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

1. Robert R. O'Brien, "The Yellowstone National Park Road System: Past, Present, and Future," (Ph.D. Diss., University of Washington, 1964).

2. O'Brien, "The Yellowstone National Road System: Past, Present, and Future." The quotation is from Frank Carpenter's Adventures in Geyser Land, reprinted Frank Carpenter, The Wonders of Geyser Land, ed. H.D. Guie and L. F. McWhorter (Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers, 1935).

3. Philetus Norris, Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park for the Year 1880 (Washington D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1881), 4, 9.

4. Norris, Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park for the Year 1880, 5, 9-10. The new west entrance route left the Madison River at Riverside, proceeded over the Madison Plateau, joining the Firehole River near Nez Perce Creek. The Old Fountain Trail follows the route quite closely.

5. P. H. Conger, Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior by P. H. Conger, Superintendent, for the Year 1882 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1882), 4.

6. O'Brien, "The Yellowstone National Park Road System: Past, Present, and Future," 116.

7. George S. Anderson, Report of the Officer in Charge of the Construction and Maintenance of Roads in the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of War, 1896 (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1896), 5.

8. Hiram Chittenden, Annual Report Upon the Construction, Repairs, and Maintenance of Roads and Bridges in the Yellowstone National Park in the Charge of Hiram A. Chittenden, Captain, Corps of Engineers, Appendixes GGG and KKK of the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1905 (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1905), 2820. Ernest Peek, Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1909 (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1908), 2548.

9. James Parker, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Interior to Lt. Col. L. Brett, Acting Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park, 16 May 1914. Yellowstone National Park Archives, Yellowstone National Park.

10. "First Endorsement from t/.he Major, Army Corps of Engineers, October 19, 1914." The park was opened to automobile traffic in August, 1915.

11. Annual Report of the Superintendent of National Parks to the Secretary of the Interior For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1916 (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1916), 33.

12. Report of the Director of the National Park Service to the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1924, and the Travel Season, 1924 (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1924), 34. Several routes led to the West Entrance of the Park.

There are several roads leading to the west entrance, most important of which is the so-called Warm River Yellowstone road, referred to in Director McDonald's letter of Sept. 7, 1923 to you. This is the road that Mather and Engineer Burney wanted to travel in late July but were prevented by so doing by graveling operations. I had this road inspected Oct. 16th and 17th by the Engineer of the Park and Assistant Superintendent and I quote the following from the Engineer's report:

Inspection of this road was made during a snow storm, and again on the following day when the snow was melting. From West Yellowstone to the foot of the grade leading over Targhee Pass, we found the road partly graded but not graveled. Water was standing everywhere from the melting snow and mudholes were numerous. The next five miles over the pass is newly graded and partly graveled and in good condition. The next five miles across the flat south of Henrys Lake is a good grade and well drained but not graveled and was so slick we had difficulty in staying on the grade. From the lower end of Henrys Lake flat to the top of the grade south of Warm River, a distance of about 35 miles, is an excellent road, with good grades, well drained and graveled. The remaining six miles to Ashton we found very slick. A little gravel on this section would make it an excellent road. Closely associated with this road is the road to the Bechler River, or southwest corner of the park, which I will refer to later in this report. Another road leads to West Yellowstone from the Ruby Valley through the old mining communities of Alder Gulch and Virginia City. This road is usually known as the Vigilante Trail. It is generally in good condition but considerable improvement can be made in the highway by widening it and surfacing it in places where the material of the road becomes slippery in wet weather. Another road leads up the Madison River to West Yellowstone from Three Forks, Montana. This road is usually in very good condition and I have heard no adverse comments on it during the past summer although like most of the other mountain roads in this state it can be improved by widening and surfacing.

Horace Albright, Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park to Stephen Mather, 22 October 1923. Yellowstone National Park Archives, Yellowstone National Park.

13. Guy Edwards, Assistant Superintendent, Yellowstone National Park, to Horace Albright, Director of the National Park Service, 10 November 1932. Yellowstone National Park Archives, Yellowstone National Park.

14. A. Stinson, "Location Survey Report (1934) on The Madison Junction - West Yellowstone Entrance Highway, The West Entrance Road, Route No. 3, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, May 11, 1936."

15. Stinson.

16. Stinson.

17. Stinson.

18. "Maintenance Plans and Estimates, Yellowstone National Park, January 1 to December 31,1946."

19. Warren Hamilton, Acting Superintendent, Yellowstone National Park, to Regional Director, Region Two, National Park Service, 18 February 1955. Yellowstone National Park Archives, Yellowstone National Park.

20. "Final Construction Report (1966) on Yellowstone National Park Project 1-C(1) and 3(1) Bituminous Surfacing Grand Loop and West Entrance, Yellowstone National Park, State of Wyoming." Luis Gastellum, Acting Superintendent, Yellowstone National Park, to Steve Lucas, Project Engineer, Bureau of Public Roads, 19 October 1960. Yellowstone National Park Archives, Yellowstone National Park.

21. Ibid.

22. Ibid.

23. "Parkwide Road Engineering Study of the Yellowstone National Park Road System, Draft Report, October 1986," U. S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Vancouver, Washington, 1986. Volume 1.