Big Hole National Battlefield Administrative History

Chapter Four:
Visitation

Throughout the 1940s and early 1950s, seasonal rangers estimated annual visitation at between 2,500 and 4,000, or "ten cars on Sunday and an average of three on week days." Rangers described the majority of visitors as local residents, living within a radius of 50 miles and generally interested "in the history of the West and the struggle between the Indians and the white settlers for supremacy." Their visits lasted approximately one hour, during which time they visited with the ranger, quickly toured the small museum, and walked the trails through the Siege Area. Substantial numbers were also fishermen and hunters, drawn to the Beaverhead National Forest and to the North Fork of the Big Hole River and its tributaries Ruby and Trail creeks. "As there was no admission fee charged and no regularly operated checking station for the area" these estimates of visitor numbers and demographics were based upon voluntary visitor registration and approximate counts. And they did not include early and late season visitation, when the NPS maintained no presence at the battlefield. In June 1955, for example, seasonal ranger Charles E. Martin reported that "appearances indicated that there were many visitors even before the Monument opened [on June 14]." Visitation increased through the early 1950s, a trend that the seasonal rangers attributed to increased "organized tour" patronage by school and fraternal groups and to improved all-season roads to the monument that not only facilitated access by an increased number of out-of-state tourists, but also extended the visitor season through the spring and fall months. [32]

Through the 1950s, local organizations also assumed responsibility for monument publicity, publishing hours of operation, travel conditions, and synthesizing details of the battle in local newspapers. They also appear to have assumed at least partial responsibility for directional signs to the isolated site. In 1952, W. M. Stone, Secretary of the Beaverhead Chamber of Commerce, informed Seasonal Ranger Anderson of placement of a road marker on the Bitterroot-Big Hole road, 27 miles from the battlefield. The sign "was ordered and paid for by the chamber," which hoped to place additional markers in time for the 1953 season. [33] Yellowstone Chief Naturalist David Condon encouraged this assistance, arguing that the signing of the approach roads was properly the responsibility of regional civic organizations who realized the most economic benefit from increased visitor use. [34]

Those who successfully located the monument complained "consistently" of the lack of camping and picnicking facilities and the limits to the interpretive signage and museum collection. These visitors were also cited in monthly reports as having voiced interest "in the full details of the action that took place" and having "express[ed] regret" that the Nez Perce Encampment Area was not included within the monument boundaries so that a complete picture of the battle could be reconstructed. These paraphrased criticisms suspiciously mimicked the chief ranger's office's position on the value of boundary expansion. It is not clear, however, whether the monthly reports were written in deliberate attempt to support and substantiate existing management goals or whether public understanding of the battle and concern over its proper presentation drove official NPS interpretation and land-acquisition efforts. [35]