Guide to the Louis A. Hendrickx Papers

This finding aid describes the Louis A. Hendrickx Papers, part of the NPS History Collection. To search this guide for names, places, key words, or phrases enter Ctrl F on your keyboard (command key + F key on a Mac). Request an in-person research appointment or get more information by contacting the archivist.

Collection Overview

Collection Number: HFCA 3486
Accession Numbers: HFCA-01789
Creator: Hendrickx, Louis A. (1931-2019)
Title: Louis A. Hendrickx Papers
Dates: ca. 1962-2011 (bulk dates: 1963-1986)
Volume of Collection: 0.6 LF
Language of Materials: English

Digitized copies: This collection has not been digitized.

Conditions Governing Access: This collection is open to research use.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use: Copyright status of photographs has not been established. See https://rightsstatements.org/page/UND/1.0/?language=en. See also the NPS general copyright & restrictions information.
Provenance: Donated to the NPS History Collection by the Louis A. Hendrickx Living Trust in 2019.
Processing Note: This collection was processed using More Product Less Process (MPLP) methods by Nancy Russell in June 2025.

Rights Statements for Archival Description: This guide is in the public domain.
Preferred Citation: Louis A. Hendrickx Papers, NPS History Collection (HFCA 3486)
Location of Repository: NPS History Collection, Harpers Ferry Center, PO Box 50, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425

Related Materials:

• Uniforms and accessories that belonged to Louis A. Hendrickx, NPS History Collection (HFCA-01789)
• Paul Fodor interview in the NPS Oral History Collection discusses Charles Manson at Death Valley, NPS History Collection (HFCA 1816)
• Blister rust maps for Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, and Glacier national parks, NPS History Collection (HFCA-01676)
• Assembled Historic Records of the National Park Service, NPS History Collection (HFCA 1645)

Biographical Note

Louis Adrian Hendrickx was born on December 29, 1931, in Butler Township, Minnesota. He was the ninth of eleven children born to Louis Hendrickx and Juliana Dousi. He enlisted in the US Air Force on April 3, 1951, and was discharged in December 1953. He then worked for the Bureau of Sports Fisheries and Wildlife.

In June 1955 Hendrickx got a seasonal position at Yellowstone National Park serving on a crew to eradicate white pine blister rust, a disease caused by a nonnative fungus that threatens high elevation white pines and their ecosystems. In September he enrolled at the University of Montana Forestry School. He became crew leader on the rust crew in Yellowstone during summer 1956. He returned briefly in June 1957 before he was hired as the camp superintendent for a new white pine blister rust crew at Grand Teton National Park. He was also camp superintendent in the summer of 1958. In summer 1959, he returned to Yellowstone as camp superintendent for the blister rust crew, supervising 38 men. That fall he also returned to finish his degree at the University of Montana, graduating with a BS in Forestry in June 1960. After graduation, he headed to Glacier National Park to run its white pine blister rust crew through September 1960. From mid-September 1960 until April 1962, he worked seasonally for the US Forest Service in various camps. He then got a full-time position as a forester for three US Fish and Wildlife Service refuges in Washington.

In June 1962 Hendrickx got a lateral transfer as a full-time ranger with the NPS at Glacier. He worked as the area ranger at the Belly River Ranger Station for the 1962 and 1963 seasons. In September 1962 he was assigned to the ranger station at East Glacier. From January to April 1963 Hendrickx attended the first class of the new ranger training school, held at Grand Canyon National Park. Following the training, he returned to Glacier. From April to June 1964 Hendrickx went to Grand Teton to help with the Rocky Mountain pine beetle infestation, returning to Glacier in June. He then worked at the Walton Ranger Station. He returned to Grand Teton for the beetle infestation work the following April.

In January 1967 Hendrickx accepted a ranger position at Death Valley National Monument (now a national park). Because of his involvement in the arrest of murderous cult leader Charles Manson in the park, Hendrickx was called to testify at the trial in 1969. He also did short details at Yosemite and Sequoia-Kings Canyon national parks. In April 1970 he transferred to Natural Bridges National Monument as the area manager. In December 1980 he transferred back to Glacier as the west district ranger. He retired from that park on January 3, 1987.

Louis A. Hendrickx died on November 29, 2019, in Raymore, Missouri.

Scope and Content Note

Documents detailing the life and career of Louis A. Hendrickx, including his “Life and Times of Louis A. Hendrickx: A History of a Park Ranger” which is a combination of typed memoir (1931-1965) and Hendrickx’s hand-written daily work diary (1965-1986). A separate spiral notebook serves as a log for part of 1970. Parks represented in his daily work diary are Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Death Valley, Yosemite, Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Natural Bridges, and Glacier. Diary entries provide insights into aspects of a ranger’s work and social life; resource management activities; forest fires; search and rescue operations; experiencing a 7.8 earthquake at Yellowstone; and the Ford Motor Company testing its new Edsel car at Grand Teton. A document of note is a copy of the subpoena Hendrickx received to testify at the Charles Manson trial in 1969. A copy of Desert Shadows: The Bizarre and Frightening True Story of Charles Manson (1986) by former Death Valley superintendent Bob Murphy and newspaper clippings related to the case are included. A separate file of his notes on the pupfish is also present. Scrapbook pages and ink-jet printed color images and photographs, and other. Black-and-white and color photographs include images of Hendrickx in various ranger roles and during training. Group photos from training classes or park ranger photos have identified individuals.

Arrangement

Unarranged.

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