Cover Page

Preface

Introduction

In Search of an Identity

Photofile

Bibliography

Notes

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

National Park Service Uniforms In Search of an Identity 1872-1920	Number 2
In Search of an Identity (continued)

Forest Service rangers, 1907. These Forest Service rangers are demonstrating their new uniforms. These were the first uniformed civilian personnel in and around National Parks. NPSHPC - HFC/92-28-47

The first regulation civilian uniform to make an appearance in and around the parks was worn by the Forest Service, not the Park Service. As chief of the Bureau of Forestry, Gifford Pinchot had been thinking of uniforming the rangers since 1903, when he was impressed by the efforts of the U.S. Geological Survey to have field men wear standardized clothing. When he became head of the new Forest Service in 1905, one of his first projects was to appoint a committee to select a uniform for the rangers. The Forest Service began soliciting bids in September 1905 and had selected a design and supplier by the fall of 1906. The new uniforms were delivered in 1907. [9]

According to Forest Service historian Frank Harmon:

The first uniform jacket was a compromise between the current Army officer's service coat and the business sack coat. It was brown with a green cast, and the material was wool worsted. It had a low turn-down collar, no lapels, four outside pockets with cover flaps, and five bronze buttons to close. Each pocket also had a small button. The buttons were convex with "FOREST SERVICE" and a pine tree in a raised design. The coat collar could be left open, or closed tightly with a clasp, military style. Worn with the uniform, from the very beginning, was a large bronze badge. The first hat was the same as the Army campaign hat—light colored felt with a wide, flat, stiff brim, but usually worn with a high "Montana peak" instead of the Army's single crease. There was a choice of trousers or riding breeches, both of wool worsted. The shirt was gray flannel like the Army's pullover olive drab. [10]

Although the Forest Service rangers were beginning to be uniformed at this time, the park rangers were still wearing civilian clothing, with only their badges to show that they were park officials. Platt National Park was an exception. The rangers there began wearing olive drab uniforms, similar to those worn by the military, soon after the separation. These were furnished by the M.D. Lilly Company of Columbus, Ohio. [11]

Rangers of Sequoia National Park near old Britten store, c. 1902. This photograph shows the typical pre-uniform dress of rangers in the national parks. The one unusual thing about their attire is the two badges. It is not known if other parks utilized this system since the only extant images are from Sequoia. Left to Right: Lew Davis 1901-1909; 1924-1929; Ernest Britten 1900-1905; transferred to Forest Service; Charles W. Blossom 1901-1916; Harry Britten 1902-1903; 1906-1915 NPSHPC - SEQU/8886

The National Park Service photo collection contains two photographs of four rangers in Sequoia probably taken in the summer of 1902. The images show Ernest Britten, Lewis Davis, Charlie Blossom, and Harry Britten, Ernest's nephew, holding their horses. Harry Britten was hired as a ranger in 1902. While on patrol in March 1903 he accidentally discharged his pistol into his right thigh, requiring the amputation of his leg above the knee. A year and $1,000 worth of medical expenses later Harry was fitted with an artificial leg; upon learning to walk with it, he was hired in a clerical capacity in the Sequoia Forest Reserve. Capt. Kirby Walker, acting superintendent of Sequoia National Park, thought that because Harry had been on duty when the accident occurred and had not received any compensation from the government for his expenses, it was only fair that he should be rehired to fill a new slot in the park's ranger force. The secretary of the interior concurred and in July 1906, Harry was back on the Sequoia ranger force, artificial leg and all. (His uncle had elected to go with the Forest Service in the 1905 split.) [12]

In the photograph, the rangers are wearing two badges, a round one above one shaped like a shield. The round badge is almost certainly the Department of the Interior forest reserve ranger badge because it conforms to the size and shape of the badge worn by forest reserve rangers in other photographs. The lower one appears to be some sort of patrol badge. It is not known if other parks were utilizing the same combination of badges because the only available photographs of rangers during this period were taken at Sequoia.

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