By: Peggy L Henderson
The west wouldn’t be the
west without its rangers. Many stories have been written about the most famous
of the western rangers, namely the Texas Rangers. Sorry, I’m not going to talk
about them today. I am going to talk about a different ranger. The National
Park Ranger, and how the National Park Service came to be.
Last month I introduced
you to Yellowstone National Park, and the events that led up to its creation in
1872. This month, I’m going to talk about the aftermath of that historic event.
After Yellowstone became our first national park, Congress set aside exactly
zero dollars to fund the park. The first superintendent, Nathaniel P. Langford,
was not paid a salary.
Phileus Norris |
Visitors came to
Yellowstone almost immediately after its creation, and along with them came the
vandals and poachers. Yellowstone’s natural resources, which were the sole
reason the park was created in the first place, were being destroyed as
poachers killed animals, souvenir hunters broke off pieces of geological
formations, and developers established numerous tourist camps.
Langford resigned in 1877,
disgusted with Congress and their refusal to help support the park. Along came
Phileus Norris, who volunteered for the superintendent position. He was finally
able to get Congress to financially help support the park, and he set aside
$1000 of the $15,000 he received in 1880 to pay for a “game keeper”, someone
who would protect the wildlife of Yellowstone from undue slaughter. Hunting was
not regulated within the park’s boundaries until 1877, and not prohibited until
1883. Harry Yount, a civil war
veteran, hunter, trapper, guide, and packer, was appointed to the position of
game keeper in 1880.
Harry Yount |
“Rocky Mountain Harry
Yount” has been described as “a typical leatherstocking frontiersman. He was
rough, tough, and intelligent.” Independent, resourceful, able to subsist on
his own, and having familiarity and knowledge of the natural processes
surrounding him, Harry Yount has become an archetypal model for the National
Park Ranger.
He pointed out in a report
that it was impossible for one man to patrol the entire park, and urged the
formation of a ranger force. He is credited with being the first national park
ranger.
As a result of his report,
and his resignation a mere 14 months into the job, the park turned to the US
Army for help. In 1886, men from Company M, First US Cavalry, Fort Custer,
Montana Territory, came to Yellowstone to begin a - what would be thirty year -
military presence in the park. The troops lived in temporary frame buildings near
Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces. After enduring five cold and harsh winters, they
realized they would not be leaving anytime soon. In 1890, Congress appointed
$50,000 for a permanent post, and Fort Yellowstone was completed in 1891.
Soldiers stationed at the
fort were ordered to “conduct themselves in a courteous and polite, but firm
and decided manner” when carrying out their duties.
In 1912, President Taft in
a special message to Congress said: "I earnestly recommend the
establishment of a Bureau of National Parks. Such legislation is essential to
the proper management of those wonderful manifestations of nature, so startling
and so beautiful that everyone recognizes the obligations of the government to
preserve them for the edification and recreation of the people."
The National
Park Service Act was signed on August 30, 1916.
Soon after, soldiers were
discharged from the Army to form the first ranks of park rangers. The National
Park Service took over protection of Yellowstone National Park, "by
arrangement with the War Department, and with its hearty cooperation," on
October 1, 1916. The National Park Service assumed full administrative
responsibilities in 1918.
Mammoth Hot Springs, Ft Yellowstone way in background |
During the Army's tenure,
they developed regulations that put much emphasis on conservation, and under
their watchful eyes, the features and wildlife of Yellowstone National Park were
protected from vandalism and extinction. Many of the policies initiated by the
army at Fort Yellowstone were later adopted by the National Park Service.
Today, the old post is
known as the Fort Yellowstone-Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District, designated
as a National Historic Landmark on July 31, 2003. Within the district are
the administrative headquarters for Yellowstone National Park. It is located in
the northwestern portion of the park on an old hot springs formation.
Numerous buildings
continue to stand including the Captain's Quarters, Post Headquarters, Guard
House, Hospital Annex, Commissary and Quartermaster storehouses, and several
more.
Law enforcement – park
rangers hold police powers and enforce national laws and park regulations
Interpretation and
Education – park rangers provide a wide range of informational services to
visitors
Emergency Response – They
are trained in wilderness first aid and participate in search and rescue to
locate lost persons in the wilderness
Firefighting – park
rangers are often the first to spot forest fires and are trained in wild land
firefighting
Scientists and scholars –
they are responsible for protecting the natural resources or cultural sights
for which they work
In my book, Yellowstone
Dawn (Book 4 in the Yellowstone Romance Series), Josh Osborne was my fictional
first park ranger.
Here’s the blurb and a
short excerpt from the book:
Danica Jensen dreams
of a man she knows she can never have. After one brief encounter five years ago,
her heart is lost to him forever, and she won’t give up hope of seeing him
again. Raised by a bitter father, she’s learned to be strong and resourceful on
her own. When a pleasure trip to the newly created Yellowstone National Park
turns into a battle for survival, her inner strength is tested like never
before.
A woman like Danica
doesn’t interest Josh Osborne. He’d be crazy to get involved with a bossy,
strong-willed white woman. His mixed heritage has always made people weary of
him. He prefers to be on his own, and his role as protector of the nanional
park’s game allows for no attachments.
Danica’s dream of
ever winning Josh’s heart shatters after a cruel twist of fate changes her life
forever. Suddenly forced together, they must confront their deepest secrets. Josh
can’t deny his growing respect and admiration for this brave woman, but will
the bond they’ve forged be powerful enough to turn his feelings into love? When
an unforeseen danger threatens their lives, Josh must protect more than the
wild inhabitants of the park.
Josh cursed his own stupidity and carelessness. The
poachers he’d been following since discovering their recent site of slaughtered
bison must have known he was on their trail. He hadn’t been prepared for the
ambush, and only some quick maneuvering and a fast horse had saved his hide
earlier today. Men who profited from
taking game inside the boundaries of Yellowstone were becoming more brazen. The
animals and natural features inside the park were supposedly under the
protection of the United States government, but there was no one in this vast
wilderness to enforce this law. In an effort to deter the illegal harvesting of
game, newly appointed superintendent of the park, and Josh’s cousin, Kyle
Russell, had proposed hiring a game keeper to oversee the management of
wildlife.
“The position doesn’t pay much right now, and it sure
as hell is a lot for one man to take on, but you’d be perfect, cousin,” Kyle
had said when he approached Josh with the offer. “It’ll also allow you to stay
on the land.”
With the creation of a national park, Josh and Kyle’s
homestead that their grandfather had established more than seventy years ago in
the Madison Valley would become yet another casualty in the government’s vision
of “a
public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.”
Josh scoffed. Benefit and enjoyment of which people? Obviously the government
excluded those very people who had lived on these lands for thousands of years,
and who considered the area sacred. The Shoshone people who used to call these
mountains home, along with all other native tribes who migrated through the
area, were being systematically purged and pushed onto reservations far away
from their homelands.
Josh knew that Kyle could not have foreseen this when
he strongly campaigned to get the government to protect this area from
settlement and private exploitation. Part of his plan had been to preserve not
only the natural beauty and wonders of the area, but also the Shoshone’s
ancient homelands. The land would be preserved, but its very first inhabitants
were not part of the government’s plan.
Protecting the natural hot water features, and the
abundant wildlife in this area proved to be a daunting task. Kyle had his hands
full establishing and enforcing rules for visitors. The government set aside
very little funds for law enforcement in the park. Josh had readily agreed to
oversee the protection of game. Poachers became more numerous every year. The
vast numbers of elk and bison were easy targets, as were the bears and wolves.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of animals were needlessly slaughtered for their
hides and antlers, leaving the meat to rot. Without the means for proper
enforcement, there was nothing to stop the poachers. Kyle’s hands had been
tied. Until he received approval for a gamekeeper, all he’d been able to do was
confiscate the hides, and tell the poachers to leave the area.
13 comments:
Park rangers definitely deserve more respect than they tend to get in popular media. It was interesting reading about how they got their start.
Very interesting post, Peggy. That Harry Yount sure looks like a great character to me. Best of luck with all the books in your Yellowstone series!
Loved the post and the excerpt certainly looks good. I'm sure the Yellowstone series will be a hit.
Very good post, Peggy. Can't get enough of anything Yellowstone! I have loved all 4 of the Yellowstone books so far, anxiously awaiting book 5 (as much as you're awaiting June 15th) :D
Fascinating, Peggy!
But so annoying to see how short-sighted the government was, for so long!
Yes, they sure do deserve more respect than they get. Due to the border problems we have here in Arizona our parks that lie right next to Mexico have become increasingly dangerous. Rangers are armed and have to wear bullet proof vests.
Great post, Peggy. Thanks for sharing your knowledge of Yellowstone and the Rangers. It's very enlightening. I second Lisabet's annoyance, but I suppose we need to remember attitudes were different back then. Or were they? Seems like too many folks still don't revere our natural treasures as much as they should.
Wow, blogger is acting crazy today. Had to click on comments three times before it came up. Oh well. Excellent post, well researched and informative. Gotta love the boys who tried to keep things tame. And Mesadallas, I appreciate all those guys do to make our borders safer. Looking forward to reading the 4th book, Peggy.
Fun info, Peggy! When I get time to read, I have your book on my kindle.
Peggy, thank you for sharing your research. I've always wanted to see Yellowstone, but haven't. Maybe someday. Did you see the movie "Yellowstone Kelly" starring Clint Walker? Loved the scenery in that, and also loved him. LOL
Caroline, you've gotta go to Yellowstone, sooner rather than later!!!
Peggy, I'm totally enamored with the whole persona of Harry Yount. I first stumbled across him when I did research for a class project (so a really, really long time ago!), but I sorta forgot about him. Thanks for bringing him to fore, and thanks for the informative article. I admire how you work all this into your excerpt. :)
One of the authors at the top of my non-western and non-romance reading is Nevada Barr. Her mysteries feature national park ranger, Anna Pigeon, and except for a couple of citified stories, I love them all. So, thanks, Peggy, for the extra history. I had no idea how bad it was for Yellowstone in the beginning.
I'm really late to respond to the posts, so my apologies. I had a bad work week last week, and I'm trying to get my 5th book written.
I hope my enthusiasm for Yellowstone comes through in my books, as well as the posts here on Cowboy Kisses. It's been a lot of fun with the research, and inserting real historical facts and mixing them with my own versions of "what really" happened into my stories.
Caroline - no I haven't seen Yellowstone Kelly, but have heard the name. As far as seeing Yellowstone, my critique partner, who is not an outdoors type of person, now wants to go there.
Jacquie - Harry Yount was much more colorful than what I could put into this post. I should have done an exclusive just on him.
Ellen - yes, Yellowstone had its rough beginning. No one knew what to do with it once it became a park. The concept was so new. It had a lot of growing pains. Probably still does. Management views keep changing all the time - about the animals, fighting wildfires, etc. I've got tons of fodder for future posts.
Thanks you guys, for all your comments.
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