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

To one visiting our national parks and monuments, there are two features which stand out prominently—scenery and highways, or it would be better expressed to say that the one stands out prominently by its abundance and magnificence and that the other is called to the attention by its lack of everything that it should be, even to its very existence.

"National Park Roads Vitally Needed"
—Western Highway Builder, 1922

The transfer of the responsibility of the road engineering work in Yellowstone coincided with the early development of national programs directed by the two-year-old National Park Service, under the leadership of its director, Stephen Mather. Mather created a Landscape Engineering Office under the supervision of Charles P. Punchard, Jr., and a General Engineering Division under George Goodwin. The responsibility of the General Engineering Division was to develop plans for new roads and trails, gathering information relating to road and/or trail projects, presenting the information to the director of the National Park Service, the secretary of the interior, and finally to the Congress.

During Punchard's first year, he visited 13 national parks and national monuments, including Yellowstone. Mather praised Punchard by saying that he had the "ability and willingness to take a very practical view of the problems to be solved, and to attack them always with full appreciation of the limitations of the park appropriations and the relation of these problems to other features of improvement of the park system." [223] Punchard's national overview of needs and requests was very important at the time appropriations were distributed. Prior to the creation of the National Park Service, each park area operated independently under the overall guidance of the Department of the Interior.

In June of 1919, Mather appointed his assistant, Horace M. Albright, superintendent of Yellowstone. Chester Lindsley, who had directed the administrative functions of Yellowstone during the transition, stayed on as assistant superintendent. Upon Major Verrill's departure in 1918, Goodwin took charge of the road projects. Albright reported for duty on July 10, 1919, and for the next ten years, he would have a significant influence on the development of the Park.

According to Mather, the first important engineering project undertaken by the newly formed engineering division was the construction of a new road through the Gardner River Canyon. He felt that several of the bridges designed by the new division for the park system were very important, including the underpass bridge for Sylvan Pass, which replaced the notorious "corkscrew" bridge and the Marble Fork Bridge in Sequoia National Park.

Mather expected great advancements for Yellowstone in several areas. He foresaw unlimited opportunities for the park that had experienced the highest number of visitors to date, 62,261. Combined with the "See America First" campaign, the Park-to-Park Highway movement, and the end of the war, Yellowstone expected a continuing rise in visitation, especially the motoring tourist. Mather worried about the public's opinion that "it (park) has lost much charm, that it seems less wild. . . . they experience a longing for the stillness of the forests and peculiar fascination of the park in the stagecoach days." [224] He knew that:

the automobile should revolutionize the park tour, just as it changed travel conditions everywhere and turned into memories cherished methods of seeing and doing things. However, the old atmosphere of the Yellowstone is still to be enjoyed, not perhaps on the roads, certainly only a few hundred yards distant, where the trails take their winding course through the forests." [225]

During Mather's tour of Yellowstone in September 1919, he found the road system in an "excellent state of repair," but with the predicted tremendous increase in motoring tourists, he recommended the widening of many road sections, reconstruction of bridges and culverts, and the construction of stone guard walls. He also recommended the completion of the Firehole cutoff and the restoration of the old road along Yellowstone Lake, from West Thumb to near the Lake Hotel. He suggested that the Gallatin Road be widened and that the section of the road, south of the park boundary from Grayling Creek to Yellowstone, Montana, be rerouted within the park boundaries. Mather felt the approach roads to the Park, including a portion of the road from Livingston, Montana, either be taken over by the Federal Government or at least the state should be given funding assistance. [226]

When Albright took over at Yellowstone, there were 278.8 miles of primary roads and 24.75 miles of secondary roads. The Park maintained 28 miles of the Shoshone National Forest Road and 30 miles of the Teton National Forest road. [227] Most of the 1919 road work consisted of routine maintenance and improvements. However, much time was lost during August when the road crews were pulled off to perform fire fighting activities. Additional time was spent moving camps, corrals, and equipment around. [228]

Consideration of landscape architecture was having a more pronounced effect in the Park after the National Park Service assumed the responsibility for road improvements and construction. In 1919, Punchard ordered vista cuts on the Upper Geyser Basin to West Thumb Road in order for Duck Lake to become visible for the passing tourists, and on the Mammoth Hot Springs to Tower Falls Road so that the Wraith Falls might be seen by tourists. [229]

In Albright's first report to the director of the National Park Service, he made 18 recommendations for improvement, or as he called them, "urgent needs" of the Park. Over half of the "urgent needs" were road related.

Congress failed to appropriate any funds for road construction for 1920 in any of the national parks, thus the engineering division used the year to prepare plans and specifications for many park projects. In Yellowstone, estimates were prepared and specifications for paving the roads were drawn. The General Engineering Office drew standard designs for rustic log bridges of 12 to 90-foot span lengths, for timber and corrugated metal culverts, both with and without head walls, and for concrete arch culverts. The office also wrote standard specifications for the purchase of all types of construction equipment and machinery. [230]

Between the autumns of 1919 and 1920, some 80,000 people visited the Park. With 50,000 visitors arriving in 13,502 automobiles, it was not surprising that by season's end, the roads were worn out in many sections. In Mather's report to the secretary of interior, he stated that the 1919 requests should be completed at an early date. He suggested that additional guard walls or stone parapets be constructed for visitor safety. [231]

With the discussion of a possible extension of the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park, Mather wanted to make it known to the secretary of the interior that if additional lands were added, he would not recommend the construction of any more roads. He felt that the Yellowstone was adequately serviced by the present 400-mile road system. His main concern was that the extension of roads would ruin the wilderness qualities and harm the wildlife habitat. He wrote:

. . . it is my firm conviction that a part of the Yellowstone country should be maintained as a wilderness for the ever-increasing numbers of people who prefer to walk and ride over trails in a region abounding in wild life [sic]; also, I think a road around Lake Yellowstone or in the Upper Yellowstone and Thorofare country would mean the extinction of the moose. I am so sure that this view is correct that I would be glad to see an actual inhibition on new road building placed in the proposed extension bill, this proviso to declare that without the prior authority of Congress no new road project in this region should be undertaken. [232]

Albright revived Hiram Chittenden's successful method of using road section crews, which involved the placement of crews every few miles on the main roads. These crews were responsible for keeping a section in first class order. [233] The lack of funding, which prevented the hiring of men to clear the snow, prompted the master mechanic in the Park to devise a snowplow fashioned from 1/4-inch boiler steel sheets used in front of a 75-horsepower Holt caterpillar. With this new piece of equipment, the park was able to clear an 11-foot-wide path from headquarters via Grand Canyon to Yellowstone Lake before June 1. [234]

Most of Albright's recommendations for 1920 were the same as those for 1919, with the addition of a request that any park revenues be used for maintenance and improvements in Yellowstone. [235]

All of the national parks in the system needed expert advice on landscape architecture questions. Since the Landscape Engineering Division program area covered road and trail locations, vista cutting, placement of developed areas, suggested design of important structures or buildings, and general cleanup, Punchard's needs were eased by the hiring of Daniel Hull as assistant landscape engineer, in August of 1920. During 1920, an effort was initiated to harmonize and standardize all of the park signs. Yellowstone's master painter painted all of the metallic signs green and white, using red for warnings. All of the signs were affixed to posts instead of trees. These changes conformed to the new landscape division policy on signs. [236]

During 1921, many of the requests for road improvements were fulfilled and both Mather and Albright received high marks for the condition of the roads from the visiting public. One man who had visited Yellowstone for the past 38 years said that he had never seen the roads in such good order. Both Mather and Albright laid the credit to Chittenden's section crew approach. [237]

Major construction projects during 1921 were the widening projects over Dunraven Pass and at the Grand Canyon, construction of stone parapets between the Upper Falls and the Canyon Bridge. A new steel and concrete bridge was placed over the Gibbon River, near Norris. The Lamar River Bridge was reconstructed and a new foot bridge over the Firehole near Castle Geyser was built.

The sprinkling program now covered 107 miles of the road system. One hundred and forty-four supply tanks ranging from 600 to 3,000 gallons capacity supplied 2 motor-driven sprinklers, 2 two-horse sprinklers, and 15 four-horse sprinklers. Fourteen of the tanks were replaced with nonshrinkable redwood 1,600-gallon-capacity, tanks and one 3,000 gallon capacity nonshrinkable tank. Many of the wornout pipes were replaced; new flumes and ditches were built; and many of the supply tanks were relocated to improve the landscape. [238]

During 1921, wooden messhalls were built for the road camps at Tower Junction, Madison Junction, Excelsior Geyser and at Gibbon Meadows. Most of the building material came from the razed Yellowstone Western Stage Company buildings at West Yellowstone. Each of the 16-by-22-foot buildings contained a kitchen, dining room, and cook's bedroom. The roof extended six feet beyond the front wall to form a porch, which was enclosed by screening. The doors and windows also were screened. [239]

Other construction activities that kept the master painter busy during 1921 were building 600 signs (mostly small type for comfort stations, camping areas etc). In addition to the National Park Service built signs, some came from the Michigan firm, Hardesty Manufacturing, which had been awarded a contract for supplying all the national parks with signs. [240]

There was much activity for the improvement of park roads and on the Park-to-Park Highway movement on the national level. With the 1920 designation of the Park-to-Park Highway, Mather hoped that the pertinent states would seek Federal aid for improvements of those sections in each state. He pushed for legislation that would recognize the position the park roads and feeder roads had in the overall national road development policy. He asked for $500,000 a year for five years to enable the parks to meet the standards expected by the motoring public. He advised the secretary of the interior that there was "not a single paved road in the national park system at this time." [241] Another movement aimed toward enjoyment of the highways in the western states was the effort by Governor Olcott of Oregon to preserve strips of timber along the roads leading to parks or along major tourist routes. [242]

The general divisions of Landscape Engineering and the Civil Engineering worked closely on the designs for buildings, bridges, roads, and all physical improvements. Mather felt that the cooperation between the two groups offered "the greatest possible good from a scenic and economic standpoint in the expenditure of public moneys for our projects." During the summer of 1921, Maj. W. A. Welch, general manager of the Palisades Interstate Park along the Hudson River in New Jersey and New York, visited several western parks, including Yellowstone. This would not be the last time that one of the leading parkway builders from the East would give suggestions for improvements to Yellowstone.

In November of 1920, Charles Punchard died and his assistant, Daniel Hull, assumed his position as head of the Landscape Engineering Division. This change had positive effects on Yellowstone's appearance. Hull suggested to the superintendents that any new borrow pits, sprinkling stations, and telephone and electric service lines should be placed in the least noticeable positions. In the past, most of these services had been placed in the "easiest" location, without regard to the effect on their landscape. [243]

The secretary of the interior and Mather inspected a major portion of Yellowstone during the autumn of 1921. After this visit, Mather was more convinced and finally concurred with Superintendent Albright's view that, with the exception of a new road from the Upper Geyser Basin to the southwest corner of the Park, no new roads should be built.

After his visit, Mather once again expressed hope that the Federal Government would aid the states with sufficient funds through new road bills to enable them to improve the approach roads. The state of Montana felt that the National Park Service should at least be responsible for the first 20 miles leading out of the Park on the north and west sides, as the park was responsible, under congressional obligation, to maintain the south and east roads into Wyoming. [244] Also during 1921, the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company suffered its first automobile related fatality. Considering the numbers of people the company had moved by motor vehicle over the past four years, it was an exceptional record. [245]

In 1922, Yellowstone celebrated its 50th anniversary with 100,000 people visiting the Park. More than half of these visitors were motorists rather than rail passengers. Fewer than 20 accidents, with one fatality, occurred on the park roads for the season. Improvements during the year included graveling many parts of the loop system and construction of more guard rails on sections that skirted precipices and on dangerous curves. After three years of construction, the Dunraven Pass Road was completed and the Bunsen Peak Road was improved to a standard that enabled automobiles to travel over it. Several new bridges, both inside the Park and on the approach roads, were constructed including a 32-foot span, steel I-beam bridge with reinforced concrete walls and railings over Mormon Creek, a 20-foot span concrete I-beam bridge over Goff Creek, a 12-foot reinforced concrete slab bridge over Newton Creek and a 12-foot reinforced concrete slab bridge over Pagoda Creek. [246]

The condition of roads across the National Park System began to receive more attention nationwide as the state and Federal roads programs outside the parks surpassed the road conditions within. This situation caused the park visitor to comment on the noticeable difference. The Federal Government had appropriated several million dollars for road work in the national forests, but none of the Federal Aid Road Acts ever included money for the National Park System. Each park received a small initial appropriation. By 1922, only two national parks had complete road systems, Yellowstone and Crater Lake and these still needed improvements to bring them to first-class standards.

Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall wrote to the director of the budget:

It is my judgment that only by the adoption of an authorized road program can the anomalous situation of having well-built convenient roads leading to the national park boundaries, and then having inadequate or insufficient roads through the parks themselves, be cured, and just criticism of the national administration of the parks be avoided. [247]

Secretary Fall proposed a $7,296,000, three-year road budget for all the parks and monuments in the system. Unfortunately, the budget was rejected and Fall only received money for ongoing projects authorized by Congress. He feared that the popularity of the parks, as evidenced by the increase in visitation from 488,268, in 1917 to 1,217,490 in 1922, would suffer if the roads were not constructed or in better condition. [248]

In early 1923, a speech about the national parks roads was delivered before the United States Congress by Colorado Senator Lawrence Phipps, in which he recognized that World War I had changed the face of travel in the United States. Prior to the war, a large percentage of the American travel dollar was spent in viewing the European wonders and sites, but as a result of effective boosterism, such as the "See America First" campaign and organized motor clubs, combined with the tragic situation in many parts of war-torn Europe, more Americans began to travel within the country. He stated that nearly two-thirds of the visitors who came to the parks in motor vehicles brought their own camping equipment. He called upon his colleagues to question, "Then what about the roads—that prime necessity of motorists?" He explained that as of the beginning of 1923, about five miles of oiled macadam roads were in Yellowstone and a short section of paved road in the Grand Canyon, and that section financed by the railroad! Senator Phipps elaborated further on the road situation across the National Park system. Only Yellowstone and Crater Lake had completed road systems. No government money had been spent on the roads in Hawaii, Wind Cave, General Grant, Lafayette, Mount McKinley, and others. Of the 138 miles within Yosemite, the Federal Government had only built 8 miles, despite the collection over the years of $310,000 in entrance fees of $5.00. [249]

Senator Phipps understood the post-World War I United States Treasury's position of trying to save money in every sector. However, he felt the money paid by park visitors should be used to maintain or improve the roads. In his appeal for passage of the 3-year $7,500,000 appropriation Phipps urged:

Senators, this matter of adequate roads for the parks is not a selfish, a local, or solely a western issue. The parks are widely scattered and the number of visitors affects travel in every State of the Union. But that, possibly, is incidental. The proposition is this: The Congress, representing the will of the Nation, has created these parks for the use, enjoyment, and benefit of all its people. This was extremely wise, as no investment could yield better returns in improving the health and quality of our citizenship, in promoting that unity of national feeling, that love of country, called patriotism. Having already taken this step, will the Congress now deny, to a large extent, the means whereby the parks may be used and enjoyed? We have given deserved recognition to the importance of other road work in all parts of the country. We have provided liberal Federal contributions for post roads, for farm-to-market roads, and for connecting links in a comprehensive program, national in its scope. We have also constructed needed highways in our national forests. That these appropriations were prudent and that work should continue, experience has already demonstrated. Now, Mr. President, there is one thing lacking. One well-nigh forgotten class of Government reservations should be connected up with the other highway chains already authorized. We must remember our national parks. [250]

During the summer of 1923, President Warren G. Harding and a party of 80, including the future president Herbert Hoover and future secretary of the interior Hubert Work, visited Yellowstone and a number of other western parks. President Harding was moved by the visitors to the Park and several times told Superintendent Albright that "Yellowstone revealed a cross section of the people of America." He was the third American president to visit the Park and the first to travel by automobile on the road system. During the visit, Director Mather discussed the park roads bill, to which President Harding replied, "Don't worry, I'm the boss." However, Harding's unfortunate death prior to his visit to Yosemite caused concern for the bill supporters. They felt they would have to begin again convincing the new president, Calvin Coolidge of its importance. Fortunately, Coolidge supported the bill, and in the spring of 1924, it was passed. [251]

Meanwhile during 1923, Mather was faced with the problems of insufficient monies for improvement or construction in the parks. Since the creation of Yellowstone, $3,042,300 had been appropriated for the roads in the system, with Yellowstone receiving $1,482,000 during the Army's presence in Yellowstone. Despite Mather's acknowledgement that Yellowstone's roads were better than any other park's, the excessive numbers of visitors caused rapid deterioration of the system and the fact that most of the money had been spent building wagon roads and not roads suitable for motor vehicles. Consequently, many of the roads were too narrow with too steep grades and the road base and surfaces were not adequate for motor vehicle travel.

Mather did not believe that:

all our roads should be constructed on the most up-to-date road construction standards, but rather that each park road should be studied carefully with a view to its construction on grades and of material that will best suffice for its particular need; but all park roads should be full double width where possible to accommodate conveniently two-way travel. . . . We must guard against the intrusion of roads into sections that should forever be kept for quiet contemplation and accessible only by horseback or hiking. [252]

Mather was opposed to building the proposed new road across Bighorn Pass, along the Gallatin River, down Panther Creek joining the road from Mammoth Hot Springs to Norris. He felt strongly that, "We must keep a large area of Yellowstone in a state of untouched wildness if we are to be faithful to our trust as protectors of the wild life [sic] with which the park abounds." [253] However, the director did support the government rebuilding the northern approach road through Yankee Jim Canyon, which had been requested by Montana officials for some time.

During the 1923 season, which received a 40 percent increase over the previous season's visitation, general improvements of widening, surfacing, and sprinkling were carried out. [254] Construction of log and stone guardrails and walls were completed. Two small sections of new roads were built in order for visitors to be able to bypass the permanent camps at Lake and to connect the Mammoth permanent camp with the Buffalo Corral road. A 16-by-26-foot log mess house and a 16-by-30-foot log stable were built at the Lewis River road camp. [255]

By the end of 1923, the possibility that the proposed $7.5 million appropriation would pass was favorable, and this brought new planning demands upon the National Park Service. Acting Director Arno Cammerer felt the Engineering Office should be moved from Portland, Oregon, to Denver, Colorado, where a more centrally located office would make communications with the field and Washington more convenient. He felt the road construction responsibility for Yellowstone, Yosemite, Mount Rainier, and Crater Lake should be given to the superintendents of the parks, whom he believed were either "tested road builder himself or had such talent available." [256]