Big Hole National Battlefield Administrative History

Chapter Four:
Administration and Physical Development

From 1939 until 1963, the responsibility for keeping the national monument clear and in good condition fell to the seasonal ranger, generally assigned to duty in early June and relieved of duty in mid-September. The ranger reported monthly to the Yellowstone chief ranger's office, detailing weather conditions and fire danger; maintenance efforts; assistance from "cooperating agencies"; naturalist services (interpretive efforts); travel patterns; and miscellaneous special projects, including museum acquisitions. While the chief ranger's office officially solicited applicants "qualified to advance the historical research and interpretive program for the monument," it also recognized the ranger's more immediate responsibility to complete routine maintenance tasks "in an excellent manner." [27] In a representative letter, Yellowstone Acting Superintendent Fred T. Johnson informed new hire Warren L. Anderson of the conditions of his employment. Anderson would find an old "but comfortable" house, equipped with a shower but without electricity or phone service. The nearest phone was at the Wisdom Ranger Station and could be used during Anderson's weekly trips to town for supplies, or as needed for administrative tasks. Anderson would be responsible for all public contact work with the monument visitors and also for the care of the museum collection, and the general maintenance of the area. (Much of his time, Anderson would soon learn, was spent painting signs, digging latrine pits, and pulling weeds from the trails.) All questions were to be directed to the Yellowstone chief ranger's office. Anderson could also expect "occasional inspection trips" during the summer months. Despite the routine nature of many of the tasks and the ultimate authority of the chief ranger's office, the Park Service considered the assignment "an important one since the ranger is largely on his own and an experienced man is selected who has had field experience and is thoroughly dependable." [28]

With the exceptions of Samuel M. Beal, Fred W. Warders, Jr., and Michael Sedar who each served for two seasons (1944-1945; 1949-1950; 1947 and 1954, respectively), the seasonal ranger position provided a rapidly revolving door to promotion and other assignments within the National Park Service. The lack of continuity was most obvious each spring, when the new rangers devoted time to "a study of all historical events pertaining to the Battlefield." Suggested reading lists were drawn from Yellowstone history files, a compilation of "references to the Nez Perce Indians, Chief Joseph, and the Big Hole National Monument," collected in the years following the 1933 transfer to the Park Service. [29]

Beaverhead National Forest personnel assisted the rangers by providing access to Wisdom District historical and administrative files. Additional "favors" from the Forest Service included use of the telephone line at Wisdom, storage space during the winter months for the national monument's limited artifact collection, and seasonal access-road maintenance and improvements. The Park Service also frequently benefited from loan of a truck, office supplies, and short-term laborers as needed. It responded with both frequent and effusive thanks for the Forest Service's "manifestations of interest and good will" and also with a long-term commitment to data collection at the USFS weather station constructed on the monument grounds. [30] In hopes of a monument of which they "could be proud" and in continuation of a policy first articulated at the time of transfer to the Park Service, Beaverhead National Forest Officials "help[ed] things along in every way" that did not conflict with administration of adjacent Forest Service lands. [31]