel through the National Park, the 'pleasure ground of the people', is obstructed by a toll-bridge, whether by authority or otherwise, should be sufficient to cause a remedy to be at once applied." [21] He described the road from the Baronett Bridge to the Cooke City mines as:

The road over which all supplies for the mining camp of Cooke City are freighted is through a rough and hilly country and throughout the greater portion of its extent is unimproved. Some slight grades have been made where it was absolutely necessary and a few rude bridges constructed. The road has been chiefly built and kept in repair by private enterprise and is by far the worst road in the Park, being well . . . impassable a large portion of the year. Toll is very properly charged at Barronette's [sic] Bridge as it could not otherwise be kept in repair by private means. The bridge across the Lamar River is in very dilapidated condition and will probably not last more than a year or two longer. It would seem to be eminently proper that this road within the Park's limits, should be taken in charge by the Government, the Barronette's Bridge claim extinguished and the road kept in proper and safe condition for travel. [22]

Harris requested a $2,000 appropriation to settle the bridge claim. [23]

During the early 1890s, controversial discussions of building a railroad through the northeastern portion of the park induced the opponents of the line to convey the positive attributes of a "good commercial road" from Cooke City to Livingston, Montana.

In the case of the wagon road every cent spent in its construction goes to people in that vicinity. The freight contracts would give employment to hundreds of persons and the raising of grain and hay for forage to hundreds more. The commercial business in wagons, supplies, and the like would materially enhance the prosperity of both Livingston and Cooke. In all respects the wagon road will be of more permanent benefit to these two towns and to the surrounding country than the railroad. The wagon road is something that can be had just as soon as the Government is relieved of the menacing spectra of the Segregation Bill. The railroad is to say the least a doubtful possibility. Very few believe that it will be built even if the right is obtained. [24]

Maj. Hiram Chittenden, the Army engineer, now in charge of road construction and improvements, described the mountain scenery in the northeast section as "unquestionably the most beautiful mountain scenery in the park." He felt that the road in this section should "receive early attention as a matter of justice to the Cooke City miners, even in advance of its use as a tourist route." [25]

In 1895, the Army began working on 5 to 6 miles of the road near the Cooke City end with grading completed as far west as Soda Butte Creek the following year. The old problem of the purchase of the Baronett Bridge persisted, however the proposition to use the appropriation for "improvement and protection" of the park presented Superintendent Anderson with a dilemma. He stated in his report of 1896 that "I could not assent for the reason that the old bridge is now in a state of decay and would not under any circumstances be considered as a work of 'improvement'. The claim for it and for its use for the last twenty-five years is however a just one." [26]

Capt. George Anderson, the military superintendent of the Park, reported that at least three miles of the old road between Soda Butte and Cooke City had been cut out by the newly constructed road. In his locational survey of the Soda Butte Canyon he "adhered to the principal of keeping the roadway on the north side of the stream, where the sun melts the snow out much earlier in the spring, thus making the road passable for a much longer season and avoiding the necessity of expensive and unreliable bridges. To do this, in some cases involved the building of roads through difficult country, where the cost of construction was considerably increased." [27] Anderson described the recently completed 5 mile section and additional 1 mile of grubbed and cleared section as "one of the most difficult pieces of road making in the park, as the line is crossed at very short intervals by gullies which at times carry large volumes of water from the canyon side. The completion of another mile of this road will cut out all that is worst of the old one and cover all that is most difficult of construction of the new." [28] Only two more additional miles of grading toward Yancey's was completed before lack of appropriation called a halt to the project. [29]

Many new bridges were built throughout the park in 1897, including the bridges over the Yellowstone and Lamar rivers. Again the need for the replacement of the old Baronett Bridge went to Washington. [30]

A 1897 Harper's Magazine article described the Cooke City road:

This road is fifty miles, which is used by teams for hauling ore and supplies and by camping parties who enter the Park at Cooke City, goes through some of the finest scenery in the country—great grassy uplands where the antelope and the deer and the elk roam and splendid rock mountains are eleven thousand feet high—crossing the Yellowstone and many clear and beautiful streams. This road is the worst road that I ever saw, horses and mules attempt to haul wagons over. Road-making is however carried on with a great deal of energy. [31]

In 1899, 15 miles of the new Cooke City Road still had to be built, but Army engineer Chittenden, who had returned for duty in Yellowstone, reported that the new section would not follow the old route, thus new bridges would also be necessary. He remarked that completion of the road would be "of the greatest usefulness also in patrolling and protecting the entire northern portion of the park, which is the most important game preserve on the reservation." He thought that the remaining work would be lighter in nature and only cost approximately $1.00 per mile. [32] Finally in 1899, a congressional act awarded "To C. J. Baronett, of Gardiner, Montana, five thousand dollars for the bridge known as 'Baronett's Bridge,' over the Yellowstone River and the approaches thereto, in Yellowstone National Park". [33]

In 1901, $140.27 of repair work was done on the Baronett Bridge and some minor repair work was done on the road. Two years later a steel deck truss with a light metal lattice railing and a 130-foot span was built about a mile above the old Baronett Bridge. The bridge was based on a design by the American Bridge Company. [34] According to Hiram Chittenden, the Baronett Bridge was destroyed upon the completion of the new bridge. [35]

During 1908 and 1909, substantial work was carried out on the Soda Butte to the boundary section. The road, which was relocated to bypass two crossings of the river, cuts through a marshy, swampy, black loam area. Significant work was done at Jackson grade including building up sections of wall which had collapsed. The road crews removed several large overhanging rocks in the Lamar Canyon, the grade was raised 2-1/2 feet for an interval of 1250 feet, and a new retaining wall was built. [36]

By 1914, the "trail wagon road" was in better shape between the belt line (Grand Loop) junction and Soda Butte than the 20-mile stretch on the east boundary, this being due to the frequent travel to the Buffalo Farm and the Soda Butte Soldier Station.

Not much work was done on this road segment until 1914, when 35 culverts and 5 bridges were constructed. The most notable bridge was a new 38-foot, one center pier bridge over Soda Butte Creek. Maj. Amos Fries, the Army engineer officer in charge of road construction and improvement at the time, called "These culverts and bridges . . . the best and heaviest pole construction I have seen in the park". [37] The following year, the road crews completed some of the previous year's work, built five more bridges, more culverts, and did more shaping and grading in the Round Prairie area near the Pebble Creek. [38]

In March of 1915, and five months prior to the admittance of motorized vehicles to the Park, Robert McKay of the Buffalo Mining Company from nearby Cooke City submitted an application for permission to operate trucks and trailers over the park road between the rail head at Gardiner and Cooke City. McKay's application requested the right to transport ore, machinery, and supplies using 15 trucks and 25 trailers, each truck hauling 2 trailers. After reviewing McKay's proposal of improving the existing road, bridges and culverts between Cooke City and Soda Butte, constructing any needed turnouts as specified by the Army engineers, and making improvements on the Tower Falls to Mammoth Hot Springs section, the Department of Interior granted McKay's request. However, the necessary improvements for the road to be fit for motorized vehicles took all of the 1915 season. [39]

During the summer of 1915, McKay's road crews began about 3-1/2 miles from the northeast boundary, setting mileposts up for the first 8 miles within the Park. Nine bridges and 23 pole culverts with an average span of 5 feet were built. The crew first camped about 4 miles from the boundary then moved the camp to a location about 8 miles from the boundary. This portion of the road project was paid with government funds. This section of the road was also widened and surfaced. From a point about 8 miles in from the boundary a new road was constructed for about 3,800 feet around the Ash Grade with funds provided by McKay. The realignment around Ash Grade involved blasting 1,900 cubic yards of rock and 1,200 cubic yards of earth, gravel, and boulders. A ten feet span log bridge and 6 culverts of 3 to 4-1/2 spans were also built. [40] Toward the end of the summer more realignment work was done between Jackson Grade and Soda Butte Creek, on the hill between Fish Creek and Pebble Creek flat and between Soda Butte Soldier Station and the Buffalo Farm. The realigned sections were for the most part narrow. A two-span bridge with approaches, over Pebble Creek, had log cribbing filled with gravel. The new approaches connected with the old road. Light gravel was applied to the road between the Lamar River crossing and Fish Creek [41]

McKay, who spent $11,857.63 for the 1915 road work, failed to renew his privilege during 1916. The Western Smelting and Power Company of Livingston, Montana sought similar permission through their president, Dr. G. L. Taner, however, after failing to meet the conditions specified by the Department of Interior, mainly the contribution of $5,000.00 toward the improvements of the Gardiner to Cooke City road, their approved license expired at the end of 1916. During 1916, the only traffic over the road was Nels E. Soderholm, the mail carrier and merchant from Cooke City. [42]

In 1917, the Western Smelting and Power Company again requested permission for commercial use of the road without any contribution toward the road's maintenance or improvement. McKay again visited Washington, but this time he sought permission to build a railroad through the park to connect the existing terminus with the Cooke City mines. Permission was denied, but his second proposal was accepted, the construction of a metal-surfaced automobile road up the Yellowstone River to Tower Junction, up the Lamar Valley to Soda Butte Creek and on to Cooke City. The terms of the 1917 agreement, called for construction to begin within 2-years and completed as soon as possible with the contract expiring after 20 years. The secretary of the interior had the authority to regulate all traffic and fix the rates for the transportation of freight and passengers, $15.00 per ton each way for the transportation of freight and a sum not to exceed $6.00 each way for each passenger. Shortly thereafter, the United States entered World War I and McKay was not able to arrange the financing for the project. He was, however, granted the right to operate his vehicles over the road during 1917. [43] During the summer of 1917, road crews hired by the Yellowstone Mining Corporation of Livingston, Montana under the supervision of engineer Will Hartman spent an entire month, including Sundays, repairing the roads, bridges and culverts from Mammoth Hot Springs to Cooke City.

Using a crew of 15 to 18 men with 2, 4-horse teams and 1 single team and 2 saddle horses, the crew began at Mammoth Hot Springs. Some of the equipment was borrowed from the Army engineers and some furnished by R. I. McKay of Cooke City. Most of the work involved repairing broken and washed out culverts, opening old drains and installing some new ones, removing earth slides and rock slides, and opening the road for traffic. The work on this road segment was described as:

Very little was done on that portion between the Yellowstone River bridge and the Lamar Canyon other than some dragging. In the Lamar Canyon about 2-1/2 days were put in removing slides and big rocks that had fallen down into the road. Some of these rocks were so large that they had to be broken with powder before they could be handled. There were also some very deep ruts washed on the hill in the canyon which were filled and the road leveled, new drainages made so as to better handle and surface water. Just east of the canyon several culverts were repaired and some had mud holes filled. . . . About 4 days were required to work that portion of the road from the Buffalo Corral to Soda Butte Station. Practically all of this time was used in hauling and placing large riprap on the Jackson Grade, which is a point opposite the junction of the Lamar River and Soda Butte Creek. The river at this point had washed out the old riprapping and cut into the road and as the road was quite narrow at that point and the river was at its highest water at the time, riprapping was necessary. About 200 tons of rock were used in repairing and making the road safe at this point. A couple of new culverts were also put in nearer to Soda Butte Station.

Between Soda Butte Station and Tate Creek (sometimes called Pebble Creek) the Fish Creek grade had to be widened due to slides. High water on Pebble Creek threatened to take out the bridge there and nearly all of the west end of the bridge had been washed out so that it was impassible. This bridge had been built on open timber crib work which had been filled with the gravel from that creek bottom. The fine gravel had been washed out and there was nothing to hold the cribbing which were fast and undermining and washing away. We hauled about 50 tons of boulders and rock for riprapping and worked this in with brush and timber and finally turned the current and repaired the bridge to such an extent that it was passable and useable. About 3-1/2 days were put in on this bridge with the entire crew.

From Pebble Creek to the east boundary of the park, the road was dragged, ruts and mud holes repaired, drained filled, drain ditches opened or constructed where needed most, and culverts and bridges repaired or built where necessary to make the road easily passable to traffic. [44]

In November, 1917, the Army district engineer, Maj. John Schultz wrote to Chester Lindsley, superintendent of the park, that his recent inspection of the Cooke City road revealed damage to some the smaller bridges particularly those on either side of the Buffalo Farm. He found the corduroy pole decking broken in some places which could have caused injury to the horses using the bridge. It was his opinion that the 7-ton freight trucks used by the Buffalo-Montana Mining Company and owned by R. I. McKay, were responsible for the damage. McKay did not want to take full responsibility for the damage and did not want to repair them at that time. [45]

Then in June of 1918, high freshets carried away the Pebble Creek Bridge, the Soda Butte Bridge, and the Lamar River Bridge. Almost immediately private citizens associated with Cooke City began making arrangements for the reconstruction of the Lamar River Bridge. [46] The high water in 1918 caused damage all over the Park.

During 1917 and 1918, the Department of Interior and the newly created National Park Service were beseeched by the local mining companies with several propositions and schemes for passage of commercial traffic through the park. Mather favored a scheme in which different companies would combine under one transportation company to build the road to Cooke City, particularly since McKay could not undertake the project alone. Mather called upon the mining men to set "all differences of opinion, jealousies, and prejudices be laid aside, and that all work together in the interest of Cooke City." Mather expressed the National Park Service's desire to work with the Cooke City interests while "zealously guarding Yellowstone National Park." [47]

During 1920 and 1921, the relations between the mining promoters and Horace Albright, superintendent of the park, and Stephen Mather, director of the National Park Service, took a different turn. In the request for a denial of the transfer of Robert McKay's franchise to construct a hard surface road from Gardiner to Cooke City to W. D. Marlow of Livingston, Montana, Albright outlined the slightly questionable motives of the mining operators:

1. McKay failed to meet the terms of the contract regarding the survey, planning, specifications, drawings, and construction of the road by the specified date. McKay only completed a survey from Gardiner to Tower Falls. The survey was discontinued due to nonpayment of the crew for expenses and wages.

2. McKay failed to post the required $25,000 bond.

3. Without an approved transfer of the franchise, Marlow claimed to have been meeting some of the financial obligations, however, Albright stated that some claimed that no one met the payroll.

4. The mining companies seemed to use the Department of the Interior's approval of the franchise in their promotion for the sale of the mining stocks. Albright felt that the Cooke City mining prospects were marginal and the use of the government for inflating their value was unethical. He felt on that alone, the franchise should be revoked.

5. The continual agitation for a railroad through the park was taken one step further under the guise of the first road survey from Gardiner to Tower Falls. The promoters who now offered the possibility of a rail connection to Gardiner, actually ordered the road survey to give a 2 percent grade and not to exceed 4 percent at any point. Albright perceived their motives and insisted that a heavier grade would have to be used, not only to offset the unusually high construction costs of such low grades, but to prevent the grade being ever used for a railroad.

6. The survey had been completed for the Cooke City to Red Lodge road. Albright felt that the National Park Service and the Department of Interior should encourage its construction. Not only would its completion relieve the commercial traffic through the Park, but it would also offer a new route for visitors from the Billings, Montana area. [48]

Evidently nothing transpired with McKay or Marlow after the 1920 transactions. In June 1921, Albright wrote to Mather that he thought:

Some honest development work done in Cooke this summer . . . [might] involve some freighting, I think that we ought to let this be done without quibbling over details covering the maintenance of the road. A little honest development work would not involve more than fifty or sixty tons of freight. However, I think we can depend on some more of the crooked promoters getting to work before long, and in my opinion these people should be shown no consideration whatever. [49]

In 1929, former superintendent of the Park and now director of the National Park Service, Horace Albright explained to Wyoming Sen. Francis Warren, who had inquired about the road on behalf of mining interests, that with so little funding for the park roads, this road segment would probably not receive any attention until 1932 or 1933. He noted that the East Entrance Road from Cody would be finished first. [50]

Even though the Bureau of Public Roads began their extensive road program in the Park in 1926, the locational survey for the Northeast Entrance Road was not completed until the fall of 1933, which corresponded to the near completion of the Red Lodge to Cooke City Road, the fifth approach road to the Park. The first segment of this road to be reconstructed was the 13.052 miles between the boundary and the Soda Butte Ranger Station. Under the supervision of A. O. Stinson, both sides of Soda Butte Creek were studied and evaluated, with the east side of the creek being chosen due to Baronett Peak being more precipitous and located considerably closer to the proposed road than Abiathar Peak on the east. It was judged that Baronett Peak's exposure to the sun would result in "more rapid and destructive" spring runoff. [51]

Morrison-Knudsen Company received the grading contract for 10.529 miles of 24 feet shoulder to shoulder road for a contract amount of $185,675. Strong and Grant of Springville, Utah received the contract for the bridges on this segment, two over Soda Butte and one over Pebble Creek, for a contract amount of $68,837.00. In October of 1934, a slide of conglomerate rock occurred in Ice Box Canyon. After cleaning up the small rocks on the hillside and in the creek, the crew left two large stones on the roadside which appear to be a natural ledge as the tops of the rocks were approximately level with the road grade. [52] During the 1934 season, the National Park Service landscape architects felt that the newly constructed drainage ditches were both too deep and out of proportion to what was necessary. The park officials also opposed the construction of proposed dikes near Pebble Creek. [53]

In October, 1935, the 10.529 miles grading project was completed. Granite had been selected as the choice for the masonry headwalls that were placed on the C.G.M.P. culverts on this completed section. [54] Earlier that summer, survey work had been progressing on the western portion of the Northeast Entrance Road. It was during this portion of the project that the Wildlife Division requested that one alternative, placing the new alignment on a line north of Junction Butte and passing very close to Trumpeter Lake on the south side, be discarded. Roger Toll, the superintendent, notified the Bureau of Public Roads that "it is highly desirable to give as much protection to the family of trumpeter swans that have nested on this lake for several years. It is, therefore, desired not to construct the road near this lake." [55]

In 1936, grading and the construction of minor drainage structures on 7.679 miles of road west of the Soda Butte Ranger Station had been awarded to Peter Kiewett and Sons, Contractor. One of the problems on this segment was the selection of gravel borrows as the open country through which the road passed had high visibility from the road and any side hill excavations would promote extensive erosion. Thus, four borrows within the high water level of the Lamar River and Soda Butte Creek were selected. The intrusive telephone line, which had run along the lower side of the old road, was moved to a less objectionable location on the upper side of the road. [56] The grading of the 0.913 miles in Lamar Canyon began in 1937 and by October 1938, Max Keeney had started the surfacing of all three sections of the Northeast Entrance Road. [57] With the completion of the approach road from Red Lodge and the completion of the new entrance station in 1935, the traffic on this road segment increased. In fact, between 1936 and 1937, the Northeast Entrance Road had the biggest percentage increase over any other road segment in the park, 55 percent. The 1936 volume of vehicular traffic was 4,710 and increased to 7,320 the following year. [58]

During 1939, foundation investigations were completed for the proposed Lamar River Bridge and the landscape architects were kept busy with several problems. In addition to having "considerable difficulty with the stone wall in the Lamar Canyon", three major and three minor structures on this road had been stained a brown or buff color resulting in a color that "was a very peculiar yellowish brown, entirely out of harmony with the immediate surroundings". According to the Public Roads Administration engineer, "a very pronounced improvement was made from the landscape viewpoint, but from an engineering point of view the durability of the surface was undoubtedly impaired by the removal of from 1/16 to 1/4-inch of the concrete from nearly the entire surface of the structure. [59] Also during the year, the grading project for the segment from the Lamar Canyon to Yellowstone was advertised for contract.

In 1940, the 335-foot bridge over the Lamar River was completed and the survey began for the crossing of the Yellowstone River on the Northeast Entrance Road. In trying to compromise on a satisfactory citing, the preferred alternatives was discarded due to the foundation investigations revealing the existence of excessive amounts of hydrogen sulphide gas. Two other locations were considered, one of which was recommended as solid rock underlies the site, forming a seemly foundation for the suggested continuous steel deck truss bridge. [60] However, the bridge construction was delayed and a new Yellowstone River Bridge was not constructed until 1963. [61]

Near the end of 1941 and just prior to the United States entry into World War II, the Northeast Entrance Road was virtually complete with the exception of the 5.5 miles of road between the newly completed Lamar River Bridge and the proposed Yellowstone River Bridge. The grading had been completed for this segment in 1940, but the bituminous surfacing had not been finished. The entrance road was 24 feet shoulder to shoulder on fills and 24 feet from gutter to gutter in cuts. The surfaced width was 20 feet. The construction of several roadside parking areas, the installation of hub-high log guardrails, log barriers and stone barriers were also scheduled as part of the project. [62] As with many other road projects in the park, work came to a halt or was at least cut back very heavily. It would be the 1960s before any more major work was done on this road section and the road could be called complete.

By 1945, the rotting log railings on the bridges on the Northeast Entrance Road prompted a discussion of possibly replacing the railings with National Park Service standard type steel railing currently being used on almost all of the newly built concrete bridges in the Park. Thomas Vint felt that "since the bridges are not designed for the new type steel railings and the log railing can easily and economically be replaced, he recommended rather than to change type at this time." [63]

By the 1960s, the traffic volume on this road was 485 vehicles per day with a projected figure of 1,300 by 1980. The Yellowstone River Bridge had been completed and the entire road had been brought to an acceptable standard. A new road had been constructed near the new Yellowstone River Bridge and the intersection at Tower Junction had been widened considerably.

Some concrete culverts and headwalls had been replaced with metal end sections. Improvements to the road in 1962 totaled $19,299.53 and 2,515 linear feet of guardrail had been installed for a total amount of $18,988.61. In 1966, $220,167.70 of work was done on the roads and bridges by Long Construction. In 1984, 3,220 linear feet of log guard rail was installed by Cannon Builders of Blackfoot, Idaho. [64]

In the 1986 Parkwide Engineering Study for this entrance road, the road was divided into three segments for evaluation. The first segment, 10.54 miles between the Tower Junction intersection and the Lamar Ranger Station, was described as having a roadway width, shoulder to shoulder, between 22 and 34 feet. The bituminous plant mix surfaced width was 22 feet. The condition of the roadway was listed as poor to fair. The shoulders ranged from 0 to 6 feet and the condition listed as poor. [65]

The roadside conditions were considered good. Two major structures are on this segment, the Yellowstone River Bridge (1963) and the Lamar River Bridge (1940). The second segment, 8.38 miles between the Lamar Ranger Station and the Pebble Creek Campground intersection, was described as having a roadway width shoulder to shoulder, between 22 and 26 feet. The bituminous plant mix surfaced width is 22 feet and the road condition was described as poor to fair. The shoulder width ranged from 0 to 2 feet with the condition listed as poor. There are no major structures on this segment.

The third segment, 9.69 miles between the Pebble Creek Campground intersection to the park boundary, was described as having a roadway width shoulder to shoulder, between 21 to 28 feet. The bituminous plant mix surfaced width was 20 to 24 feet. The shoulder width ranged from 0 to 2 feet and the condition was listed as poor. Six major structures are on this segment, the Pebble Creek Bridge, the Soda Creek Bridge #1, Soda Creek Bridge #2, and bridges at Stations 268+57, 243+51, and 198+85.

In 1986, the traffic volume on this entrance road was 1400 vehicles per day with a projection of an average daily traffic of 1800 vehicles by 2005.