PLEASURE GROUND FOR THE FUTURE: THE EVOLVING CULTURAL LANDSCAPE OF YELLOWSTONE LAKE, YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK 1870-1966 by Yolonda Lucille Youngs A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Earth Sciences MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY Bozeman, Montana May 2004 ©COPYRIGHT by Yolonda Lucille Youngs 2004 All Rights Reserved ii APPROVAL Of a thesis submitted by Yolonda Lucille Youngs This thesis has been read by each member of the thesis committee and has been found to be satisfactory regarding content, English usage, format, citation, bibliographic style, and consistency, and is ready for submission to the College of Graduate Studies. Dr. William Wyckoff Approved for the Department of Earth Sciences Dr. David Lageson Approved for the College of Graduate Studies Dr. Bruce R. McLeod iii STATEMENT OF PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master’s degree at Montana State University-Bozema n, I agree that the Library shall make it available to borrowers unde r the rules of the Library. If I have indicated my intention to co pyright this thesis by including a copyright notice page, copying is allowed only for scholarly purposes, consistent with “fair use” as prescribed by the U.S. Copyright Law. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this thesis in whole or in part s may be granted only by the copyright holder. Yolonda Lucille Youngs May 17, 2004 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The road of scholarly endeavor and professional achievement has no room for the mediocre, the lazy, the indifferent, the complacent, or the pretentious. Progress along the way as ks everything you have to give, but it is not without its inns of refreshment and chapels of ease (Andrew H. Clark, 1962). I wish to thank the members of my committee Dr. William Wyckoff (chair), Dr. Katherine Hansen, and Dr. Joseph Ashley. I would like to thank Dr. Wyckoff for his tireless readings of my thesis drafts, inspiration to explore the discipline of geography, and his enthusiasm as a mentor. I thank Dr. Hansen for her energy and professional guidance throughout my master’s degree. I thank Dr. Ashley for his thoughtful consideration of my research questions and good cheer. I ap preciate the financial support from the Department of Earth Sciences and the Jim Eddie Scholarship fund. I would also like to thank Christopher Schaberg, Valerie Stou t, Ji Khalsa, Renee Wulff, Heidi Altman, and the Hendrick family for their unwaveri ng support and encouragement as I re-entered university life and began a new career as a geog rapher. Finally, I woul d like to thank my father, whose love and intellectual enthusiasm inspired me to aim for the highest of my potential. He introduced me to the delig ht of travel and geography during our many family vacations driving across the American West. This work is dedicated to his memory. v TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. A NATIONAL PARK LANDSCAPE............................................................................1 Introduction.............................................................................................................. .......1 Objectives ................................................................................................................ .......1 Environmental and Historical Setting .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Sources and Methods ....................................................................................................15 Conceptual Framework .................................................................................................21 2. EARLY CARTOGRAPHY AND THE NATIONAL PARK IDEA............................34 Introduction.............................................................................................................. .....34 Mapping Yellowstone Lake ..........................................................................................35 Finding a Lake in the Woods: Ye llowstone Lake and the Creation of Yellowstone National Park ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ ....90 3. PERIOD ONE: 1870-1891 ...........................................................................................92 Introduction.............................................................................................................. .....92 The Emergence of Yellowstone Lake’s Cultural Landscape.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93 Transportation ............................................................................................................ .101 Trails .................................................................................................................... .......104 Roads..................................................................................................................... ......105 Bridges ............................................................................................................. .....108 Boating Routes...................................................................................................... 110 Pre-Park Structures and Settlem ent Patterns in the Early Park Years .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112 Government Structures ...............................................................................................119 Concessionaire Structures .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ ..125 4. PERIOD TWO: 1892- 1932.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129 Coming Ashore: Yellowstone Lake’s Evolving Shoreline .........................................129 Transportation ............................................................................................................ .138 Traveling and Touring in the Park, 1892-1932....................................................140 Trails ............................................................................................................. .......148 Roads.............................................................................................................. ......153 Bridges ............................................................................................................ .....170 Boating Routes..................................................................................................... 171 Government Structures .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187 Soldier Stations, Ranger Stations, and Location Markers .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .188 Fish Hatchery Complex .......................................................................................193 Museum and Bear Feeding Grounds.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199 Automobile Campground.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS – CONTINUED Concessionaire Structures .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .204 Overnight Accommodations ................................................................................207 Dining Facilities.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221 Support and Service Structures ............................................................................222 Stores............................................................................................................. .......231 Employee Housing.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ ..238 5. PERIOD THREE: 1933-1966.....................................................................................243 Planning a Wilderness Experience..............................................................................243 Transportation ............................................................................................................ .253 Trails ............................................................................................................. .......256 Roads.............................................................................................................. ......258 Bridges ............................................................................................................ .....261 Boating Routes..................................................................................................... 261 Government Structures .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .268 National Park Service Structures .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .270 United States Fish and Wildlife Structures .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .277 Civilian Conservation Corps Camp .....................................................................278 Concessionaire Structures .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .279 Overnight Accommodations ................................................................................283 Dining Facilities.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .293 Support and Service Structures ............................................................................294 Stores............................................................................................................. .......298 Employee Housing.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 Conclusion .................................................................................................................301 6. CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................310 The Changing Visitor Experience..............................................................................310 Value of the Yellowstone Lake Study .......................................................................319 Broader Implications.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323 Value of a Historical Geographic Study .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 31 Beyond 1966 ..............................................................................................................338 7. REFERENCES ...........................................................................................................342 APPENDIX ......................................................................................................................3 57 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Government Ag encies and Concessionaires Operating at Yellowstone Lake, 1895-1919 ..............................................................144 2. Boat Passenger and Park Visitor Statistics by Year.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179 3. Key to Feat ures on Lake Developed Area Map, 1966.....................................303 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Yellowstone National Park ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 2. Yellowstone Lake’s Environmental Setting .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 3. Maps of Yellowstone Lake Printed c. 1810 and 1814 .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 4. Map of Yellowstone Lake, 1839........................................................................46 5. Map of Yellowstone Lake, 1860 and Route of the Raynold’s Expedition.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 6. Map of Yellowstone Lake, 1865 and deLacy’s 1863 Route..............................49 7. Map of Yellowstone Lake, 1870 and Route of the Folsom Expedition......... . . . . 5 3 8. Maps of Yellowstone Lake, c. 1870 and Route of the Yellowstone Expedition ........................................................................................... .....57 9. Map of Yellowstone Lake, 1872 and Route of the 1871 Hayden Expedition .......................................................................................... .....64 10. Map of Yellowstone Lake, 1872 and Route of the Barlow-Heap Expedition .......................................................................................... .....65 11. A Precarious Task for Science .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 12. William H. Jackson Photographs ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 13. Thomas Moran Wood- Block Prints and Painting of Yellowstone Lake............................................................................................... .........70 14. Images of Yellowstone Lake Created by Jackson and Moran .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 15. Map of Yellowstone Lake, 1878.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74 16. Map of Yellowstone Lake, 1896.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 17. United States Geological Survey Map, 1972 ...................................................76 18. Topographical Maps of Yellowstone Lake, 1910 and 1930 ............................77 19. Norris’s 1881 Map of Yellowstone Lake.........................................................79 ix LIST OF FIGURES – CONTINUED Figure Page 20. Map of Yellowstone Lake, 1887.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80 21. Yellowstone Lake as a Geographic Reference Point Yellowstone National Park ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90 22. Yellowstone Lake, 1891 .................................................................................94 23. Trail Networks around Yellowstone Lake .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101 24. Early Trans portation in Yellowstone National Park ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103 25. The Natural Bridge .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109 26. Steamboat Tours Come to Yellowstone Lake ........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 27. The Path of the Nez Perce in 1877.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116 28. Early Park Structures .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117 29. Lake Soldier Station.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121 30. An Early Hotel at Yellowstone Lake .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124 31. Lake Developed Area, 1891 ..........................................................................126 32. West Thumb Developed Area, 1891.............................................................127 33. Yellowstone Lake, 1932 ...............................................................................139 34. Automobiles Enter Yellowstone National Park, 1915 ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140 35. Sagebrush Tourists ........................................................................................141 36. Stagecoach Tour Concessionaire ...................................................................142 37. Park Tour Brochure, 1915.............................................................................143 38. Automobile Tours at Yellowstone Lake .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145 39. Automobile Tour ing Routes in Yellowstone National Park ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147 40. Early Lakeshore Trails and Road.................................................................150 x LIST OF FIGURES - CONTINUED Figure Page 41. Trail System at Yellowstone Lake .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .152 42. Early Roads in Yellowstone National Park ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154 43. Early Roads and Bridges at Yellowstone Lake.............................................157 44. Adjustments to the Lakeshore Road and a Ferry Route ...............................159 45. Lakeshore Road .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160 46. Road Maintenance at Yellowstone Lake ......................................................168 47. The Fishi ng Bridge over the Yellowstone River ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .172 48. Boat Tours on Yellowstone Lake .................................................................177 49. Motor Boat Tours on Yellowstone Lake .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186 50. Lake Ranger Station with Community Room.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .191 51. Lake Developed Area Fish Hatchery .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .196 52. Fishing Bridge Museum................................................................................200 53. Early Lake Automobile Camp ......................................................................203 54. Early West Thumb Dining and Lodging Facilities ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .210 55. Lake Hotel Expansion and Renovations .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .212 56. Interior View of Permanent Camp .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214 57. Early West Thumb Boat Dock ........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223 58. Early Bo at Landing Site near Lake Hotel .....................................................224 59. Boat Storage Building at the Lake Developed Area .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .230 60. Ice on Yello wstone Lake near Lake Developed Area Boat Docks ...............................................................................23 2 61. Yellowst one Lake Boat Company Store........................................................233 xi LIST OF FIGURES – CONTINUED Figure Page 62. Lake Developed Area, 1932 ..........................................................................240 63. West Thumb Developed Area, 1932..............................................................241 64. Fishi ng Bridge Developed Area, 1932...........................................................242 65. Yellowstone Lake and Backcountry Cabins, 1966 ........................................254 66. Fishing Bridge.................................................................................................2 62 67. Boating on Yellowstone Lake........................................................................263 68. Stevenson Island ............................................................................................264 69. Molly Islands .................................................................................................2 65 70. West Thumb Developed Area Boat Dock .....................................................266 71. Bridge Bay Marina.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .267 72. Lake Developed Area Boat Docks.................................................................268 73. Fishing Bridge Boat Dock .............................................................................269 74. Fishing Bridge Amphitheater.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .271 75. Fishing Bridge Museum, 1955 .......................................................................272 76. Br idge Bay Developed Area .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .273 77. Boat Dock at the Southeast Arm of Yellowstone Lake, 1934 .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . .274 78. Fishing Bridge Automobile Campground, 1963......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .276 79. Overnight Accommodations – Lodges .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .286 80. Lake Hotel, 1955 ............................................................................................289 81. Lake Lodge, 1955 ..........................................................................................289 82. West Thumb Cabins, 1966.............................................................................292 83. Fishing Bridge Cabins, 1966.........................................................................293 xii LIST OF FIGURES – CONTINUED Figure Page 84. Fishing Bridge Developed Area Trailer Campground, 1966.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .294 85. Hamilton Stores at Yellowstone Lake .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .298 86. Fishing Bridge Gas Station ............................................................................300 87. Lake Developed Area, 1966 ..........................................................................302 88. West Thumb Developed Area, 1966..............................................................304 89. Fishi ng Bridge Developed Area, 1966...........................................................305 90. Bri dge Bay Developed Area, 1966 .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306 91. Grant Village, 1966........................................................................................307 92. Comparison Maps for Yellowstone Lake in 1891, 1932, and 1966.............................................................................................. .......311 93. Comparison Maps for the West Thumb Developed Area in 1891, 1932, and 1966.................................................................................... 313 94. Comparison Maps for the Lake Developed Area in 1891, 1932, and 1966.............................................................................................. .......314 95. Comparison Maps fo r Fishing Bridge Developed Area in 1932 and 1966.......................................................................................... ....316 xiii ABSTRACT Yellowstone Lake is located in the protected federal lands of Yellowstone National Park. This park is si tuated in the Rocky Mountains and its boundaries reach into the tri-state areas of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. While many researchers have investigated the history and geography of Ye llowstone National Park, Yellowstone Lake has been largely ignored as a topic of research. In order to recons truct the evolution of Yellowstone Lake as a cultural landscape, this study focuses on Yellowstone Lake temporally and spatially as an important and central area of Yellowstone National Park. This study suggests that Yellowstone La ke’s large and diverse physical geography produces diverse natural environments, cu ltural landscapes, and national park experiences. The results of this study show that through a combination of concessionaire investment, government management, and vi sitor demand, the cultural landscape of Yellowstone Lake has changed dramatically over time. This change is depicted through a verbal and cartographic descri ption of Yellowstone Lake’s cultural landscape evolution from 1870 to 1966. The verbal description is accompanied by a series of maps reflecting significant changes in the lake’s cultural landscape. This research also provides a useful te mplate and methodology for other historical geographers researching national park cultu ral landscapes. The archival research component to this project involved gather ing data from Yellowstone National Park superintendent reports, development files, concessionaire files, historic maps, guidebooks, correspondence, and historic phot ography. By developing a set of methods that used a combination of data sources (aerial photographs, hi storic maps, guidebook descriptions, historic photographs, and field-based observations), conflicting and sometimes inconsistent written archival re cords could be reconciled and an accurate description of the lake emerged. This study raises questions about the role Yellowstone Lake plays in the larger identity of Yellowstone National Park. The results of this study will be useful for future national park management and developmen t professionals. A better understanding of Yellowstone Lake’s historic cultural landscapes will aid these professionals in making decisions about cultural resource preservation, recreation, an d historic preservation. In addition, this study may help national park managers and concessionaires to develop better cultural landscape interpretation for Yellowstone National Park and Yellowstone Lake. 1 A NATIONAL PARK LANDSCAPE Introduction From summer dwelling by this wondrous lake thousands will visit the innumerable points of interest at conven ience, returning hither at intervals to rest and start afresh. To simply gi ve a list of places worth a visit hence, and of objects which in other lands would each be regarded as a wonder, would require a dozen pages (Doane, 1889). Many historians and historical geographers have explored the evolution of national park landscapes (Runte 1997; Dilsaver 1994). Other studies have focused on the establishment of Yellowstone National Park and many features within the park (Haines 1977; Byrand 1995; Meyer 1996; Magoc 1999) . The historical geography of Yellowstone Lake however has not been thor oughly examined. This thesis focuses on Yellowstone Lake temporally and spatially as an important and central area of Yellowstone National Park (Figur e 1). It reconstructs the e volution of Yellowstone Lake as a cultural landscape between 1870 and 1966. In addition, it expl ores the different ways in which Yellowstone Lake was experi enced, portrayed, and described during this same era. Ultimately, this research seeks to identify the role Yellowstone Lake plays in the larger identity of Yellowstone National Pa rk and it provides a se tting to analyze how changes in the national park idea and in Americ an tourism play out in particular places. Objectives Objectives of this thesis include 1) re constructing the cultural landscape features and infrastructure of Yellowstone Lake be tween 1870 and 1966 and 2) assessing the role 2 Figure 1. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming Yellowstone National Park covers over 2.2 million acres and is located at a high elevation on the Yellowstone Plateau mostly in northwes tern Wyoming. Yellowstone Lake is the largest lake in the park and is circled on the park map. [From the Collection of the author.] 3 that Yellowstone Lake played in the explor ation of Yellowstone National Park and its creation. In reconstructing the cultural la ndscape evolution and changing visitor experiences at the lake, the scal e of my work takes into account the vast spatial extent of Yellowstone Lake. My work focuses on Yello wstone Lake as an important and diverse region of Yellowstone National Park. My focus is to treat the lake not as a fragmented landscape but instead as a cohesive whole. Following this regional approach to the lake, I keep a keen eye on the geographic diversity of Yellowstone Lake a nd use this variation to highlight the complicated and varied spaces of the lake. This perspective is important because the cultural landscape of Yellowstone Lake does not evolve evenly across the lake’s physical landscape. Instead, the northern and southern perimeters of the lake have received varying levels of attention over time in terms of mapping, interpretation, and development. This study suggests that Ye llowstone Lake’s large and diverse physical geography produces diverse natural environmen ts, cultural landscapes, and national park experiences. By exploring Yellowstone Lake’s cultural landscape through time and space we may get a better appreciation for ch anging national attitudes and values about national park areas in the United States. As Byrand (1995) argues, I also suggest this thesis has an applied as well as a scholarly significance. The utilitarian signi ficance of this research lies in its reconstruction of the spatial evolution of the cultural landsca pe at Yellowstone Lake. I compare the evolution of decisions made by park managers and concessionaires and how these decisions shaped the spatial organization of the lake environment. I then compare the landscape and experience that was advertised to tourists to the one that they actually encountered when they visited the lake. This thesis should be helpful to park planners 4 and managers because it charts the lake’s de velopment and it provides valuable historical background on which to base future planning and policy decisions. This cultural landscape reconstruction of Yellowstone Lake also has broader relevance to discussions of national park management, western tourism, and the making of Yellowstone National Park’s cultural landsca pe. By tracing the decisions of national park managers over time we may get a better idea of how those choices affected the cultural landscape at Yellow stone Lake. Also, recons tructing the evolution of Yellowstone Lake’s landscape may give us a better idea of the changing character of western tourism over time. In addition, as an important region of Yellowstone National Park, Yellowstone Lake’s cultural landscape ev olution contributed to the overall project of creating the nation’s fi rst national park. This thesis spotlights an area of the park that has not been studied in detail by historical and cultural geographers. Previous work on the park has generally overlooked the vast lake environment as an area to c oncentrate research. Although historians and geologists increasingly incorporate Yellowstone Lake into their research (see Anderson and Harmon, 2002), the cultural landscape and place images have not been the main focus of previous studies. I hope that this thesis will inspire and serve as a basis for future analysis of Yellowstone Lake as an ar ea with cultural signifi cance in national park literature and cultural studies. Environmental and Historical Setting Located in Yellowstone National Par k, Wyoming, Yellowstone Lake is in a continental and mountainous location in the United States. The lake is positioned atop 5 the Yellowstone Plateau in the Rocky Mountains . It is the largest lake in Yellowstone National Park and one of the world’s larges t natural freshwater lakes. The lake’s geological history leaves it cen tered over a large volcanic calde ra. Along the shoreline of the lake there is a considerable amount of thermal activity owing to the lake’s volcanic origins. There are many thermal basins in and around Yellowstone Lake. Some named features include the colorful West Thumb and Potts Hot Spring thermal basins along the southwest shore, the hissing fissures at Steam boat Point along the northeastern shore, and the now extinct Brimstone Basin along the south eastern shores of the lake. The lake floor is rising at a rate of about one inch per year, elevating the northern shoreline while sinking the southern shorelin e (Eversman and Carr 1992, 123). The lake bottom consists of “rubble and boulders, black obsidian sand, and fine silt and clay mixed with organic matter” (Eversman and Carr 1992, 123). Yellows tone Lake is 430 feet (692 kilometers) deep at its deepest point w ith an average depth of 140 feet (225 kilometers) (Morgan 2003, Whittlesey 1988). The lake is 20 m iles (32 kilometers) long, 14 miles (23 kilometers) wide, and expands across a tota l of 136 (219 kilometers) square miles. Yellowstone Lake is also a cold lake that freezes over entirely during the winter and has an average temperature of 41° F (Wh ittlesey 1988, 169). With 110 miles (177 kilometers) of shoreline Yellowstone Lake has more than 75 miles (121 kilometers) of that shoreline beyond the reach of any major road (Bach 1991). The climate of this large inland lake de rives from its high elevation, mid-latitude location and continental position. The averag e elevation of Yellowstone Lake is 7,733 feet (12,442 kilometers). Located at 44° 27´North and 110° 03´West, high winds, cold lake temperatures, heavy winter snowfall, and freeze over are all part of the lake’s 6 mountain climate (Figure 2). Large waves often develop during frequent summer wind storms and contribute to erosion along the lakeshore. The afternoon storms produce hazardous conditions on the lake as high wi nds, waves, and cold lake temperatures combine. Figure 2. Yellowstone Lake’s Environmental Setting A transect of Yellowstone Lake from the s horeline to the lake reveals a variety of physical environments. The vegetation and so il types vary across th is large subalpine lake from the northern shores to the sout hern and include geothermal areas along the shoreline (top right). A typical sequence of events during the da ily afternoon storms across the lake bring strong sout hwest winds and large waves (t op right) that contribute to lakeshore erosion (bottom). [Author photographs (2003).] 7 The fauna and flora of Yellowstone Lake are adapted to this extreme environment. Although many species live in th is area on a seasonal basis, some species have adapted to withstand the harsh conditions or to hibernate. The lake supports a variety of mammals and bird s including grizzly bears ( Ursus arctos horribilis), black bears ( Ursus americanus), moose ( Alces alces ), mule deer ( Odocoileus hemionus), white pelicans ( Pelecanus erythrorhynchos), bald eagles ( Haliaeetus leucocephalus), and ospreys ( Pandion haliaetus) . The lake hosts lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush) and contains the largest inland wild cutthroat trout ( Salmo clarki bouvieri ) population in the world. A transect of the lake’s vegetation fr om the lake bottom, up to the shoreline, and then into the inland areas varies according to the available water, light, oxygen, soil, and climate. Aquatic plants, grasses and sedges, shrubs, evergreen and d eciduous trees are all present at various areas around and in the lake. Common type s of vegetation at the lake include sagebrush ( Seriphidium tridentatum), lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta), Engelmann spruce ( Picea engelmannii ), Douglas fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii), and trembling aspen ( Populus tremuloides ). A glance at Yellowstone Lake on a map also reveals several large bays, a number of is lands, and tributary streams. The most prominent bays—moving from east to west—include the Southeast Arm, the South Arm, Flat Mountain Arm, and the West Thumb Bay in the southern areas of the lake. The lake also contains several named islands of va rying size and dimensions. These include Pelican Roost, Stevenson Island, Carringt on Island, Dot Island, Frank Island, the Molly Islands, and Peale Island. Ov er 124 tributary streams drain into Yellowstone Lake. The largest streams flow into the lake from th e south, the most notable of which is the Yellowstone River (which drains out of the lake to the nort h, then into the Missouri and 8 Mississippi rivers, and finally into the Atlant ic Ocean via the Gulf of Mexico). The circumambient highland areas of Yellowstone Lake are the Absar oka Mountains to the east and the Promontory, Flat Mountain, Mount Sheridan, Chicken Ridge, and Two Ocean Plateau to the south. This research explores the historical a nd cultural changes that took place in this subalpine lake landscape between 1870 a nd 1966. The first chapter explores the cartographic history of Yellows tone Lake and early use of the lake by Native Americans and Euro-Americans. This chapter also includes a discussion of the creation of Yellowstone National Park and th e role of Yellowstone Lake in this process. The second through fourth chapters of this research are organized around a framework of three time intervals—Period One (1870-1891), Period Two (1892-1932), and Period Three (1933- 1966)—that relate to significan t events in the evolution of Yellowstone Lake’s cultural landscape. The time frame extends from the early years of park exploration and establishment to the final year of the Mission 66 program in 1966. This thesis begins with an analysis of ear ly maps of the lake and the establishment of Yellowstone National Park. Early maps we re of primary importance as explorers and visitors came to understand the lake’s physic al geography. In this timeframe, early mapping and exploration of the expansive lake shoreline provided a steady challenge to early explorers. Although not an unknow n landscape to nearby settlers and Native Americans, it was early scientific and military expeditions into the Yellowstone region that created maps that included Yellowst one Lake and brought its presence to the attention of a national audience (Meyer 1996; Smith 1999) . While several notable travelers entered the Yellowstone lake region prior to 1870, it was in this year that the 9 first major organized scientific expedition en tered the Yellowstone Lake area, described its features, and created maps of the lake as part of their endeavors (Haines 1977). This time period unveils multiple efforts to understa nd the extent of Yellowstone Lake and how it is approached and understood as a pr oduct of the routes, transportation methods, and mapping techniques employed by the expedi tion members. Also to be explored is the role Yellowstone Lake played in the political argument for the creation of Yellowstone National Park. How marginal or central was the lake in the Park’s establishment? Did these early exploration and survey efforts that involved the lake increase interest in the establishment of the first national park? A key focus during Period One (1870-1891) is the role that Yellowstone Lake occupied in the initial tourist era in Yellows tone National Park. With the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad’s branch lin e to the northern entrance of Yellowstone National Park (to Cinnabar, Montana in 1883 and then—in 1903—to the North Entrance of the park at Gardiner, Montana), visitors traveled from greater distances to experience the park. Carried by stagecoaches or private carriages, early visitors were ushered around the “grand loop” road to park attractions incl uding the vast vistas of Yellowstone Lake (Haines 1977; Schullery 1997). How did the in frastructure at Yellowstone Lake support large numbers of visitors? Scattered and unorganized camping ruled the day for these early visitors (Schullery 1997). This secti on will reconstruct the impact of these early camps as well as other forms of visitor housing, including early hotels. The early landscape of Yellowstone Lake was manage d by the United States Army from 1886-1916 and this agency’s role as protector and shaper of the lake’s established cultural landscape will also be considered. This period concludes with the completion of Lake Hotel from 10 1889-1891. Built along the northern shoreline of Yellowstone Lake by the Northern Pacific Railroad, the Lake Hotel was initially a simple building of overnight accommodations that would later blossom into a grand “Lake Colonial Hotel” during successive renovations. This period ends with the Lake Developed Area and West Thumb Developed Area as the main sites of service activities at Yellowstone Lake. Period Two (1892-1932) considers the con tinued supervision of Yellowstone National Park by the United States Army, the entrance of the newly formed National Park Service (1916) as guardians of Yellowstone National Park’s landscape, and the entrance of automobiles to the park scene. All these events left indelible marks on the landscape as decisions were made concerning developm ents and improvements along the lakeshore. This second period also focuses on the devel opment of roads and trails around the lake, the growing number of boat to urs and traffic on the lake, a nd other corridors of visitor travel. Travel paths used by early explorers and travelers are devel oped during this period into established trails and roads. Early tw entieth—century travel modes were dominated by horse and carriage travel (traveling from esta blished nodes of the Northern Pacific, the Union Pacific’s Oregon Short Line, the Burlin gton, and the Milwaukee railroads). These arteries of travel be tween train depots and stagecoach rout es dictated the speed of travel (slow) and the locations of visitor services around the lake (spaced for a day’s coach travel). Development during Period Two concentr ates along the northern shore of Yellowstone Lake, while the southern perime ter is less emphasized in travel patterns, concessionaire facilities, and geographical descriptions of the lake. The completion of the Lake Hotel marked the first major hotel accommodations along the shoreline of the 11 lake and included such guest amenities as boating tours (Magoc 1999, 116). The new boat tours marked a shift in travel patterns on Yellowstone Lake from small boats and personal travel to organized a nd interpreted lake experiences. E.C. Waters organized the Yellowstone Lake Boat Comp any and, starting in 1892, piloted steamboat tours of the lake, highlighting attractions along the northern shore and the nearby islands. The transformation of Yellowstone Lake’s cultural landscape was significant during Period Two. Moving from a stop al ong the stagecoach route and a day long steamboat tour experience to a major site of visitation in the park, the lakeshore experience gradually shifted to a different le vel of visitor use, park management, and concessionaire investment. Yellowstone Lake increasingly became a site for concessionaire development as increasing numbe rs of tourists visite d this area. During the early part of the century, the Shaw and Powell Camping Company and the Wylie Permanent Camping Company began a system of permanent camps near park roads and offered tourists an option between the expe nsive Lake Hotel and self-reliant camping. The entrance of the National Park Service as a replacement to the United States Army’s management and policing of the park also brought major reorganization and concentration of concessionaire operations in the park. Some of the noteworthy changes to the cultural landscape during this period include the building of the Lake Developed Area boat dock (1892), the West Thumb boa t dock (1892), West Thumb lunch station (1895), Fishing Bridge (1902) , Lake Fish Hatchery (1912), Lake Auto Campground (1917), Lake Ranger Station (1923), West Thumb Ranger Station (1925), Lake Lodge (1926), and the Fishing Bridge in terpretive museum (1931). 12 Automobile tourism introduced new deve lopments near the lake after 1915. Although the impact of the “casually attired, self-reliant automobilist” (Haines 1977b, 347) will receive more attention in the next pe riod of my thesis, it is worth mentioning the entrance of this form of transportation and the affect that it had on the lake’s cultural geography. The automobile and the individual visitors that used them dramatically changed management policy, development patt erns, and visitor services around the park and near the lake. The shift marked a move away from groups of stagecoach travelers ushered around the lake by licensed guides operating organized tours between nodes of hotel accommodations and park attractions. Instead, the “democracy of the automobile” added a new element in tourism in the park. As the concept of a vacation spread across class lines and stimulus from the Park-t o-Park Highway moveme nt grew, “tin-can tourists” or “sagebrushers” crisscross ed the nation. Nati onal highways linked Yellowstone National Park to the Midwest and East; tourists traveling these routes were not as regulated in terms of their accommodations or their sightseeing as were the early (and often more affluent) stagecoach tr avelers (Schwantes 2003, 182). Auto campgrounds, dining facilities, and park attrac tions become increasingly geared towards these independent and budget-minded individual s. This period ends with the economic recession of the Great Depression and the affect it had on overall Yellowstone visitation and on lake attractions. Many areas of the park received less visitor use during this period. The lake areas in part icular were almost entirely shut down and many facilities deteriorated during this era. The Lake Developed Area, Fi shing Bridge Developed Area, and West Thumb Developed Area were the main sites of activity dur ing the closing years of this period. 13 Period Three (1933-1966) begins during the firs t year of lake facility closures in response to the economic recession associated with the Great Depression. Many facilities at Yellowstone Lake were closed from 1933- 1937. Left as vestiges from the stagecoach and pre-Depression era days, service buildings and roads alon g the lake suffered from a lack of use; extensive renova tions and repairs were calle d for as the national economy improved and people once again sought a national park vacation. Until the outbreak of World War II, Yellowstone Lake was a site of renewed construction and visitation in Yellowstone National Park. Throughout the years of World War II howev er, visitor numbers were generally down throughout the park and many facilities at Yellowstone Lake were closed to public use (Haines 1977). The plight facing park managers and concessionaires after World War II was a combination of outdated service fa cilities and a tremendous surge in visitors entering the park during these years. Escal ating automobile traffic around the lake and throughout Yellowstone National Park after Wo rld War II encouraged park managers and concessionaires to invest the time and ma terials in improving and expanding tourist facilities at Yellowstone Lake. Growth af ter World War II included the enlargement of campgrounds and cabin areas, the expansion of concessionaire stores and dining facilities, and the extension of employee housing at the major developed areas around the lake. During this period ma ny visitor facilities were upgr aded or expanded and this movement increased the spatial extent of development along the northern shore of Yellowstone Lake. The post-war years brought prosperity to the nation and an accompanying increase in tourist activity in th e park. This period ends with an increase 14 in visitor services and facilities being built, renovated, and enlarged to meet the growing demands of a nation recovering from war. Period Three ends with the final years of Mission 66, a nation-wide project to improve national park infrastructure and inte rpretation. Taking an aerial snapshot of Yellowstone Lake in 1966, the final year in cluded in this cultural landscape history, would reveal a landscape altered by the confluences of National Park Service management, concessionaire opportunism, and visitor density. Conceived by the National Park Service in the years after Wo rld War II, Mission 66 planned for a joint development effort between the National Park Service and park conces sionaires. Mission 66 produced significant changes in the Fishing Bridge and West Thumb Developed Areas. For example, older and deteriorating buildings from those areas were moved to the previously undeveloped sites of Grant Vill age and to a natural cove at Bridge Bay (Haines 1977). Other Mission 66 plans invol ved building new visitor facilities and increasing park interpretation for the moun ting visitor numbers entering Yellowstone National Park following World War II. Another important influence on lake de velopment during Period Three is the wilderness movement. The focus of the la tter part of my study shifts towards the influences of the wilderness movement and how it shaped a contentious debate between park planners, concessionaires, and visitors over park planning. Environmental battles flared over conflicting ideas of National Park Service policy and use guidelines at newly developed areas of the lake—such as Grant Village and Bridge Bay—as well as the more remote south shore sites. The increased impor tance of ecosystem health and integrity as well as the desire to experience nature and solitude may be seen as a factor that draws a 15 growing number of modern Yellowstone Nation al Park explorers towards the less visited South and Southeastern Arms and the islands of Yellowstone Lake. Period Three concludes with developed areas at Fishing Bridge, Lake, Bridge Bay, West Thumb, and Grant Village. Sources and Methods The three main sources of data that I use for this thesis include archival records, Geographic Information System (GIS) data, a nd field data that I collected during the summer of 2003 at Yellowstone Lake. I collect ed my archival data from the Yellowstone National Park Research Library and Archiv es in Mammoth, Wyoming and the Montana State University Special Collections at the Renne Library in Bozeman, Montana. This record set consists of both historical written records and phot ographs. I used the GIS data from the National Park Service, the Wyom ing Geographic Information Science Center, and Environmental Systems Research Institut e Inc. Western United States Data CD to create a series of maps depicting the evolving cultural la ndscape at Yellowstone Lake over time. I created three types of GIS-based ma ps for this thesis: a set of maps showing Yellowstone Lake and major developed areas at the lake in each of the time periods, a set of detailed maps showing infrastructure changes at these developed areas and corresponding to the ending dates for the chronological framework that I built this thesis around, and finally, a concluding section with comparison maps of the entire lake and then the detail maps of each developed area to show changes in the lake landscape over time. For the maps corresponding to the endi ng years of each of the three time periods, there is a map showing Yellowstone Lake’s r econstructed cultural landscape for the years 16 1891, 1932, and 1966. My field observations of the lake’s physical and cultural landscape were helpful in confirming my observations in the written record and on historical maps. My sources for reconstructing the cultural landscape evolution of Yellowstone Lake are divided into two groups: National Park Service records and concessionaire records. Many of the National Park Service records that I us e include records accessed at the Yellowstone National Park Library including Yellowstone National Park Superintendent annual reports in bound files. Other records that I used included superintendent correspondence to concessionaires and park visitors and United States Department of the Interior guidebooks, info rmation circulars, and maps found in the Yellowstone National Park Archive. At the Montana State University Special Collections, I used the Haynes Collection as another site to locate National Park Service superintendent annual reports. I acce ssed concessionaire maps, blueprints, correspondence, and development reports at th e Yellowstone National Park Archives in concessionaire boxes, files, and map drawer s; Drawers 14 and 32 were particularly well stocked with concessionaire and National Park Service blueprints and maps. The Haynes Collection at the Montana State University Special Collections was helpful for concessionaire files also; in that archive I found concessiona ire guidebooks. I also used historic photographs from the Yellowstone National Park Photo Archives to supplement the mapping and interpretation of this national park landscape over time. Finally, the generous loans of National Park Service and concessionaire maps and guidebooks from the private collections of Dr. William Wyckoff and Dr. Joseph Ashley were very valuable additions to the archival record and helped me to confirm the locations and descriptions 17 of some elusive park structures and buildi ng dates. These National Park Service and concessionaire records found at the Yellowsto ne National Park Arch ives and Library, the Montana State University Special Collec tions-Haynes Collection, and the personal collections from Dr. Wyckoff and Dr. Ashley al so contributed to the data that I recorded and analyzed to create the GIS maps of Yellowstone Lake for 1891, 1932, and 1966. From these National Park Service and concessionaire records I created two products that reconstruct the cultural landscape evolution at Yellowstone Lake – a written description of the lake’s development and a se ries of maps reflecting that change. My written description of activit y at the lake takes the read er from the early years of exploration and the spatial positioning of th e lake in the American West through growth and shifts in the maturing park’s development. In terms of scale, I feel that it is important to not segment the lake into portions but to cons ider it as a distinct region of Yellowstone National Park. Therefore, for this thesis project I take a broader look at the lake’s changing landscape with the intention of providi ng the reader with a cohesive narrative to follow the lake’s cultural history and a path fo r future research on the lake. I focus on the large and enduring features, the fleeting but intriguing features, and the highly contested battles at Yellowstone Lake. The second product that I created to reconstruct the cultural landscape evolution at Yellowstone Lake was visual. I used historical data to make a series of maps depicting the changes in the patterns of human development around Yellowstone Lake. This venture in historical GIS invol ved combining information gained about the lake’s cultural landscape from archival maps, blueprints , photographs, guidebooks, government reports, and concessionaire reports. I also used GIS data obtained through the internet from the 18 National Park Service’s Spatial Analysis Cent er and the State of Montana NRIS spatial data center. The elevation characteristic s of around the lake are emphasized with a shaded relief profile and all map elements are projected in a North America NAD 1983 projection. The cultural and phys ical landscape layers (such as buildings, trails, roads, streams, lakes, and islands) used existing GIS data layers obtained from the National Park Service and Montana NRIS. I also created a series of cultural landscape layers such as buildings, boat docks, and roads for 1891, 1932, and 1966 by hand digitizing approximate locations for these features based on archival wr itten descriptions, maps, blueprints, historic aerial photographs from the United States Geologic Survey, and historic land photographs. These maps should serve future projects fo cused on cultural resources at Yellowstone Lake by providing base maps of the area and positions from which to take more accurate GPS coordinates for removed or re located lake infrastructure. Although no one source of data provided all of the information needed to create accurate maps of the approximate infrastruc ture at Yellowstone Lake from 1870 to 1966, a combination of several sources was invaluab le to this reconstruction. The primary and secondary archival records were invaluable documentation, but sometimes these sources were inconsistent in their di scussions of Yellowstone Lake’s landscape. In addition, the archival written documents that I used were at times conflicting in their depictions of the lake. To resolve these issues of inconsiste ncy and conflicting reports, I developed a set of methods that relied on multiple sources of data. I used th e archival written documents to outline a basic picture of the developmen t at the lake and to check references to changes at the lake, but I also used visu al data sources and field observations to 19 substantiate data collection and analysis. I consulted aerial photographs, historic land photographs, guidebook maps and de scriptions, and historic maps of Yellowstone Lake to resolve conflicting issues in the archival written documents and to fill in the gaps where previous studies did not di rectly reference changes to the lake’s cultural landscape. Over the course of this study, my methodology became a synthesis of referencing archival written records and secondary written sources and then confirming and complementing that information with aerial photographs, historic maps, historic photographs, and other guidebook descriptions. I developed this set of methods because previous cultural landscape reconstructi ons for Yellowstone Lake had not been completed before and an accurate study of this area required consulting a variety of sources. One of the strengths of this study is its use of historical methods and geographical methods for explor ing past landscapes. While few historians have focused their work exclusively on the lake, even fewe r geographers have completed such a study. Through this methodology, I created a written description of landscape changes over time at Yellowstone Lake a nd a cartographic description. This study includes a series of maps that I created using a geographic information system (GIS) that provides an accurate portrait of development patterns for the years 1891, 1932, and 1966; these years correlate to major development changes on Yellowstone Lake and correlate with my chosen time line. These time periods are significant in that they reflect major spatial shifts in the lake’s landscape as ne w features of development are added, removed, or altered. To clarify the locations of development around Yellowstone Lake during this time and to avoid confusion between these locat ions that I encountered in the archival record, this study refers these sites as deve loped areas. This a ddition to my methods 20 helped clarify the geographical aspects of this study that previous research has overlooked. In addition, I focused on the evolution of geographical knowledge of the lake, particularly as it came together during the late 19th century. Before 1891 (Period One), the portrayal of Yellowstone Lake change d significantly as more information was gathered about the area and more sophisticated and accurate maps were created to reveal the current understanding of the lake’s diverse physical ge ography. For this early period then, I use historic maps of the area to show changes in the know ledge of Yellowstone Lake’s geography. The GIS-based maps that I created for this project begin after the physical dimensions of Yellowstone Lake were establ ished through geographic surveys. I chose a GIS for creating my maps because I think th at it is a useful and effective tool for illustrating the changing landscape of this subalpine lake. These maps provide a glimpse into how Yellowstone Lake’s developments evolved during the three time periods of my study. I also assessed plans for developments at the lake that were never carried out. These instances—as well as fleeting but intr iguing examples of Yellowstone Lake development—receive a more thorough treatm ent in my written description of the landscape’s evolution. Examples of this type of event include plan s for roads, hiking paths, building relocation and removal, a nd campground changes. Although this method of collecting data and constructing maps to depict changes in the cultural landscape has been employed in at least one other study in Yellowstone National Park (Byrand 1995), previous studies have not focused primarily on the evolution of Yellowstone Lake’s cultural landscape nor employed a historical GIS analysis. 21 The third source of my thesis data—f ield observations and photographs—and the methods that I used to analyze that data are inspired by the words of geographer Carl O. Sauer. Let no one consider that historical geography can be content with what is found in archive and library…One of the fi rst steps is the ability to read the documents in the field. Take into the field…an account of an area wr itten long ago and compare the places and their activities with the present, seeing wh ere the habitations were and the lines of communication ran, where the forests and fields stood, gradually getting a picture of the former cultural landscape concealed behind the present one… .Questions begin to take shape as to what has happened to local site values ” (1965, 367). I made frequent trips to Yellowstone Lake throughout the summer of 2003 to compare the present landscape with maps, photography, and textual descriptions of the lake that I encountered throughout my archival research. This valu able methodology gave me a good sense of the landscape at Yellowstone La ke as well as alerted me to any hidden parts of the lake that I did not read ily encounter in my research. Conceptual Framework Although numerous studies of the park exist, the cultu ral landscape of Yellowstone Lake has not been thoroughly ex amined as a central focus of study. This research is situated in the ongoing discussion concerning Yellowstone National Park’s history, but it is further strengthened by applying the perspective of the geographer’s lens. By exploring the temporal and spatial history of Yellows tone Lake’s landscape, a greater understanding of the unique features of this lake comes to light. Yellowstone Lake is also significant because of its role as a symbolic and sacred landscape among protected areas in the United States (Sears 1989; Hyde 1990; Meyer 1996). 22 Several cultural and historical geographe rs suggest the importance of studying landscape change and changing landscape images over time. Donald Meinig’s “The Beholding Eye: Ten Versions of the Same Scene” (1979) offers a useful mode of interpretation when examining the early trav el and exploration a ccounts of Yellowstone Lake. Meinig’s ten versions of a landscape decipher how different in tellectual traditions inform the viewing and apprecia tion of a landscape. This mode of analysis is useful for early travel accounts since early explorers produced different ve rbal and visual depictions of Yellowstone Lake. These varying descrip tions arise from a combination of elements that include, but are not limited to: the route that they followed around the lake, the mountains that they climbed to gain a higher perspective on the lake, and the tools with which they measured the physical environment. The variety of experiences, traveling routes, and equipment resulted in diverse de pictions of the Lake. In addition, these reported experiences of Yellowstone Lake were informed by the intellectual traditions carried in the minds of the explorers. In an age before remote sensing, a limited number of Yellowstone Lake maps are available si nce few individuals unde rtook the challenge of exploring, mapping, measuring, a nd depicting Yellowstone. Me inig offers a template with which to compare and analyze these stories. Peirce Lewis’s “Axioms for Reading th e Landscape: Some Guidelines to the American Scene” (1979) also offers a helpful perspective for interpreting early visual and verbal accounts of Yellowstone Lake. He enc ourages students of landscape studies to ask questions about the everyday geographies they experience. The value of Lewis’s argument lies in his emphasis of cultural landscapes as useful study areas because they can reveal important facets about culture, technology, and values. 23 Yi-Fu Tuan (1977) reminds his readers of the importance of environment and culture in creating and experiencing the human landscape. According to Tuan, sensations, perceptions, and conceptions of a place all blend together to form and influence viewers’ experiences in a place. His observations are important landmarks when discussing the cultural lands cape in a national park area. Another important work concerning space and place is an edited vol ume by Lowenthal and Bowden (1975) that commemorates the life and work of John Kirtland Wright. Wright’s work is influential for my study in that it encourages questions about the impact of environmental ideas on Yellowstone Lake. How did ideas and actions concerning the lake’s geography affect the formation of cultural landscapes and the treatment of Yellowstone Lake’s environment by humans? Richard Schein (1997) offers a useful framework for interp reting the cultural landscape of Yellowstone Lake. Schein’s article discusses cultural landscape interpretation as a way to better understand the many cultural “discourses” that become tangible pieces of a landscape. In this sens e, a landscape can be seen as a text that may be read to glean information about the people and events that shaped that landscape over time. According to Schein, a “close readi ng of a landscape in a specific time and place will yield an interpretation of its position within a numbe r of discourses” (1997, 676). Landscapes are the “sum total” of their hist ories and, through interpretation, we may get a better idea of the people and processes that contributed to those histories. The author argues that “[c]onceptualizing a landscape w ithin a set of discourses also provides a vision of landscape change (ove r time) attributable, in part , to individual, fragmented activity rather than simply presented as stra ta of (superorganic) cultural accretion(s)” 24 (Schein 1997, 675). Schein’s framework fo r cultural landscape interpretation is applicable to this study of Yellowstone Lake where the “discourse s” of national park managers, concessionaires, and visitors all c ontributed to the making of the landscape. These discourses varied in their influence a nd designs for the lake over time. Here again, Schein’s framework is helpful since he wa rns that “the land-as-text is unstable and requires constant reinterpretation” (1997, 676). Interpreting hi storic cultural landscapes must be flexible and open to the complications of a variety of discourses that change over time. Applying Schein’s framework to Ye llowstone Lake requires asking questions about who participated in the lake’s deve lopment, how those discourses changed over time, and how their influences became manifest on the lake’s landscape. Visual representations of landscape have also attracted increasing attention from geographers and historians. Addressing th e impact of photography in the nineteenth century, Picturing Place: Photography and the Geographical Imagination (Schwartz and Ryan, 2003) uses examples of photography to question ways of taking pictures and viewing places. Drawing from the work of several authors discussing a variety of geographical locations, the relevance of Picturing Place stands in its discussion of constructing images and the effects that this has on the person taking as well as viewing the photograph. Ways of presenting a photogr aph are selective and subjective, although objectivity and realism are ofte n the presented ideals. Visual representations of landscapes are a central focus for Richard Francaviglia’s Elusive Land: Changing Geographic Images of the Southwest (1994). Although primarily concerned with images of southwestern landscapes, Francaviglia’s work also provides a broad canvas upon whic h to discuss images of other western 25 regions. Through an examination of text, maps , and other graphics, the author finds that “portraying the landscape is always a sele ctive process of inclusion, exclusion, and enhancement” (Francaviglia 1994, 26). Vale an d Vale (1989) take yet another approach to landscape images and their interpretation. Following the route of U.S. 89, these two authors look at lands cape change and perception along this transect through the American West. Drawing on the images presented in Harper’s Monthly, Wyckoff and Nash (1994) present an analysis of images and pl ace them in six topical categories based on their content. This image analysis is he lpful for this study in terms of methodology and classification of visual material. Wyckoff and Dilsaver (1997) provide anot her western image an alysis, but with a focus on national parks. This analysis of promotional materials emphasizes the importance of visual representation in portr aying the park experience to a broader national and regional audience. Kevin Blake (2003) also argues that place identity matters in his study of Colorado mountain peak s. Blake’s work explores the symbolism and iconography of a place and its identity. His study focuses on high mountain peaks in Colorado and the ways that these peaks are seen as exclusive and idealized environments. Blake’s interpretation of these symbolic places offers a method for exploring Yellowstone Lake’s landscape. How does the size, shape, and elevation of Yellowstone Lake contribute to visitor experiences? Does the subalpine environm ent of the lake and its position in a large mountainous national park exclude human experiences? What role does Yellowstone Lake play in national, regi onal, state, and local levels as a popular environmental icon? Blake’s “Peaks of Id entity in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains” (1999) suggests avenues for exploring Yellows tone Lake’s cultural landscape. In this 26 work, Blake identifies the San Juan Mountains as “peaks of identity” or areas that hold a special landscape signature for local communities’ identities. Does Yellowstone Lake occupy a similar role in the tri-state communities of Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho? Is Yellowstone Lake symbolized as an ideal natural scene, recreational opportunity, or a place of spiritual renewal? John Allen contributes a valuable di scussion of wester n exploration and geographic understanding of watersheds in his “Division of the Waters: Changing Concepts of the Continental Divide, 1804-1844” (1978) and in “Maps and Mountain Men: The Cartography of the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade” (1995). A key element of his work is the exploration of the intermountain West and the gradual understanding of the watersheds in this region. Allen’s discussi on of early efforts by trappers, explorers, and surveyors to explore and map the intermount ain West provides helpful guidelines for evaluating the arrival of explorers and t ourists to the high and often inaccessible Yellowstone region. Allen explores how historical ge ographers employ maps as useful sources. His methods are particularly well su ited to a discussion of early mapping efforts of Yellowstone Lake that drew from the accoun ts and maps of a select few fur trappers and explorers into the Upper Yellowstone drainage. Another work by Allen (1992) discusses early exploration efforts in the American West and how geographers use art and literat ure in examining place images. Focusing on the fur trading era of the early nineteenth century, Allen deciphers the efforts of romantic writers and artists to portray western landscapes. Allen’s work poses questions for my study of Yellowstone Lake images and how th ey contributed to the larger context of images of a romantic West. How was Yello wstone Lake described and what methods 27 and images resulted from such depictions? Where did these images appear (national newspapers, travel accounts, magazines)? What did the lake look like in these images? Who was creating these images? Do visual and verbal depictions of Yellowstone Lake fit into Allen’s romantic West? Western historian Robert Athearn (1986) explores the American West through image making in the twentieth century. Athear n finds that ignorance is a key ingredient in the formula that made the West a mythic place of unreal proportions. Eastern denizens relied on reports and survey records from a ha ndful of individuals who actually traveled in the West. Through these remote networ ks, Americans along the eastern seaboard formed their images and expectations of western landscapes. Athearn’s conclusions may well serve Yellowstone Lake. How was Yellows tone Lake represented to tourists? Before the ease and comfort of personal motorized touring of Yellowstone National Park, images of Yellowstone Lake were crafted by the few visitors with the financial and personal means to travel into remote mount ainous area. These accounts were then sent great distances to east coast audiences hungry for a taste of western landscape images. What types of images reached these remote audiences? Who was producing these images? What affect did these images have on expectations of Yellowstone Lake by eastern visitors? Dean MacCannell’s The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class (1976) aids in my discussion of visitor experiences. His work provides a framework for discussing the complicated nature of cultural productions and tourist ex perience. Indeed, MacCannell argues that these productions are “powerful agents in defining the scope, force and direction of a civi lization” (1976, 29). How did the visitor experience of 28 Yellowstone Lake reflect American social va lues and ideas? Who participated in the experience of Yellowstone Lake? For how long did they visit the lake? Using a case study of Great Smoky Mountai ns National Park, Young reviews the landscapes of national parks (2002) . This study is helpful for it s historical aspects as it examines perceptions of a national park la ndscape through time. Inevitably, visitors come to the park with expectations and imag es of the landscape that are not consistent with an evolving landscape formed by human and natural influences. This process may have parallels in Yellowstone National Pa rk. How do images of Yellowstone Lake’s landscape illustrate the effects of time on this area? Are there aspects of Yellowstone Lake’s image that are repetitively emphasi zed even though the actual landscape of the lake may have changed? For example, ha ve geothermal features along the lakeshore been consistently depicted as remote or accessible in lake imagery? What is the significance of changing or even sustained imag es of the lake in te rms of other national park landscapes? Several historians direct their work sp ecifically towards national parks. Peter Hales (1988) examines the images created by park photographer William Henry Jackson. Jackson’s work played an early and pivotal role in the form ation of Yellowstone National Park through dramatic, often highly staged landscape images. In another example, John Sears (1989) presents a critical discussion of American tourist attractions in the nineteenth century. Sears discusses the portray al of Yellowstone as “exotic rather then pastoral or even picturesque” (1989, 165). Sears also describe s tourist experiences in the park and compares them to other contempor ary entertainment schemes whereby visitors could experience a landscape that challenged and invigorated their perceptions of the 29 West. Is this process evident for Yellowst one Lake’s landscape? If so, how, why, and when does the lake become part of an experien ce related to western perceptions? Alfred Runte (1997) also examines the roles of national parks in national perceptions and experiences. Although his work tends to gene ralize American attitudes to national parks and the national park idea, his work offers a contribution to the meaning of national parks as recreation sites. In Devil’s Bargains: Tourism in the Twentieth—Century American West (1998), Hal Rothman asks his readers to reevaluate the role of tourism in American culture. Rothman’s study explores the cultural meani ng and representations of a diversity of tourist landscapes. His discussion of railro ad promotion in tourism and intraregional tourism in national parks pr ovides a useful context for a Yellowstone Lake study. Rothman encourages a critical look at tourism prom otion schemes. How was Yellowstone Lake incorporated into a r ecreational ideal for automobile and other travelers? How was the lake represented as a natural space or a “w ild” space for tourist consumption? Marguerite Schaffer (1996) al so investigates tourism by examining the roles of western businessmen and boosters in the form ation and perpetuation of western touring culture and amenities. Her study sheds light on the important and persuasive role that these personalities had in creating and maintaining the tourist infrastructure in the West. In See America First: Tourism and National Identity, 1880-1940 (2001), Schaffer links American tourist features to larger national symbols and narratives. Her discussion of the Northern Pacific Railroad’s investment in tourist infrastructure emphasizes Yellowstone 30 National Park as a tourist attraction and a landscape that assumed national importance as an alternative vacation area to European resorts. In Promised Lands: Promotion, Memory, and the Creation of the American West, David Wrobel (2002) examines the ways that western American boosters represented places and how those places were remembere d. Wrobel critically discusses a wide range of promoters and offers a vital element to my study of Yellowstone Lake. As a feature within Yellowstone National Park, how was Yellowstone Lake represented by western boosterism? What “promises” were made to the public by concessionaires and how were these promises actualized? Another examination of national culture and western landscapes is presented by Anne Hyde (1990). The value of Hyde’s work for my study is her discussion of national expectations of western landscapes. What type of accommodations, experiences, and values would American tourists find at Yellowstone Lake? Hyde encourages a close examination of the types of hotels, interpretive tours, and recreational experiences that vi sitors had at Yellowstone Lake . Did taking a stagecoach to Lake Hotel and then spending the after noon on a steamboat tour of Yellowstone Lake match visitor expectations of the lake? What comparisons did this type of experience provide for an American tourist seeking al ternatives to European travel? Numerous studies have examined Yello wstone National Park and its cultural features. Chris Magoc’s Yellowstone: The Creation and Selling of an American Landscape, 1870-1903 (1999) focused on the early formation of Yellowstone Lake’s cultural landscape evoluti on. Aubrey Haines’s (1977) two volume history of Yellowstone National Park provides hist orical background on the creation and 31 development of Yellowstone National Pa rk with a particular emphasis on the personalities behind its evolution. The Yellowstone National Park (1964) by Hiram Chittenden (edited by Richard Bartlett) is also a good source of information on the park’s history as well as a primary source for early park interpreta tion since the book was originally published in 1895. In Y ellowstone: A Wilderness Besieged, Richard Bartlett (1985) explores the history of Yellowstone National Park by focusing on three main groups within the park: concessionaires, park superintendents, and visitors. Selling Yellowstone: Capitalism and the Construction of Nature by Mark Daniel Barringer (2002) offers an in-depth look at developm ent schemes and concessionaire-park service relations in Yellowstone National Park. Ba rringer’s work is a useful resource for identifying specific site construction dates and proponents. Jim Walsh (1993) presents a history of mapping in Yellowstone National Park that includes many useful references to early mapping efforts of Yellowstone Lake. The management of Yellowstone National Pa rk is another theme for park writers. Concerning the post World War II years and Mission 66, Paul Schullery’s Searching for Yellowstone (1997) and James A. Pritchard’s Preserving Yellowstone’s Natural Conditions: Science and the Perception of Nature (1999) offer valuable resources for sorting through the additions and renovations to Yellowstone La ke’s cultural landscape in the recent past. Both of these works are crit ical of the many political and cultural forces at work throughout Yellowstone National Pa rk and Yellowstone Lake. Alston Chase (1987) is perhaps one of the most critical au thors concerning the role of the National Park Service in Yellowstone National Park. In Playing God in Yellowstone, he examines the 32 powerful ways in which the National Park Service has managed the region’s dynamic ecosystem. Geographer Judith Meyer (1996) offers an interpretation of many cultural features of Yellowstone National Park in The Spirit of Yellowstone. In her study of Yellowstone National Park, Meyer asserts th at Yellowstone Lake was one of six major locations that visitors experienced during th eir stay in Yellowstone Na tional Park. Park visitor literature and guidebooks prolifer ated during this and later eras; one aspect of these regional guides was that park features came to have a ranking in terms of the importance of visiting and experiencing. Through guidebooks, diaries, a nd other travel accounts, the lake became a site noted for its diverse e nvironmental and cultural experiences. Meyer notes how Yellowstone Lake visitor experien ces were distinguished from other sites within the park; this area became know as a site for enjoying fishing, wildlife viewing, boat rides, geothermal features, and broad lakeshore vistas. Period Two (1892-1932) of this study reflects Meyer’s argument that Yellowstone Lake became an ancillary attraction in the park, often overshadowed by th e geysers basins near Old Faithful or the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (Meyer 1996). Excellent studies have also been comple ted that deal directly with Yellowstone National Park’s evolution and changes in part icular park localities. Langford Smith’s (1999) master’s thesis uses a variety of archival sources to discuss the ev olution of the national park idea as it applies to Yellow stone National Park. Smith explores the changing roles of park visitors and the Nationa l Park Service. His work is particularly helpful to my study in that he explores th e evolution of the Yellowstone National Park landscape in terms of changing perceptions and attitudes towa rds that park landscape. 33 Karl Byrand (1995) focused his research on Old Faithful as a developed area that was central to Yellowstone National Park’s image. Byrand reconstructs the cultural landscape around this nationally-significant locality through the use of verbal description and maps. His method of analysis also calls for dividing the hist ory of the area into several time periods to better grasp the change s that this landscape has experienced. His work is helpful for my project in terms of his methodology and focus: paralleling my approach, he explores a deve loped site within Yellowstone National Park through space and time. 34 EARLY CARTOGRAPHY AND THE NATIONAL PARK IDEA Introduction There was a war party. A man named [?]—I don’t know what it means, I guess it’s too old to translate—led a war party. They came to Yellowstone Lake. Although they were fearful of it, they did not want to go into it, they are drawn to it because of its power, and the mystical quality (Goes Ahead quoted in Nabokov and Loendorf, 2002). The Indians approach it [Yellowst one Lake] under the fear of a superstition originating in the vol canic forces surrounding it, which amounts almost to entire exclusion (N.P. Langford, 1871). Our understanding of Yellowstone Lake’s personality and its relation to the national scene begins by tracing its cultural, economic, and political threads from the emergence of Yellowstone Lake on maps of th e American West and the establishment of the early cultural landscape at the lake. This chapter consists of two sections. The first section of this chapter deals with early mapping and route fi nding at Yellowstone Lake. This part of my analysis focuses on cartographic and physiographic understandings of the lake up until the lake’s shape, size, and ex tent were accurately portrayed on maps. I included a number of historic maps in this section as well as maps of routes taken to the lake. I found that understandi ng the route that travelers a nd explorers followed to and around Yellowstone Lake helped to illuminate their visual encounters with the lake and the maps they produced. The second section of this chapter explores th e role of Yellowstone Lake in the establishment of Yellowstone National Park. After passing through months of debate in Congress, the bill that founded Yellowstone National Park was passed on March 1, 1872. 35 I assess the frequency and types of references to Yellowstone Lake in the documents and debates involved with the crea tion of the park. Some of my guiding questions for this section include: How central was Yellowstone La ke in debates over the park legislation? Was Yellowstone Lake mentioned in the legal document that created the national park? How were images and descriptions of Yellows tone Lake used or not used to support the passing of the park bill? For this section I used several sources of information. These sources include images and documents used by park supporters, the debates in Congress over the park bill, and the legal document citing the founding of Yellowstone National Park. Mapping Yellowstone Lake More than simple depictions of Yellowst one Lake, maps serve as valuable tools to assess the impact and setting of early travels in Yellowstone. J. D. Overton (1981) offers some theoretical structure for looking at early exploration and mapping of Yellowstone Lake. Quoting D.J. Boorstin, Overton suggests a division between discovery and exploration: “discoverer…simply uncovers ; but the explorer opens. The discoverer concludes a search; he is a finder. The expl orer begins a search; he is a seeker” (1981, 56). Further, Overton reminds us that the sele ction of the area to be explored depends on how much knowledge is alrea dy gathered about an area and what kind of knowledge is being accumulated about an area. In this se nse, exploration is a “conscious search for knowledge within and about imperfectly known areas” (1981, 57). Overton describes six “elements” of exploration. These include : a demand for new geographic information about “unexplored or partly e xplored areas,” the choice of wh ere the exploration will take 36 place, the “journey of exploration,” the docum ent(s) created by the explorers about their trip, the “evaluation of the explorer’s report by decision-makers,” and the development or continued exploration of an area (1981, 57-58). The author also reminds his readers of the larger social and economic milieu of expl oration where “the decision to explore is seen as being primarily guided by forces other that personality characteristics alone” (Overton 1981, 58). Overton’s model is useful for looking at early exploration and mapping of Yellowstone Lake and how information from early expeditions was used to support the creation of the first national park. Using Overton’s framework, I focus my discussion for this first section of the chapter on the many journeys that were ta ken to the lake, the relationships between those journeys, the motiv es that explorers had to enter the lake area, the role of non-explorer s in the gathering of geographic data about the lake, the impact of explorers’ account s on later trips to the lake and the establishment of Yellowstone National Park, and the economic and social contexts for these expeditions. Building on Overton’s research also remi nds us that the exploration and mapping of Yellowstone Lake was not an isolat ed affair—geographically, socially, or economically. Geographic information about the lake was gathered by a variety of people, over many years, with different mo tives for entering the area. Groups that contributed to the spatial understanding of the lake included Native American inhabitants and seasoned visitors as well as Euro-American trappers, prospectors, military personnel, and other travelers. Native Americans have a long history of occupance and use of Yellowstone Lake; a discussion of the lake’s e xploration must include their contributions to its spatial 37 understanding. Often Native American peopl e living in the area—Bannock, Crow, Sheep Eater, and Shoshone peoples—during the ti me of Euro-American exploration would relate their knowledge of the landscape to Euro-American explorers seeking routes of travel or information for mapping purposes. Patricia Galloway suggests that “Indian maps and geographic information were so important a factor in the European development of knowledge of the North American continent that it is impossible to gain an adequate idea of the process without taking them into account” (Galloway 1998, 223). This is sometimes a difficult process because “so very few Indian maps survive physically, even when documentary eviden ce describes specific instances when cartographic or geographic evidence was communicated to explorers by Indians” (Galloway 1998, 223). An example of a s ituation where “geographic evidence was communicated” between trappers and Native Americans comes from the journals of Osborne Russell. During an encounter w ith a Native American group Russell identifies as the Tibuboes (People of the Sun): One of them drew a map of the count ry around us on a white Elk Skin with a piece of Charcoal after which he explained th e direction of the different passes, streams etc From them we discovered that it was about one days travel in a SW direction to the outlet or northern extremity of the Yellow Stone Lake, but the route from is description being difficult…our leader gave out the idea….Our Geographer also told us that this stream united with the Yellow Stone after leaving this Valley half a days travel in a west direction (Russell 1955, 27). This information not only served as geogr aphic guidance for the trapper but it also represented a type of collaborative mapping be tween peoples. My research did not reveal any Native American produced maps of Yellowstone Lake. Nabokov and Loendorf support this finding in their 2002 research on Native Americans in Yellowstone. The only “indigenous mapping” that they found for Yellowstone National Park was a result of 38 the Nez Perce movement through the park in 1877 (2002, 183). This map depicts streams and geothermal areas in Yellowstone, but it does not show Yellowstone Lake. Galloway continues that “it is vital for us to attempt to distinguish the Amerindian layers of the palimpsest of early European mapping of North America. By doing so we can begin to understand how Europeans mani pulated and altered the reality of…native geography to incorporate it into their mapping practice, often merely by making a new cartographic reality” (Galloway 1998, 223). A “new cartographi c reality” was created for Yellowstone, a place where Native Americans ha d a long history of use and route finding before Euro-Americans launched formal surveys into the area. Mapping and communication of geographic information between Euro-Americans and Native Americans in the Yellowstone Plateau has a long and convoluted course. Yet, tracing these information networks a nd their effects on maps of Yellowstone Lake is possible once we look at the maps and the re cords of exploration at the lake. Although Native Americans and Euro-Americans shared geographic information about the lake, the geopolitic al relationships that evolve d between the two groups were highly unequal. Focusing his discussion on the Columbian Encounter, J. B. Harley argues that non-native maps can be seen as “statements of terr itorial appropriation, cultural reproduction, or as devices by whic h a Native American presence could be silenced” (1992, 522). Harley’s objections to traditional discussions of early cartography are grounded in his suggestion that Nativ e Americans possessed extensive geographic knowledge and that their contributions offer a different, but equally informative method of recording spatial information versus those offered by European mapping traditions. Harley also notes that Native American know ledge was used to guide Europeans and was 39 integrated into the standard maps produced and distributed during the early settlement of North America. Harley outlines a “cultural exchange of geographical knowledge” that includes maps working in “material and practic al processes” and as “reified symbols of power” (1992, 532). Harley asserts that maps were “critical agents in the graphic inscription by which the space of America wa s filled with some of the place-names, signs, emblems, and memories of the Old World” (1992, 532). While Harley’s position rests mostly in a description of mapping from the Columbian Encounter, his interpretation about the power of maps is particularly helpful to a discussion of early mapping of Yellowstone Lake. By the time Euro-Americans began formal mapping and surveys of Yellowstone in the early 19th century, there were many non-Eur opean groups who lived near Yellowstone Lake and seasonally used its res ources. Native Americans had a system of mapping the lake and understa nding its location; however, these native systems of mapping were reinscribed by Euro-Americans in an effort to colonize the area and eventually develop it. By being aware of Native American contributions to mapping and geographical awareness of an area, Harley also suggests that we can become more informed about “the capacity of the Indian s to play a sometimes decisive role in choreographing the early pathways of Europ ean exploration” (1992, 526). Indeed, Native Americans shaped route finding at Yellowstone Lake by establishing and using trails that were later used in the development of road s, bridle paths, and camping areas. In Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks, Mark Spence (1999) argues that Ye llowstone National Park was not an “uninhabited wilderness” and that its estab lishment set a precedent for other parks to 40 exclude Native American use and settlement. His discussion of Native American use of Yellowstone Park and the Euro-American m ovements to control this area uncovers contradictions in early Euro-American accounts and in later decades once the park is established. Spence complicates the picture of relations between Euro-American explorers and Native Americans at Yellowstone. Members of exploration parties recorded encounters with Indians in part of their j ournals, yet discussed an Indian presence in the park as if it was a historic element of the landscape. According to Spence, “[ s]uch a conception of wilderness forgets that native peoples shaped these environments for millennia, and thus parks like Yellowstone…are more representa tive of old fantasies about a continent awaiting “discovery” than actual conditions at the time of Columbus’s voyage or Lewis and Clark’s adventure” (1999, 5). Indeed, nati ve use of the lands within Yellowstone National Park often continued once the park was established and frequently did not fit into emerging ideas of activities appropr iate to park use (Spence 1999, 43). This exacerbated disagreements and hostility betw een native groups wishing to use their traditional territory and officials charged with managing a national park to the exclusion of these original inhabitants. The first appearance of Yellowstone Lake on a Euro-American map was a product of the transcontinental Lewis and Clark Expedition. William Clark’s A Map of Part of the Continent of North America (circa 1810) shows Yellowstone Lake (Figure 3) as a large, rounded, mountain-encircled body of wa ter labeled “Eustis Lake.” Although the members of the Corps of Discovery did not travel into the pres ent day boundaries of Yellowstone National Park, the lake’s pr esence was known. Native Americans knew 41 Yellowstone and used its resources on a seasona l basis. It is very likely that Native American groups shared some of their knowle dge of the Yellowstone Plateau with Euro- Americans who then included th is information on maps. Fur trapper and explorer John Colter traveled through the Yellowstone area after his assignment with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. After his tr avels, he shared his knowledge of the region with his former superior William Clark for inclusion in Clark’s manuscript map. This map may be a good example of the “cultural exchange of geographic knowledge” that Harley (1992) describes. This map served as a physic al manifestation of Euro-American efforts to create symbols of their power and presence in the Yellowstone Plateau. This map included references to Native American knowledge of the area although it does not directly credit these sources. For example, many of the place manes labeled on the map are Native American. Al so, it is highly probable that John Colter communicated with Native Americans who were familiar with the Yellowstone Plateau to plan and find his route through the area. Seve ral other aspects of this map are notable; including Colter’s route around th e lake, the location and shap e of Yellowstone Lake, and the large stream depicted as flowing out of the lake. These aspects of Clark’s map also de monstrate how cartographers used oral geographic knowledge held by trappers and Native Americans but often overlooked in historical accounts (Allen 1978; Allen 1995) . The use of Native American names provides a documentation of Native American contributions to Clark’s map while also showing the early stages of a process of colonizing the area. Lewis and Clark gathered data about the American West which was then reviewed by politicians to plan the next survey of the area and to get a better idea of the potential resources at that site. Clark’s 42 Figure 3. Maps of Yellowstone Lake printed c. 1810 and 1814 One of the earliest preserved depictions of Yellowstone Lake is William Clark’s A Map of Part of the Continent of North America (circa 1810) (top). Name d after the Secretary of War under President Jefferson, “Eustis Lak e” is positioned with relative accuracy according to gathered hydrographic and topographical information. Samuel Lewis’s engraving of Clark’s map in 1814 (bottom) re vised Clark’s map but kept most of the features depicted on the earlier map. [Reprinted in Haines 1974, 185 and 186.] 43 1810 manuscript map shows Yellowstone Lake under a different name although the location and size of the lake are fairly accura te. Also, he portrays a large river flowing out of the northeastern part of the lake; presumably this is an early depiction of the Yellowstone River flowing out of Yellowstone Lake. Samuel Lewis’s 1814 engraving of Willia m Clark’s manuscript map (see Figure 3) made some alterations to Clark’s earlier depiction of th e lake. For example, Lewis’s 1814 engraving elongates the lake’s shape w ith greater variation along the eastern shoreline. Another notable dis tinction is that this later map shifted the stream flowing out of the northeastern portion of the lake to the southeastern edge. John Colter’s route is highlighted more in the latter map also; wh ereas Clark’s manuscript map shows Colter’s route as a faint dotted line, Lewis’s engrav ing shows a dark solid line. Many of the Native American place names are more legible on this latter map because of the darker print and larger lettering. Even though Clark did not travel to th e lake during his time in the Yellowstone area, his inclusion of Yellowstone Lake on his map is important. Incorporating Yellowstone Lake into his map reflects the prominence of the lake in the lore and accounts of explorers in the area. It also re flects the use of informal accounts of the lake provided by Native Americans and by at leas t one trapper. Instead, it is a printed verification of the cartographi c contribution of trappers and Native Americans. By including Colter’s route in the map, Clark wa s referencing this source of geographic knowledge of the area. In turn, by includi ng many Native American place names on his map and the location of some groups of Native Americans, Clark was recording their presence in the area and providing written pr oof of their contribution to mapping this 44 area. At this point in cart ographic history, Yellowstone Lake appears as a large subalpine lake with at least one major tributary in the continental recesses of the American West. By 1868, many people had traveled through the area and had provided “extensive…yet fragmentary and often contradi ctory” information from their sojourns (Haines 1974, 41). Many Native American hunters and Euro-American trappers, prospectors, missionaries, and military personal traveled through the Yellowstone area. This period between 1804 and 1868 includes th e cumulative effects of Native Americans and trappers who frequented the lake as we ll as the informal collaborative mapping and route sharing between trappers, prospector s, missionaries, and other explorers. According to Euro-American sources, Yellows tone Lake was a large body of water near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River and the area was peopled by Native American groups. First-hand accounts of Yellowstone Lake during this early period of haphazard exploration added to Yellowstone Lake’s growing reputation among Euro-American travelers and explorers. In 1822, Daniel T. Potts describe d the Yellowstone River as having “a large fresh water Lake near its head on the very top of the Mountain which is about one hundred by fourty Miles in diameter and as clear as Crystal…on the South border of this Lake is a number of hot and boiling springs” (Haines 1974, 8). Trapper Osborne Russell also traveled across the Ye llowstone Plateau. In 1836, he traveled along the east shore of the lake a nd found that the “lake is about 100 Mls. In circumference bordered on the East by high ranges of Mountains whose spurs terminate at the shore and on the west by a low bed of piney mountains its greatest width is about 15 Mls. Lying in an oblong form south to north or rather in the shape of a crescent” (Haines 1974, 14). 45 Russell’s estimate of the shoreline was close to the actual 110-mile circumference, but he was mistaken about the shape. From hi s perspective on the northern shore of Yellowstone Lake, however, the lake does look as if it has two main arms. Russell journeyed through the Yellowstone Plateau as a guide and trapper, following Yellowstone Lake’s northern and eastern shor es, and continued to add to the increasing knowledge of this subalpine lake. Yellowstone Lake appears on at l east two maps before 1860. Although the depiction of Yellowstone Lake in these maps does not change significantly from earlier renditions, they are indicators of the lake’s continued car tographic presence and they serve as bridges of information about the lake to the more organized survey parties later on. Captain Washington Hood’ s manuscript map (Figure 4) from an 1839 Corps of Topographical Engineers survey shows a “Yello wstone L.” and attributes information on the map to “William Sublette and others” (Haines 1974, 17). This collaborative mapping between Sublette (a trapper) and Hood’s milita ry group is repeated in other maps. For example, Father DeSmet created a map of the area that included Yellowstone Lake. The location of the lake and many features on the map can be attributed to the knowledge of the area that trapper Jim Bridger gathered from Native American sources and his own travels and then shared with DeSmet. Th e 1851 DeSmet-Bridger map shows an elliptical Yellowstone Lake that does not carry the name of the lake but shows hot springs along its eastern shore, a “60 by 7” description near it , and several streams running into it (Haines 1974, 22). 46 Figure 4. Map of Yellowstone Lake, 1839 Captain Washington Hood’s manuscript ma p from an 1839 Corps of Topographical Engineers survey includes “Yellowstone L.” although there is no lake drawn by the notation. Hood noted some of his information sources as fur trappers “William Sublette and others.” [Reprinted in Haines 1974, 187.] Although Yellowstone Lake became an increasingly well-know part of the intermountain West for fur trappers, army personnel, and other explorers (Haines 1974; Whittlesey 1988; Walsh 1993), depictions of the lake on maps did not change significantly until 1860. In this year, Captai n William F. Raynolds of the Corps of Topographical Engineers produced a map integrating information gathered during an expedition he led into the Yellowstone area from 1859 to 1860. The 1868 U.S. War 47 Department Map of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers and Their Tributaries Explored by Captain W.F. Raynolds Topl. Engrs . (Figure 5) made several improvements on the depiction of Yellowstone Lake from Clark’s map. First, the lake appears as Yellowstone Lake instead of Clark’s “Eustis Lake.” The size and shape of the lake also gain more definition in Raynolds’s map. The mountains surrounding the lake are depicted further away from the lake than in Clark’s map a nd the lake in Raynolds’s map lies in a large valley instead of at the headwall of a cirque. The shape of the lake also changes in Raynold’s map. Yellowstone Lake has shifted from a circular lake to a more el ongated, narrow lake. Fi nally, the Yellowstone River flows into the lake’s s outhern perimeter and out of its northern edges on this 1868 map. Although the accuracy of Raynolds’s map is improved over William Clark’s depiction of the lake, the Raynolds expedition shared Clark’s lack of geographic intimacy with the lake. Raynolds was deterred from crossing the mountains to the lake by heavy snows and severe weather (see Figure 5). Hi s map depicts the information he gathered about the lake from his guide who collected a great deal of his knowledge from Native American sources (Walsh 1993, 256-258). Walter deLacy’s Map of the Territory of Montana with Portions of the Adjoining Territories (Figure 6) is the next printed additi on to the cartographic understanding of Yellowstone Lake. This first printing of this map was in 1865, two years after the 1863 expedition. The route that deLacy and hi s prospecting party traveled in the 1863 expedition did not include a visit to Yellows tone Lake (see Figure 6), but the lake was included in the 1865 map. Once again, this gr oup could not include the lake based on 48 Figure 5. Map of Yellowstone Lake, 1860 and Route of the Raynold’s Expedition Captain Raynolds produced a map of Yellowst one in 1860 (top) based on his travels to the Yellowstone Plateau. Heavy snows a nd inclement weather blocked his travels (bottom) to the shores of Yellowstone Lake (route outlined in bold). [Reprinted in Haines 1974, 190 and route printed in Haines 1977a, 88.] 49 Figure 6. Maps of Yellowstone Lake, 1865 and deLacy’s 1863 Route Walter deLacy and a group of prospectors traveled around Yellowstone in 1863 and he created a map (top) of the area which was printed in 1865. Although his route (outlined in bold) did not include a trip to Yellowstone Lake (bottom) he did include the water body in his map. deLacy’s map was revised over the next twenty-four years with a notable revision in 1870 with David Folsom. [Reprinted in Haines 1974, 193 and route printed in Haines 1977a, 66.] 50 their personal experiences or observations , but they did secure information about Yellowstone Lake from second-hand sources such as Native Americans and trappers. Over the next twenty-four year s this map was revised as ne w information about the lake was integrated into its format (Walsh 1993, 258). Before discussing these revisions, though, it is helpful to look at some of the ev ents and explorations that occurred between these revisions. Throughout the 1860’s information about Yellowstone Lake continued to be gathered and recorded in various forms. This knowledge is an important clue to the evolution of the lake’s image on maps, the history of Euro-American and Native American travels in the area, and the growi ng fame of Yellowstone Lake as a notable geographic feature in the American West. In 1864, John C. Davis and a group of fellow travelers ventured “into the park just above the lake, and immediately found ourselves in the midst of the wonders of this enchanted land” (Haines 1974, 30). Their route included a visit to the West Thumb thermal basin al ong the southwestern shores of Yellowstone Lake and then they “wandered along the shore for a while” (Haines 1974, 30). A Virginia City newspaper reported in 1867 another instance of Yellowstone Lake exploration when covering an organized e xpedition that took thr ee weeks to go up the Shield’s River “as far as Yellowstone La ke” (Haines 1974, 34). The same paper also reported another group of prospectors who “h ave been to the Lake at the head of Yellowstone and report the greatest w onder of the age” (Haines 1974, 36). An 1867 journalist described the lake: Two main forks of the Yellowstone…empty into the big lake which has for its outlet the Yellowstone River, and just below the lake the whole river falls over the face of a mountain thousands of feet…The great lake, like all ot hers in these mountains, is thick with salmon trout of from five to forty pounds weight, and where the milky boiling 51 mineral waters from the running star bolt geys ers intermingle with the pure, clear water from the running streams, elegant fish can be forked up by the boat load (Haines 1974, 38). The lake also attracted stories that grossl y exaggerated its charac ter. In 1868, Leigh Freeman wrote: This is the largest and strangest mountain lake in the world. It being sixty by twenty-five miles in size and surrounded by all manner of large game, including an occasional white buffalo, that is seen to rush down the perpetual snowy peaks that tower above, and plunge up to its sides in to the water. It is filled with fish half as large as a man, some of which have a mouth and horns an d skin like a catfish and legs like a lizard (Haines 1974, 39). Freeman continued that Yellowstone Lake was “so clear and so deep, that by looking into it you can see them making tea in China” (Haines 1974, 39). Although such descriptions of Yellowstone Lake contributed to images of the region during the 1860’s, there were few new maps of the area produced during that time. In 1869, David Folsom, Charles Cook, and Willi am Peterson organized a trip into the Yellowstone Plateau that mark ed a shift in this trend. This small group did not bring instruments to measure the features they encountered, but they did record their findings and their accounts of the trip reflect the accuracy of their observations (see Smith and Wyckoff 2001). Their route (F igure 7) followed the lake’s north shore. In David Folsom’s journal he recorded: …we arrived at Yellowstone Lake, about twenty miles from the falls. The main body of this beautiful sheet of water is ten miles wide from east to west, and sixteen miles long from north to south; but at the south e nd it puts out two arms, one to the southeast and the other to the southwest, making the entire length of the lake abou t thirty miles. Its shores—whether gently sloping mountains, bo ld promontories, low necks, or level prairies—are everywhere covered with timber. The lake has three small islands, which are also heavily timbered. The outlet is at the northwest extremity (Haines 1974, 53). From the low lying position along the shorelin e of Yellowstone Lake, Folsom found that “the forest-crowned hills” around the lake “bounded” his view of “this inland sea” 52 (Haines 1974, 53). These kinds of experiences contributed to Folsom’s image of the lake and to subsequent maps of Yellowstone Lake. Upon his return from the 1869 trip to Yellowstone, Folsom collaborated with Walter deLacy and created a revision of deL acy’s 1865 Yellowstone map. The result of their efforts was a map published in 1870 (see Figure 7). The 1870 map is significant for several reasons. It documents collaboration between Euro-American explorers to map the Yellowstone Plateau, it depicts a revised image of Yellowstone Lake, and it contributes to the evolving understanding of this high elev ation lake. The image of Yellowstone Lake has changed considerably when compared to deLacy’s 1865 map. The latter map illustrates a divided Yellowstone Lake with two arms or bays. The elongated southern arm is the receptor of the “Main Fork” river, and the bulbous west arm shows a “Hot Springs” area (probably West Thumb th ermal area). Three other hot springs areas are shown: one along the northeastern portions of the lake, a second near Pelican Creek and towards the north, and a third near the ou tlet of the river flowing from the lake. Another major addition to this map is its depiction of islands at Yellowstone Lake (three are shown). These revisions reflect Fo lsom’s recent trip to Yellowstone Lake and his observations of the lake from the norther n shoreline. Standing on the north shore and looking into the vast arms of the lake, it is diffi cult to discern the arms and it appears as if there are two large bays that constitute this lake. Also from this vantage point on the shoreline, one may easily see that there are several large islands in the lake, although their shapes are also deceiving from this perspective. The 1870 deLacy map also reveals the c ontinued efforts of Euro-Americans to represent the area as an uninhabited wilderness open for potential economic development. 53 Figure 7. Map of Yellowstone Lake, 1870 and Route of the Folsom Expedition This 1870 revision (top) of deLacy’s 1865 map of Yellowstone reflects new geographical information gathered by David Folsom and sh ared with Walter deLacy. Folsom, unlike deLacy, visited the north shore of Yellowst one Lake (bottom) in 1869 and recorded his observations of the lake (route outlined in bold). [deLacy map reprinted in Haines 1974, 192 and route printed in Haines 1977a, 93.] 54 This map shows a marked contrast to Lewis’ s engraving of William Clark’s map from the early 1800’s. Unlike Lewis’s engraving (or Clark’s manus cript map), deLacy’s 1870 map does not record Native American place na mes or the locations of Native American groups. The 1870 map has a lot more empty spaces bereft of landmarks or labels which could be interpreted as unsettled landscapes or wilderness areas. This could be attributed to Native American depopulation across th e Yellowstone Plateau throughout the 19 th century from migration, illness, and armed conflict with advancing Euro-American settlers. The year 1870 marked a shift in the method of accumulating mapping data for Yellowstone Lake. This was the year that the first organized “scientific” expedition entered the area. While the Folsom Expe dition certainly was an organized group and their travels and observations ai ded the mapping effort of the lake, they did not enter the Yellowstone area equipped with the equipm ent, funds, and personnel to measure and catalog their observations. The Washburn E xpedition or Yellowstone Expedition left Montana in late summer 1870 and returned from a trip into the Yellowstone region with volumes of new information about the area. Spurred by the accumulating first-hand accounts of the Yellowstone Plateau, advo cates of western expansion deemed it necessary to fund and organize a formal group of explorers to the area. The demand for new knowledge of Yellowstone reflected the gr owing number of Euro-American settlers in the region, the interest in cataloging natural resources in the Yellowstone region, and growing conflict between Euro -American and Native American groups to use and access the area. 55 Judith Meyer (1996) offers some parameters for looking at early “discovery accounts” of the Yellowstone region. Her work helps to discuss the relationship between different early exploration accounts of Yellows tone Lake. The journals and maps that were created by expedition parties often built upon previous knowledge of the area from Native American and Euro-American sources. Through this process, the accounts were very similar to each other. Meyer outlines four factors that contribute to this phenomenon: all of the explorer’s had a familiarity with “‘prediscovery’ accounts describing Yellowstone,” there was a grea t deal of “scientific and geographic exploration” being completed during this ti me which gave the e xplorers a context in which they could place their experiences, the park explorers were “g reatly influenced by each other,” and all of these accounts used accepted language and writing styles prevalent during the late nineteenth century (1996, 34). The Washburn Expedition traveled with the intent of expl oring the region and documenting what they found: They brought sc ientific instruments to measure the local topography and kept written record s of their experiences. Fe aring hostile encounters with Native American peoples in the area, the expedition was accompanied by an army escort under the supervision of Lieutenant Gusta vus Doane. This group of sojourners experienced and documented many of Yellowstone ’s features that had been observed by previous explorers to the area. However, the prestige of this forma lly organized group of politically connected citizens and military personnel added to the perceived reliability and acceptance of their travel accounts. This was a contrast to the fragmented accounts from trappers, prospectors, military personnel, and other explorers that were often discredited by 56 government officials and the popul ar press as fabricated stories. The entry of the Washburn Expedition into Yellowstone also re flects the rising tide of hostility towards Native Americans; Bannock, Crow, and Shos hone peoples were still living in and actively using Yellowstone’s resources throughout the 19th century. Washburn’s formal expedition into the area was a sign of incr easing political and economic pressures to organize this territory and develop it for uses deemed appropriate by Euro-American groups. The route of the Yellowstone Expedition (F igure 8) reflects the maps that they produced and the organization of their travel accounts. Their route included a tour around Yellowstone Lake: they approached Yell owstone Lake from the north, arriving at the lake outlet of the Yellowstone River. Th en, they traveled sout heast along the foot of the Absaroka Mountains along the shoreline of the lake, changing th eir route as they crossed the Yellowstone River fl owing into the lake. After th at crossing they moved in a westerly direction along the s outhern shores and arms of the lake. Finally, the group cut through heavy fallen and standing timber to the west bay (or thumb), and then out of the lake region and towards the thermal areas of the Upper Geyser Basin. Two notable maps were published by expedition members from the 1870 Yellowstone Expedition: General Henry Washburn’s map and Lieutenant Doane’s map (see Figure 8). The maps that Washburn a nd Doane produced were official government documents and they altered the cartographic representations of the lake from previous maps. As a testament to the accumulated cartographic knowledge of Yellowstone Lake, General Washburn carried and referenced a copy of deLacy’s 1870 map with him as he traveled into the Yellowstone region. The group traveled around the east, south, and 57 Figure 8. Maps of Yellowstone Lake, c.1870 and Route of the Yellowstone Expedition Both Lt. Doane and General Washburn printed maps (top and bottom right) based on their travels to Yellowstone Lake in 1870. Th e route (bottom left) that the group traveled (outlined in bold) around Yellows tone lake gave them a better idea of the size and shape of the lake. Doane’s journal en try reflects his view for mapping the lake from the top of a peak on Yellowstone Lake’s eastern shore. “The view from this peak commanded completely the lake enabling us to sketch a map, of its inlets and bearings with considerable accuracy” (Bonney and Bonney 1970, 309). [Doane and Washburn map reprinted in Bonney and Bonney 1970, 199 and 295; Route map printed in Haines 1977a, 110.] 58 western shorelines of the lake yet, the ma ps drawn by this group still show inaccurate contours for the lake. These errors are not due to the lack of exploring prowess by the group. During their adventures, they walked and rode around the heavily forested lake shore, climbed several mountains to take barometer readings and view lake vistas, attempted to float a raft on the lake to explore some of the islands, and camped each evening in the heavily wooded forest by the la ke. The routes and the peaks that they climbed afforded views of many portions of the lake, but the heavily wooded and hilly areas adjacent to the lake obstructed views across the lake. Indeed, such birds-eye perspectives on the lake would not be rea lized until airplanes flew over the region. The obscured viewpoints posed problems for making accurate maps of the lake. A journal entry from the leader of the military escort for the expedition—Lieutenant Doane—reflects some of these cartographic hurdles: Our camp to-night [ sic ] is due south from the head of the Yellowstone, on the other side of the lake. Long wooded prom ontories here extend out into the basin inclosing bays several miles in length. These are so numerous as to render it impossible to give a correct profile of th e shores without actual measurem ent, the perspective in such distances rendering appearances very deceiving (Cramton 1932, 132). According to Doane, when the party did try to float on the lake to explore some of the nearby islands, they “built a raft for the purpos e of attempting to visit them, but the strong waves of the lake dashed it to piece s in an hour” (Bonney and Bonney 1970, 301). Sturdier boats and supplies to mend them improved this situation and in 1876 Doane finally made a trip to Stevenson Island (Bonney and Bonney 1970, 482). The physical scene of the lake—its large size, heavily wooded shores, turbulent waters, and nearby highland areas—was a major factor in shaping early maps of the area. 59 The maps created by the Yellowstone E xpedition members resemble one another, but they do reveal slight vari ations in the shape of Yellowstone Lake. Lieutenant Doane’s 1870 Map of the Route of th e Yellowstone Expedition and Washburn’s 1870 Route of Washburn Party 1870 (see Figure 8) both show detailed topographic features around Yellowstone Lake such as mountains, rivers, and other lakes. Yellowstone Lake’s position on both of these maps is too fa r south and east as on deLacy’s maps. But, unlike previous maps of the area, the offi cial maps improve upon the size and shape of the lake’s arms. No longer merely a two bay ar ea, the lake is shown to have four distinct narrow bays. The islands are also mapped more accurately. Doane’s map shows four islands and Washburn’s map depicts three isla nds. The mountains that merely encircled the lake in previous accounts now enter into the recesses of the bays and we start to see three ridges towards the south end of the lake. The area of greatest accuracy on Washburn and Doane’s maps is along the east shore where the party spent most of its travel time. The north shore and the area between the Flat Mount ain and West Thumb bays—areas that the group di d not travel and could not clearly see from their various vantage points around the lake—a re the least accurate. Ther e are also some differences between Doane’s map and Washburn’s drawi ng. Washburn’s version includes more place names and streams around Yellowstone La ke than Doane’s map which provides more detailed mountain ranges and far fewer place names. Although the party certainly encountered signs of Native American activ ity at the lake, neither map shows native trails, place names, or camps. It is also worth noting that the writ ten accounts of the Yellowstone Expedition included many contradictory entries concerning Native Ameri cans at Yellowstone Lake. 60 Native American groups were actively using the rich natural resources and good camping sites at Yellowstone Lake during the time of the Yellowstone Expedition. David Spence (1999) writes about Washburn pa rty’s encounters and perceptions of Native Americans in Yellowstone. According to Spence the members of the Yellowstone Expedition were “keenly aware of Yellowstone’s native inhabita nts. Fear of Indian attack led them to request a military escort, and the explorers se t up a regular night watch through the first half of their journey” and th ey found several formerly occupied Indian camps during their trip (1999, 42). Indeed, during the first part of their trip into Yellowstone, Washburn’s party followed trails blazed and used by Nativ e Americans. By the time the expedition reached Yellowstone Lake, however, they deci ded to avoid any potential encounters with Native Americans by choosing to cut a path through the thick, fa llen timber around the lake’s southern shores rather than follow the worn paths around the lake that would potentially put them closer to Native Ameri can parties also trave ling in the area (Bonney and Bonney 1970). An example of the expedition’s contradictory reports may be found in Nathaniel P. Langford’s account of the trip that he published in Scribner’s Monthly (1871) and later in The Discovery of Yellowstone (1905). The author descri bes traveling in a “pathless wilderness” (Langford 1905, 69), but in anot her account he related that the party following a Native American trai l; “[t]he marks made in the soil by the travais (lodge- poles) on the side of th e trail showed that it had been recently traveled by a number of lodges of Indians,—and little colt, which we overtook soon after making the discovery, convinced us that we were in their imme diate vicinity” (Langford 1871, 7). Spence (1999) found similar records in the journals from the Yellowstone Expedition; while the 61 group was traveling across the “the hills south” of Yellowstone Lake, they “discovered an abandoned tepee, a game run used for corralling herds of animals, and stacks of lodge poles left behind for later use” (1999, 42). Although the members of the party recorded these references to active and current use of Yellowstone by Native Americans, they also disregarded the native presence in the area. According to Spence the Washburn party “dismissed these signs as ancient remnants of vanished Indians, or…the aberrant behavior of plains Indi ans who sought refuge in the mountains” (1999, 42). The Washburn Expedition was quickly followed by other organized, scientific survey parties into Yellowstone. In 1871, tw o government sponsored parties traveled to Yellowstone to document Washburn’s findings and to gather more detailed geographic information. Under the auspices of the recen tly created United States Geological Survey of the Territories, Ferdinand V. Hayden led e xpeditions into the Yellowstone Plateau in 1871, 1872, and 1878. The 1871 expedition was a joint venture between the U. S. Geological Survey and the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers group was led by Captai n John W. Barlow and Captain David P. Heap. Both groups traveled similar routes around the lake (Figure 9 and Figure 10), although their timing was staggered. Both the Hayden expedition and the Barlow-Heap expedition produced maps of Yellowstone Lake and combined, they gathered more data about the area than any previ ous Euro-American led expediti on. Their contri bution to the understanding of the lake and the Yellowstone area may be attributed to the extended time they stayed in the area and the large size of the groups. These conditions meant that they had the time to complete thorough survey s of the lake and they had the personnel to collect, record, and handle that data. The expeditions br ought back floral, faunal, and 62 geologic specimens, the first photographs of Yellowstone, topographical observations, land measurements, sketches, and detailed journals. Hayden completed a report of his expedition’s findings-- Preliminary Report of the United States Geological Survey of Montana and Portions of Adjacent Territories; being a Fifth Annual Report of Progress ( Preliminary Report ) — which included many of the sketches and written observations take n by the group. His re port was published in 1872 and it included a map of Yellowstone Lake drawn by E. Hergesheimer. The Yellowstone Lake Wyoming Territory, Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey of the Territories Surveyed by the Party in charge of F. V. Hayden, U.S. Geologist 1871 (Figure 9) adds new definition to the spatial understanding of Yellowstone Lake. Although the party traveled ar ound the lake from the outlet of Yellowstone River west and then south to Flat Mountain (see Figur e 9), this map portrays a false bay of Yellowstone Lake near Delusion Lake. The U.S. Corps of Engineers also pr oduced a map from their travels around Yellowstone Lake. The Sketch of the Yellowstone Lake and the Valley of the Upper Yellowstone River (see Figure 10) reveals a very simila r picture of Yellowstone Lake to the map created by the U. S. Geological Su rvey. However, there are some notable differences in the maps. The U. S. Corps of Engineers map depicts a narrower West Thumb Bay and a less-defined South Arm than that seen on the U. S. Geological Survey map. Also, the map from the Barlow-Heap group shows Delusion Lake as a separate lake, not an extensive bay of Yellowstone La ke. Finally, the U.S. Corps of Engineers map does not include any depth readings of the lake. 63 Figure 9. Map of Yellowstone Lake, 1872 and Route of the 1871 Hayden Expedition An 1872 map of Yellowstone Lake (top) was drawn from the record ed depth readings and shoreline measurements taken by the U.S. Geological Survey expedition into Yellowstone in 1871. The organized, scientific party traveled (route outlined in bold) around Yellowstone Lake (left bottom) and gather ed a great deal of information about its parameters. [Hayden 1872, map insert and route map printed in Merrill 1999, 34.] 64 Figure 10. Map of Yellowstone Lake, 1872 a nd Route of the Barlow-Heap Expedition The U.S. Corps of Engineers produced a map of Yellowstone Lake in 1872 (top) based on the data and observations collected by Captain Barlow and Captain Heap while conducting a survey in Yellowstone. The e xpedition began their journey around the same time as the U.S. Geological Survey started theirs, but the two groups traveled (route outlined in bold) slightly different paths and often visited areas in the park at different times (bottom). [Map printed in Barlow 1872, ma p insert and route map printed in Haines 1977, 145.] 65 Hergesheimer’s map revealed an aspect of Yellowstone Lake that had not been formally recorded before—its depths. The numbers across the lake mark the depth readings that were measured by two memb ers of the expedition [Hayden 1872, 101]. The U. S. Geological Survey party launched the expedition geared with the tools and the personnel to make formal measurements of th e lake; they traversed the shoreline of the lake, measured their distance with an odome ter, and camped along the shoreline. The geological survey also brought a small “oak boa t with a woolen bla nket sail” (Figure 11) with them which they used to take a series of readings of the lake floor (Morgan 2003, 15). Figure 11. A Precarious Task for Science The U.S. Geological Survey launched an expe dition into Yellowstone in 1871 that was prepared to gather data about Yellows tone Lake. This 1871 William H. Jackson photograph shows two member s of the expedition in The Annie—a boat which the party brought to the lake to take de pth readings. Taking soundings in the lake was not an easy task. According the Albert Peale, the expe dition’s mineralogist, “[t]he Lake was very rough. The waves coming in were equal to waves on the sea coast. Ellio tt says they were able to take but three soundings, it be ing rough all the time.” (Merrill 1999, 160) [Courtesy Yellowstone National Park Photo Archives.] 66 Hayden’s journals reflect the systematic nature of the survey crew’s effort at Yellowstone Lake: “I have made quite thorough sounding of the Lake, explored the north and west sides and will now move to the south and east sides. We are making a good topographical and geological map of the entire district” (Haines 1974, 102). He also described Elliott’s fieldwork as making a “a systematic sketch of the shore with all its indentations the banks down, indeed, ma king a complete topographical as well as pictorial sketch of the shores as seen from the water, for a circuit of at least 130 miles. He will be also making soundings, at various points” (Morgan et al. 2003, 15). The increased geographical accuracy of the Yellowstone Lake maps created by the U.S. Geological Survey and the U. S. Corps of Engi neers is noticeable when compared to the maps from the 1870 Yellowstone Expedition. In Hergesheimer’s map, the lake’s west bay is rounder and enlarged. The South and Southeast Arms of the lake are also more accurately portrayed in terms of their comparative length and size with the rest of the lake. However, Hergesheimer’s map still s hows a fifth arm of the lake merging Delusion Lake into a bay of Yellowstone Lake. The U. S. Corps of Engineers map amends the depiction of Delusion Lake, but does not include depth readings for the lake. When the information from the two maps is compared and combined, however, they do change the understanding of the lake. Whereas Doane and Washburn’s maps depict four elongated arms in the southern regions of Yellowst one Lake, the 1872 maps narrow the proportions of the middle arm and divide it to show five arms for the lake. The islands are also more clearly defined in the 1872 maps. Not only do these maps illustrate the three larger islands on the lake (Stevenson, Dot, and Fr ank), the geological survey map and the 67 engineer’s map also show the relative loca tions for the smaller islands scattered around the lake (Pelican Roost, Carrington Island, the Molly Islands, and Peale Island). The U.S. Geological Survey expedition was the first group to explore Yellowstone with a photographer (William Jackson) and a pain ter (Thomas Moran) in its ranks. These two artists produ ced some of the earliest and most striking images of Yellowstone Lake (Figure 12 and Figure 13) and contributed to the documentation that was used to sway Congress’s opinion about Yellowstone and to establish Yellowstone National Park. Both Moran and Jackson work ed in coordinated efforts to depict the regions of the park and the lake that the survey party traveled through (Figure 14). Although their images depicted scenes of the natural environment at Yellowstone Lake and, occasionally members of the survey partie s, they did not include any signs of Native American activity at the lake. Both Moran and Jackson created images of Yellowstone Lake during and based on their 1871 travels to Yellowstone. Mora n produced several sketches and later woodcuts and paintings from the trip. J ackson also produced a number of images showing the lake. Hayden’s Preliminary Report was widely reproduced in guidebooks of Yellowstone National Park. Many early guidebook writers did not travel to the park, but instead copied passages from early accounts of the area and used them to describe the environmental settings of the park (Meyer 1996, 43). The images created by Moran and Jackson were also widely reproduced in early Yellowstone guidebooks and were the main sources of visual information about th e park to eastern audiences. In the winter of 1871, a bill was introduced to Congress to designate Yellowstone a national park. Although I discuss the passage of this important piece of legislation in 68 Figure 12. William H. Jackson Photographs During the 1871 U.S. Geological Survey party’ s travels along the shores of Yellowstone Lake, Jackson captured the first photographi c record of Yellowstone Lake. Often Jackson included members of the survey party in the shots for a sense of scale. F.V. Hayden included some of these pictures from the 1871 trip as documentation during the Congressional debates over the Yellowstone Park Act. These photos (from top to bottom) show camps along the north shore of the lake, Mary Bay on the north shore, and a portion of West Thumb Bay of Yellows tone Lake. [Top photo Haines 1977a, 147; middle Milstein 1996, 36; bottom photo Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park Photo Archives.] 69 Figure 13. Thomas Moran Wood-Block Prin ts and Painting of Yellowstone Lake Thomas Moran accompanied the U.S. Geological Survey in 1871 and created many sketches of Yellowstone Lake. Some of his sketches and wood-block prints were used to illustrate popular articles that N.P. La ngford authored. Moran’s work, along with William H. Jackson’s, was included in the documents used during the Congressional debates over the Yellowstone Park Bill. [top images printed in Langford 1871, 122 and 119; bottom left image reprinted in Bonney and Bonney 1970, 300; bottom right printed in Hayden 1872, 96.] 70 Figure 14. Images of Yellowstone Lake created by Jackson and Moran During the 1871 U.S. Geological Survey, Jackso n and Moran created many images of the Yellowstone region. Often they worked coll aboratively when they chose locations to take photos and make sketches . The top images are from the mountains along the eastern shore of the lake looking at the Promontor y. Moran also created a vivid painting of Yellowstone Lake’s Southeast Arm (bottom right) from the inspiration of Jackson’s photo of the same area. [in order of app earance Printed in Hayden 1873, map insert; Merrill 1999, 160; Whittlesey 1997, 20; Courtesy Yellowstone National Park Archives; National Park Service.] 71 more detail in the second section of this chapter, it is worth noting he re the passing of that bill in 1872 and the subsequent establishment of Yellowstone National Park. The passage of the park bill marks a stage in the exploration proce ss that Overton (1981) outlines in his theoretical framework. This turning point may come when information from explorers’s reports are evaluated by “deci sion-makers” and a verdict is reached as to whether an area should be explored in more detail or developed (Overton 1981, 57-58). Up to this point, reports and the accumulation of geographic knowledge about Yellowstone was not enough to warrant a shif t in the land use patterns at this site. Hayden’s report and the images from the expe dition were added to the accumulated data about Yellowstone and a decision was made to formally recognize this area as a recreational preserve. It is important to also note that this did not change many facets of Yellowstone. The physical environment of Yellowstone Lake was still not accurately mapped by Euro-Americans. Native Americans did not disappear from Yellowstone and cease using its resources. After the establishment of Yellowstone National Park, there was still a demand to map its boundaries and features with greater detail. Government surveys were funded with orders to enter the park and gather more geographic data. While the contours and topography of Yellowstone Lake were redraw n with greater accuracy than found on maps since William Clark’s manuscript map, there were still many areas of the lake (and of Yellowstone National Park) left to be cataloged, measured, and traversed by Euro- Americans. Between 1872 and 1879, several Euro-American groups entered the new park with these objectives in mind. Hayden made another trip to Yellowstone in 1872, and in 1873 Captain William A. Jones led a Corp s of Engineers expedition into the area. 72 His Report Upon the Reconnaissance of Northwes tern Wyoming, Including Yellowstone National Park, Made in the Summer of 1873 included 49 trail-maps and one of the first colored geologic maps of the region. Capt ain William Ludlow led the next group on a reconnaissance of the park in 1875. The part y spent forty-five days in the park and produced improved maps and a plan for cons ervation of the recently established park (Walsh 1999, 268). Another U.S. Geological Su rvey party was sent into Yellowstone in 1878 under the direction of F. V. Hayden. The Map of Yellowstone National Park, Showing Distribution of Hot Springs (Figure 15) was produced fr om the data collected during this trip. This map corrects and improves upon the 1871 U.S. Geological Survey map and incorporates geographical information gathered by the Jones and Ludlow groups. By 1879—a year after Hayden’s last trip into Yellowstone—a new government agency was created which changed the me thods and mission of mapping throughout the West. The United States Geological Survey, es tablished in 1879, brought an “organized and systematic mapping program” to the na tional scene and improved the clarity of mapping from Hayden’s reports (Walsh 1999, 271) . The first topographic map of Yellowstone National Park was produced in 1896 by the U.S. Geological Survey. The Topographical Map of Yellowstone National Park and North Western Wyoming (Figure 16) included many named features in th e park and an enha nced topography of Yellowstone Lake. The 1896 topographic map accu rately shows the lake’s arms, islands, and topographical contours, and many place names. This map originally appeared in Arnold Hague’s Geology of the Yellowstone National Park printed by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1904. Hague led severa l expeditions into Yellowstone; he entered 73 Figure 15. Map of Yellowstone Lake, 1878 In 1878, Hayden took his last survey trip in to Yellowstone National Park. This map reflects continued efforts to collect new topogr aphical data about the lake. [Library of Congress on-line map collection.] the area again with exploration parties be tween 1883 and 1889, then again from 1890 to 1891, and for a final expedition in 1893. Duri ng these many trips back into Yellowstone National Park, he resurveyed Yellowstone Lake and triangulated those readings (Morgan et al. 2003). The topographic map that was pr oduced in 1896 was the first in a series of topographic maps of the lake, periodically updated with late r versions appearing in 1961, 1972, 1982, and 1986 (Figure 17). Maps after the Hague surveys also showed a marked improvement in the accuracy of topogra phical measurements around the lake; more sophisticated instruments were used to meas ure the lake’s features and a greater number of exploration parties were sent to survey the lake. Topographic maps of the lake 74 Figure 16. Map of Yellowstone Lake, 1896 The first topographic map of Yellowstone National Park was produced in 1896 by the U.S. Geological Survey. The Topographical Map of Yellowstone National Park and North Western Wyoming included many named features in the park and an enhanced topography of Yellowstone Lake in color. The 1896 topographic map accurately shows the lake’s arms, islands, and topographical contours, and many place names. This map originally appeared in Arnold Hague’s Geology of the Yellowstone National Park printed by the U.S. Geological Survey. [Morgan et al. 2003, 14.] after 1896 also started to record cultural features and place names as the cultural landscape of Yellowstone Lake continued to evol ve (Figure 18). The depths of the lake, however, would not be precisely charted unti l the 1990’s, when more refined instruments were used to update the soundings taken in 1871 by Hayden’s survey crew (see Morgan et al. 2003). 75 Figure 17. United States Geological Survey Map, 1972 The United State Geological Survey created many maps of Yellowstone Lake. Revised in 1961, 1972 (seen below), 1982, and 1986 this government agency has a long history of mapping in Yellowstone. [TerraServer Image Courtesy of the United States Geological Survey.] Maps of Yellowstone Lake produced in the late 19th century also started to depict a more diverse set of features than previous maps of the lake. As more information about Yellowstone Lake’s physical environment wa s gathered and transferred to maps and more people started to visit and develop th e new national park, cultural aspects of the lake received renewed attention on maps. Ea rlier maps of Yellowstone Lake such as William Clark’s maps or Washburn’s map highlig hted place names and areas of interest at the lake. This trend changed, however, as funding and cartographic demands called for 76 Figure 18. Topographical Maps of Yellowstone Lake, 1910 and 1930 The United States Geological Survey conti nued to update and revi se their topographical maps of Yellowstone Lake from 1896 to pr esent times. These maps from 1910 (top) and 1930 (bottom) show progressive changes in the detail and organization of features mapped at the lake. Both of these maps in clude clustered development at the Lake Area and West Thumb Area as well as a road connecting the two locations. [From the collection of William Wyckoff.] 77 more detailed surveys of Yellowstone’s physical environment. After the establishment of Yellowstone National Park, maps of Yellows tone Lake reflected new place names and other cultural features. The new park attracted developmen t and an increase in the number of people visiting the lake. Early park superintende nts, such as Philetus Norris were keenly interested in expl oring the lake to scout for poten tial sites to develop. By the turn of the 20th century, Yellowstone Lake had been well traveled and mapped using European cartographic conven tions. Maps that highlighted cultural features of the lake began to appear more regularly. Two examples of this style of mapping are P.W. Norris’s map of 1881 (Figure 19) and an 1887 map fr om W. C. Riley’s Official guide to the Yellowstone National Park (Figure 20). Norris’s rendition of Yellowstone Lake includes a number of place names and localities not included on earlier maps. Examples of these types of features include numbered camps, large, circled stars printed near places of interest, trails, and place names such as “Concretion Cove.” Norris created a series of these maps based on accumulated knowledge of the lake from previous travel accounts as well as from his ow n experiences boating and traveling around the lake. A version of this map accompanied each of his annual reports to the Secretary of the Interior and eventually he included the 1881 version in a Yellowstone guidebook he authored. Norris devoted many pages of his superintendent’s annual reports to documenting signs of Native American activit y at Yellowstone Lake. Superintendent Norris also included maps of Yellowstone Nati onal Park with his annual reports and at least one (see Figure 19) of these maps (later included in a park guidebook that he wrote) reflected an “Indian Pond and Camp” along th e northeastern shore of the lake at Storm Point. 78 Figure 19. Norris’s 1881 Map of Yellowstone Lake A Map of the Yellowstone National Park Compiled from the Official Explorations and Surveys of the Superintendent of the Park, And Other Authentic Sources under the Direction of the Secretary of the Interior appeared in Philetus W. Norris’s 1881 endeavor to create a guidebook for the fledgling Yello wstone National Park. His map highlights some of the cultural features of the lake su ch as a Native American camp at Storm Point on the northeastern shore, place names, trails, and numbered camps. [From Norris 1884 “The Calumet”, map insert.] The map (see Figure 20) included in W. C. Riley’s Official Guide to the Yellowstone National Park (1887) presents yet another cultural mapping of Yellowstone Lake. This map presents a Yellowstone Lake that looks very similar to Norris’s map, but the 1887 guidebook map includes some interesting feat ures. Along with the numbered camps, 79 Figure 20. Map of Yellowstone Lake, 1887 As the mapping of Yellowstone Lake’s physic al parameters continued into the late 19th century, cultural features began to appear on maps more often. This detail from a map insert for W. C. Riley’s Official guide to the Yellowstone National Park includes place names, roads, trails, and an “Indian Camp” at the lake. [Map insert from Riley 1887.] trails, and named bays of the lake that Norris records, this map also includes an “Indian Camp” near Fishing Bridge along the north s hore of the lake. Riley’s map puts symbols and words to the Native American presence at the lake but his repr esentation of their former dwelling on the lake is more an act of appropriation than recognition of established and respected settlements. By this time in the park’s history, Native Americans were dealing with an imposed re servation system and a forced exodus from their seasonal homes at Yellowstone Lake (Spence 1999). 80 Finding a Lake in the Woods: Yellowstone Lake and the Creation of Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone Lake was drawn on many Eu ro-American maps of Yellowstone and was a seasonal focus of Native American act ivity in the area. But how—if at all—did this information about Yellowstone Lake play into the creation of America’s first national park? I assessed three groups of sources to get a better understanding of the lake’s role in the debates and legislation surrounding the establishment of Yellows tone National Park; these included the record of debates in Congress over the park bill, the documentation used by park promoters to encourage a favorab le vote for the legislat ion, and the act that is the original legal document which transformed the park bill into law. I analyzed these sources for references—both in visual or written format—to Yellowstone Lake. Once I encountered a reference to the lake, I ran th at reference through a series of questions trying to understand how central or peripheral the lake was to the passing of the park bill. How was the lake being described or used to document the park? How often was the lake mentioned? What kind of place was the lake being promoted as? In the visual documentation, what parts of the lake were depicted? How was the lake visually represented? How was the lake being descri bed in written accounts? What sort of documents cited Yellowstone Lake? An Act to Set Apart a Certain Tract of Land Lying near the Head-Waters of the Yellowstone River as a Public Park (Yellowstone Park Act) was introduced into Congress on December 18, 1871. In the following months, debate ensued through Congress as to the future of the park bill. The debates ar e a useful source of study since they reveal the rationale behind the creat ion of Yellowstone National Park and the 81 objections that were presented by those w ho questioned the bill (Smith 1999, 127). The debates also reveal where the park would be located. This basic geographical facet of the debates is important since eastern lawmakers—like much of the American public during the late 19th century—had little contact with Yello wstone and most of the information that was distributed about the area consisted of second-hand reports from the accounts of explorers and promoters. This point both stre ngthened and weakened support for the bill. Some of the strongest and most adamant supporters and promoters of the bill were people who had recently traveled to the area. During the debates over this bill, park promoters were actively advertising Yellowst one to members of Congress; they used documents from surveys of Yellowstone and pe rsonal contact with se nators to convince the members of Congress to pass the park bill. According to historian Alfred Runte, “Langford, Walter Trumbull, and others worked long and hard to effect a favorable vote. For example, they placed 400 copies of Langford’s article in the May and June, 1871, issues of Scribner’s Monthly on the desk of each senator a nd representative prior to the debates in both houses. Similarly, Willia m H. Jackson’s photographs and Thomas Moran’s watercolors and sketches were di splayed prominently in the halls of the Capitol…..Finally, Hayden and his associates tried to meet personally with as many members of the Congress as possible” (1997, 46). All of the personalities Runte mentions had traveled to Yellowstone and ci rcumnavigated Yellowstone Lake as part of an organized survey party. Nathaniel P. Langford and Walter Trumbull were members of the 1870 Yellowstone Expedition that jo urneyed through the park and around Yellowstone Lake. After the expedition—and with the encouragement of the Northern Pacific Railroad—Langford lectured extens ively throughout the eastern United States 82 describing his trip and experiences in Yello wstone. He also pub lished a number of accounts from his journey; the May and June editions of Scribner’s Monthly —a popular publication—carried two of his articles about Yellowstone. Months before the bill was introduced to Congress, F. V. Hayden had le d a survey party into Yellowstone which included William H. Jackson and Thomas Moran. The expedition traveled throughout Yellowstone and around Yellowstone Lake. As a geologist in charge of the expedition, Hayden had ordered an extensive mapping of the areas the group traveled through, including the shoreline and depths of Yellowstone Lake. F. V. Hayden was an active supporter of th e Yellowstone Park Act. According to contemporary historians, Hayden’s report fr om the 1871 expedition to Yellowstone and the images prepared by Jackson and Moran were key factors in the swaying of opinion to establish Yellowstone as a national pa rk (Bonney and Bonney 1970; Haines 1977; Whittlesey 1988). The Congressional Globe reflects this in an entry for January 23, 1872: “This bill [the Yellowstone Park Act] or iginated as the result of the exploration, made by Professor Hayden, under the appropriation of Congress last year” (United States Congress 1872, 520). Hayden’s report, with an accompanying recommendation to pass the park bill, was another document used dur ing the Congressional debates. Hayden was an ardent supporter of the bill; he included the aforementioned documents in his report and he visited with members of Congr ess to discuss the park bill. Nathaniel Langford’s account of the 1870 Yellowstone Expedition was published in two issues of Scribner’s Monthly in 1871. It is helpful to look at his descriptions of Yellowstone in these articles, since they we re reproduced and given to every member of Congress who voted on the Yellowstone Park Act. Langford’s articles were a key part of 83 the documentation used by park supporters to promote Yellowstone to Congress. The account described the trip following the route that the party took from Montana Territory, south to Yellowstone, and then back again. Th e article that appeared in the May edition of Scribner’s Monthly recounted the first part of the trip—from Montana Territory into Yellowstone and along the Yellowstone River. Langford’s article in the June edition picked up where the previous one left off and continued the journey through Yellowstone and eventually back to the party’s starting point. Although the May article includes an adapted version of Henry Washburn’s map of Yellowstone (which included Yellowst one Lake), I found many references to Yellowstone Lake in Langford’s articl e published in the Ju ne 1871 edition of Scribner’s Monthly . The second installment of Langford’ s account opens with the party reaching the northern shores of Yellowstone Lake. The author devotes ten of the sixteen pages of this article to describing his experiences at Yellowstone Lake; Langford recounts the party’s route around the lake’s eastern and s outhern shores, their encounters with Native Americans, views of the lake from various mountain tops, features Langford deemed interesting (such as the West Thumb geyser basin, Steamboat Point, the dense stands of trees along the shore), a search for a mi ssing member of the group, and daily camp activities (such as preparing meals and deciding on travel routes). Langford describes the lake in terms of its size, weather, su rrounding vegetation, and t opography. Comments about the sublime beauty of the lake are common. Upon seeing Yellowstone Lake for the first time, Langford was moved to write: “Water , one of the grandest elements of scenery, never seemed so beautiful before. It formed a fitting climax to a ll the wonders we had seen, and we gazed upon it for hours, entran ced with its increasing attractions” (1871, 84 114). Indeed, Euro-American explorers fre quently observed this opposition between the excitement of other features and the calm, restorative presence of the lake. Langford’s account in Scribner’s Monthly is an example of a descript ion of Yellowstone that is copied and used in many guidebooks th roughout the early park years. Other sources of information used in the promotion of the park bill to Congress from 1871 to 1872 included Yellowstone imag es created by William H. Jackson (see Figure 12 and Figure 14) and Thomas Moran (see Figure 13 and Fi gure 14) during their 1871 trip to the area. Accompanying the U. S. Geological Survey of the Territories under the command of F. V. Hayden, these two arti sts captured images of Yellowstone Lake that were included in Hayden’s report of the tr ip. Jackson’s pictures from this trip were “presented in bound portfolios to a number of influential senators sand congressmen” (Hales 1988, 108). While Congress debated the Yellowstone Park Act, the Capitol rotunda featured “a prominent Yellowstone display featuring Hayden’s geological specimens, Jackson’s photographs, and Moran’ s sketches… [which] heightened the sense of curiosity and national pride” among the legislators (Magoc 1999, 19). Jackson took several pictures of Yellowstone Lake. Some of these pictures include people and camp activities while others portra yed only the natural environm ent. The photographer often worked in concert with Thomas Moran who wa s creating sketches of the trip. Moran’s prints appeared in Hayden’s 1871 report as well as in Langford’s Scribner’s Monthly articles on Yellowstone. La ngford’s June 1871 article for Scribner’s Monthly included twenty wood-block prints to accompany Langford’s descriptions. Of those images, nine were used to illustrate stories that Langfor d related about the lake and two of those images depict Yellowstone Lake (see Figur e 13—the top two images). Hayden’s 1871 85 Preliminary Report (which was also made availabl e to Congress during the park bill debates) included five of Moran’s prints of Yellowstone Lake. Although the two artists ofte n collaborated on the landscapes they depicted, there were differences in their cr eations. Moran created sketch es, black and white wood-block prints, and (for a few of the prints) color paintings. Jackson, on the other hand, took black and white photographs of his subjects. These two artist styles created different ways of looking at landscapes and the people. Another difference between Moran’s work and Jackson’s is scale; while Moran oftentim es portrayed small scale events like camp scenes or geothermal features at the lake, Jackson captured images across vast vistas of the lake. Still, Moran did create a number of images of the lake showing a broader horizon. His collection included a drawing of the expedition traveling along the lake’s shoreline and, several ye ars after the passage of the Yellowstone Park Act, he painted a highly romanticized, evocative image of Yellowstone Lake looking north across the lake from the Southeast Arm (see Figure 14). This image is significant in that of all the locations that Moran sketched during his time in Yellowstone , he selected Yellowstone Lake as the subject of his painting. His pain ting of the lake high lights the centrality of Yellowstone Lake and adds to its presence as a national landscape feature, building on a similar image (see Figure 14) of the lake from a W. H. Jackson photograph published after the 1871 expedition. Through this type of campaigning, the park promoters showed legislators selective aspects of Yellowstone; while they included many places in Yellowstone they also excluded descriptions or images of othe r points. A certain am ount of this exclusion may be attributed to the number and intent of exploration parties. Many areas of 86 Yellowstone had not yet been documented by Eu ro-American explorers since a relatively small group of people had entered the area with th at task in mind. It is also important to note that a relatively small group of people we re representing their views of Yellowstone to Congress and their perceptions of beauty and significance guided what they chose to describe in the park and how they decided to depict it. Judith Meyer argues that early exploration accounts were very similar because of several reasons. One of the factors that she cites is the familiarity that these people had with each other’s accounts and an observance of language and de scription that was common dur ing the late nineteenth century (1996, 43). Although pa rk supporters made good use of documents and images of Yellowstone, they still had a notable source of opposition to overcome. The lack of intimate knowledge of Yellowstone worked agai nst the park bill supporters; they had to convince the members of Congress that Yellowstone was worth protecting. The debate over the Yellowstone Park Act began when the bill was introduced on December 18, 1871 and ended with the passing of the bill on March 1, 1872. I assessed several documents recording the Congressional debates for references to see if they alluded to Yellowstone Lake. I did not find any direct references to Yellowstone Lake in the recorded debates of Congress over the Yellowstone Park Act printed in the Congressional Globe . The only direct reference to Ye llowstone Lake that I found from the Congressional debates was in a report from the House of Representatives. The report from the Committee on the Public Lands, 42nd Congress, 2nd Session, Report Number 26, from the House of Representatives, is a brief document that describes the committee’s approval of the park bill (H. R. 762) (Ha yden 1871, 163-164). The report is primarily dedicated to outlining the committee’s thoughts on the threatened status of the park 87 region, the geothermal areas in Yellowstone, and the low potential of this area being suitable for settlement. However, Yellowstone Lake is briefly mentioned in this document: Whenever the altitude of the mountain districts exceeds 6,000 feet above the tide- water, their settlement becomes problematic unless there are valuable mines to attract people. The entire area within the limits of the proposed reservation is over 6,000 feet in altitude, and the Yellowstone Lake, which occu pies an area fifteen by twenty-two miles, or three hundred and thirty square miles, is 7, 427 feet (U. S. C ongress 1872, reprinted in Dilsaver 1994, 28-29). In this reference, the lake is used to support the argument that Yellowstone is not a viable area for settlement. This was not the first in stance where Yellowstone Lake was used as an indicator. Historian Aubrey Haines argues that this idea can be attributed to Cornelius Hedges, a member of the 1870 Washburn Expedition (1977a, 166). Hedges wrote a series of articles for the Helena Herald and in his final piece—“The Yellowstone Lake”—he described the lake as being inaccessi ble and a gauge of the poor quality of the surrounding lands for economic return (Haine s 1977a, 134-135). Report number twenty- six also mentions the physical environment of Yellowstone Lake—its high elevation and extent. The lake is used as a geographical reference point in the “proposed reservation” to compare the park lands to other areas where pe ople live. An interesting point about this mention is that Yellowstone Lake is selected from the catalog of high elevation, natural park features to support this argument. Looking at the Congressional debates reveals some of the questions that Congress deemed important to address in the bill. By looking at the Yellowstone Park Act, we can see some of the outcomes of those questions. An Act to Set Apart a Certain Tract of Land Lying near the Head-Waters of the Yellowstone River as a Public Park (Yellowstone Park Act, 1872) (U.S. Congr ess 1872b, reprinted in Dilsaver 1994, 28-29) 88 is a brief document; it is divi ded into two sections. Impor tant issues for legislators revealed in the bill include: how the park would be managed, who would have access to the park, the activities that were allowed in the park, how large the park would be, where the park would be located, what features were deemed valuable enough to place under protection, and the spatial ex tent of the park. The Ye llowstone Park Act included references to Yellowstone Lake. It was inco rporated into the confines of Yellowstone National Park; in fact, its parameters (recen tly surveyed by Hayden) served as markers for the boundary of the park. The Yellowstone Park Act demarcates the actual piece of real estate that encompassed the first park boundaries as: …the tract of land in the Territo ries of Montana and Wyoming…running eastward of the most eastern point of Ye llowstone Lake; thence south along said meridian to the parallel of latitude passing ten miles south of the most southern point of Yellowstone Lake; thence west along said para llel to the meridian passing fifteen miles west of the most western point of Madison lake; thence north along said meridian to the latitude of the junction of the Yellowstone a nd Gardiner’s rivers; thence east to the place of beginning (U.S. Congress 1872b, repr inted in Dilsaver 1994, 28). In this description, Yellowstone Lake is used as a geographical reference point for locating the park and surmising its extent. The lake is one of f our natural features mentioned in this description as points of reference for the boundaries and it is used three out of the five times that locations are alig ned to latitude and longitude measurements (Figure 21). The importance of water reso urces to Congress in passing this bill seems evident from the title of the act as well as the prominence of water bodies as anchor points for the boundary markers. Yellowstone Lake is not mentioned in th e second section of the Yellowstone Park Act. This part of the legisla tion is devoted to leases allowe d in the park and the types of business enterprises deemed as appropriate to a national park. The scenic attractions and 89 rationale for establishing the park are not described in the second section of the Act; instead, this section outlines the duties of the Secretary of the Interior in protecting park resources (“against the wanton de struction of the fish and game found within said park”), regulating park businesses, and dealing with trespassers in the park (U.S. Congress 1872b, reprinted in Dilsaver 1994, 28-29). Figure 21. Yellowstone Lake as a Geographic Reference Point in Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone Lake figured in the Yellowstone Park Act as a geographical reference point for establishing the park’s boundaries. Gran ite blocks are located along Yellowstone Lake’s shoreline marking the latitude and long itude of the lake’s parameters. This photo shows the marker located (stone block in fo reground) along the north shore near the Lake Area development. [Photo by author 2003.] Conclusion Yellowstone Lake has a long history of human use and mapping. From Native American camps along the northern shore of the lake as early as 10, 000 years ago (Sanders 2002, 213), Yellowstone Lake ha s offered humans a location for seasonal 90 activities. Indeed, looking at the cartographic history of Yellowstone Lake, we see this continued human activity as the lake was early on a geographic location included in early maps of the Yellowstone Plateau. The inform ation for these maps came from a variety of sources including Native American guides, Eu ro-American fur trappers, miners, military personnel, and exploration part ies. Often the pathways of communication between these groups were informal but it nonetheless repres ents an important dialogue about the lake between a variety of people. Yellowstone Lake’s prominence as a ge ographic reference feature was supported and enhanced by later organized scientific exploration parties th at traveled around the lake and produced detailed maps of the area. Government published maps, verbal descriptions from the journals of expedi tion members, sketches, and photographs of Yellowstone Lake also played a role in the creation of Yellowstone National Park and the passing of the Yellowstone Park Act. For th is landmark legisla tion, Yellowstone Lake images and published accounts were used by pa rk promoters to support the claim that the headwaters of the Yellowstone River was an exceptional area and must be set aside from traditional development. The Yellowstone Park Act named the lake as a reference location for marking the park’s borders. Although the Yellowstone Park Act may have passed successfully through Congress based on the fantastic landscapes of the geothermal basins or the canyons in the park, Yellowstone Lake’s role as a large geographic reference point is significant for its centrality to marking the park’s boundaries in the vast expanses of the American West for an eastern audience of legislators and citizens. The appearance of Yellowstone Lake in early maps, Congressional debates, and the Yellowstone Park Act also lays the base for Yellowstone Lake being an important central 91 geographic feature that contributed to the founding of the nation’s first national park. Yellowstone Lake has a long history of being documented and described in park literature and images and, as such, is a valuab le physical and cultural landscape to help better understand the evolution of the national park idea and its implementation in western politics, booster campaigns, and recr eation. The lake transitioned from this period of mapping and exploration to being an early site of park development. 92 PERIOD ONE: 1870 TO 1891 Introduction [Yellowstone Lake] possesses adaptab ilities for the highest display of artificial culture, amid the greatest wonders of Nature that the world affords, and is beautified by the grandeur of the most extensive mountain scenery, and not many years can elapse before the march of civil improvement will reclaim this delightful solitude, and garnish it with all the attractions of cultivated taste and refinement (N.P. Langford, 1871). A task of this thesis is to recons truct the changing cultural landscape at Yellowstone Lake over time. The term la ndscape has a long and notable history of thought and practice for geographers (Meinig 1979; Wyckoff 1988; Vale and Vale 1989; Conzen 1990; and Wyckoff 1999). Landscape refers to the signatures people leave upon the visibl e scene and what those imprints can tell us about a culture and its relation to the environment….Geographe rs believe that the landscape can tell us important things about the people who created it….landscape is material culture, a concrete expression of habits, technology, and the distributions of power and authority within society” (Wyckoff 1999, 6). In the introduction to his study of Colorado, Wyckoff suggests that “every place has a unique cultural landscape and yet…common cultural, economic, and political threads continue to weave predictable patterns onto the visible scene that reminds us of the larger significance of the localities within our purview . Tracing those thread s from their origins to their new settings helps us to understand how a place acquires a particular personality and how it reflects diverse cultural, economic , and political roots” (1999, 6). This chapter reconstructs Yellowstone Lake’s cultural landscape between 1870 and 1891. This discussion delves into the establishment of a cultural landscape at Yellowstone Lake and follows the initial de velopment of that landscape up to 1891. This 93 chapter is further subdivided into four infr astructure discussion sections: transportation, pre-park structures and early park devel opment patterns, government structures, and concessionaire structures. The transportation section is also separated into four parts covering early trails, roads, bridges, and boa ting routes. The chapte r concludes with the opening of the first major overnight touris t accommodations at Yellowstone Lake—the Lake Hotel. The major developed areas at Yellowstone Lake by 1891 were at the Lake Developed Area and West Thumb De veloped Area (Figure 22). The Emergence of Yellowstone Lake’s Cultural Landscape A dynamic relationship between humans and their environment takes place on many levels at Yellowstone Lake. Even from the early years of park settlement, the lake’s physical environment shaped the location of Yellowstone Lake’s cultural features. In turn, the development at Yellowstone Lake also altered the physical environment at the lake by leveling areas to build structures, clearing forests for roads and trails, and reshaping the shoreline of the lake to accommodate boat docks. Geographical information about the lake’s features and fo rmations was revised and updated as more information was collected by Native Amer icans and Euro-American explorers, government surveys, and travelers. This section of the chapter explores the dynamic relationship between Yellowstone Lake ’s physical and human setting. The earliest evidence of human occ upation of the lake comes from the archeological record: According to a recent study by Ann M. Johns on, the “oldest sites in the park” are found around Ye llowstone Lake (2002, 87). Johnson’s study reveals that the earliest site found at Yellowstone La ke was over 9,000 years old (2002, 82). Her 94 Figure 22. Yellowstone Lake, 1891 95 study also found that early peoples used the lakeshore and islands of the lake on a seasonal basis from early spring through the fall. From the archeological evidence it appears that early inhabitants used the lake areas for “tool stone procurement, tool manufacture, and repair activities” (2002, 87). In addi tion, the author argues that Yellowstone Lake was an important site to vi sit and use because of its many plant, animal and stone resources (2002, 87). Sanders (2002) also documents a lo ng history of Native Americans at Yellowstone Lake. His work explores ge omorphic factors affecting early land use around Yellowstone Lake. From archeological and geological eviden ce, Sanders reveals that changing lake levels, th e availability of good camping lo cations, and paths of travel all affected the sites of human settlement. By combining all of these factors with the available archeological record of sites rec overed at Yellowstone La ke, Sanders concludes that there were many areas of human land use at the lake that were concentrated along the shoreline in the Southeast Arm, the wester n shoreline of West Thumb Bay, and the northern shoreline of the lake particularly near the outlet of the Yellowstone River (2002, 218-228). Of particular intere st for this study, Sanders also argues that “most of the Paleoindian sites…were reoccupied by later groups, suggesting that the characteristics that made these particular locales attractive for extractive activities and habituation during the Paleoindian period continued to be attractive in the later periods as well” (2002, 228). Spence adds to the growing story of Native Americans in Yellowstone, both before and after it was designated a national pa rk. His work is important for discussing not only the archaic use of the park by native peoples, but also the interactions between 96 native peoples and park managers during the early park years. Spence’s research focuses on the uses of the land by Native Americans, disputes about park boundaries, accepted uses of the land inside the park, and the forced exodus of Native Americans from the park. Building on archeological and cultural st udies, Spence finds that Yellowstone was “a landscape that had been shaped by thousands of years of human use and habitation” (1999, 43). That history of la nd use did not end with the establishment of Yellowstone National Park. Indeed, even though park prom oters and managers were eager to sell Yellowstone as an experience bereft of an Indian presence, the reality of the early park years reveals a very different park landscap e. Seasonal groups of Bannock, Shoshone, and Crow peoples traveled in and resided throughout the park (including Yellowstone Lake) throughout the 19 th century (Nabokov and Loendorf 2002). Common uses of the land included hunting, camping, plant gathering, tool making, and spiritual quests. They also established a vast system of trails that provided some of the ea rliest routes through the park. Furthermore, the mosaic of ve getation in the park “provides the best documentation of native habituation and use of the Yellowstone area” by recording the use of fire to manage and shape the physical environment (Spence 1999, 43-44). Much of the confrontation between Na tive Americans and park managers arose because early park personnel did not see Na tive American manipulation of the land as appropriate park activity. During the early park years, superintendents and other regulating personnel provide contradictory ev idence of Native Americans in the park. Sometimes documenting shelters or other structures created by native inhabitants and other times prescribing that presence to the distant past, park superintendents were reshaping the spatial distribution of cultural landscape features at the lake by favoring 97 some uses of the land—such as the buildi ng of concessionaire lodging and roads—while discouraging alternative uses of the land—such as gathering native plants for subsistence or using fire to open hunting areas. In the early park years, Euro-Ame rican tourists did not see many Native Americans; this lack of contact only s upported park promotional strategies that emphasized an uninhabited wilder ness. Spence suggests that [d]espite a growing awareness that In dians probably outnumbered tourists during the first years of the new national park, offi cials expressed no opini ons about native use of Yellowstone until the late 1870s….A t a meeting with the Crow in August 1873…government treaty commissioners learne d that the tribe still considered Yellowstone and the surrounding area as part of their homeland” (1999, 52). Poor communication and differing visions of appropriate park activities only added to the fragile relations between Euro -Americans and Native Americans. Unwilling to acquiesce their traditional activities in the park, the “Tukudeka [Sheep Eaters] remained in Yellowstone on a more or less permanent basis until 1879, when they were induced to settle on reservations in present-day Ida ho and Wyoming. Nevertheless, they spent a good part of subsequent years in their former homes” (Spence 1999, 53). Although personnel and funding opportunities for development were scarce during the early park years, a framework fo r park infrastructure was established at Yellowstone Lake. Early park managers made numerous efforts to integrate Yellowstone Lake into the developing park scheme. Exampl es of this can be seen in how they scouted the lake environment for suitable development sites, appropriated funds to build a system of transportation routes around part of the lake, and continued to encourage concessionaire investment near the lake. 98 The United States Army also exerted gr eat influence during this period. After several years of personnel shortages and vague guidelines for park use, the U.S. Army was assigned the formal regulation of the pa rk in 1886 and stayed in the park until the establishment of the national park service in 1916. Conce ssionaire activity between 1871 and 1891 was fragmented and exploratory in term s of what would be feasible to build and maintain. The construction of the first perm anent overnight accomm odations at the lake was supported through heavy financial investme nt from the railroads. Tourists were transported around the park through joint ventur es between the transportation companies. The U.S. Army scouted and built the roads and paths that the companies used to transport visitors around the lake. The founding of Yellowstone National Pa rk was revolutionary in terms of land use planning and landscape design. Although vari ous tourist attractions were established throughout the country by the late nineteenth century (Sears 1989), none of them carried the moniker and identity of a national park. Once the Park was created, the regulations and vision for this new type of land use slow ly adapted to changing conditions within the Park. One of the strongest guiding principles for this new national in stitution was that it was geared towards conserving and preserving the natural features of this area for the “benefit and enjoyment of the people” (U.S . Congress 1872b, reprin ted in Dilsaver 1994, 28). Since early experiences and mapping efforts by Euro-American explorers and surveyors included Yellowstone Lake, it was a l ogical move to include the lake as one of the major attractions to visit in Yellowstone. The evidence for this lies in the early building of roads to the lake, the early estab lishment of a hotel there, and park service personnel being stationed there. Also, th e lake area developed a unique form of 99 transportation in the park: th e steamboat. Steamboat tours became a popular attraction at Yellowstone Lake. These half-day tours starte d as a shuttle (and respite) for stagecoach travelers weary from the dusty days in the confines of a coach from the West Thumb Area to the Lake Area. Gradually, these trip s across the lake blo ssomed into a bustling business. The lake tours eventually expanded to include stops at nearby islands, tours of the southern perimeters of the lake, fishing tr ips, and boat and fishing equipment rentals. After Yellowstone National Park was esta blished in 1872, the policing of the park was poorly coordinated and sparse. A superi ntendent was named and served (mostly in the summer) in the park, but without suffici ent reinforcements and funds (the park received no funding for its first six years) , this position was powerless and not very effective in regulating the park. After severa l years of this political strategy, the United States Army took over the position as the chie f administrative force in the park. With little to no pay and few guidelines, the supe rintendents of Yellowstone National Park struggled to find a path for use and recreation in the park (Haines 1977; Byrand 1995; Smith 1999). From 1886 to 1916, the Army overs aw the establishment and regulation of park policies and early conce ssionaire activity. There were few park personnel assigned to regulating this region and most of their efforts were necessarily spent on enforcing park regulations. P.W. Norris, an early park superintendent, hinted at the challenges of regulating such a park of over 3,400 square m iles from the perspective of a regulating official: “This wonderful region is really less one large park than a group of smaller ones, partially or wholly isolated, upon both sides of the Continental Divide” (Norris 1880, 27). Even with considerable demands on their time and energy, early park superintendents were keen on developing the park to accommodate visitor travel. They 100 scouted for suitable building locations and road corridors. In locating these sites and routes, park regulators hoped to build a sy stem that would allow visitors and park personnel to access the park attractions. Park managers did not always need to scout trails through unmarked territory; indeed, the routes of early visito rs and explorers (see Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) as well as Native American trails (Figure 23) established “a pattern of human use within Yellowstone” (S mith and Wyckoff 2001) that park managers could then use to build more established corridors of travel. Early travel paths included dirt roads for stagecoaches, bridle paths, foot paths, and steamboat routes across the lake. Finding a suitable course of travel across the lake and moorings for boats along the shoreline was no easy matter. Although the lake’s broad, open waters afforded a clear view of the lake, navigating through the str ong winds and high waves was an obstacle to travel and safety. Certainly many explorers a nd visitors attempted to float the lake but the few documented early adventures on the lake usually ended in swamped boats, wet gear, a setback in the travel schedule, and th e chance of injuries. Steamboats provided a reasonable alternative to thes e encounters and opened the lake, its islands, and vast shoreline to larger groups of travelers. Early park infrastructure at Yellowstone Lake can be categorized into four major varieties: pre-park structures, transpor tation networks, government facilities, and concessionaire facilities. Once the park was established, government funding and concessionaire interests often jointly created park infrastructure. Once the infrastructure was constructed, however, one institution (eith er government or pr ivate) was charged with maintaining and managing the improvements. 101 Figure 23. Trail Networks around Yellowstone Lake Native American trails coursed throu ghout the Yellowstone Plateau and around Yellowstone Lake. These trails offered seasona l routes of access to the lake and were later used by Euro-American explorers and early park transportation networks. [map printed in Nabokov and Loendorf 2002, 33.] Transportation When Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872, the park did not have an established system of roads but it did have a well-used network of trails. These routes were blazed by Native Americans, explorers, prospectors, and trappers. Park managers needed to establish an initial transportation network that 1) brought visitors and park personnel to all the important features of the park and 2) wa s feasible given the park’s varied topography. 102 For Yellowstone Lake, the obvious path of land travel was around the shoreline. However, the shoreline was often rocky, full of cliffs, and even dotted with spots of geothermal activity. What part of the shor eline should be included? The northern shore of the lake seemed reasonable given that it was closer to th e Grand Canyon and Old Faithful area (in terms of establishing a circuit of routes to park attr actions). What about the southern shores that were significant routes of travel for Native Americans and early explorers and travelers? When consideri ng the possible layout of the road network, Superintendent Langford—the first park superintendent and member of the 1870 Yellowstone Expedition—suggested that “these roads, when completed, would enable the visitor to reach all the great points of inte rest by carriage….The opening of these roads would insure the early erection of larg e and commodius public houses at Mammoth Springs, Yellowstone Falls, Yellowstone Lake and the Upper and Lower Geyser Basins” (Langford 1873, 2-3). After scouting possible trav el routes, park managers began the task of building and maintaining roads. Clearing roadways began with designating bridle paths and walking trails. Gradually, these paths we re widened and alte red to accommodate stagecoaches. Building roads and trails was a collaborative endeavor even from the early park years. Under the directi on of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the government took on the task of constructing many of the major road and trail arteries in the park and around the lake. The concessionaire investment in this project varies a great deal over time. For this early period, the government scouted and built most of the roads and trails to locations that the concessionaires then developed for guest services. From 1870 to 1891, travel around the park wa s by carriages, wagons, saddle and pack 103 animals (Norris 1879, 22) (Figure 24). By 1891, a ll of these forms of transportation were supported around the lake and were augmented by boat services across the lake. Figure 24. Early Transportation in Yellowstone National Park Early roads were few and far between at Yellowstone Lake, although a stagecoach road was completed to the northern shores of th e lake by 1881. Park visitors were shuttled between the Grand Canyon of the Yellowst one River and Yellowstone Lake in a stagecoach similar to the one pictured here. [image printed in Haines 1977b, 145.] Many park visitors were from distant locat ions (usually on the eastern seaboard of the United States). The process of moving these tourists through Yellowstone National Park usually included a train trip to nearby Montana, then a stagecoach ride through the park, and—in the case of Yellowstone Lake—a n optional ride on a steamboat. The main railroads that serviced the pa rk by 1881 included the Northern Pacific and Utah Northern 104 Railroads (Norris 1881, 68). By 1888, the Unio n Pacific joined the rank of railroads connecting their networks to roads in Ye llowstone National Park (Harris 1888, 12). The cost to travel to the park, however, was prohibitive to most Americans in the early years. Not only was the long and arduous train trip expensive but costs once in the park were also steep. As a captive audience, most visitors were forced to use the few available hotels and coach services offe red in the park. Tr ansportation rates by stagecoach in 1887 from Mammoth Hot Springs (the park headquarters and the main entrance to the park) to Yellowstone Lake were twelve dollars, from Norris to Yellowstone Lake were eight dollars, and from the Grand Canyon to Yellowstone Lake five dollars (Harris 1887, 26). Conditions were slightly different for local visito rs to the park. Tourists from lands adjacent to Ye llowstone entered the park on horseback and could travel more freely and independently around the park than those bound by stagecoach time tables. This “grassroots a ffair in the West” influenced many facets of early “park development and policy ma king” (Smith and Wyckoff 2001, 95). Transportation infrastructure at Yellowstone Lake may be divided into several categories during this period of my study including foot trails, horse trails, stagecoach roads, bridges, and steamboat routes. Trails Early park trails incl uded bridle paths for saddle and pack animals and foot trails (see Figure 22). Many of these trails took a dvantage of routes used by Native Americans and then traversed by Euro-American travel ers (Figure 23 and Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10). In 1878, Superintendent Norris suggested that a “trail is greatly n eeded from the Upper Fire-Hole Basin to those of Shoshone, Lewis, and Heart Lakes, and those upon the 105 fingers and eastern shore of the Yellowstone some 100 m iles in length” (Norris 1878, 996). Eventually a trail was develope d between the Upper Geyser Basin and Yellowstone Lake, but not by the route suggest ed by Norris. The first park maintained trail system around the lake was along th e north shore of Yellowstone lake. Eager to encourage travel to the “m atchless mountain lake” (Norris 1881, 13), Norris pushed for more connected trail systems. In 1879, he describes the opening of a trail around the western shore of Yellowstone Lake for “26 miles to its outlet” (1879, 6- 7). According to the superintendent in 1880, the trail around the lake at that time connected the major features of the lake: “h ot springs at west thumb, cliffs on lake, bridge creek bay, [and] foot of Yellowstone Lake” (Norris 1880, 59). By 1881, the bridle path for horse traffic was extended from the Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River (Grand Canyon Area) south to the outle t of the Yellowstone River. The trail roughly followed the north and west shorelines of the Yellowstone Lake between the lake outlet and the West Thumb geothermal basin (Norris 1881). Yellowstone Lake roads were developed later than other park road syst ems. For much of this early period of lake development, trails were the main establis hed paths available around the north shore of the lake. Roads Park roads were improved, widened, dirt pathways that followed many of the same routes used since early occupance of Yellowstone by Native Americans. Although bridle paths were the dominant established travel conduits at the lake during the early park years, park managers supported devel oping roads to the area by scouting routes, encouraging government investment in the road building schemes, and suggesting sites of 106 development at points along the roads. In 1877, Norris discussed the need to build “a wagon-road” between Mammoth, Canyon, Tower, Mt. Washburn, Yellowstone Falls, Yellowstone Lake, and the “Fire-hole Basins ” (1877, 843-44). This road, he suggested would “connect all the main poi nts of interest within the park” (Norris 1877, 843-44). By 1879, the park superintendent’s record reflects that park roads terminated at the Upper Geyser Basin but a new trail was in the works between “Shoshone and Yellowstone Lakes, Mud Lake, and the Lowe r Geyser Basin, to the junction, and 45 miles additional along our road to the Mammoth Hot Springs. Tourists may thus, in a coach trip of some 250 miles from the railro ad, reach and make a circuit of the leading wonders of the park” (Norris 1879, 23). Although Yellowstone Lake was a park attraction noted even by the earliest park manage rs, trails and roads were slow to reach its waters. Two prime reasons for this lag in development are the distance between the lake and the main park entrance at Mammoth and the difficulty in clearing the forest and finding suitable routes across the uneven te rrain to and around the lake. Norris’s 1879 report describes the difficulty of finding a route along the heavily timbered shores of the lake. Even with these hurdles, establishing a circuit of roads around the park would be an important accomplishment for the fledgling park. According to Norris, building roads (and hotels) “assures immediate coach conn ection with civiliza tion, convenience for tourists and ultimate self sustaining [ sic ] character of the park” (1879, 24). By 1881, the kind of road system supported by Norris wa s under way and it included Yellowstone Lake in its path. By the end of that s eason, a dirt road was built from the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River south to Yellows tone Lake (Norris 1881, 70). But Norris did 107 not want to settle for merely one connecti ng point to the lake. His vision for roads around Yellowstone Lake also included an eastern and western extension. In 1879, Norris found a good trail from the Yellowstone River outlet at Ye llowstone Lake, up a nearby creek to the northeas t, and then into the Absaroka Range: “This season’s explorations clearly show an excellent tr ail and fair-wagon rout e from the foot of Yellowstone Lake via the east fork of Peli can Creek to the Stinkwater Pass” (Norris 1879, 19). Other routes were also included in the park plans: …across [the] continental divide to the west arm of the Yellowstone Lake; thence along the western shore of Yellowstone Lake to lake outlet; and along the Yellowstone to the Falls and Grand Cañon…Although this scheme does not embrace all the roads necessary or desirable in the Park, it will, when carried into effect, enable tourists to visit the principal objects of intere st without discomfort, and without passing twice over the same road (Wear, 1886, 8-9). The work of enlarging and clearing trai ls, then clearing a dirt road wide enough for a stagecoach to travel to Yellowstone La ke with connections to the Upper Geyser Basin began in 1891. By the closing of that year, a newly established road ran from “Fountain to the West Thumb of the lake,” over the pass from the Upper and Lower Geyser basins to Yellowstone Lake (Anders on 1891, 6). The trail system that ran from the Lake Area (near the outlet of the Yellows tone River) across the northern shore of the lake was enlarged and fortified for coach tr avel. According to Anderson, the “road from the cañon [ sic ] to the Thumb, via the Lake Hotel, is also under construction” (1891, 6). This systematic approach to park paths was re peated throughout the lake area. First trails were scouted, then the trails were cleared, a nd finally the roads were built along the same routes in a piecemeal fashion working within the framework of limited finances, short construction seasons, and few road crews. 108 Bridges According to my research at the park archives, there were no formally constructed bridges at Yellowstone Lake during this period. The one ex ception was a natural arch located over Bridge Creek along the north s hore of the lake (Figure 25 and see Figure 22). The “Natural Bridge” –as it came to be referred to in accounts and maps of the lake—was used as a convenient travel route over a small stream in the area. This geologic formation was an early park la ndmark and was frequently documented in photographs and sketches. Superintendent Norri s led the effort to use the bridge as a more formal travel route. He erected a guard rail over this “one subs tantial natural bridge of stone over a permanent stream” to make a safer passage across the arch (Norris, 1880, 22-23). By 1891, a bridge had not yet been built over the Yellowstone River close to Yellowstone Lake. Further downstream, ther e were bridges over this large river by 1891, but none of them afforded an easy passage for horses and coaches to cross the river near the lake. Park managers targeted safe and convenient travel for t ourists as a prime goal of early development. The inconvenience a nd danger (during high wa ter) of crossing the Yellowstone River at the lake outlet deterred all but a few harder visitors who were mounted on horseback and braved the ford acr oss the Yellowstone River. Most visitor traffic at Yellowstone Lake did not cross to the eastern shore of the lake until a bridge could be constructed over the stream (Norris, 1881). Alt hough the bridge was a natural stone arch across a stream, park managers ma de additions to the shape and construction of the bridge in order to use it for travel. Here we see humans shaping the landscape around them while the modest opportunities for development were intimately linked to 109 the physical landscape. Unable to afford the cost and maintenance of a bridge at this point on the lake, park managers blended pr agmatic and aesthetic aspects of the lake landscape to produce a locality that was at once a tourist attraction and a route of travel. Figure 25. The Natural Bridge Although no formal bridges were constructe d during the early period of the lake’s history, this naturally occurring limestone arch was augmented by park managers and used for travel across a steam ravine. The a dditions of guard rails (center of picture) made passing over the bridge safer for horse and foot traffic while also offering an opening in the dense shoreline timber for vi stas across the lake. [Courtesy Yellowstone National Park Photo Archives.] 110 Boating Routes Another aspect of the transportation geography of Yellowstone Lake is the early development of boating routes across the la ke. Archeological evidence reveals that Native Americans utilized boats on the lake. Sites have been recovered and documented on six of the lake’s seven islands (Johnson 2002, 82- 83). In addition to these forays to the islands, Native American travel on the lake could no doubt have included shorter trips. The establishment of Yellowstone National Park affected all forms of transportation in the park including boats. The beginning of steamboat service across the lake offered some of the earliest consistent concessionaire activity on the lake’s waters. The opportunity to travel by a steamboat on a body of water in the park was a unique experience that could only be found at Yellows tone Lake. There were no other lakes in the park that offered the connections to transportation networks (roads and trails) combined with the deep waters (to allow safe passage and docking of large boats) required for this form of travel. Although ot her park lakes could be and certainly were traveled on, Yellowstone Lake concessionaires shifted their development schemes from seasonal travel on simple wooden sailing boats to large, steam-powered vessels. Indeed, given the tempestuous nature of “this inla nd sea” (Haines 1974, 53), the safest route across the lake was in a large sturdy boat th at could withstand la rge waves and steer a course through stiff winds. Early Euro-American boating experien ces on Yellowstone Lake, however, were far from the organized and scheduled ferry serv ice of the steamboats. Exploration parties into the park area made many attempts at floating the lake, but usually without success 111 and certainly not for long distances. Superintendent Norris explored most of the “wave- lashed shores” of Yellowstone Lake on a small wooden vessel, and eventually circumnavigated the whole lake “after en countering many mishaps and dangers, being once beached and nearly frozen in” (Norris 1881, 11-12). There were a few other small boats plyi ng the waters of Yellowstone Lake during these years. The superintendent noted the cabin of Eugene Topping on the northern shores of Yellowstone Lake and Topping’s boating services. Most of Topping’s business came from tourists who traveled to the lake by horseback along park trails. He describes Topping’s boat as “a small sail-boat of gr een whipsawed timber built by Captain Toppin at his cabin, near the foot of Yellowstone Lake, in the summer of 1875, and which, after perilous service during a small portion of the seasons 1875 and 1876, was dismantled, abandoned, and finally lost” (Norris 1880, 37). Topping operated a joint business with Frank Williams and the two men succeeded in securing a permit to operate boats from the Department of the Interior (Whittlesey 1997, 77) . Norris also reports a number of other boats that “buffeted the blue waters of this mystic lake” including The Anna (used by Hayden’s 1871 crew), The Explorer (used by Norris to explore the lake), and The Topping (Norris 1880, 36-37). Given his personal experiences on the lake and his interests in developing visitor services at that location, it is little surprise that Superintendent Norris strongly supported a cooperative business between pa rk hotel operators and a steamboat ferry service across the lake. His 1881 report mentions the windy and capricious nature of the lake and suggests: On this account and because of narrow deep seas, rocky shores, and sparse anchorage, this lake, while one of the most beautiful and interesting is one of the most 112 dangerous for sailing craft. I am confident, however, that with even a small steamer, well built and managed, there would be little dang er attending regular trips around the fingers, thumb, and palm of the lake, and for at leas t seven miles down the river….With a suitable steamer making regular excursions of, say, three hundred miles, it is safe to predict that a hotel on some one of the many charming terraces near the foot of the lake would ultimately prove a profitable investment in this region of wonder s (Norris 1881, 12-13). By 1891, Norris’s vision of travel on Yellows tone Lake came to fruition. During that season, E. C. Waters was granted a concessi onaire’s permit to tran sport tourists by boat (Figure 26) to connect thei r trip with the stagecoach tours from the West Thumb Developed Area to the Lake Developed Area. Acting Superintendent Anderson described the new commercial steamboat ferry service: Early in July an inspector came a nd gave the boat a license to carry 125 passengers. It is a smooth-running, seawort hy little vessel and will add much to the attractiveness of the lake as a resort. I hope to see it made a part of the park transportations, and used in ferrying tourists from the Lake Hotel to the West Thumb in their journey around the circ uit (Anderson 1891, 7-8). Simple wooden boat docks were established at the West Thumb Developed Area near the geothermal basins and in front of Lake Hotel at the Lake Developed Area to accommodate the steamboats. Pre-Park Structures and Development Patterns in the Early Park Years Prior to the creation of Yellowstone Na tional Park, Native Americans and, later, Euro-Americans seasonally used Yellowst one Lake. Some of the oldest dated archeological sites in Yellow stone are found along the shores of Yellowstone Lake. An analysis of some of the sites has revealed an active Indian presence at Yellowstone Lake for 9,000 to 10,000 years (Johnson 2002 and Sanders 2002). Archeological evidence also supports the finding that early peoples seasonally camped and hunted along the west, north and southern shores as well as th e islands (Sanders 2002, 218-228). The lake 113 provided many floral, faunal, and lithic re sources which attracted Paleoindian use (Johnson 2002, 87). However, these sites were attractive to later o ccupation and use as well. Paul Sanders found that locations once used by early peoples we re also frequented by later groups because of these sites offered good opportunities “for extractive activities and habitation” (2002, 228). Figure 26. Steamboat Tours Come to Yellowstone Lake Brought to Yellowstone Lake in pi eces and later assembled there, The Zillah carried passengers across the lake from the West Th umb boat dock to the mo re extensive docks in front of the newly built Lake Hotel. By 1891, the steamship route offered visitors the opportunity to see the lake from a different perspective and a respit e from the dusty long stagecoach ride around the north shore of the lake. [Courtesy Yellowstone National Park Photo Archives.] 114 Throughout the 19th century—when Euro-American contact in the park increased—many Native American groups conti nued to frequent Yellowstone and take advantage of good camping and hunting areas. Some of the groups that traveled to Yellowstone included Bannock, Crow, Shos hone, Nez Perce, and Sheep Eater or Tukudeka. The journals and reports from Eu ro-American explorers include many entries that refer to encounters with Native Americans and signs of their presence in the area. My discussion of early cartography for Yellowstone Lake includes some of these references that I found in the diaries of trappers, prospectors, and explorers such as Nathaniel Langford, Gustavus Doane, Ferdin and V. Hayden and others. Accounts by Euro-American travelers relate finding trails, camps, horse corrals, and route markers as well as actually seeing Indians at Ye llowstone Lake (Spence 1999, 42-43). Native American movement and occupance in Yellowstone did not cease with the creation of Yellowstone National Park. Mark David Spence argues that during the initial years of Yellowstone’s park designati on, Native Americans “outnumbered tourists” (1999, 52). Relations between native peopl es and Euro-American travelers became increasingly antagonistic as these two groups competed for use of the same area throughout the 19th century. The creation of Yellowstone National Park marked a shift in the power structure between Native Americans and Euro-Americans in the park area; the language of the Yellowstone Park Act did not encourage the continued use of the park by Native Americans even though it was part of their traditional hunting, gathering, and spiritual lands. According to the Yellowstone Park Act (U.S.C., title 16, section 21) “all persons who shall locate or settle upon or occupy th e same, or any part thereof, except as 115 hereinafter provided, shall be considered trespassers and remove d therefrom” (U.S. Congress 1872, reprinted in Dilsaver 1994, 28). The act (U.S . Congress, title 16, section 22) outlined the “preservation, from injury or spoliation” of the natural features of the park “in their natural condition” (U.S. C ongress 1872, reprinted in Dilsaver 1994, 28). The law was interpreted by early park superint endents to mean that Native American (as well as Euro-American trapper, hunters, and prospector) uses of the park such as camping, fire managing, and hunting were not conduc ive to the park being in its “natural condition.” Park superintendent s were charged with the mission of enforcing the act and forcing people not considered as “trespassers” to be “removed” from the park. However, early park superintendents who lacked funding and were overwhelmed with managing a national park with such vast acreage, did not take many direct measures to remove Native Americans from Yellowsto ne during the early park years. That situation changed over time. By the late 1800’s a national syst em of Indian reservations was established and Native Americans found themselves in the precarious position of traveling between the two “islands” or isol ated communities of the reservation system and the recently established and regulated national park in Yellows tone (Spence 1999). Nevertheless, native peoples still con tinued to travel in Yellowstone. Hostilities between Native American s and Euro-Americans in the park and throughout the West continued to escalate. One of the culmin ating events in these tense relations occurred in the summer of 1877. That summer, Nez Perce people fleeing the forces of the U.S. Army moved throu gh Yellowstone National Park and along the northern shore of Yellowstone Lake (Figure 27). There had been several violent encounters in Yellowstone between Native Americans and Euro-Americans since the 116 park was established. These situations di d not go unnoticed by park superintendents; according to Joel C. Janetski, park manage rs were concerned that Native Americans posed a “potential deterrent to tourist tra ffic in the Park” (2002, 65). By 1879, Sheep Eater groups were forced to se ttle on reservations in Idaho and Wyoming and other native groups were also strongly discouraged from entering the park. Park superintendents called on the efforts of reservation mana gers to keep Native Americans in the reservations, but these efforts ofte n did not work (Spence 1999). Figure 27. The Path of the Nez Perce in 1877 After the creation of Yellowstone National Park, Native Americans still continued to access the area. Tensions between Native Am erican groups and Euro-American tourists in the park flared in 1877, when Nez Pe rce fled the U.S. army forces through Yellowstone National Park. Their route through the park included a path along the northern shore of Yellowstone Lake. [i mage printed in Nabokov and Loendorf 2002, 189.] 117 Several sources document Native American activity and settlement at Yellowstone Lake after the park was created. References in park superintendent reports document Native American groups seasonally living along the shores of Yellowstone Lake and erecting camps. References in the park records testify to the types and presence of structures built by these groups at the lake (Figure 28); Superintendent Norris mentions “skin-covered lodges or circular upright brush heaps called wickeups, decaying evidences of which are abundant near…the shores of Yellowstone Lake” (Norris 1880, 35). Figure 28. Early Park Structures Some of the earliest structures at Yellowst one Lake were Native American lodges. Wickiups such as this one were found al ong the lake’s northern and eastern shores. [image printed in Spence 1999, 69.] 118 Norris was an active explorer of the pa rk and he devoted multiple pages of his annual reports to documenting Native American occupance and use of the lake. In his 1881 report, he interviewed We-saw who said that “…his people (Shoshones), the Bannocks, and Crows occasionally visited th e Yellowstone Lake…but very seldom the geyser regions” (Norris 1881, 38). It is di fficult to assess how this statement was interpreted by Norris and how We-saw was questioned about Native American uses of the park. Recent literature a nd archeological records indicate that Native Americans have a long and varied history of travel and occupa tion in the park. In addition, many Native American sites have been recorded around th ermal basins (includi ng West Thumb Basin at Yellowstone Lake), dispelling the long pe rpetuated myth that these people avoided geothermally active areas of Yellowstone National Park (Nabokov and Loendorf 2002; Spence 1999). The superintendent’s reports offer conflicting observations about Native American settlement in the park. In Norris’s early reports, he devoted a great deal of effort and description to “decaying” and remn ant evidences of early inhabitants in the park. But in his 1881 report, Norris noted that Sheepeater groups were permanent occupants, Bannock and Shoshone groups visi ted the area often, and “Mountain Crows,” Blackfoot, and Sioux occasionally visited the park (1881, 45). Guidebooks confirmed a Native presen ce at the lake. W. C. Riley’s Official guide to the Yellowstone National Park (edition of 1887) includes a small map insert depicting the park and a multi-page description of Ye llowstone Lake (see Figure 20). Along the north shore of Yellowstone Lake near the ou tlet of the Yellowstone River, Riley’s map depicts a cluster of triangular structures which are labeled “Indian Camp” (Riley 1887, map insert). The author does not provide a ny reference to this point on the map in his 119 description of Yellowstone Lake in a secti on of the book called th e “Grand Tour of the Park.” The early years of the park experience showed other signs that this was not an uninhabited wilderness. Along with Nativ e American groups, many Euro-American prospectors and fur trappers resided at various times in the pa rk. The transition period of the park from its unregulated stages in cluded removing “a number of disreputable characters from the Park” and then demolishi ng their homes (Wear 1886, 6). It is unclear from this report who the “disreputable character s” were or what kinds of structures were destroyed. A slightly more detailed description of the structures removed during the early park years comes from the annual repo rt of Superintendent Moses who mentions abandoned cabins and shacks and “debris of a hundred camps,” although his report does not include exact locations of these camps (Moses 1887, 15). Government Structures Just after Yellowstone National Park wa s created, the park headquarters were built at Mammoth Hot Springs in the northern part of the park. Because of the distance between the park headquarters and the lack of permanent stru ctures at the lake for much of this early period, Yellowstone Lake was ma naged from afar. However, park personnel made frequent trips to the lake during the summer time. Indeed, Superintendent Norris was an early and eager advocat e of establishing a network of roads throughout the park that would provide a tour of its major attracti ons. He personally spent a great deal of his tenure as park superintendent exploring and scouting the park for potential roadways. 120 Norris’s forays into the park included ma ny visits to Yellowstone Lake by foot, horse, and boat. In what would become a common plight for the later National Park Service, park superintendents continually wr estled with basic funding issues from the federal government. Norris, as well as succeed ing superintendents, noted the difficulty of policing and developing the park with “sle nder appropriations,” short access seasons between the long park winters, and the area’s vari ed terrain (Norris 1881, 74). In fact, many of Norris’s summer jaunts through th e park were spent scouting the ridges and timbered shorelines of Yellowstone Lake s eeking a reasonable route of travel. He developed a natural arch near the lake, known as “Natural Bridge” for foot and horse traffic (see Figure 25). In the early days of park development, superintendents pushed to build roads and hotels to accommodate tourist travel in Ye llowstone National Park. At Yellowstone Lake, Norris encouraged a combination of hot el and steamboat servi ce as the best option for development at the lake. In his 1878 a nnual report, Norris notes that “with another season’s improvement and construction of ro ads and bridle-paths, [and ] the promised routes of access…I have all c onfidences of being able to effect leases to responsible parties for the construction of much-needed hotels, and also for a yacht or small steamer upon the mystic Yellowstone Lake” (Norris 1878, 987). The government was eager to develop the lake and the park as a tourist at traction and pushed to build the facilities to support that business. Norris’s proposed location for lake faci lities was near the outlet of the Yellowstone River from Yellowstone Lake—close to the present Lake Area development. He describes “several char ming sites for a hotel and yacht or steamboat landing near the foot of Yellows tone Lake” (Norris 1878, 986). 121 Soldiers and park superintendents scouted the park to regulate activities and to look for suitable development sites. A sold ier station (Figure 29) for patrolling U.S. Army scouts was built on the northern shore of Yellowstone Lake on the west side of the Yellowstone River outlet. Built in 1884, this simple log cabin structure was “located where today’s Lake Lodge road crosses Lodge Creek” (Whittlesey 1997, 152). This structure, along with other U.S. Army patrol cabins and structures was later used by the National Park Service as an early ranger station at Yellowstone Lake. Figure 29. Lake Soldier Station The U.S. Army Lake soldier station (seen he re in 1905) served as an outpost for early park personnel when traveling to the lake. It was located along the north shore of Yellowstone Lake near the current site of the Lake Area Developed Area and was later appropriated by the National Park Service as an early ranger station at Yellowstone Lake. [image printed in Whittlesey 1997, 152.] 122 Concessionaire Structures Concessionaire activity at Yellowstone La ke was slow to develop compared to other sites in the park (see Haines 1977; Whittlesey 1997; Byrand 1995). This is probably because of the slow construction of roads and trails connecting the lake to the park entrance and to other major park attr actions—such as the Upper Geyser Basin and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Many of the sites favored and considered for development were the locations of camps used by Native Americans, park personnel, early survey parties, and ot her Yellowstone travelers. Norris describes one of his preferred camping locations on the north shore of the lake near the Yellowstone River outlet and reflects this pattern of use by many traveli ng parties around the lake in his annual report: My favorite camp on the Yellowstone Lake (and it has evidently been a favorite one for the Indian) has ever been upon the grove- dotted bluff, elevated thirty or forty feet above the lake, directly fronting Indian P ond….This cove, so landlocked as to be safe except during southern gales, and the bluffs at its head will doubtless remain a chosen haunt for the scientist and tourist long after the now abundant evidence of its frequent occupancy by the Sheep-eater aborigines shall have vanished (Norris 1881, 17). One of the earliest structures built along the lake and used as an established area for visitor services, was a log cabin built by Eugene S. Toppping. Norris describes Topping’s cabin built at “the f oot of Yellowstone Lake” (188 0, 37) which, more precisely was located at “the first bulge in the shoreline of Yellowst one Lake above the outlet, on the west side” (Haines 1996, 151). Historian Aubrey Haines explains that the point on the lake “was named for Eugene S. Topping, whose residence there was noted…on August 1, 1875: ‘One Commodore Topping has es tablished himself on the banks of the Yellowstone In a log hut and has a fine boat for the use of tourists’ ” (Haines 1996, 151). 123 A system of concessionaire leasing of national park land was soon developed to regulate this facet of park enterprise. Once the sites of potential development were scouted, the next step towards establishing a cultural landscape at the lake included integrating the efforts (and financial investment ) of private companies. One of the first concessionaires in the park offering accomm odations to tourists was the Yellowstone Park Association. Superintendent Harris re corded “six leases of ground” that were purchased in Yellowstone National Park incl uding one acre at Yellowstone Lake and one acre along the shores of the West Thumb Bay. This business enterprise followed Superintendent Norris’s plan to establis h overnight accommodations and a steamboat service at the lake. The leases “granted pe rmission to the Yellowstone Park Association to place a naphtha launch on the Yellowstone Lake, the said launch to conform to certain standards” (Harris 1889, 131). Modest wooden boa t docks were built in front of the Lake Hotel at the Lake Developed Area and at th e West Thumb Developed Area near Winter Spring, one of the geothermal features along the shoreline of the thermal basin. The dock at the Lake Developed Area was a larger structure than that at the West Thumb Developed Area; the docking si te in front of the Lake Hotel expanded throughout this period to include row boat rentals and docking si tes for those smaller boats as well at the steamboat. Once the foundation was laid to accom modate concessionaire activity at Yellowstone Lake, construction soon star ted for overnight accommodations. By 1889, Superintendent Boutelle noted that “a good hotel is in course of erection at the Yellowstone Lake” (1890, 10). Construction of the Lake Hotel (Figure 30) took place between 1889 and 1891 and was funded by the No rthern Pacific Railroad. Opening in 124 1891 with 80 rooms available, this lakeside l odging was simple in form and structure but park managers were eager to lure tourists to its doors (Haines 1977b, 127). Superintendent Anderson describes the hotel: The Lake House has one wing completed, and this is all that will be needed until the tide of travel sets more in that direction. It is one of the pleasantest, best kept hotels in the Park, and deserves better patronage than it has yet receiv ed. I regard it as the most desirable place in the park for a prolonged stay (1891, 6-7). Figure 30. An Early Hote l at Yellowstone Lake Before the additions of ionic columns, multiple wings, and a grand porch, the first lake hotel was a more simplified affair. This stru cture was located at approximately the same site as the current hotel. Later additions and renovations would transform this structure to its successor—The Lake Coloni al Hotel. The lake hotel is the oldest standing hotel in the park today with construction beginning in 1889 and finishing in 1891. [Courtesy Yellowstone National Park Photo Archives.] 125 Conclusion A view of Yellowstone Lake 1891 (s ee Figure 22) reveals a dynamic cultural landscape shaped by Native Americans, park su perintendents, concessionaire investment, and budding transportation networks. In tu rn, the lake was not an “inert medium” (Colten and Dilsaver 1992, 1) upon which park developers shaped their schemes. Park developers’ decisions about trav el routes and structure sites were influenced by previous human uses of the land, the size and extent of the lake, the lake’s varied topography along the shoreline, and the short summer season for access to the lake. This period ends with two main areas of developmen t being developed at the lake : the Lake Developed Area (Figure 31) and the West Thumb Developed Area (Figure 32). With limited funding and few personnel to manage these areas, park s uperintendents oversaw the building of road and trails connecting Yellowstone Lake to th e other major attractions in the park by a loop road. Although many trails existed around the lake fr om Native American use and Euro-American appropriation of those areas, park superinten dents focused their efforts on building and maintaining horse and foot trails along the northern shore between the West Thumb Area the Lake Area. Steamboat service offered an alternative route of transportation across the lake that generally paralleled the route of the trail along the northern shore. Along these lines of connectivity, severa l structures were built to accommodate early visitors and promote accepted standards of activity in the pa rk. Although the lake had a long history of Native American use and settlement, park managers discouraged their claims to this territory. Superintende nts nevertheless scouted these same areas as good sites for development and entreated conces sionaire investment to build a hotel and 126 Figure 31. Lake Developed Area, 1891 127 Figure 32. West Thumb Developed Area, 1891 128 boat docks at Yellowstone Lake. With the a ddition of the U.S. Ar my’s soldier station (later Lake Ranger Station) in 1884, the Lake Area (north shore) emerged from this period with a higher concentration of struct ures than other areas on the lake. The establishment of Yellowstone Lake’s cultura l landscape happened gradually and was a scene of contested visions of land use between Native Americans, park superintendents, and early tourists. However, once park ro ads and trails formally linked Yellowstone Lake to other park attractions and park en trances, this area quickly became a site of increasing park management and investment. 129 PERIOD TWO: 1892-1932 Coming Ashore: Yellowstone Lake’s Evolving Shoreline This spacious and elegantly appointed hotel tends greatly toward making the Yellowstone Lake the resort, par excellence, of the Park. Here everything is so arranged that guests can spend the entire season, if they so desire, making short, easy trips of sight seeing or explorations to all points of the great reserve….To visit any or al l of the points circumjacent to this grand mountain lake, vehicles of a ll kinds, saddle and pack animals, guides, rowboats, and steamers are ever at command…(A. B. Guptill 1897). Between 1892 and 1932, several national and international events had a significant effect on Yellowstone Lake’s cult ural landscape development: the entrance of automobiles into Yellowstone National Park, the creation of the National Park Service, World War I, and The Great Depression. Th e outbreak of World War I dramatically decreased visitor numbers in the park and at Yellowstone Lake. By the close of this period, Yellowstone Lake’s landscape expe rienced unprecedented changes including an expansion of the number and extent of conce ssionaire facilities and the completion of a road network linking Yellowstone La ke with other park areas. The arrival of the first automobile in Yellowstone in 1915 increased the number of people who came to the park, the way that they moved around the park, and the timing and spatial organization of park development. According to historian Aubrey Haines: “The changes from dusty, one-lane stageco ach roads to paved, two-lane highways testifies to the magnitude of the overall ch ange wrought by the automobile and to its importance for the Park. Corollaries of that change were the facili ties developed to serve the automobilist who used the better roads” (1977b, 357). Visitor numbers to the park 130 dramatically increased once auto travel became economically and technologically feasible for more Americans. In 1914, a y ear before the first automobile officially entered the park, 20,250 people visited the par k, a tally that more than doubled to 51,895 the following year (Haines 1977b, 479). The transition from stagecoaches to automobile tours was an expensive and complicated proce ss; the federal govern ment spent thousands of dollars and many human hours converting trai ls and stagecoach roads for automobile travel and concessionaires were forced to sell the horses, equipment, and stagecoaches used for park tours to buy automobile fleet s to serve park visitors. The annual park superintendent’s report for 1917 noted this hist oric transition: “T he stagecoach of the Yellowstone passed into history; a new era for the park dawned with the opening of the 1917 season” (U.S. Department of the Interior 1917, 7). The 1916 creation of the National Park Service also transformed the cultural landscape of Yellowstone National Park by fo rcing concessionaire consolidations and by regulating the construction of all buildings constructed in the park. With the creation of the National Park Service in 1916, the U.S. Army was relieved of its administrative duties in Yellowstone National Park. With th is shift came a major reorganization of the concessionaire structure in the park. A driv ing force behind this reorganization was the first director of the National Park Service, Stephen Mather. Mather’s vision for park concessionaire operations included limiting the number of businesses allowed to operate in the park and attempting to shelter the concessionaries from competition. The National Park Service also initiated a landscape engi neering division that oversaw and approved all new building plans in the park; through this department, the government exercised 131 control over the appearance and design of both concessionaire and government buildings in Yellowstone. Another goal for the National Park Serv ice under Stephen Mather’s direction was increasing the number of visitors to the parks. The first director wanted to “persuade Americans to visit the national parks” by providing as many opportunities as possible for the greatest number of people to enter the parks (Bartlett 1985, 87) . In the process, Mather hoped to expand national awareness a nd support for the national parks. An ideal vehicle for increasing the speed and number of people who could vi sit the parks was the automobile. Mather encouraged auto trav el to Yellowstone. Park Superintendent Albright agreed with Mather’s ideas of park promotion and he “enthusiastically encouraged auto tourists into Yellowst one” (Bartlett 1985, 87) while also actively pursuing park development schemes that would provide more services for auto tourists; under Albright’s direction, for example, many auto campgrounds were developed around the park including several locati ons at Yellowstone Lake. The National Park Service also effectively marketed national parks in conjunc tion with the See America First movement. The See America First campaign urged Americans to explore their homeland scenic areas instead of the attractions offered by a European vacation. While travel abroad was limited by the events surrounding World War I, the See America First movement also sought to express “a sense of western iden tity and nationalism” by promoting national parks as spectacular sites of national pride and as distinct western landscapes (Schaffer 2001, 37). Before 1916, there were a number of con cessionaires in the park and many of them had operations at Yellowstone Lake . Reorganizing park concessionaires and 132 shifting park transportation ove r to accommodate automobiles were jointly executed. Park historian Aubrey Haines notes that the reorganization of the park concessionaires in 1916 and motorizing park transportation we re “far-reaching and unsettling to park business” (Haines 1977b, 274). He cites the fi nancial burden of this change during the turbulent years of World War I. But, he also says that once these troubles were overcome “the Park was set upon that course of de mocratization which would make it truly for the benefit and enjoyment of the people ” (Haines 1977b, 274). The concessionaire consolidation mandated by the National Park Service affected the administrative structure of all park businesses, but concessionaires operating overnight camping businesses experienced some of the most dramatic changes in terms of their administrative structure and spatial organization on the landscape. Park historian Paul Schullery argues that the concessionaire consolidation process had an ultimately beneficial affect on the park’s physical environment. Schullery finds that by consolidating park concessionaires, the National Park Service was fusing multiple businesses that often situated their operations over large spaces and without much thought to environmental impact. An example of Schullery’s observation may be seen by taking a closer look at the tent camps run throughout the park and at se veral locations at Yellowstone Lake. These camps were comprised of tents for overnight guest accommodations, dining tents, barns and stables to house the horses used for transportation, and various support and service structures. The reorganization initiated in 1916 changed that scheme: “The removal of the many permanent camps run by Wylie or Shaw and Powell, with their hundreds of tent-cabins and support facilities, is a remarkab le gain in ground; at most of these sites 133 only archaeologists and a few knowledgeable locals even no tice evidence of what once were big, active villages” (Sc hullery 1997, 181). Schullery ar gues that the consolidation of the park concessions by the National Park Service in 1916 was of “immediate advantage to the landscape” that resulted in the “eventual elimination of a lot of small ground-disturbing sites and a surprising number of larger ones” . According to the author this movement for “monopolistic concessions ” decreased the spatial extent of the operations and brought more regulation to their activities (Schu llery 1997, 182). At Yellowstone Lake, tent camps at the West Thumb Developed Area and Lake Developed Area were removed or relocated and gra dually replaced by National Park Service automobile campgrounds at the Fishing Bridge Developed Area and West Thumb Developed Area. The changes in the park organization were far reaching. As an introduction to a 1917 park superintendent’s repor t, the author notes the reorganization of the park under the new National Park Service system: This year has been epoch making in Yellowstone National Park history. The entire concession system has been reorganized; large 10-passenger automobiles, especially adapted to the requirements of tourist travel have superceded the ancient stagecoaches; the regular park tour has been extended to included…r egions of splendid scenic quality; and the development of the pa rk as a great summer resort, instead of a region to be glimpsed in four or five days of hasty travel, has been initiated. All of these projects have been revolutionary in their sc ope, and it is worthy of note that they were largely advanced and made effective during the tourist season wit hout inconveniencing the public or interfering with its pleasure in any manner (U.S. Department of the Interior 1917, 1). It is important to understanding the cultural landscape evolution of Yellowstone Lake to investigate the plural ity of businesses at the lake . Although a business was often billed as providing one type of service, it by no means confined them to only building and supporting that type of service. For example, the tent companies provided guests 134 with overnight accommodations as well as food service and transportation around the park. Often the companies worked under c ooperative business agreements. Such was the case between the transportation companies a nd the Yellowstone Lake Boat Company. The boat company did not transport tourists to the lake, but once there, these visitors were encouraged to take the steam ferry acro ss the lake and opt out of a dusty stagecoach ride. Another example of this cooperativ e agreement is evident in Hamilton Store operations. This park purveyor of souvenirs and groceries had a jo int agreement to run boats and tours with the Yellows tone Park Boat Company. Park businesses also elude easy differentia tion in their building types. The bread and butter of Yellowstone Lake Boat Comp any’s business was selling boat rides and renting boats. However, the company expande d to include a grocery and souvenir store, tackle store, employee housing, and game corral. The early years of this period involves many concessionaires actually building homes near their business. These houses were gradually replaced by group housing such as dormitories or placed above other structures such as a second floor of a store. It shoul d be noted that the National Park Service also had to find a solution to the problem of housing employees near their work. It was unreasonable to ask employees to commute fr om areas outside of the park, yet housing was not readily available in the park. Con cessionaires and government agencies had to build facilities to house their employees. This period sees the U.S. Army and then the park service using soldier st ations and ranger cabins to seasonally house employees. Concessionaire solutions to housing issues were more varied . The collage of uses and building types is complex and evolves throughout this period. This may be attributed to the evolving nature of Yellowstone as park managers and concessionaires continually 135 revised their understanding of what a park landscape should look like and how it should be managed. The park concessionaires operating at Yellowstone Lake also focused their attentions unevenly in terms of deve lopment around the lake. Although the boat company occasionally used the islands as visito r service areas, genera lly this period sees the evolution of shoreline cu ltural landscape developments. Most services at the lake were located on the beaches, near the cliffs , or in close proximity to the northern and western shorelines of Yellowstone Lake. As park roads extended from the Lake Developed Area west around the shore to th e West Thumb Developed Area, services were situated along this course. Once a st urdy bridge capable of carrying stagecoaches was built across the Yellowstone River near the lake outlet and the east entrance road to Cody, Wyoming was completed, serv ices spread towards the eastern margins of the lake. Following the course of the road, overnight accommodations, dining facilities, and service stations were developed to serve tour ists traveling the lake ’s roadways. In addition, trails were improved along the eastern perimeter of the lake. Trails also were developed to and around scenic areas of inte rest such as the Natural Bridge, the West Thumb Thermal Basin, and to lookout spots on nearby hills above. Even after the massive reorganization under the National Park Service, various private interest groups vied for access and use of Yellowstone’s resources. At Yellowstone Lake, this struggle is seen in battles over irrigation involving Yellowstone River and Yellowstone Lake. Montana agricu ltural interests proposed to dam and divert the waters of the Yellowstone River in orde r to augment their wate r supply. The proposal spurred a series of debates that ranged across the nation and attracted the attention of 136 political park allies. While discussing the proposed plan to move water from Yellowstone Lake for irrigation through a tunnel over the continental divide, Superintendent Albright remarks: “I am not advised as to th e use that will be made of this water, but I know that these lakes and ba sins can not be used as storage reservoirs without seriously injuring the scenic beauty of Yellowstone Park and greatly impairing, for generations to come, its usefulness as a national playground” (Albright 1919, 44). For Albright, the irrigation proposals posed a serious threat to his vision of appropriate park development. He continues: “Further more, this commercialization of its waters would constitute a precedent for encroachment of other interests that have been held away from the park since early days. Once the park is opened to exploitation of its natural resources, anything may afterwards happen to it” (Albright 1919, 44). Another proposed development for the park that would have affected Yellowstone Lake involved a railroad route through the pa rk. Acting Superinte ndent Anderson said that the “line of this road w ould of necessity pass near the Yellowstone Lake. The great amount of moisture furnished by the lake and its numerous tributaries give a mantle of snow that will average 15 feet in depth, a nd with the strong winds prevailing in this mountainous country no railroad could be ke pt running during the six months of winter without being entirely inclosed in snow sheds, which would prove destructive to the natural beauty of the Park” (Anderson 1894, 5) . Although these schemes did not come to fruition in the park nor at Yellowstone Lake, they serve as examples of discussions taking place in the late 19th century over the appropriate uses and forms of development in a national park landscape. 137 Another event of great consequence during this period was the outbreak of international hostilities during World War I. Although the efforts of the See America First campaign were in full swing, visitor num bers in the park d eclined during the war years and many facilities at Yellowstone Lake were closed. This tr end reversed after the war. A look at visitation statistics for Yellows tone illustrates this trend (see Appendix). In 1918, 21,275 people visited the park but after the war in 1919, visitor numbers soared to 62,261 people (Haines 1977b, 479). More than a decade later, the Great Depression also dramatically affected park visitation. For Yellowstone National Park, it was difficult to secure personnel and resources to support the park. Once again, park visitation statis tics for this period reveal decreasing park use (see Appendix). In 1929, 260,697 people entered the park for the summer season. Visitor numbers continued to d ecrease until they hit a low point in 1932 with only 157,624 total tourists traveling into Yellowst one (Haines 1977b, 479). After assessing the cultural landscape changes at Yellowstone Lake with a keen eye on these four events— the entrance of au tomobiles to the park, the creation of the National Park Service, World War I, and th e Great Depression—this chapter ends at an economic recession for the park and the nation in the midst of the Great Depression. This chapter traces tremendous changes in the cultural landscape of Yellowstone Lake. The chapter is divided into thr ee discussion sections: transportation, government facilities, and concessionaire developed areas. Each of these sections is further subdivided into units describing themes of development. The transportation at the lake during this period includes horse trails, dirt wagon roads later deve loped into dirt auto roads, bridges, and boating routes. The U.S. Army Corps of E ngineers oversaw the construction of park 138 roads and then the upgrading of roads for automobilists often referred to as the “Belt Line” road. The structures at the lake prolif erate significantly during this period as trails and roads increased and connected the lake to other park attractions. Facilities were built by government and concessionaires. Of the government facilities at Yellowstone Lake there were solider cabins, ranger cabins, patr ol cabins, a museum, free auto camps, fish hatchery buildings, animal viewing areas, and support or service structures. Concessionaire structures included overnight tents, lodges, and cabins for guests, lodging for employees, boat docks, stores, garages and filling stations, stables and barns, animal viewing areas, and restaurants. The three major developed areas at Yellowstone Lake by the end of this period are the Fishing Bridge Developed Area, Lake Developed Area, and West Thumb Develope d area (Figure 33). Transportation The transportation geography near Yellowstone Lake changed greatly between 1892 and 1932. During the early part of this period, narrow, dirt wagon roads and trails provided the main routes of travel. Stageco aches and horseback travel were the most common vehicles until 1915. The admission of automobiles to Yellowstone in 1915 (Figure 34) transformed the face of lake tr ansportation. Tour operators abandoned their stagecoach operations and equipment and reorganized their tours to accommodate automobile travel around the park. Lakes hore roads were enlarged and realigned to accommodate motor travel. Steamboat trips on the lake gave way to motorized boats tours and increasing motor boat rentals. The period also covers a transition in the government agencies that oversaw the construc tion of transportation routes in the park; 139 Figure 33. Yellowstone Lake, 1932 Insert map of regional road connections from the collection of Dr. Joseph Ashley 140 after the creation of the National Park Servi ce, road building and maintenance shifted to this agency from the U.S. Co rps of Engineers in 1918. Figure 34. Automobiles Enter Ye llowstone National Park, 1915 The official entrance of automobiles into Yellowstone National Park changed the face of transportation geography throughout the park. Visitors could travel around the park at new speeds and they visited the park in unprecedented numbers. The National Park Service and park concessionaires undertook va st infrastructure changes to accommodate this new form of travel [Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park Archives]. Traveling and Touring in the Park, 1892-1932 Travel during the pre-auto period (bef ore 1915) occurred in three ways: private travelers arrived with their own form of transportation, camping parties or groups of people used their own transportation (Figur e 35), or organized, li censed transportation companies guided travelers through the Park (E rwin 1898, 4). Private travelers rode their own horses or traveled in pr ivate carriages. The licen sed companies offered group 141 Figure 35. Sagebrush Tourists An alternative to the expensiv e and scheduled park tours wa s travel through the park in groups of individual coaches. These intrepid park travelers became known as “sagebrush tourists.” [Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park Archives]. transport in the form of guided stagecoach tours (Figure 36) that tr aveled a circuit around the park. The stagecoach companies provided access to Yellowstone Lake from different routes while also providing a range of visitor services. As was common for many stagecoach companies, a tour of the park be gan at a railroad depot where the visitor would be deposited after a l ong train journey (Figure 37). For example, in 1897 the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company offe red tourists stagecoach tours in the park entering from the park’s north entrance. Yellowstone Park Transportation Company stagecoaches met tourists at the Cinnabar train station and carried them around the park on a tour from Mammoth, to Norris, the Upper Geyser Basin, to Yellowstone Lake, to Canyon, and then back to the train station at Cinnabar. A different plan was offered by the Monida and Yellowstone Stage Company. Th is business started the coach tour of the 142 park from the west entrance, traveled to the Fountain Hotel, the Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone Lake, Canyon, Norris, Mammoth a nd then back to th e riverside entrance (Erwin 1898, 4). Thus, the transportation companies offered visitors similar sights once in the park, but varied the tours depending on which entr ance they centralized their operations. Stagecoaches traveled between points that provide d scenic attractions for visitors and that were feasible for a day’s travel. For exam ple, in 1898 the Monida and Yellowstone Stage Company provided service between the F ountain Hotel and the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake in about five and a half hour s. From West Thumb, tourists were given the option of taking a steamboat ferry across th e lake (for an extra charge) to the Lake Hotel or of taking an additional two hour stagecoach ride around the lake (a longer, dustier, but less expensive r oute (Erwin 1898, 24). Figure 36. Stagecoach Tour Concessionaire Yellowstone tourists could join an orga nized and scheduled stagecoach tour around Yellowstone National Park operated by one of the park’s transportation companies. These tours connected tourists arriving at rail road stations around the park with the park features via a system of park roads. A popular concessionaire during this period of Yellowstone history was the Wylie Perman ent Camping Company (seen here in 1895 with guides and coaches) which offered tr ansportation and tent lodging at various locations throughout the park [Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park Archives]. 143 Figure 37. Park Tour Brochure, 1915 A popular option for tourist transportation in Yellowstone National Park before motorized travel was a stagecoach tour. These tours, as seen in this brochure from the Yellowstone Western Stage Company, met visi tors coming into the park via railroad depots located near park en trances. From the railway connections, a variety of stagecoach tours were offered; each afforded a chance to visit the main scenic attractions in the park including Yellowstone Lake and a stay at the Lake Hotel. [Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park Archives.] The concessionaire structure also changed over this time period (Table 1). Before 1916, there were a number of concessi onaires operating travel services to Yellowstone Lake. However, the creation of the National Park Service altered that structure from multiple businesses to one consolidated operation for each type of service offered in the park. It is helpful to cons ider the complicated nature of early park concessionaire operations, particularly those involved with transportation. There were many variations on the theme of moving and lodging visitors through the park; some 144 Table 1. Government Agencies and Concessionaires Operating at Yellowstone Lake, 1895- 1919 Dates listed indicate the year that the agency or company started businesses at Yellowstone Lake or when agencies or companies changed names and/or ownership. 1895 Yellowstone Park Association, Yellowstone Lake Boat Company 1897 Yellowstone Park Transportation Company 1898 Wylie Permanent Camping Company, Monida and Yellowstone Stage Company 1903 U.S. Fish Commission 1906 U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, Yellowsto ne Park Transportation Company name change to Yellowstone National Park Transportation Company 1908 T.E. Hofer Boat Company takes over operations of Yellowstone Lake Boat Company 1912 Yellowstone Park Boat Company, Holm Transportation Company, Yellowstone Park Hotel Company 1913 Shaw and Powell Camping Company 1914 Yellowstone Western Stage Company re places Monida and Yellowstone Stage Company 1915 Yellowstone Western Stage Company 1916 National Park Service replaces United States Army, Cody-Sylvan Pass Motor Company 1917 Yellowstone Park Camping Company (formerly Wylie Permanent Camping Company and Shaw and Powell Camp ing Company), Yellowstone Park Transportation Company, Yellowstone Park Hotel Company, Yellowstone Park Boat Company 1919 1919 Hamilton Stores Source: Compiled from Annual Superintendent Reports for Yellowstone National Park (1895-1919). early park companies only operated transporta tion companies for visitors, while others built businesses based on combined transportation and lodging packages. Perhaps one of the most complex transportation businesses at Yellowstone Lake was the Yellowstone Lake Boat Company. Over the years of its existence, this operati on conducted boat tours and ferries across the lake through an agreem ent with the stagecoach companies, sold 145 various consumer goods at a small shop near the Lake Hotel, and offered boat rentals, fishing tackle, and eventually a gu ide service to pa rk visitors. Once automobile travel was allowed in th e park, the transportation infrastructure in the park changed too. Now tourists coul d enter by their own volit ion in their private vehicles or they could decide to travel to the park by railro ad and then join an organized guided trip through the park in specially bui lt touring autos (Figur e 38). Although the Figure 38. Automobile Tour s at Yellowstone Lake Transportation infrastructure in Yellowstone National Park was dramatically changed by the entrance of the first automobile in 1915. After this date, park tour operators discontinued their stagecoach tours and began offering group automobile tours in specially built touring cars. Visitors in th e image below are leavi ng Lake Hotel with an organized touring party [Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park Archives]. independent tourists had more freedom to choose their routes and schedules through the park, their trips were not without troubles. A woman and her family traveling through the park in 1928, related some of the experiences of early au to travelers at Yellowstone Lake; “we hunted up a garage, got all our flat tires repaired, bought groceries and 146 continued our journey” (Corthell 1928, 64). This experience was in contrast to the arranged hotel stays, scheduled meals at dining facilities, and repair-free experiences of visitors on guided motor tours. These auto tours continued to access Yellowstone Lake and make scheduled overnight st ops at the Lake Hotel as well as at other featured sites around the lake (Figure 39). Although the attractions visi ted by these touring groups remained similar to those highlighted in prev ious tours, the motorized vehicles allowed visitors to see sights at a more rapid pace a nd allowed for longer distances to be traveled in one day. Railroads also played a key role in transportation schemes for Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding region. Inde ed, one historian remarks that railroads “restructured the landscape of the West” more than any previous form of transportation (Schwantes 2003, 37). Although there were no ra ilroads built in the park, train service provided an important form of conveyance fo r park visitors from other parts of the country such as the Northeast. Not long afte r the establishment of Yellowstone, railroad companies completed branch lines of access to the park. Although the Northern Pacific Railroad had a station located at Cinnabar, Montana by the late 1800’s, by 1903 the company extended its route from Livingston, Mont ana to a station closer to the park at Gardiner, Montana near the Park’s northe rn boundary (Schwantes 2003, 84). The Union Pacific extended its Oregon Short Line from Sa int Anthony, Idaho to the west entrance of Yellowstone by 1908 (Schwantes 2003, 85). Other railroads soon followed and competition for rail access to Yellowstone gr ew. By 1931, there were many established routes connecting Yellowstone Na tional Park to the rest of the nation. Visitors could travel with the Northern Pacific Railroad to the north entrance at Gardiner or to Bozeman 147 Figure 39. Automobile Touring Rout es in Yellowstone National Park As Yellowstone tours transitioned from stag ecoaches to automobiles, “standard tours” were continued to include Yellowstone Lake as a regularly scheduled stop along the route. This 1928 insert from a Northern Pacific Railroad brochure presented potential park tourists with a collection of touring options taking advantage of the railroad stations at Cody, Wyoming and Gardiner, Montana. [N orthern Pacific Railway and Burlington Route 1928, insert.] 148 “reaching the park via the Gallatin Gateway” (U nited States Department of the Interior 1931, 10). The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad operated direct service to Gallatin Gateway (near Bozeman) a nd the Union Pacific Railroad served West Yellowstone, Montana and Victor, Idaho. Fi nally, two routes offered the visitor the combination of train and then auto connections to the park via the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad to Cody, Wyoming and th e Chicago and North Western Railroad to Lander, Wyoming. Growing visitation and more concessiona ires had direct impacts on Yellowstone Lake’s cultural landscape. With more people visiting the lake, the demand for guest services rose and private businesses proliferat ed to meet these grow ing demands. A vital part of the infrastructure to support more visitor traffi c and concessionaires was a fortified transportation network that linked Yellowstone Lake with other notable park features. Between 1892 and 1932, the transpor tation geography of the lake included growing infrastructure of trails, ro ads, bridges, and boating routes. Trails The trail system around Yellowstone Lake consisted of trails for horse and foot traffic. Although my research found most of the written discussion of transportation during this period to revolve around the road system, I did find some clues as to what trails were built and maintained. The early trail system around the lake provided horse traffic access to the lake until roads were built to Yellowstone Lake. Gradually, the road building projects replaced these tr ails with wider travel paths for stagecoaches and, later, automobiles. Foot and horse trails us ed by Native Americans and Euro-American 149 explorers were probably s till visible through the forests and around the shores of Yellowstone Lake during the early part of th is period; indeed, t hose trails may have served as the basis for foot and horse pa ths that were built and maintained by the government around the lake. I did find data —in the form of historic maps—that provided some evidence that a trail system was in place around the eastern, western, and southern shores of the lake. For example, an 1897 Map of Yellowstone National Park (Figure 40) shows a trail running around these ar eas of the lake. However, since the map is credited as “Compiled from different expl orations and our personal survey, 1882,” it is uncertain whether the trail refers to a histor ically used route or a current trail (Guptill 1897, map insert). By the early 1900’s ther e was a growing interest in establishing a trail system to scenic features around the lake as well as better acce ss to lake activities such as fishing. A government report for the park from 1917 notes a proposal to convert “fire lanes” into a trail system for visitors to explore the park along; “[n]ext year, it is proposed to build a broad new trail around Lake Yellowstone, penetrating the moose country and another region of striking beauty. These trails will also make a remarkable fishing territory readily accessible” (United St ates Department of the Interior 1917, 13). The trail system around Yellowstone La ke was in a transition period between 1892 and 1932; trails that were once used as the main travel corridors to and around the lake were being replaced by roads. A road system was gradually installed around the northern and western portion of the lake by building and then connecting sections of road. Of the references that I found to tra il use and maintenance during this period, foot and horse trails around scenic areas or serv ice avenues were commonly mentioned. By 1918, the park had four hundred miles of horse trails (Lindsley 1918, 3). Improvised foot 150 Figure 40. Early Lakeshore Trails and Road Evidence of early foot and horse trails around Yellowstone Lake may be found in historic maps showing routes along the eastern, southe rn, and western shores. Although the early horse trail between the Bridger Creek a nd Arnica Creek along the north shore of Yellowstone Lake ran a more direct route between thes e two locations, the early stagecoach route followed the shoreline. Th is 1897 map from a park guidebook revealed that early lake routes as well as a few of the cultural and sc enic features at Yellowstone Lake such as the Lake Hotel, the Natura l Bridge, and the West Thumb Lunch Station. [Guptill 1897, map insert.] trails for visitors to access the lake and to move between concessionaire operations such as camping areas and dining spots were prob ably present on the landscape, although they may have taken a more informal role that escap ed official written park records. I did find 151 a brief description of trails at the West Thumb developed area in 1918 that may provide some clues as to the shape and use of trails around the southwest section of the lake during this time. In a report of the park s uperintendent, a “Platfor ms and Board Walks” section records a brief mention of “[t]en landi ng platforms at various points of interest, originally built to accommodate passengers alighting from horse-drawn vehicles” (Lindsley 1918, 23). According to the report, these platforms were lowered that year to “accommodate automobile passengers” (Linds ley 1918, 23). The report also mentions repairing “185 feet of old walk” near the “Thumb” area (Lindsley 1918, 23). The author of the report does not provide furt her details about the use of the “old walk.” These trails may have been used as safe passage for sightseers around thermal features, to outline frequently used travel paths between concessi on operations, or as foot trails to the lake (Figure 41). I did find evidence that plans were in the works to build a rene wed system of foot and horse trails around the lake during this pe riod. While making se veral suggestions for the park’s improvement, Superintendent Albr ight proposed building a “new trail” from “Trapper Creek, south of Lake Yellowstone , around the arms of the lake and over Chicken Ridge to Heart Lake” (1919, 103). It seems that these plans for trails did celebrate some sort of success. A 1923 U.S. Department of the Interior booklet notes that; “An extensive system of trails is availa ble for the saddle-horse lover desiring to visit the more remote and wilder sections of the park…It is here where nature, except for trail, remains undisturbed…where spots that appe al may be studied…uninterrupted by any schedule of transportation” (U.S. Department of the Interior 1923, 57). By 1923 a system of horse trails had been established and maintained around the park in cluding locations at 152 Figure 41. Trail Systems at Yellowstone Lake Early trails around Yellowstone Lake were gear ed toward horse and foot traffic. This undated photograph of a “foot path” near a geothermal pool in the West Thumb Developed Area provides a clue as to the look and design of early paths around thermal this thermal basin. [Courtesy of Ye llowstone National Park Archives.] Yellowstone Lake. The “Howard Eaton Trail” was described in 1923 as “a linking up of a former series of short trails” (U.S. De partment of the Interior 1923, 58). The 1923 booklet continued its description of the Howard Eaton Trail: the trail “closely follows the ‘loop’ road, touching the points of interest visited by vehicl e travel, yet the trail is sufficiently distant from the road at most points to avoid contact” (U.S. Department of the Interior 1923, 58). The Howard Eaton Trail included twenty miles of trail between the Lake Developed Area and the West Thumb De veloped Area. The booklet also describes several “branch trails” at Yellowstone Lake which visitors were en couraged to use in conjunction with the Howard Eaton Trail (U .S. Department of the Interior 1923, 58). 153 These trails were built along creeks and conn ected the Lake Developed Area with the east boundaries of the park and the West Thumb Developed Area as well as connecting the western edges of Yellowstone Lake with Heart Lake, Lewis Lake, and Shoshone Lake (U.S. Department of the Interior 1923, 59). Roads Between 1892 and 1932, the roads around Ye llowstone Lake were extended around the north shore of the lake, transitioned from stagecoach roads to automobile routes, and they became more effectively li nked to other travel corridors through the park. These changes were part of larger tr ends such as the ava ilability of new road building technologies, the entrance of automobiles to the park, and growing visitor and concessionaire demands for more access to the park (Figure 42). The United States Army Corps of Engineers continued their work on all road projects in Yellowstone until July 1, 1918 (O’Brien 1965, 81). By 1905, th e loop road system around the park was completed and then the U.S. Corps of E ngineers turned their efforts away from constructing new roads to “upgrading the ex isting system” (O’Brien 1965, 125). Projects after this time were limited to shortening, straightening, and small scale relocation of park roads (O’Brien 1965, 125). The Nationa l Park Service took over the responsibility of road projects in the park in 1918. As national railroad and highway systems made connections to Yellowstone roads, the park became more accessible through a variety of transportation forms, routes, and schedules. By 1892, a wagon road provided only limited access to Yellowstone Lake. Although O’Brien notes that the “first route adopted and completed” along the lakeshore at Yellowstone Lake was finished in 1894 (O’Brien 1965, 107), the annual park 154 Figure 42. Early Roads in Yellowstone National Park Early roads to Yellowstone Lake were often built upon the same routes used by trails to the area. Road building was often a tedious task that involved clearing numerous trees and finding a path through the uneven terrain of the park. This 1895 image shows an early stagecoach road coursing through an opening in the forested shoreline of the lake and cliffs of the park toward Yellowstone Lake. [Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park Photo Archives.] superintendent report for 1892 reveals a different completion da te. In his annual report, Acting Superintendent Anderson discusses the completion of “an excellent new road opened from the Canyon to the Upper Basin, vi a the lake. This 52 miles of road is destined to become one of the most popular, as it is one of the most beautiful, drives in the park” (Anderson 1892, 5). The new road completed a connection between the Grand Canyon and the Upper Geyser Basin by a route traveling south from the Grand Canyon area to the north shore of Yellowstone Lake near the outlet of the Yellowstone River, then west across the shoreline to the West Thumb Developed Area and onward to the 155 Upper Geyser Basin over the continental divi de. The road provided stagecoaches and horseback-riding visitors access to Lake Hotel an d the north shore of the lake (see Figure 30). Anderson’s description of the lake road is also notable for his description of the travel path; instead of referring to route numbe rs, he refers to the route that the road traveled and the areas that it connected. This template of road designations became a common practice by government, concessionaire, and visitor descriptio ns of park roads by the late 1800’s. This system relied on a basic geographic knowledge of the park (a road from the Upper Geyser Basin to West Thumb traveled in which direction?) it could be confusing for those unfamiliar with the park transportation circulation since it involved references to unfamiliar locations and the labels of these roads varied slightly depending on the author invoking them. After 1892, a wagon road served as the ma in road along the northwestern shore of Yellowstone Lake. Although the early bridle path between the Lake Developed Area and the West Thumb Developed Area ran a direct but steep route between the Bridge Creek and Arnica Creek, the route that was used for the stagecoach road was built closer to the lake’s edge. This road along the shore of the lake fluctuated between northern and southern routes between 1894 and 1932, but the route completed in 1894 followed the shore line of the lake closely. The road ra n so close to the lake that at times this proximity to the shoreline became a hazard as road engineers underestimated the dynamic physical environment of Yellowstone Lake. The new road was a narrow dirt path that required frequent maintenance. After only a year of being built the road required repairs. While discussing roads in the park, Acting S uperintendent Anderson mentioned repairs to the road “between Upper Geyser Basin and Th umb” saying that “the important part, the 156 causeway along the lake, is as yet untouche d” (Anderson 1893, 8). A problem for the early lakeshore road was the instability of its roadbed; a section of the roadbed that ran along the shoreline was built on a sandbar of soft, fine-grained, lakeshore sand. Carriages would often get stuck in the sand (F igure 43) and the road proved difficult to maintain. Acting Superintendent Anderson me ntions that a road was open from Lake Hotel to Natural Bridge along the shoreline to “Thumb,” a nd mentions the difficulty of building and maintaining roads on “loose beach sand” (Anderson 1895, 8). Park engineers had to balance the difficulty of maintaining this lakeshore route with the advantages of building the road along a fairly level surface around the lake. The 1892 completion of the lakeshore road between the Lake Developed Area and the West Thumb Developed Area o ffered new opportunities for concessionaire operations and the government supported these pr ivate business ventures. This route was also important as it connected the lake to ot her park features and created more of a “loop road” around the park. Acting Superintendent Anderson mentions that the road is finally finished so that a loop can be made “from the lake to the Upper Basin without passing over any portion of the route a second time” (Anderson 1895, 3). The plan to create and maintain a road system that allowed visitors to travel—via a loop route—to the key park features was pervasive in park planning. By 1897, the route of the roads around the park tour included traveling by coach from Gardin er, Montana to Mammoth, then on to Norris, from there to the Fountain Hotel, then to the Upper Geyser Basin, then to the West Thumb Developed Area, around the north shore of the lake to the Lake Developed Area and then north to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Even from the early years of this plan, Yellowstone Lake was considered a major scenic attraction to be visited and 157 Figure 43. Early Roads and Br idges at Yellowstone Lake Early road building projects along the shorel ine of Yellowstone Lake often faced the hurdles of steep elevation along the lake’s edge or soft sandy beaches nearer to the lake. This 1903 image shows a horse and carriage ab out to make a crossing of a bridge along the main road built on a spit of beach over the outlet of Arnica Creek flowing into Yellowstone Lake. The bridge was washed out several times over the years by flooding of the creek and carriages as well as later automobiles traveling along this road often were stuck in the soft lakeshore sands. According to park historian Lee Whittlesey, the bridge over Arnica Creek was used as part of the main road around the lake from 1897 to 1904. [image printed in Whittlesey 1997, 104.] included in park tours. An example of this planning design can be seen in a report from the park’s chief engineer. As the chief engi neer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Hiram Chittenden oversaw much of the earl y road building in the park. In 1900, Chittenden reported six “principal centers of interest in the park” that included Yellowstone Lake (1900, 9). He described a 153 total miles of “belt line” roads that connected a circuit between these notable “centers” (Chittenden 1900, 9-10). 158 The course of the road along the north shore of Yellowstone Lake shifted between several routes during this peri od. The greatest alteration in distance and course was the section of road between Bridge Creek and Ar nica Creek (see Figure 43). The early horse trail between thes e two points ran a southwesterly dire ction along a fairly straight path (see Figure 30). However, a lakeshore path was later favored by travelers (see Figure 40). This route was a bit longer than the prev ious trail, but afforded more views of the lake and the ease of travel al ong the level shoreline. The path of the lake road would change again in 1900. Chittenden proposed shortening the route between Thumb and Lake by 4 miles to run “directly over the hi lls from the Thumb Bay to Bridge Bay” (Chittenden 1900, 10). The road designer’s sugg estion came to fruition the next year. In 1901, the government built “9 miles of road…b etween the Thumb and Lake Hotel to cut out the Lake Shore road” (Pitcher 1901, 11). Th is more direct “cut-off” route (Figure 44) was used until 1916 (O’Brien 1965, 108). Afte r 1916, the road was once again realigned along the lakeshore route between Natural Br idge and Arnica Creek (Figure 45). It seems that these changes in the lake road’s route arose from indecision concerning the need for a direct route between Bridge Cr eek and Arnica Creek. Road builders altered the lake road’s location from a path over a steep grade to one that ran along the more scenic shoreline route. However, the shorel ine path proved difficult to maintain because of unstable terrain. The completion of the north shore route along Yellowstone Lake was soon followed by road construction running east fr om the lake outlet and south from West Thumb. By 1897, the road from “Thumb Sta tion to [the] southern boundary of timber reserve near Jackson’s lake” was completed and allowed visitors a southerly exit or 159 Figure 44. Adjustments to the La keshore Road and A Ferry Route Adjustments to the lakeshore rout e during the early part of the 20th century included a shift of the road towards the original horse tr ail route that ran a more direct route over the hills between Bridge Creek and Arnica Creek. This 1912 map from a park guidebook shows this road as the “Stage Route.” No te the steamboat ferry route across Yellowstone Lake depicted as a dotted line with a small boat near the western side of Dot Island and the U.S. Fish Hatchery site marked by a small box near Arnica Creek. [Haynes 1912, map insert.] entrance to the park (Young 1897, 4). By 1900, work was started on building a road east of the lake towards Cody, Wyoming. Hiram Chittenden reported that a new road was being constructed from the “lake outlet” to the “east boundary of forest reserve” (Chittenden 1900, 12). A 1908 park guidebook refe rs to the “construction of the road from the outlet of Yellowstone Lake to th e eastern boundary of the Park” which “opened up a delightful portion of the Park scenery” (Guptill 1908, 86). This description of the 160 Figure 45. Lakeshore Road The lakeshore road between Bridge Creek and Arnica Creek was adjusted to a southeastern position once more and after 1916 it stayed along this route. This 1928 park guidebook map shows the shoreline road. [N orthern Pacific Railway and Burlington Route1928, 32-33.] east road also mentions a majo r addition to the lake that ma de travel possible along this eastern route—a “substantial bridge” across the Yellowstone River “about two miles 161 from the Lake Hotel” (Guptill 1908, 86). This new road opened up access to the park from the east while also encouraging more travel along the northe astern portion of Yellowstone Lake, particularly between the ea st road and the Fishing Bridge Developed Area and the Lake Developed Area. With th e completion of the eastern entrance road and the south entrance road, transportation networks provided access to the lake from four different directions; from the west vi a the road between the West Thumb Developed Area and the Upper Geyser Basin, from the north along the route between the Grand Canyon and the Lake Developed Area, from the south along the road to Jackson, Wyoming, and from the east along the road to Cody, Wyoming. The process of building and maintaining park roads was a common topic in the park superintendents’ annual reports. These reports carried comments from visitors who often complained of the poor road conditions including muddy, dusty, and unstable terrain making travel difficult if not im possible. Maintenance of the wagon roads included sprinkling of the road surfa ce and clearing trees. In 1901, Acting Superintendent Pitcher mentions the need to sprinkle roads to cut down on the excessive dust (Pitcher 1901, 10). In 1906, the acting supe rintendent discussed clearing areas for building and for scenic purposes. He me ntioned cleaning up timber and refuse around the Lake Developed Area where the roads and hillsides were “thoroly [ sic] cleaned and all timber and refuse burned” (Pitcher 1906, 12). The lake environment provided a number of road building obstacles not found near other park roads. Besides the previously mentioned crossing in the sand at Arnica Creek, the shifti ng lake levels proved hazardous for road conditions. A testament to the dynamic lake environment is an incident in 1908 along the lake’s roadways . Yellowstone’s Acting Superintendent 162 reported that “[d]uring early July high wa ter in Yellowstone Lake, with strong shore winds, caused bad washouts on the Lake-Thumb ro ad in the vicinity of the Lake Hotel and the Thumb Station. Substant ial retaining walls were constr ucted to hold the road in these places and the road was rais ed about 2 feet” (Benson 1909, 7). While park road crews struggled to build and maintain travel routes through the park, national audiences were becoming more in terested in automobile travel. However, inequalities between the advances and reliabi lity in auto travel and poorly maintained and rugged road systems throughout the country presented hurdles to travelers. Making the best of available roads, early auto traveler s developed “touring routes connecting the Park with eastern cities and with its neighbor to the north, Glacier National Park” (Haines 1977b, 265). Groups of automobile touring en thusiasts connected a “patchwork of country and rural roads” into a route of tr avel between the Twin Cities and Yellowstone Park (Haines 1977b, 265). By 1911, the Yellows tone Trail was scouted out and later developed into a marked route for easter n travelers to follow on the journey to Yellowstone. The Park-to-Park route was also developed in 1911 and connected the roadways between Yellowstone National Pa rk, Glacier National Park, and Rocky Mountain National Park. Although automobiles were admitted into Yellowstone in 1915, the roads were not capable of supporting safe and reliable travel through the park at that time. After Congress made the much-needed appropriations to support road work, government crews began the process of making the roads safe fo r both animal and motor powered vehicles. This process involved extensive work on all of the park roadways and often reworking the established paths of travel to accomm odate multiple vehicles. An example of 163 reevaluating the road structure may be found in the acting park supe rintendent’s report for 1915. The Acting Superintendent reporte d building a “turnout…at the Lake Junction, completing a triangle at this point and connecting the east road with the branch of the belt line leading to the north or in the direction of the Canyon. Previously the junction had consisted of a single turnout…making the turn for traffic from the north belt line onto the east road so sharp that freight wagons could not make it, but were compelled to pass to a point beyond where they could turn complete ly around and then enter the east road from the south” (Brett 1915, 14). Automobile traffic not only changed the surface and structure of the roads around Yellowstone Lake. This new form of transpor tation altered the timing of visitor stays and the routes that tourists followed. Autos increased the speed at which tourists could travel around the park and routes that the park serv ice and touring companies supported for park tours. Earlier park tours were dependent on the routes defined by the park tour companies and the pacing of these early trips was dictated by how far a horse-drawn coach could travel each day. The organized park tour did not disappear instantly with the advent of the auto in the park, but the tour was altered to accomm odate the faster mode of transportation and the growth of the road system through the par k. Park roads were increasingly referred to in government reports as the “The Belt Li ne” or the “Loop Roads” (Lindsley 1918) and were spatially organized as a system of interconnected roads around the park; these transportation channels provided a system of circulation where visitors could optimize their routes to see as much of the park as possible while also vi siting all of the park attractions deemed as important sights. In an Annual Report , the park superintendent 164 describes the road system for the park in 1917 (U.S. Department of the Interior 1917, 7). According to the report “the schedule of the transportation line was arranged to give the visitor as much time as possible at the point s of greatest interest—Mammoth Hot Springs, Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone Lake, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.” In addition to including the lake as one of four major sights in the park, the report also notes a new strategy for the circulati on of touring parties around the park; “[a] third advantage of the new motor system was the arrangement that the railroads and the transportation company perfected whereby it was made possi ble for park visitors to enter via one gateway, tour the park, and leave via another gateway” (U.S. Department of the Interior 1917, 7). Indeed, an example of “another gate way” was the south entrance to the park. In the 1917 Annual Report , the new road system was described in terms of its connections to the south and with Yellowst one Lake; “for the first time, automobiles were operated from the Lake Hotel to the Jackson Hole on a regular schedule” (U.S. Department of the Interior 1917, 14). These examples show how tour companies were adapting to the expanding park road system s and the availability of new automobile technology. In the process, the transpor tation system around Yellowstone Lake was evolving to accommodate new demands a nd opportunities for transportation. As the road system improved, park tour operators constructed and marketed a set of experiences in the park that defined what park features were considered important and how those attractions could be accessed. This process ofte n went hand in hand with the construction of park transportation. If a road was built to an attraction and it was deemed an interesting sight, then visitors could easily find access to it. On the other hand, a road in poor condition or a lack of road access to a feature in the park translated into low 165 visitor contact and a marginali zation of that feature in park advertising. Although various parts of Yellowstone Lake (usually along the no rthern shore) were incorporated into park tours after the lake road was completed between the Grand Canyon and the Lake Developed Area, the areas of the lake that were visited and highlighted in park tours changed over time. Often this fluctuation in tourist routes involved access to the feature and the notability of the attraction. Two examples of this process are the tourist access to the thermal areas around the lake and the waning vi sitor contact with Natural Bridge. An 1893 guidebook touts the lake as having “no le ss than seven hot-spring areas surrounding Yellowstone Lake” but asserts that “those of the west arm or Thumb bay…are by far the most interesting” (Guptill 1893, 73). How mu ch was this assessment of the thermal features along the lake influenced by the transportation geography of the lake? In 1893, park roads connected the West Thumb geotherm al areas with other park attractions and boat tours departed from this thermal basin. However, I did not find evidence of organized trips (by boat or coach) to the therma l areas along the eastern shores of the lake or in the Southeast Arm. This abbreviated re ference to the “seven hot-spring areas” at the lake was a contrast to earlier descriptions of these areas. An 1887 guidebook devoted a full section to describing the appearance and activity of therma l areas along the north, east, and southern areas of the lake. Yet the author of the “Other Hot Spring Groups” section of this guidebook concluded his asse ssment of these attractions by dismissing them from a tour of the park : “But all these springs, inte resting as they doubtless are, would scarcely repay the tourist for the time and trouble necessary to reach them, 166 particularly as they present no special peculiarities in comparison with the various groups that lie within the range of routes that are more accessible” (Riley 1887, 100-101). The Natural Bridge—a limestone arch ove r Bridge Creek near the north shore of Yellowstone Lake—is an example of a waning park attraction affected by the placement of roads. Previously the bridge served as a transportation structure (see Figure 24) and scenic feature for tourists at Yellowstone Lake. By 1893, however, the lake road ran along the shore of the lake and did not take vi sitors past the Natural Bridge during their course of travels. An 1893 guidebook describe s the bridge as “just off the main road leading from the Outlet to the Thumb” and as “an arch of stone spanning a creek” (Guptill 1893, 76). By 1912, the main road ar ound the lake was rerouted once again to travel along the direct but hi lly route between Bridge Bay and Arnica Creek (see Figure 42). Natural Bridge rated a brief mention in a guidebook from this period; a 1912 travel guide advised the reader that the “Natural Bridge is passed on the drive around the Lake four miles from the Lake Hotel” (Haynes 1912, 87). Later, the road around the lake was moved back to its shoreline route (see Fi gure 45) and farther away from the Natural Bridge. Park road crews and engineers continued to invest energy and resources in road building projects throughout the early 20 th century. By 1918, the National Park Service relieved the U.S. Corps of Engineers of road building projects. After this time, projects along Yellowstone Lake included straightening roads, shortening roads, some relocations, and maintenance. One of the larger reloca tion projects involved the road between Bridge Bay and Arnica Creek which was moved yet again. While making a number of suggestions for improvements to the park, S uperintendent Albright mentioned that the 167 road “between the Thumb of Lake Yellowstone and the Bridge Bay near the outlet of the Lake” had been “realigned” and “abandoned” fo r the shorter but less scenic route that climbs a bit of elevation (Alb right 1919, 98-99). Albr ight calls for a return to the longer, more scenic road to citing that this “l ake drive” would “be one of the most popular features of the park tour” (Albright 1919, 98-99). By the en d of this period in 1932, this road was realigned to Albright’s suggestion. Other road alteration projects were focused on the developed area around the Lake Hotel. The 1919 annual superintendent report included a proposal to change the “road that runs so close to the Lake Hote l and Lake camp” (Albright 1919, 98-99). The superintendent suggested that the road “shoul d be changed to follow the lake shore from the hotel to the junction of the Cody approach road with the belt lin e system at the so- called ‘Fishing Bridge’ over the Yellowstone River where it leaves Yellowstone Lake.” According to the author, this road projec t would eliminate the “harassment of noisy automobile traffic at night” for campers a nd hotel guests at the Lake Developed Area (Albright 1919, 98-99). The course of this section of the lake road was altered in 1923; “a new road one-half mile in length was cons tructed along the lake shore…[to] eliminate the necessity for the through travel passing by the Lake permanent camp” ( Albright 1923, 29). Finally, the later years of this period reveal the National Park Service investing a good deal of time into the maintenance and improvement of park roads. These roads required routine repairs from w ear and tear and environmental factors such as heavy rains and washouts. The early dirt roads were al so sprinkled with water to decrease dusty travel conditions, particularly along the ro ad between the West Thumb Developed Area 168 and the Upper Geyser Basin. Other activitie s associated with road maintenance were described in annual superintendent reports; these projects were diverse and ranged from altering the vegetation cover near roads for aesthetic purposes (Figure 46) to eliminating Figure 46. Road Maintenan ce at Yellowstone Lake Road maintenance between 1892 and 1932 includ ed clearing trees for scenic purposes and preparing sites for future development. This 1926 photo provides a glimpse of some of these activities that were recorded in pa rk records for Yellowst one Lake as early as 1906. [Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park Photo Archives.] outdated infrastructure. Supe rintendent Albright comments on these “vista clearing” projects in his 1926 report; “[ t]his cleanup work is greatly improving the scenic character of the park roads, and has been subject of a vast amount of favorable comment by tourists” (Albright 1926, 10-11) . Some of the aspects of the “cleanup work” were described in a 1929 report; park crews comple ted “landscape engineering” such as 169 “planting shrubs or trees”, they removed “logs and debris of that nature along roads,” and eliminated “obsolete structur es such as sprinkling tanks, pipe lines, etc” (Toll 1929, 18). The National Park Service also used park roads to shape an aesthetic experience of the lake and park. The routes and sight s that the roads traveled around dictated in many ways what visitors would see and experi ence in the park and at the lake. By 1930, the lake road system included an automobile route around the northern shore of the lake, along the shoreline from the Lake Butte on the northeast side of the lake to the West Thumb Developed Area on the southwest side of the lake. A 1930 National Park Service brochure described the trip from “West Thum b” to “Lake Junction” as a “lake-shore drive all the way” (United States Department of Interior 1930, 40). The road system connected the Lake Developed Ar ea to other park settlement s and features to the east, north, and west of Yellowstone Lake. A number of smaller roads were also built at the developed areas of Fishing Bridge, Lake Area, and West Thumb to facilitate auto movement in these settlements. By the close of this period, national highway networks connected Yellowstone with regional and transcontinental roadways (see Figure 33). Visito rs were encouraged to travel to the park over “good connecting au tomobile roads from a number of the main transcontinental automobile highways” (Unite d States Department of the Interior 1931, 14). However, the main road around the lake was not completely paved until after 1932. Auto tourists could access the park through th e north entrance at Gardiner, Montana, the east entrance from Cody, Wyoming, the west entrance through West Yellowstone, Montana via U.S. Highway 10 which roughly fo llowed the Yellowstone Trail. Finally, the Lincoln Highway was another major transcon tinental road that connected the eastern 170 United States to park roads from a southerly approach (United States Department of the Interior 1931, 14). Bridges There were several bridges built around Yellowstone Lake to accommodate travelers over streams or rough terrain. Once the road along the northern perimeter of the lake was built along the shoreline—the more di rect but less scenic route between Bridge Bay and the northern extent of West Th umb Bay—the augmented Natural Bridge enhanced by Norris’s efforts in the 1880’s wa s no longer used for everyday traffic. However, the natural limestone arch continued to attract attention as a natural feature of interest at the lake. Park engineers also had to build a number of bridges across small streams that flowed into Yellowstone La ke. In 1897, Acting Superintendent Young mentions building one of these bridges “over [a] ravine near west thumb of lake” (1897, 4). Another crossing that required a bridge—as well as regular maintenance—was a portion of the early lakeshore road that ran across a natural sandbar near the lake. The sand made the road surface unstable. In addition, a small creek—Arnica Creek—drained into Yellowstone Lake at this site and often added to the instability of the crossing. (see Figure 43). One of the more prominent bridge building projects in terms of its effect on the transportation geography of Yellowstone La ke was the bridge over the Yellowstone River near the outlet from Yellowstone Lake. Rebuilt and realigned a number of times, the Fishing Bridge served an important role at the lake as a major stream crossing. During the early park years, there was no bri dge across the Yellowstone River at the lake outlet to afford visitors easy access to the eas tern shores of Yellowstone Lake. During 171 this time, some visitors traveling on horseback did ford the river and explore its eastern perimeter, but these instances were few and far apart. The deep, cold, waters of the river flowing out of the lake often proved too difficu lt to cross for carriages or stagecoaches. In 1902, a 360 foot bridge “carried on piling bents 16 feet apart” (Figure 47) was built over the Yellowstone River near the lake outlet (Haines 1977b, 228). The bridge was aligned to cross the river with its eastern ramp art farther upstream than its western end. This early bridge also had an arch in its center to accommodate row boats passing underneath it. By 1914, this bridge acquired the moniker “Fishing Bridge” because of the many fishing people who sought out this location to take advantage of the trout spawning grounds (Whittlesey 1997, 80). Fishing Bri dge was rebuilt in 1919 (see Figure 47) to accommodate increasing auto traffic and pedestrians on the bridge. Boating Routes Boating was an early feature of Yellowst one Lake’s transporta tion geography. By 1892, a steamboat ferry service was operating re gular shuttled trips between the West Thumb thermal basin and the Lake Hotel. This shuttle service was operated by the Yellowstone Lake Boat Company; the co mpany worked collaboratively with the stagecoach companies to integrate the lake ferry into the tour of the lake. The early park stagecoach tour traveled from the Upper Ge yser Basin to the West Thumb Developed Area and then onto the Lake Hotel. Guests would stop at West Thumb to have lunch and take a break from the confines of their stag ecoaches. After this in termission, they could either take the stagecoach to the Lake Hote l or board a steamboat and be ferried across the lake. While the steamboat ride cost each passenger an extra fare on top of the 172 Figure 47. The Fishing Bridge over the Yellowstone River The first bridge built over th e Yellowstone River (top) near its outlet from Yellowstone Lake served as an important piece of in frastructure to the emerging transportation geography of Yellowstone Lake. This bridge pr ovided safe passage across the cold, deep waters of the Yellowstone River and soon gain ed cultural significance as an ideal spot from which to fish or boat. The bridge was rebuilt in 1919 with a slightly different alignment and design. The bottom photogra ph shows the bridge after this second rebuilding and after the 1926 construction of a floating boat rental hut near the bridge. [Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park Photo Archives.] stagecoach tour, it provided a quicker trip to the hotel and the opportunity to take in the vast expanses of the lake from a floating vantage point. Mention of the trip is made in a government report from 1895: “The Boat 173 Company this season is obtaining a large percentage of the travel. It enables parties to reach the Lake Hotel several hours earlier than they would if they remained in the stages besides furnishing a delightful trip over one of the most beautiful sheets of water in the world” (Anderson 1895, 10). Acti ng Superintendent Anderson described the ferry across the lake; “the steamer on the lake has been running successfully…and adds much to the pleasure of a trip through the park. It is commodius a nd comfortable, and I believe perfectly safe. It is now made a part of the park transportation, and carries passengers, at their option, from the Thumb to the Lake Ho tel, thus relieving them of 18 miles of tedious staging” (Anderson 1892, 7). Ande rson also commented on the Yellowstone Lake Boat Company’s business of renting rowboa ts and fishing tackle to intrepid fishing parties; “I believe the boat company has enough small boats for the demands of fishing parties, but I think prices mi ght be lowered where boats are used continuously for several hours” (Anderson 1892, 7). The superintendent’s comments allude to what would soon be a common point of contention between the boat company and its clients—prices and quality for services rendered. In the next year’s annual park re port, Anderson made a more direct reference to visitor dissatisfaction with the Yellow stone Lake Boat Company. “The steamer continues to be satisfactorily run, and is greatly enjoyed by all tourists who make the trip on it. There are complaints that an extra fa re is charged for the ride, but people who do not care to pay it have the option of going on the Lake Hotel from the Thumb in regular coaches without extra price” (Anderson 1893, 10). However, the author makes a suggestion to alleviate some of the tensions be tween the boat company and its clients: “If the amount of travel on the boat would warrant a reduction of fare, and the transportation 174 company could make a small refund to those who used the boat, I believe all cause of complaint would be removed” (Anderson 1893, 10). The coming years only saw more grievances expressed ab out the boating company: The complaints that I have heard in re guard to it [the steamboat] are principally with regard to high charge, which is un avoidable on account of the small amount of patronage and the great expense of conducting the enterprise. It is a pity that this boat can not be made part of the regular Park tran sportation, and be used or not at the will of tourists, without extra expense. At pres ent there seems not a good way of accomplishing this result. Mr. Walters, the manager of the Boat Company, is courteous, and attentive to the wants and the interest of his passengers. The complaints against him are mostly from overcharge of damage done fishing tackle , and other minor items furnished by him (Anderson 1895, 10). Even with these complaints about th e boat company, government officials were quick to support the boat comp any’s services and to call for an increase in boating activity on Yellowstone Lake. After a particularly difficult economic recession for park businesses, the superintendent remarked: “The boat company has suffered quite as much as other industries in the Park from lack of patronage. The boat has been put in excellent condition, and it furnishes one of the most delightful bits of travel on the tour. The proposition to put a few small steam or naphtha launches on the lake has not been carried out, but I believe it would prove remune rative and certainly would be a great accommodation to tourists” (Anderson 1894, 8). Many facets of the boat service were the object of praise. Acting Superintendent Anderson found that “[t]he boat is safe, clean, is capable of carrying as many passengers as will ever desire to use it and is deserving of patronage” (Anderson 1895, 10). E. C. Waters—the owner of the boat company as well as the head operator of the steamboat—also was the subject of commentary. “Mr. Walters, the manager of th e Boat Company, is courteous and attentive to the wants and the interest of his pa ssengers” (Anderson 1895, 10). Some of the 175 compliments about the boating service referr ed to the quality of the boat ride on the turbulent waters of Yellowstone Lake: “The Lake Boat Comp any transacted business, so far as my observation extended, in a satisfactory manner. I ma de several trips on the boat during the season—one in a se vere windstorm—and the boat showed herself to be a staunch craft; every portion [ sic ] appeared neat and polite, courteous, and obliging” (Young 1897, 6). Although the steamboat at Yellowstone La ke was operated according to a joint agreement with stagecoach companies, the two form s of travel were often in competition. An 1897 park guidebook describes the stagecoach route to be about nineteen miles and the steamer trip at about forty miles; even with the extended mileag e the steamer tour was described as “very restful and is made in le ss time than the stage schedule” (Guptill 1897, 79). The choice of transportation at the lake did not escape the gaze of the park superintendents: “The stea mboat company operates one steamboat, which daily makes the trip from the lunch station on the lake ( known as West Thumb) to the Lake Hotel, and affords the tourist, whatever means of trans portation he may use in making the park trip, an opportunity to take an exceedingly beautiful and interesting trip of some three hours on the lake” (Erwin 1898, 4). As the boat tours continued to operate on Yellowstone Lake, the trip was critiqued for its safety, comfort, and scenic values. Looking at the comments made about the trip in government reports and guidebooks not only gives us a view into the perceived quality of the trip, it also provides information about the type of transportation used, the route the steamboat used across the lake, and the role of the steamer trip in Yellowstone Lake’s transportation geography. R econstructing the route that the steamboat took across the 176 lake was a particularly elusive task for me in my research. Unlike the roads, trails, and bridges at Yellowstone Lake whose impressi on was recorded on the landscape and visible in land and aerial photographs and maps, the steamboat’s path was ephemeral—visible only for the brief moments after the boat cut across the water—the route leaves few impressions upon the landscape to trace its outline. During the early years of steamboat service on the lake, the variables were few in number; there was only one steamboat that operated at the lake and it made one trip daily across the lake. Later the pattern became more complex as more boats were added to the tour and the steamboats operated tours around the lake as well as a ferry across it. Two sources of data that I found about the route of the early steamboat across the lake were a brief comment about the tour in an 1897 park gui debook and a map (see Figure 42) in a 1912 guidebook. The 1897 guidebook provides a written de scription of part of the route of the steamboat as traveling “around the islands of this charming lake” (Guptill 1897, 79). Although the route along the shoreline might have proven an easier route in terms of wind protection, taking the longer route into the deeper lake water would have been reasonable too; by using this route the larg e steamer boat could have avoided shallow ground while also providing tourists the opportu nity to view the lake’s islands from a closer vantage point. The quality of service provided by the boat operator also continued to be a selling point of the trip to the public. A park s uperintendent’s report in cluded the review: The steamer Zillah, running daily trips on Yellowstone Lake… has given full satisfaction to the public. I have made many trips on the boat, always found her in perfect condition, and thoroughly safe. The entire personnel of the boat are always attentive and polite to the pa ssengers, doing everything for thei r pleasure and enjoyment. In addition to the regular tourist business, this steamer has had many excursions (see Figure 25) (Erwin 1898, 7). 177 It seems that the increased popularity of the boat ride provided enough business and interest for the boat tours to diversify their business into other “excursions” in later years before automobile touring pushed the steamers out of business (Figure 48). In fact, the Yellowstone Lake Boat Compa ny took advantage of its leased pieces of real estate around the lake and started offering trips to various points around the lake including its islands. One of the locations that the boating company incorporated into the ferry service from Thumb to Lake Hotel was a short stop at Dot Island. Of the various leased holdings Figure 48. Boat Tours on Yellowstone Lake As boating on Yellowstone Lake became more popular, tours on the lake extended beyond basic steamboat ferry service across th e lake. This undated photo provides a glimpse into the type of boats used for these trips and the guests who embarked on lake tours. [Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park Photo Archives.] around the park, the company had one acre on Do t Island and two acres for a “Dot Island Game Corral,” according to an 1897 agreement (Young 1897, 10). The “game corral” was present on the island before 1897. A park superintendent report the year before notes that “Mr. Waters has put on Dot Island a few bison, mountain sheep, and elk. Upon each 178 trip he lands the passengers at this point in order that they may see the game, and I believe it adds not a little to their enjoyment. All these animals were obtained outside the park and shipped into it by Mr. Waters” (A nderson 1896, 10). The zoological attraction on Dot Island was operated until 1907 when th e park superintendent ordered it to be removed and disbanded because of inhumane treatment of the animals and frequent complaints for tourists about the conditions of the game pens. The ebb and flow of tours on the lake continued throughout the early 1900’s with continued praise and criticism. The popularity of the boat trip may be seen in the number of passengers that chose to take a break from the stagecoach tours to travel across the mystic Yellowstone Lake (Table 2). The num ber of people who took the boat trip across the lake steadily rose from 1897 to a peak in 1909; of the 10,825 total visitors to Yellowstone National Park in 1897, 2,589 of those people chose to travel on the steamboat across the lake during their park to ur (Young 1897). The peak in patronage of the boat tours was in 1909, when 7,959 of th e 32,545 total Yellowstone tourists boarded the wooden planked boat to cross the lake (Benson 1909). After 1909 and until the forced park concessionaire c onsolidation in 1916, business started to dwindle for the boat tours. A rising tide of complaints about th e boat tour accumulated throughout this period and may have contributed to the diminishing boating business. The decline in steamboat passengers may have also been due to the increasing popularity of boat rentals. Comments concer ning the boating trade during this period are often conflicting. For example, a government report noted that while the “boat provided by this company is apparently seaworthy, in good repair, staunch, and safe. The trip in this boat from the Thumb to the Lake Hotel is greatly enjoyed by the majority of tourists 179 who take it” (Pitcher 1901, 7). However, the same report found that "[w]hile the service on the steamer has apparently been entirely satisfactory to the tourists, there have been many verbal complaints concerning the excessi ve charges for the hire of small boats, fishing tackle, etc. by this company” (Pitche r 1901, 7). In 1901, it se ems that the boating Table 2. Boat Passenger and Park Visitor Statistics by Year Compiled from Annual Superintendent Reports for Yellowstone National Park (1897- 1916) and from Haines, A. 1977b. The Yellowstone Story: A History of Our First National Park. Volume II. Yellowstone National Pa rk, Wyoming: Yellowstone Library and Museum Association. Note: Passenger counts for boat shuttle were not recorded in the superintendent reports before 1897 or after 1916. Passengers on ferry across Yellowstone Lake Year Number of visitors to Yellowstone National Park 2,589 1897 10, 825 2,256 1898 6,534 3,106 1899 9,579 3,050 1900 8,928 3,378 1901 10,769 3,728 1902 13,433 3,598 1903 13,165 3,826 1904 13,727 7,362 1905 26,188 5,188 1906 17,102 5,275 1907 16,414 4,506 1908 18,748 7,959 1909 32,545 5,796 1910 19,575 3,048 1911 23,054 3,305 1912 22,970 4,205 1913 24,929 3,537 1914 20,250 4,277 1915 51,895 2,558 1916 35,849 180 service between the West Thumb Developed Area and the Lake Hotel was the main attraction and business was running smoothly minus the complaints about the smaller boat rentals. The next year’s superintendent ’s annual report provide d a different view of lake transportation; in opposition to Acti ng Superintendent Anderson’s 1895 comments that the steamboat was “capable of carrying as many passengers as will ever desire to use it” (1895, 10), a 1902 report record s that “[i]f the trip on the Ye llowstone Lake is ever to be included in the regular trip around the park it will be necessary to place a larger boat or more smaller ones on the lake, as the one now in use is entirely too small to carry with safety and comfort all of the passengers to whom tickets would have to be issued” (Pitcher 1902, 12). By 1902, park government officials were calling for a more diversified business base in transportation at the lake. A 1 902 report gives us a glimpse of the lake transportation scene: “[v]ery little use is ma de of the lake at present beyond taking the trip from the Thumb to the Lake Hotel, but I believe that its beauties and attractions would be greatly enjoyed by many tourists if the boating facilities were better” (Pitcher 1902, 12). The author of this report even continues his discussion of the “boating facilities” to suggest that there needs to be more competition for the boat company on the lake. By 1905, the Yellowstone Lake Boat Company still held exclusive rights to commercial boating (see Table 1) on the lake but tensions seemed to be growing between the park officials and the concessionaire. Ac ting Superintendent Pitcher cites efforts to not have an extra charge for the boat ride from the “Thumb” to the Lake Hotel as “impossible” (1905, 5). He also cites compla ints about the “excessive charges…for the hire of small boats on the lake” (Pitcher 1905, 5) . He calls for some other “individual of 181 company” to keep small boats for hire at Lake Hotel and “Thumb lunch stations” and says that this does not violate the boat company’s lease to have competition (Pitcher 1905, 5). Tensions between the government aut horities and the Yellowstone Lake Boat Company came to a climax in 1906. Acting S uperintendent Pitcher’s report records complaints about how the boat company did not cooperate with other transportation companies operating at the lake to bring more boats on the water or to abandon the extra charge for the steamboat trip across the lake. The penultimate expres sion of the strain between the superintendent and the boat co mpany seems to come in 1906; by this year, Acting Superintendent Pitcher requests that the company’s lease not be renewed by the U.S. Department of the Interior. He also sa ys that if the lease is renewed, then additional leases should be issued for lake transportation. To this end, he mentions that the Monida and Yellowstone Stage Company and the Wylie Permanent Camping Company were interested in operating a shuttle boat from the West Thumb Developed Area to the Lake Hotel (Pitcher 1906, 7-8). In 1908, the stru cture of boating operations shifted and resulted in a brief break in boating servi ces at Yellowstone La ke. Superintendent Young’s 1908 annual report mentions that th e Yellowstone Lake Boat Company was transferred to the new business of the T.E. Hofer Boat Company (1908, 6). The new company had a rocky start, however. The superintendent’s report mentions that “inclement weather” kept the company from putting commercial boats on the water until halfway through the season (Young 1908, 6). Even with the new lake concessionair e, demands for more services and a reduction in fees continued to shape lake transportation infrastructure. As technology 182 and visitor demands changed, so too did th e lake boating scene. According to a 1911 Articles of Incorporation of the Yellowstone Park Boat Company (a concessionaire name change from the T.E. Hofer Company- see Table 1), the boat company was licensed “to own, control, and operate boats propelled by steam, electricity, gasoline, or any other motive power upon the Yellowstone lake [ sic ]…to lease, loan, hire row and sail boats, fishing tackle, and other pleas ure crafts and appliances” ( Articles of Incorporation of the Yellowstone Park Boat Company 1923). An interesting facet of this agreement is that the company was allowed to operate watercraft powered by “gasoline, or any other motive power” on the lake. Although automobiles were not officially admitted to the park until 1915, motor powered craft were allowed on the lake by 1911. The variety of propulsion devices men tioned in the Yellowstone Park Boat Company agreement with the government ma y have foreshadowed changes ahead for boating on Yellowstone Lake. The 1915 admissi on of automobiles into Yellowstone not only changed transportation networks on la nd; they changed the face of boating on Yellowstone Lake. According to historia n Aubrey Haines “transportation across the lake” was made “unprofitable by the automob ile” (1977b, 274). The decline in lake ferry service indicates more than just the speed of automobiles compared to steamboats. Early autos had a difficult time negotiating early park roads and the drive between the West Thumb Developed Area and Lake Hotel certai nly remained time consuming. Instead, the lack of ferry business may have been an indica tor of the flow of tr affic around the lake. The steamboat offered what was described as a pleasant alternative to stagecoach travel during the early years of the business. In this circulation pattern, there is a heavy emphasis on traffic going from west to east ar ound the lake. The choice before the tourist 183 was between two forms of transportation going to the same destination, but along different routes and at different speeds. The automobile changed this circulation pattern. Tourists traveling in autos could be traveli ng through the park on an organized tour or they could be driving around the lake in privat e vehicles. If visitors were traveling in a private car and wishing to end their day at the Lake Hotel, then they had no way of getting their car to that destination. The new auto tourists needed a more flexible option for traveling on the lake (one that did not re quire them to abandon their cars at the West Thumb Developed Area) as well as more of an incentive to patronize the boating operations. Boating on Yellowstone Lake changed in other ways during this period. From a steam-powered vessel ferrying passengers between a West Thumb boat dock to the Lake Hotel boat docks to motorized moonlight cr uises across the lake, the appearance of boating shifted to accommodate changing government regulations and shifting visitor transportation routes. Boats used in this period included steamboats, small rowboats, larger motor boats, small propeller craft, and sailboats. Different forms of floating transportation involved changing infrastructur e to dock them, service them, and move people onto them. Haines (1977) argues that the creation of the National Park Service and the forced concessionaire consolidations seriously hampered continued boat tours across the lake. Faced with the hurdles of consolidation and declining business, boat concessionaires relied more heavily on boat rentals, fishing gear rentals, guide services, and tours around the lake (as opposed to the scheduled ferry between the West Thumb area and Lake Hotel). By 1919, Hamilton Stores operated a boat rental business under an agreement 184 with the Yellowstone Park Boat Company. Park records did not indicate that this business flourished. While discussing the c oncessionaires in the park, Superintendent Albright mentions that the Yellowstone Park Boat Company has rendered little service to the public this season. Its st ore at the Lake was operated by C. A. Hamilton. This company has very lit tle useful boat equipment. Its big boats are in poor condition and will not meet present demands for service on the lake, and its small boats, except two 45-foot gasoline boats a nd a few launches, are old, dilapidated, and unsafe. This company has not furnished sa tisfactory equipment for boat service since 1916 (Albright 1919, 81). Albright continued his remarks about the jo int operation between Hamilton Stores and the boat company that faintly recall earlier suggestions made by park superintendents to expand and elaborate boating recreation on Yellowstone Lake. Concerning the boat company, Albright suggests that “[i]t shoul d be required to purchase new equipment before the opening of the next season and be prepared to meet all demands for row-boat and launch service, as well as for longer trip s to the upper arms of Yellowstone Lake. If it can not meet the requirements of the Service some other individual or corporation should be found who will develop the recreatio nal advantages of this beautiful Lake” (Albright 1919, 81). Albright’s comments echo pr evious park superintendents’ criticisms of boating on the lake; park managers made references that focused on safety standards, an interest in longer tours to various locations around the lake, and increasing competition for business on Yellowstone Lake. By the end of 1932, Yellowstone Lake boaters had abandoned steam powered locomotion in favor of motor boats. Corre spondence between the park superintendents and concessionaires noted increasing motor boat inventories. A 1921 report records that the Yellowstone Park Boat Company bought a ne w “speed boat” that held eleven people, had an 185 horsepower engine, and could travel between 35 and 40 miles per hour (U.S. 185 Department of the Interior 1921-22, 41). Th e reference to passenger loads may be an indicator that the boat company was offering tours around the lake to smaller groups than the steamboats once carried. An interesting feature of these smaller boat tours is a seeming revival of the boating service between West Thumb and Lake Hotel. Although Aubrey Haines argues that automobile traffic virtually put an end to “transportation across the lake” (1977b, 274), other records suggest that the boat touring companies were more resilient to changing economic and transportation demands than Haines allows. I did find that discussions of lake tours d ecreased after 1916 and records of ferry passengers were not available in the superintendent annual reports after 1916 (see Table 2); however, I also found that boat ferries between West Thumb and the Lake Hotel did not cease after 1916. I found several photographs of small motor boat tours on the lake dated after 1916 but I also found a direct written reference to a s huttle between West Thumb and Lake Hotel in a 1928 park guidebook (Figure 49). A Northern Pacific Railwa y brochure refers to “[a] speed boat operating between the Thumb and Lake Hotel, meets th e regular park-tour automobiles, offering visitors a pleasant diversion during the j ourney around the Park” (Northern Pacific Railway 1928, 19). The railro ad guide suggests that visitors buy their tickets for the boat ride at “Old Faithful Inn or Lodges” for $2.50 a person (Northern Pacific Railway 1928, 19). The data also indicate that the boating company was inve sting more time and financial resources in devel oping boat rental operations, guiding services, and boat tours around the lake. Yellowstone Park Boat Company bought ten “new steel rowboats” (Albright 1925, 33). In 1928 and again in 1930, Yellowstone Park Boat Company 186 Figure 49. Motor Boat Tours on Yellowstone Lake Motorized travel on Yellowstone Lake proved a popular way to see th e lake, either by a guided tour such as the one pictured below or in a private motor boat. [Northern Pacific Railroad 1928, 22.] purchased more boats (Albright 1928, 19; To ll 1930, 23). With the addition of these boats to the company’s inventory, they could o ffer park visitors scenic boat tours around the lake as well as fishing tours. By 1928, t ours were offered to the Southeast Arm, Flat Mountain Arm, South Arm, and to Steamboat Point at Yellowstone Lake (Northern Pacific Railway 1928, 19). Another brochure, dated around 1929, informed park visitors of “Speed Boat Thrill Rides” that included a seventeen mile “morning trip,” “twilight trips” on boats holding five, ni ne, or twenty passengers, a nd “special trips” such as “[m]oonlight trips” and trips to the “S outheast Arm and the various islands” ( What to do at Yellowstone Lake n.d.). This same brochure also in cluded a discussion of boating services at the West Thumb “boat house on th e lake shore, where motor boats, row boats, guides, tackle for sale or rent, are available” ( What to do at Yellowstone Lake n.d.). By 187 1932, the two main sites of boating operations at Yellowstone Lake were the boat docks near the West Thumb thermal area and in front of the Lake Hotel. There was also a small boat rental hut located near the Fishing Bridge at the outlet of the Yellowstone River after 1926. Government Structures From 1892 to 1932, there were severa l government agencies operating at Yellowstone Lake. The agencies active at th e lake during this period included the United States Army, the National Park Service, the United States Fish Commission (later the United States Bureau of Fisheries), and th e United States Corps of Engineers. The United States Army was the appointed ma naging agency for Yellowstone until the creation of the National Park Service in 1916. The exchange involved a shifting of park policing forces and eventually a consolidation of the park concessionaire activity: “The orders from the War Department direct that the military force now guarding the park be withdrawn, Fort Yellowstone abandoned as a post, and the guardianship of the park transferred to the Interior Department, effective October 1, 1916. The Interior Department is organizing a ranger force to replace the troops” (Brett 1916, 45). This period begins with few government structures at Yellowstone Lake, but by the close of this period in 1932 there are government supporte d facilities at all three of the major developed areas around the lake (West Thumb, Lake Area, and Fishing Bridge). The types of structures built and maintained by government agencies at the lake include soldier stations, ranger stations, geographical markers, a fish hatchery complex, an interpretive museum, a bear f eeding area, and automobile campgrounds. These structures 188 served a variety of functions from employee housing to interpretive facilities, while they all contributed to the evolving texture of Ye llowstone Lake’s cultural landscape. Soldier Stations, Ranger Stations, and Location Markers The earliest government built and mainta ined permanent structure that I found evidence of in my data collection was a sold ier station (see Figure 28) located near the lake outlet. Built in 1884, this structure wa s used to house seasonal army scouts and then park service rangers until 1923 when it wa s demolished (Whittlesey 1997, 154). Haines describes the lake soldier station as a “f rame building…erected near the outlet of Yellowstone Lake” that was used as a summer station for army scouts; this structure was replaced with a “log station built on the edge of a meadow opposite the present Lake Lodge” and “probably by 1891, when the road wa s constructed from Old Faithful to Lake Hotel by way of Thumb Bay” (1977b, 185-6). Hain es also reports that the lake station was used throughout the year for soldiers after 1898. Whittlesey describes a soldier station built on the northern shore of Yellowstone Lake on the west side of the Yellowstone River outlet in 1884. Another soldier station at the lake was located at the West Thumb area. A tent location was established in 1882 although it does not appear that any permanent structure was maintained at this site until 1904. In that year a “frame building” was built at the West Thumb area (Haines 1977b, 185-6; Whittle sey 1997, 151). Mention was made of these structures in an 1899 government repo rt in which the Acti ng Superintendent of Yellowstone made multiple references to su mmer “detachments” of soldiers stationed around the park to keep law and order including at the “Thumb west side of lake” and at “Lake Station near Lake Hotel” (Brown 1899) . The “Thumb” tent shelter was probably 189 not a very substantial structure at this point, since the Acting Superintendent also refers to abandoning the Thumb site in the winter (Bro wn 1899). The soldier stations apparently were used seasonally and as shelter for roving park patrols. When discussing the route of soldier patrols in 1899, Acting Superintendent Brown mentions that for winter patrolling, soldiers would go to Lake Station then along the east shore to the “s outheast arm of the lake to cabin on Trappers Creek” (Brown 1899, 12). Precise construction dates of these lakeshore soldier stations are difficult to reconstruct. Although historian Aubrey Haines records a soldier station at Lake Outlet by 1887 and one at “Thumb Bay” by 1897 (1977b, 185-6) records indicate an earlier date for the lake station (1884) and a later date for th e Thumb station (1904). Research revealed a reference to a station at the West Thumb area in 1904 in Hiram Chittenden’s road report printed in Acting Superintendent Pitcher’s annual report for that year. Chittenden mentioned building “Two new station houses” with “one at the Thumb of the Lake” (Chittenden 1904, 13). The report does not spec ify the use of the “station” house at West Thumb; it may have been used by U.S. Army soldiers or even by members of Chittenden’s road building crew. Possible reasons for this discrepancy may be references to different locations (perhaps the Haines refere nce is to a building at some other site near the West Thumb Bay) or variations in what is considered a soldier station (a tent or a log frame building). By the 1920’s plans were in the works to modify the older soldier stations and to build new ranger facilities at Yellowstone Lake. When the National Park Service was created to oversee the management and polic ing of Yellowstone, the agency took over many of the structures previously used by the U.S. Army. At Yellowstone Lake, 190 National Park Service rangers replaced the ar my patrols of the region and began using the soldier stations for temporary quarters and stations while on range r duty. By 1921, the park superintendent proposed a plan to refurbish the structures at the Lake Developed Area and add a “community center” for rangers to provide educational services to park visitors. In his annual report, Albright discusses building the new lake ranger station, which was due for completion in 1923: “The la ke station has become one of the talked-of structures of the park” (U.S. Department of the Interior 1921-1922, 20-21). The Lake Ranger station was completed with the “c ommunity room” in 1923 (Figure 50). The National Park Service was aiming for “an in terpretive approach” that was “low-keyed and entertaining” during this period (Haines 1977b, 303). A ranger station with a community room wa s one of the structural realizations of this interpretive style and it was “an entirel y new type of facility” (Haines 1977b, 304). Haines describes the ranger station with comm unity room as a “rustic hall, adorned with elk antlers, sheep horns, and bison skulls” th at “served an information purpose by day: a place where visitors could get their bearings and any other help they might need” (1977b, 304). However, an alternative atmosphere was present at night where “visitors could listen to a ‘lecturer’ talk a bout the Park and join in group singing” (Haines 1977b, 304). A circa 1929 brochure advertises the ranger station as being “[ l]ocated on the lake front within five minutes walk of the hotel. Au thentic information, maps, etc., concerning the Park may be obtained” ( What to do at Yellowstone Lake n.d.). A government report also mentions that alterations were under way at the “Lake Engineer Station” which would involve adding another room to the structure so that it could serv e as a winter ranger 191 station (U.S. Department of the Interior 1921-22, 20-21). This reference may be to the old “station houses” constructed under Chittenden’s supervision, though it Figure 50. Lake Ranger Stati on with Community Room The Lake Ranger Station (top) was built under the supervision of park Superintendent Horace Albright. The structure featured a log design and a community room (far right in bottom photo) where visitors to Yellowstone Lake could gather in the evening for interpretive programs and social events. [Photos by Author 2003.] 192 is unclear when and where the original “Lak e Engineer Station” was built and whether this structure was part of the ranger station at the lake outlet. There were several other notable National Park Servi ce stations at Yellowstone Lake. A ranger station was also built at the West Thumb Developed Area in 1925 and served as a point for National Park Servi ce information and interpretation (Spatial Analysis Center). A third ranger station wa s built in Fishing Bridge in 1928 and an accompanying naturalist employee residence was built in 1930 that was located adjacent to the ranger station (Spatial An alysis Center). Finally, the National Park Service built a backcountry ranger patrol station for horse and foot patrols of the lake in 1933 (Spatial Analysis Center). The U.S. Army also installed three granite monuments (see Figure 21) around the shores of Yellowstone Lake. Installed by 1895—at locations on the north, south, and eastern shores of the lake—these stone bloc ks were small but las ting features of the cultural landscape of the lake. They were installed unde r the supervision of the park’s acting superintendent as geographic reference points to the park’s boundaries. After the passing of the Yellowstone Park Act in 1872, it took many years to formally survey the park’s boundaries. As Acting Superintendent , George S. Anderson felt that it was an important task of his tenure to formally mark the park boundaries. He oversaw the building of the granite monuments to mark the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park according to the description in the Yellowsto ne Park Act. He placed stone reference markers at “the most easterly and southerly poi nts of the lake and the westerly point of Shoshone Lake” (Anderson 1895, 6). He also placed a granite block monument near the current site of the Lake Lodge according to the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey based on 193 a “running a line of levels from the end of the Northern Pacific Railroad at Cinnabar, Montana” (Haines 1977b, 222) and engraved references of latitude, longitude, and elevation onto the block. Acting Superi ntendent Anderson’s vision for this work included a better assessment of the area’s features: “As this monument is plainly visible from all the distant peaks surrounding the lake , it will be easy to conduct a system of triangulation and accurately locate the lines of the Park astronomically” (Anderson 1895, 6). He felt that the markers on the east, sout h, and north shores of Yellowstone Lake and the one of the west shore of Shoshone Lake we re important to establish since “these are by law the initial points of the three bounda ries of the Park” (Anderson 1895, 6). Although the elevation is not congruent with the accepted measurement, these markers were used as reference points for later mapping and planning efforts around the lake. Anderson considered the monument installations to be “the most important bit of work yet to be accomplished” under hi s supervision (Haines 1977b, 221). Fish Hatchery Complex Another government agency with early r oots at Yellowstone Lake was the United States Fish Commission (U.S. Fish Commission). Initially a small outpost at the West Thumb area, the complex of buildings under th e auspices of the U.S. Fish Commission— and its successor the United States Bureau of Fisheries (U.S. Bureau of Fisheries)—grew into multiple sites at both the West Thumb Area and the Lake Area. These complexes served a variety of evolving tasks over the ye ars including regulated fish breeding sites, early interpretive facilities, and a sour ce of food for lake area hotels. In 1902, the U.S. Fish Commission “author ized Mr. D. C. Booth, superintendent of the hatchery at Spear Fish, S. Dakota, to construct a building at the West Thumb of the 194 Yellowstone Lake for the purchase of eying th e eggs of the black-s potted trout” (Pitcher 1902, 5). The U.S. Fish Commission was intere sted in establishing a base of operations from where a representative could actively work to breed and stock va rieties of fish with sporting value. A location at West Thumb (see Figure 42) was well placed for such activity since Arnica Creek flowed into th e lake at this site and provided ample opportunities for the annual fish fry release. By 1903, the U.S. Fish Commission constructed “a small frame and log building at the West Thumb of the lake for the purpose of eyeing the eggs of the black-spot ted trout” (Pitcher 1903, 4). Pitcher also refers to a “cabin” that was “occupied and kept” by Booth near the West Thumb hatchery site (1903, 4). In the early years of Yellowst one when there were few park employees to accommodate, it was convenient to build houses for employees close to their place of work. In the coming years, the fish hatchery complex grew and enlarged. In a 1906 report, Acting Superintendent Pitcher mentions improvements made to the “buildings and surrounding grounds at the fish hatchery near the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake” and the completion of a “log cottage and barn” at that site (Pitcher 1906, 9). In 1906, the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries took over th e operations of the U.S. Fi sh Commission at Yellowstone Lake. The structures at the West Thumb fi sh hatchery site apparently needed more substantial construction or enlargement by 1907. In a governme nt report from that year, a “fish hatchery near West Thumb on Yellows tone Lake on June 5” was opened to collect fish eggs (Young 1907, 12). Since a fish hatc hery had been operating at West Thumb since 1903, this reference could be to an impr oved or enlarged structure or perhaps to another building located at the West Thumb bay. 195 Multiple references to hatchery operations at West Thumb occur in the park records over the next few years. In 1910 the fish breeding operations were included in an inventory of park buildings (Benson 1910, 8) . A 1911 report included a reference to a “subhatchery located on the shore of Yellowstone Lake near Thumb and maintained by the Department of Commerce and Labor” (Mitchell 1911, 8). By 1912, the work of the fish hatchery was deemed worthy of new upgr ades and financial investment: “Prompted by the splendid success of the work of the season of 1911…the bureau [U.S. Bureau of Fisheries] built two 20-foot motor boats and a 16-foot rowboat, and purchased a speed launch to do duty as a scout, and also added to the capacity of the plant so that a larger amount of eggs could be handled” (Brett 1912, 9). This improvement to the hatchery operations also plays into the transportation history of Yellowstone Lake. As with commercial boat tours on the lake, the U.S. Bur eau of Fisheries was authorized to operate motorized boats on the lake years before au tomobiles were allowed into the park. By 1913, the fish hatchery operations at Yellowstone Lake changed yet again. In his annual report, Acting Superintendent Brett describes a new building built by the Department of Commerce to establish a fish hatchery near the lake outlet (Figure 51): “The Department of Commerce ma de considerable improvements to its plant in the Park. A hatchery building 34 by 60 feet was constr ucted of hewed logs, shingled over to present an attractive appearance, on the site n ear the outlet of Yellows tone Lake selected and approved by the department last year” (Bre tt 1913, 8). This site also was well chosen for fish breeding operations with numerous streams flowing into Yellowstone Lake as well as the Yellowstone River outlet located in close proximity. Like the hatchery operations at West Thumb, the lake outle t site included employee housing and support 196 structures: A “loft was finished and used during the past season as quarters for the employees and will be available for storage use after other contemplated buildings are Figure 51. Lake Develope d Area Fish Hatchery The Lake Fish Hatchery was “constructed of hewed logs, shingled over to present an attractive appearance” near th e shores of Yellowstone Lake (Brett 1913, 8). Although the hatchery building is now vacant, it once was th e site of extensive fish breeding programs and visitor interpretive disp lays. [Photo by Author 2003.] constructed” (Brett 1913, 8). Althou gh the 1913 report does not elaborate on the “contemplated buildings,” a government report for the next year refers to “important improvements” completed by the Bureau of Fi sheries that year (Brett 1914, 13). In a 1914 annual report of the superintendent of Yellowstone, the author refers to a “bungalow…near Lake Hotel, and a frame barn large enough to accommodate four horses, with storage for hay and grain” constr ucted by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries (Brett 1914, 13). The bureau also oversaw some landscapi ng activities at the fish hatchery site near lake outlet where the “grounds were much improved by clearing up fallen timber, trimming trees, and improving the lawn” (Brett 1914, 13). The lake outlet hatchery wa s located close to the Lake Hotel and its fish breeding activities were of growing intere st to park visitors. During hi s discussion of fish hatchery 197 operations at the Lake Developed Area, Acti ng Superintendent Brett mentions that the “workings of the U.S. Fish Commission in the pa rk is a matter of considerable interest to tourists, and is the most important point for collection of eggs of the black-spotted trout in the world” (Brett 1913, 10). Indeed, it s eems that by 1914 so much attention was paid to the fish hatchery operations that hatchery employees were moved to provide interpretive information for t ourists; “the main buildings of the subhatchery, located within walking distance from the Lake Hotel, attract the attention of many travelers, and the working of the plant have become a matter of interest to so many tourists as to require at times the services of one of the attendant s in the park as rela ting to his department” (Brett 1914, 13). Indeed, such programs ma y be the earliest organized interpretive activities at Yellowstone Lake. Far from being an afterthought, the interpretive presentations at the Lake Fish Hatchery continued to grow: While discus sing the success in releasing black- spotted trout eggs, the park superintende nt relates that “[t]he fish ha tchery is located close to the Lake Hotel and some of the permanent camps a nd is of great interest to tourists, who are always welcome to observe and to whom an attendant is always ready to explain the workings of the hatchery” (Brett 1916, 28). In one year the responsibilities of the fish hatchery employees increased in frequency from providing informa tion to tourists “at times” to being “always ready to explain the workings of the hatchery.” In the coming years, the fish hatchery continued to draw attention as an attraction to visit at Yellowstone Lake. A 1929 park brochure informed visitors that they are “invited to visit the Fish Hatchery near the Lake Hotel at any time during daylight hours. The attendant will be pleased to explain the work to you” ( What to do at Yellowstone Lake n.d.). The 198 hatchery complex expanded during the final years of this period when, in 1930, a South District Office was built and then, in 1932, a residence was a dded to the complex (Spatial Analysis Center). Another facet of the fish hatchery operation was its role in providing fresh fish for tourist fare. Copious quantities of trout were caught daily by both park visitors near the lake outlet of the Yellowstone River and by park lodging operators. Although regulations were in place to limit the number of fish th at visitors could catch each day, the hotel and camp concessionaires temporarily escaped such policies. A 1918 report recorded a “Hatchery, located on the shore of Yellowstone Lake near its outle t, was operated during the summer as usual by the United States Fish Commission” (Lindsley 1918, 29). The author of the report continues that “[f]ish ing was excellent throughout the summer, and many fine catches were taken by tourists and employees. No violations of the law were reported. Exception was made as the number to be taken in one day, in favor of the Camping Company, so as to provi de the tables at the camps with trout, which are a great treat for tourists” (Lindsley 1918, 29). In another section of his annual park report, Albright discusses the concessionaire practice of catching fish for overnight visitors: “For many years it has been the practice to pe rmit the catching of fish in some of the waters of the park, particularly in Yellows tone Lake, for table use in the hotels and camps…” (Albright 1919, 49-50). However, the National Park Service barre d hotels and camps from catching fish for their diner guests in 1919 based on revelatio ns about the impact of “these catches” that were “made…after the spawning season had ended” (Albright 1919, 49-50). Albright continues his 1919 report: “Because of the apparent depletion of fish in so many streams 199 of the park this year, I reach ed the conclusion that this practice ought to be discontinued, and by the order made effective August 15, 1919, the further catching of fish for table use in the hotels and camps, except by tourists in strict accordance with the rules and regulations, was prohibited” (Albright 1919, 49- 50). The park superintendent also provided some indication of the quantity of fish caught by the concessionaires: “Between the opening of the season and the effective date of this order the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company took 5, 327 pounds of fish from Yello wstone Lake and the Yellowstone Park Camping Company took from the same wa ters 2, 164 pounds” (Albright 1919, 49-50). Museum and Bear Feeding Grounds Before the 1930’s, interpre tive activities at Yellowstone Lake were limited to the National Park Service operations at the La ke Ranger Station and the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries which conducted impromptu informati on sessions at the Lake Fish Hatchery. However, in 1931 formal, organized interpretiv e displays at Yellowstone Lake were built at the newly constructed Fishing Bridge Museum (Figure 52). The museum was built close to the lake’s edge along the northern shore of the lake on the east side of the Yellowstone River outlet. The Fishing Bridge Museum marked a continuing commitment for the Nation al Park Service to a dedicated style of architecture indigenous to national parks in the United States. As with the Lake Ranger Station which was designed as a place for ra nger activity as well as an area of community gathering, the Fishing Bridge Museum was inte nded to house an interpretive display of lake ecology as well as show case the beauty of the lake setting. The park service 200 Figure 52. Fishing Bridge Museum The Fishing Bridge Museum was complete d by 1931 and included or ganic architectural elements such as using native timber and stone to fortify its structure (top). Formal, organized interpretive activi ties were also conducted at the museum by National Park Service rangers (bottom) [Courtesy of Ye llowstone National Park Photo Archives]. attempted to display the museum’s displa ys and the surrounding lake environment by using construction materials procured from around Yellowstone Lake and the careful positioning of the museum near the lakeshore. The museum was constructed out of 201 locally procured timber and stone that was in tended to provide an organic reflection of the scenic beauty at the lake. It was also oriented so that as a visitor approached the museum from the parking lot to the east, th ey could view the lake through the museum’s windowed entry and exit; the construction of th e entryway was built with the “notion of focusing on the natural resources that the building was created to interpret” (The Official Website of Yellowstone National Park 2003). The museum was stocked with displays of preserved animal and plant specimens from around the lake, interpretive signs with written and pictorial descripti ons of the lake’s physical se tting and habitats, and staffed by rangers available to assist visitors. The National Park Service also built a nd maintained a bear feeding and viewing area behind the Lake Hotel. The attracti on was publicized as bear “feeding grounds” which tourists were encourag ed to visit (Northern Pacifi c Railway 1928, 19). Indeed, the bear feeding area did apparently become a part of the park tour as reported by Mrs. N.E. Corthell in her journal from a trip to Yellowstone in 1928. As an independent motor tourist of modest means, Mrs. Corthell desc ribed her fellow traveler s of more affluent means; “At the Lake Hotel I saw women in party silks and loaded with diamonds strutting out to the garbage glen to look at the bears” (C orthell 1928, 42). Bear feeding grounds and display sites were also located at the Old Faithful area and Canyon area as contemporaries of the Lake area site. Park records did not indicate any description of what the lake bear feeding grounds looked lik ed during their heyday. However, several park documents note its existence—through at least 1932—behind the Lake Hotel. Clues to the activities and orientation of the Lake Hotel feeding grounds are elusive in park records, but descriptions of other contemporary bear feeding areas in the park reveal at 202 least the general plan of these sties. A bear attraction area at the Grand Canyon area consisted of a seating area “behind a chain link fence on a hillside overlooking a concrete platform behind a chain link fence…overlooking a concrete platform where fifty or more bears, many of them grizzlies, would congregat e each summer evening to forage the hotel garbage” (Haines 1977b, 304). As the popularity of this activ ity increased at the Grand Canyon site, park service rangers started pr oviding a short inte rpretive commentary on bear behavior and activity. Automobile Campgrounds Not long after the entrance of the first automobile into Yellowstone National Park, government agencies began constructi ng free public auto campgrounds. The first such facility at Yellowstone Lake was cons tructed at the Lake Developed Area in 1916 (Figure 53). The idea behind these developm ents was to provide a place for tourists “traveling in private autom obiles and carrying their own camp equipment” (Brett 1916, 42). Driving forces behind these developm ents included the desire to increase the numbers of visitors traveli ng in private automobiles and the need to control the accumulating refuse around the park near the larger number of scattered and unorganized camping grounds. Archival records indicated se veral descriptions of garbage and trash piles littering the roadsides of the park. An increasing awar eness of the unorganized and polluted camping areas is evident in the superint endent descriptions of the auto camps as “special sanitary camps” which were built at Mammoth Hot Springs, the Upper Geyser Basin, and the Grand Canyon in addition to the facility at the Lake Developed Area (Brett 1916, 42). These camps were described as including a “large shed for housing automobiles, with a capacity of 12 cars at each point, toilets for men and women, and 203 Figure 53. Early Lake Automobile Camp As more tourists entered Yellowstone trave ling in private automobiles, the demand arose for concentrated camping areas for their use. The National Park Service built a number of campgrounds for early park motorists such as the one pictured here in 1928. The facilities at these camps included a “large sh ed for housing automobiles, with a capacity of 12 cars at each point, toilets for men and women, and cooking grates” (Brett 1916, 42). [image printed in Schreier 1989, 80.] cooking grates. Dry wood is provided at each place…all without charge to the tourist. These facilities were appreciated and s hould be improved upon and…changed to provide for increased travel” (Brett 1916, 42). A detail ed description of the automobile sheds was also included later in the superintendent’s annual report: [a]t each camp was constructed a [ sic ] shed 60 by 32 feet, 8 feet high at the eaves, frames built of poles cut in the park and covered with 28- guage corrugated steel roofing, painted. The sheds are divided by rows of s upporting posts into six double stalls each 32 204 by 10 feet, each stall to hold two automobiles, making a to tal capacity of 12 automobiles to each shed. The sheds coast an average of $292.81 (Brett 1916, 44). The camps were monitored by “park employ ees” and their cleanliness was apparently secured by these employees who were also charged with “carrying away garbage and keeping the camping grounds strictly sanitary” (U.S. Department of the Interior 1917, 23- 24). The free public auto camps were well-u sed and popular features of the lake landscape. However, World War I resulted in fluctuating visitor numbers to the park and a general closing of facilities at Yellowstone Lake. During these years, the Lake Auto Camp was open only as an “Emergency camp” (Albright 1919, 1). However, after the war ended in 1918, visitors in the park increased and new demands were placed on the auto camp facilities at Yellowstone Lake. In 1921 , the National Park Service built another free auto camp at Yellowstone Lake, this time at the Fishing Bridge Developed Area. During this same year, the auto camp at the Lake Developed Area was enlarged to include more camping sites. By 1923 the park service built yet another automobile camp at the West Thumb Developed Area (Haine s 1977b, 365). In 1929, additional campsites and wider roads were built at the Fishing Br idge and West Thumb camps (Toll 1929). The three auto campgrounds—at the Lake, Fish ing Bridge, and West Thumb Developed Areas—were all operating at the cl ose of this period in 1932. Concessionaire Structures Before the forced concessionaire consolidation under a National Park Service directive in 1917, concessionaire activity in Yellowstone operated under many names and 205 owners (see Table 1). Haynes Studios also operated stores selling photographs at locations along the lake, but, unlike the ot her concessionaires mentioned here, my research did not reveal that this operation built a separate structure for his business at the lake during this time. Instead, Haynes pict ure shops were located inside of hotels or stores operated by other concessionaires at Yellowstone La ke. From the 1890’s through 1916, these companies operated at different times at the lake and often changed their names and their owners. Early concessionaires in the park were en couraged to provide a variety of services to the public; however the spatial extent of their building plans were regulated by the government. In 1893, Acting Superinte ndent Anderson mentions a law that concessionaires were not permitted to lease more than ten acres in the park and they could not build a hotel within a ¼ of a m ile of “any geyser or other object of interest”(Anderson 1893, 4). Th is policy was altered only a y ear later so that companies could lease twenty acres and build within 1/8 of a mile of points of interest. Looking at the distribution of land holdings at the lake reveals an intere sting pattern of leasing at Yellowstone Lake; for example, although there were several concessionaires operating at the lake by 1897, Yellowstone Lake Boat Comp any was authorized to lease a greater proportion of land acreage than the other companies operating at the lake. The distribution of the company’s leased sites vari ed across the lake to include shoreline as well as island locations. According to the 1897 annual report of the park superintendent, Yellowstone Lake Boat Company leased two ac res of land near the Lake Hotel, two acres of land on Frank Island, two acres on Steven son Island, one acre on Dot Island, one acre at the West Thumb Developed Area, two acres at the Southeast Arm (the site at this bay 206 was not specified), one acre of “Ways, ” and six acres “[t]o be located by the superintendent” for a total of twenty ac res (Young 1897, 20). The Yellowstone Park Transportation Company, in contrast, only leased a total of two acres at the lake and the Yellowstone Park Association only leased the space occupied by the Lake Hotel and a barn. However, in 1917 the National Park Servic e reorganized and concentrated all of the existing concessions into one business (s ee Table 1) to handle park transportation (Yellowstone Park Transportation Company) , one to handle park hotels (Yellowstone Park Hotel Company), one to handle camping facilities (Yellowstone Park Camping Company (formerly Wylie and Shaw and Powell), and one boating concessionaire (Yellowstone Park Boat Company). The genera l stores in the park were not reorganized under the park’s “process of consolidation begun with the 1916 mergers” (Haines 1977b, 365). Hamilton Stores later moved in as the pa rk’s prime purveyor of merchandise. The types of concessionaire structures built and maintained between 1892 and 1932 may be subdivided into seve ral categories. Park con cessionaires at Yellowstone Lake built several styles of overnight accomm odations including hotels, permanent tent camps, and mixed cabin and lodge areas. Dining facilities built at the lake included lunch stations, cafeterias, and delicatessens. Th e private companies operating at Yellowstone Lake built support structures such as boat doc ks, barns, and equipment storage areas. Places of amusement were built including an animal viewing area on Dot Island. There were several types of stores built including places which rented boating equipment and fishing gear, groceries and park souvenirs, a nd automobile service st ations. Finally, the 207 concessionaire operations built employee housing that ranged from houses to dorm buildings. Overnight Accommodations The period between 1892 and 1932 include d vast changes to the number and spatial distribution of overnight lodging facil ities at Yellowstone Lake. In 1892, the Lake Hotel—located on the west side of the Yellowstone River outlet from Yellowstone Lake—was the only permanent construction offe ring shelter to lake visitors for nightly lodging. The scheme quickly changed as ro ads were built around the northern shore of Yellowstone Lake and extended from West Thumb Bay to the Upper Geyser Basin and the south entrance to the park. A variety of overnight faciliti es blossomed around the lake that catered to touris ts traveling by stagecoach, horse , and—later—by automobile. By 1932, we see the variety of concessionair e lodging expand and vary from a modest hotel at the lake outlet to a grand hotel, a couple of scattered and simple overnight facilities around the lake to a lodge and cabin complex with several permanent camping areas. Along with the government built and maintained auto campgrounds, these areas provided a wide range of guest accommodati ons and prices at Yellowstone Lake. Constructing and maintaining these structures, however, underwent many building phases as park concessionaires struggled against the ebb and flow of national economic and political trends. The opening of this period finds Yellowstone Lake on the verge of being developed to accommodate increasing visitor numbers. Overnight lake lodging during these early years included the Lake Hotel, rooms at the West Thumb Developed Area, and a cabin with a short histor y of use along the north shore of the lake. One of the most 208 resilient and consistent features of Yellows tone Lake’s cultural landscape, was the Lake Hotel. Built on the west side of the Ye llowstone River outlet on the north shore of Yellowstone Lake by the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1891, the original hotel was a simple structure offering eighty rooms for park visitor use (see Figure 29). The site for this hotel was found through the combined e fforts of park superintendents (such as Norris) and Northern Pacific Railroad survey crews. The site for the early, simple Lake Hotel was selected for its scenic views acro ss Yellowstone Lake and its proximity to the Yellowstone River outlet. Since the Yellows tone River was a geographic reference for travelers and the site of the ea rliest road to the lake, this location made sense in terms of accessibility. Although park records included ma ny descriptions of later phases of the Lake Hotel’s designs by architect Robert Reamer, the early hotel designs were not commented upon in park superintendent reports. The Lake Hotel is not able since it is the largest human structure present at Yellowstone Lake duri ng this period (and throughout the lake’s history). Visitors traveling on horseback or with a guided stagecoach tour were encouraged to stay at the Lake Hotel. It was advertis ed as an excellent base location for launching other excursions through th e park; according to a 1897 pa rk guidebook the Lake Hotel was described as a “spacious and elegantly appointed” building that was predisposed “toward making the Yellowstone Lake the reso rt, par excellence, of the Park. Here everything is so arranged that guests can sp end the entire season, if they so desire, making short, easy trips of sight seeing or explorations to a ll points of the great reserve” (Guptill 1897, 81-82). 209 These early years also included two other visitor accommodation sites at Yellowstone Lake—one at West Thumb Deve loped Area (Figure 54) and the other, a more ephemeral facility along the north shore of the lake. The early West Thumb station was a tent complex that incl uding a dining area. The We st Thumb lunch station was operated by the Yellowstone Park Associ ation and opened by 1892 when the road between the West Thumb Developed Area a nd the Upper Geyser Basin was finished (Whittlesey 1997, 72). Tourists traveling along the shores of Yellowstone Lake could also take advantage of another lodging site at the lake located near the Yellowstone River outlet. John Yancy shared his small cabin with pa rk visitors traveling independently on horseback to Yellowstone Lake. Yancy offered limited facilities for those wishing to remain at the lake and take advantage of its fishing opportun ities. Describing the cabin in 1893, Acting Superintendent Anderson recorded that Yancy “keeps a very primitive kind of place, but it gives the necessa ry accommodations to the fishing parties that go there, as well as travelers on the Cooke City road” (Anderson 1893, 5). Mention of Yancy’s operation fades from the park superintendent reports soon after this description, but the Lake Hotel a nd West Thumb lunch station continued to be the main visitor lodging areas at the lake. Indeed by 1897, the park s uperintendent report includes a reference to the “[ g]greatest number of tourists accommodated over night at each hotel” for the 1897 season with 212 people st aying at the Lake Hotel on July 26 and 257 people staying at the Thumb lunch station on July 26 (Young 1897, 21). Whittlesey refers to “some overnight rooms” at the West Thumb lunch station for “those who wished to tarry” (1997, 72) but the pa rk records from Young’s 1897 repor t indicate that the West 210 Thumb site was a larger operation than just a few rooms. The park records do not indicate the exact layout of the West Thumb site, but from historic photographs and superintendent references to this operation, vi sitors must have stay ed inside the building of the lunch station and in nearby tents. Th e West Thumb lunch station was a term used to reference a site near the West Thumb geothermal basins where visitors could eat a meal in a permanent structure (see Figure 54) with the option of using some overnight rooms or tents. Figure 54. Early West Thumb Di ning and Lodging Facility The lunch station at the West Thumb Devel oped Area was first established as a tent facility in 1892. Later a more permanent bui lding (below) was constructed to replace the tents. This lunch station ope rated as both a dining spot for lake visitors as well as a center of lodging activity at the West Thumb Developed Area from 1903-1916. [undated image printed in Whittlesey 1997, 72.] Increasing numbers of visitors to the Lake Hotel soon placed demands on the facility so that additions and renovations were completed on the hotel in the early twentieth century. Acting Superintendent Pi tcher described the vi sitor appeal of the hotel: “The Lake Hotel has been a very popular place during the past season on account 211 of the delightfully cool weather always to be found there, and also on account of fine fishing in the lake. This place will increase in popularity as its advantages as a summer resort become known…” (Pitch er 1901, 7). The 1901 report also records the addition of seventeen new rooms to the hotel completed in 1900 as well as Pitc her’s praise of the building as a “very comfortable and quite a m odern structure, and during the past season has been one of the most popular places in the park. A number of people have spent a good part of the summer here and were so much pleased with th e place that they expressed their intention of returning again next year” ( Pitcher 1901, 9). In 1903, extensive renovations were pla nned for the Lake Hotel. By 1904, famed park architect Robert Reamer designed additi ons and remodeling plans for the hotel that included ionic columns in the front of the building facing the lake, extending the roof in three places for three large porches, and adding fifteen false balconies onto the front of the hotel (Figure 55). Although park record s did not indicate the reasons for this architectural style, Reamer may have designed the hotel to reflect the style of resorts in the eastern United States or to invoke a sens e of elegance at the lake from classical architectural features such as the ionic columns. The 1904 park superintendent’s annual report included this description of the transformed hotel: “The hotel at the lake outlet has been practically rebuilt and refurbished, and like the Old Faithfu l Inn it also has all of the modern conveniences, including suites of rooms with baths attached. It is now the largest hotel in the park. It has 210 rooms and can accommodate 466 guests. The Old Faithful Inn has 140 rooms and can accommodate 316 guest s” (Picher 1904, 9). The reference to the Old Faithful Inn was not offhand; not onl y did the two hotels represent the most “modern” lodging buildings in the park at the ti me, they also shared the same architect. 212 Although the Old Faithful Hotel and Lake Ho tel both were advertised with “modern conveniences,” their different ar chitectural styles we re not widely discussed or explained in park records. Figure 55. Lake Hotel Expa nsion and Renovations Concessionaires expanded the Lake Ho tel’s rooming capacity through several renovations between 1892 and 1932. This 1905 photo shows the ionic columns and grand porches of a newly renovated hotel. Pa rk tours, such as the stagecoach tour pictured below, could easily access the front of the hotel to pick up tourists. [image printed in Whittlesey 1997, 74.] A third type of lodging available at Yello wstone Lake catered to those travelers on a tighter budget than the hotel guests and those willing to stay in more modest accommodations that the grand Lake Hotel afforded. The “permanent camping” companies established services at the Lake Developed Area and West Thumb Developed Area and then spread around the lake to incl ude a site at the Fishing Bridge Developed 213 Area. Although Richard Bartlett (Bartl ett 1985, 187) records only one permanent camping operation at Yellowstone Lake—at the Fishing Bridge Developed Area—the park archives revealed that by 1898, The Wylie Permanent Camping Company also established camps at the Lake and West Thumb locations (Erwin 1898, 6; Young 1907, 8). The camps became very popular features of Yellowstone Lake, but the Wylie Company had a rough start with the govern ment leasing process. Early park superintendents expressed disa pproval of the camping permits in the park. Although park managers realized the need for an intermediate form of lodging for those visitors on budgets (Anderson 1893, 9), they also were concerned that the camping companies would only perpetuate some of the less desirous actions of the private camping groups who already traveled thr ough the park; complain ts of littering and uncontrolled fires near camping sites were frequent in early park supe rintendent reports. Acting Superintendent Anderson discouraged permanent camping leases such as the one that Wylie Camping Company sought because he feared that such sites might lead to a “shanty” which would be a “desecration of the Park” (Anderson 1893, 10). Anderson also cited that those park visitors who travel with their own trans portation may use “any unoccupied bit of ground for their camps” as this was a “right ” (Anderson 1893, 9-10). However, park superintendents finally relented and, in 1896, the park granted Wylie Permanent Camping Company an annual pass with the rights to establish permanent camps and to operate stagecoach tours around the park and between camps (Anderson 1896, 4). The early tent camps at Yellowstone Lake were simple affairs that soon gained popularity and expanded to accommodate incr easing visitor travel. According to 214 historian Richard Bartlett the camps “catered to the American Class whose affluence and mobility was rapidly rising” (1985, 188). He continues that the camps appealed to middle-class Americans who sought the “activ ity-filled, never-a-dull moment regimen” offered by the camping experience (Bartlett 1985, 188). The historian a dds that “[s]itting by the hour on a veranda or in a luxurious l obby had little attraction for people who spent most of their lives working long hours fi fty weeks a year” (Bartlett 1985, 188). The camp complexes built by the Wylie Company in cluded “tent cottages” (Figure 56) with Figure 56. Interior View of Permanent Camp A popular form of lodging during the early years of Yellowstone was found in the permanent camps. Several permanent camps were located at Yellowstone Lake and operated by the Wylie Permanent Camping Company and the Shaw and Powell Camping Company. These camps consisted of a number of tent cabins such as the one pictured below which were built around strategically lo cated dining and bathing structures. [image Courtesy of Yellowstone Nati onal Park Photo Archives.] “wooden floors and sides four to six feet hi gh; from there on up the sides and roof were of canvas, often livened with red and white or blue and white stripes” (Bartlett 1985, 215 187). The Wylie Permanent Camps consisted of multiple rows of these tents which were complemented by “strategically located dining halls, rest rooms, and bathing facilities” (Bartlett 1985, 187). Permanent camping areas proliferated and expanded during the early twentieth century at Yellowstone Lake. In 1906, the Wylie Permanent Camping Company was upgraded to a ten year contract to operate camps and “transportation privileges in park with sites for maintenance of permanent camps therein, and right to conduct lunch stations at…[the] West Thumb of Yellows tone Lake” (Brett 1915, 28). In 1913, another company entered the camping scene at Yellowstone Lake. The Shaw and Powell Camping Company was issued a license to operate transportation and permanent camping facilities at the “West Thum b of Lake” (Brett 1913, 4). A 1915 blueprint provides an indicator of the many stagecoach trips that the Wylie Company operated by that time. The Map of Permanent Camp No. 5 of Wy lie Camping Co. at Lake West Thumb shows that the company maintained a stable for 116 horses ( Map of Permanent Camp No. 5 of Wylie Camping Co. at Lake West Thumb 1915). My research also revealed a Map of Permanent Camp No. 6 at Wylie Camping Co at Yellowstone Lake that showed the location of the Wylie Camp at the Lake Developed Area to be on the approximate location of the current Lake Lodge site ( Map of Permanent Camp No. 6 at Wylie Camping Co at Yellowstone Lake 1915). Other facilities at Yellowstone Lake also changed over time. Both the Lake Hotel and the West Thumb lunch station experien ced periods of expansion and contraction during the early twentieth century. The West Thumb lunch station (see Figure 54) was improved to a permanent building in 1903 th at provided a dining room and additional 216 rooms for overnight visitors (Whittlesey 1997, 72). A blueprint (circa 1915) revealed that the Lake Hotel was a three-story struct ure with two large wings , a “servant cottage” of two stories, and ice house, a engine hous e and laundry, a “grainery,” and a water tower ( Outline Plan Lake Hotel Yellowstone Park Hotel Co . circa 1915). Another blueprint from the same era shows horizontal expansion of the West Thumb lunch station facilities. According to the drawing, the complex included an ice house, several tents, a store room and a toilet ( Outline Plan Thumb Lunch Station Yellowstone Park Hotel Co. circa 1915). The West Thumb lunch station was operated as a dining and lodging facility until 1917, when automobile travel increased the speed at which visitors could see the lake and this eliminated the need for a stop in the lake to ur at that dining facility (Whittlesey 1997, 72). It is noteworthy that the concessionai re consolidation mandated by the National Park Service in 1916 involved both a legal and a spatial shift. Buildings moved or were transferred under the agreement: “The permanent camping company abandoned 10 of the camps and lunch stations operated by its predecessors, the Wylie and Shaw & Powell companies…and reconstructed the five remain ing camps of the old systems; the hotel company abandoned…its two large lunch stations at Norris Basin and the West Thumb of Lake Yellowstone” (U.S. Department of the Interior 1917, 6-7). The years during World War I dramatically affected the lake area with decreasing visitor use at the lake and labor shortages that forced the temporary closure of most facilities at Yellowstone Lake. The interi m provided a time for necessary repairs and additions to the well-used and limited lake area facilities. In a sect ion of Superintendent Albright’s annual report desc ribing the hotel and camps at Yellowstone Lake, he includes an explanation of the closing of the Lake Hotel and the Lake Area permanent camp: “In 217 the first place, they were not in proper c ondition to open. Many necessary repairs had to be made to the hotel, and the permanent camp wa s in reality out of ex istence. The latter was torn down in the autumn of 1917 in pr eparation for the building of a complete new plant” (Albright 1919, 24-26). Albright also alludes to other difficulties facing the lake sites: “A new central structure was begun, but snow caused the early cessation of work, and of course war conditions prevented rebui lding last year. It would have been impossible to have rebuilt the camp during th e spring of 1919. But quite aside from the physical difficulties in the way of opening the Lake resorts, the labor situation was such that it would have been pract ically impossible to have s ecured crews for either place” (Albright 1919, 24-26). Albright continued to describe the “rebuilding” of the Lake Camp and repairs to the Lake Hotel. The 1919 report also disclosed improvement at the Lake Hotel which included the addition of a porte-cochere “in fr ont of the central entrance of the hotel, built with faithful adherence to the colonial architecture of the hotel itself. The old porch floors will be replaced by concrete walks, and the grounds in front of the hotel will be improved by planting” (Albright 1919, 24-26). Another form of lodging entered the lake scene in 1919—the Lake Lodge. Superintendent Albright’s 1919 annual report included a description of an “exceedingly attractive log building of ample proportions” wh ich was being built on the site of the old permanent camp. Indeed, his assessment of th e new Lake Lodge included its use as a “a dining room and lobby, and will be in most resp ects more interesting and attractive than any building in the park except Old Faithfu l Inn and the Canyon Hotel” (Albright 1919, 24-26). The Lake Lodge was “oriented to th e automobile, maintaining its services and prices midway between housekeeping cab ins and the hotels….Units were grouped 218 conveniently near a central complex, the ‘l odge’, where the visitor found a comfortable lobby, dining room, gift shop, barber and beauty shops, and recreational facilities…”(Haines 1977b, 362). By 1920, renovations and expansions were once again undertaken at the Lake Hotel. The Yellowstone Park Hotel Company started “an addition to Lake Hotel” that included an annex with 113 rooms and 59 ba throoms (Albright 1921-22, 39). Then, in 1923, the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company “co mpleted [a] new wing” at the hotel and “installed new lobby furniture,” including a fi replace and an addition to the “engine room and laundry” (Albright 1923, 44). The park supe rintendent records also indicated more additions to the Lake Hotel in 1924. Accordi ng to the report, the renovations included a “new wing of hotel; kitchen rebuilt; new kitche n equipment installed; capacity of dining room increased 50% old part of building re -plastered, re-kalsomi ned and rewired, and lobby remodeled. Many other improvements ha ve been made, including installation of new lavatories, radiation in dining room, new 80 KW elect ric generator, two 100 H.P. boilers, electrical equipment, fire escapes and other fire equipment, etc.”(Albright 1924, 27). Finally, in 1929, a porte-cochere was comp leted at the Lake Hotel (Toll 1929, 43). The expansion of lake lodging facilities was not limited to the Lake Hotel. Indeed, the pace of new construction strove to outpace the demands of increasing motor tourists in the park. In 1923, Yellowstone Park Camps Co mpany built “[f]ifty new tent units with canvas tops” at the Lake De veloped Area (Albright 1923, 45). In the 1924 annual report, the superintendent discusses improvements at the “Lake Camp” which included “27 two-room and 25 one-room lodges built” (Albright 1924, 26). In 1925, Yellowstone Park Camps Company “[r]econstr ucted 30 tent cottages into permanent pole 219 and frame lodges…installed more window s in all dormitories...and Commenced construction of a new log and frame build ing, 60’ x 164’” (Albright 1925, 29). The 1926 park superintendent’s annual report include s a description of Yellowstone Park Camps Company construction site at the “Lake Camp …in the Fishing bridge Auto Camp” that included “39 canvas and fram[e] lodges”, a main building (“a log structure 48 feet wide by 140 feet long”) remodeled to include a dini ng room, and “ten log and fram[e] lodges, 12 x 20 feet, 32 log and frame lodges, 12 x 12 feet” (Albright 1926, 31-32). In 1927, the Yellowstone Park Camps Company altered th e Lake Lodge facility by constructing “25 permanent lodges for twin bed cabins, size 12x14…12 permanent lodges, size 12x12 feet…2 permanent lodges, size 12x20feet” (Albright 1927, 24). The company also started building “15 permanent lodge s, 12x14 feet” (Albright 1927, 24). Housekeeping cabins emerged as a new and popular form of lodging during this period. These overnight shelters were “established adjacent to the automobile campgrounds…These cabins were designed as economical shelter for automobilists who did not care to sleep on the ground or cook over an open fire. They were furnished in a Spartan manner; in fact, they could be re nted with or without bedding” (Haines 1977b, 362). According to park historian Aubrey Ha ines, housekeeping cabins were operated by the Yellowstone Park Camps Company un til 1928. Cabin developments proliferated at the Lake, West Thumb, and Fishing Bri dge Developed Areas. In 1928, the West Thumb Developed Area housekeeping cabins were constructed. In 1929, while discussing improvement in housekeeping units, Toll mentions 31 new te nts for a total of 45 tents at West Thumb and a capacity of 100 guests. The 1929 report also reveals that 220 the older tents were “entirely removed from [the] auto camp” (Toll 1929, 43). At Lake, Yellowstone Park Camps Company built 40 permanent lodges. In 1930, the camps at the Lake Developed Area and the West Thumb De veloped Area were again enlarged by the Yellowstone Park Lodge and Camps Company to include “10 permanent log and frame cabins and comfort stations” and “130 perm anent log and frame cabins in housekeeping unit in public camp ground” at the Lake Deve loped Area and twenty-seven “permanent log and frame cabins and comfort station for 16x30 in housing unit” at the West Thumb Developed Area (Toll 1930, 23). The Fishing Bridge Deve loped Area included a large housekeeping cabin area. At Fishing Bridge Develope d Area a cabin office building with twenty-four person capacity dormitory above was completed. Other projects at the Fishing Bridge Developed Area included thirty-s ix new tents for a total of “160 tents with a capacity of 490 guests, and 60 permanent type cabins” (Toll 1929, 43). In 1929, the Yellowstone Park Company constructed “51 new cabins” fo r a total cabin count of 233 and a capacity of 550 guests (Toll 1929, 43). A “Memorandum for the Files” dated October 2, 1928 relates a meeting between the president of the Yellowstone Park Camp s Company and Albright. It describes the construction of housekeeping camps office at Fish ing Bridge and clearing “the site of the new Thumb housekeeping camp and build roads in and through it, level it off, etc.” in the spring (“Memorandum for the Files” 1928). At the Thumb site, cabins and tents were moved from the previous Thumb housekeeping camp and twenty new cabins were built at the new site. At the Fishing Bridge De veloped Area, forty “ good tent cabins” were moved to Fishing Bridge from Lake Lodge and fifty more cabins were to be added by the 221 spring (“Memorandum for the Files” 1928). Th ey also agreed to build forty “wooden cabins” in Lake Lodge and the porte coch ere at Lake Lodge (“Memorandum for the Files” 1928). The letter also discusses th at the company would furnish “complete cabin service” to “get away from demands in th e lodges for European plan service” and to instead “keep the lodges on a st rictly American plan basis” (“Memorandum for the Files” 1928). Dining Facilities There were also at least three public dining buildings at Yellowstone Lake built between 1892 and 1932. Early buildings catered to tourists on stagecoach tours and later to automobile tourists seeking a brief stop on their sojourns around the lake. The earliest facility at the lake for these purposes that my research revealed was the West Thumb lunch station built in 1892 (see Figure 53). The facility was renovated in 1903 and then abandoned and torn down in 1917 (Whittlesey 1997, 72). Then in 1927, the superintendent’s annual report records that a “cafeteria building” was constructed at the West Thumb Developed Area (Albright 1927, 24). Dining areas were also built at the Fishing Bridge Developed Area. In Superintendent Albright’s 1926 annual report , he discusses the Yellowstone Park Camps Company building “a lunch counter and deli catessen building” at the “Lake Camp…in the Fishing bridge [ sic ] Auto Camp” (Albright 1926, 31). The next year’s annual report discusses some conversion of facilities at Fi shing Bridge: “Converted lake lunch counter and delicatessen into cafeteria and delicatessen into cafeteria and delicatessen.” (Albright 1927, 24). This information aligns well with Aubrey Haines’ account of Fishing Bridge development that includes a cafeteria being built at Fishing Bridge in 1926; however— 222 counter to the information noted in other records—the historian also s uggests that that the delicatessen “appeared at…Fis hing Bridge in 1920” and at the West Thumb Developed Area in 1928 (Haines 1977, 361). Research into the park superintendent and concessionaire files did not reveal specific locations within the developed areas for the lunch counter, cafeteria, and delicatessen; the lo cations of these facilities on this study’s reconstruction map are approximate and based on mention of the buildings in the GIS building layer files table data, historic photographs, and approximations based on verbal descriptions of the sites as well as aerial photographs revealing av ailable cleared spaces in the developed areas. Support and Service Structures Boat docks, barns, stores, employee hous ing, and equipment storage sheds were some of the more frequently discussed buildings at Yellows tone Lake in the superintendent and concessionaire files. As prominent featur es of the cultural landscape at Yellowstone Lake—based on the frequency of notation in reports and their repeated surfacing in blueprints and early concessionaire maps of facilities—I focus this part of my discussion of the cultural landscape at Yellowstone Lake on the evolution of these structures. By 1892, rudimentary boat docks were constructed at the West Thumb Developed Area (Figure 57) and the Lake De veloped Area (Figure 58). These boat docks were built and maintained by the firs t boating concessionaire on the lake—the Yellowstone Lake Boat Company (see Table 1). The docks served as launching and landing points for the steamboat ferry service across the lake from the West Thumb dock to the Lake landing area. 223 Figure 57. Early West Thumb Boat Dock A boat was present at the West Thumb thermal basin as early as 1892. Boat landing sites at the thermal basin were difficult to find since boaters had to negotiate the shallow lake waters near the basin, fluctuating lake levels, and the thermal features themselves. According to Yellowstone historian Lee Whittlesey, the first boat dock at the basin was located on top of the geyserite formations that jutted into the lake near Winter Spring and remained at this location until the 1930’ s (Whittlesey 1997, 20). The site was a hazardous one for passengers who had to negotiate the planked boardwalk to the boats in dangerous proximity to the hot geothermal pools [Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park Photo Archives]. An interesting third docking site at this juncture of lake hi story was built on Dot Island in 1896 and operated there until 1907. Early park superintendents seemed pleased with the services offered by the boating company and encouraged expansion of the boating company’s ventures with new leases. For example, while discussing the boat company Acting Superintendent Anderson relates: “The trip is most satisfactory to all who make it, and a very large percentage of the tourists use it on their tour…Last autumn Mr. Waters, the manager applied for authority to construct small landing places at several 224 Figure 58. Early Boat Landing Site near Lake Hotel The earliest boat landing site in the Lake De veloped Area was by the shoreline of the lake in front of the Lake Hotel. The docks at this area handled a va riety of bustling traffic from the large steamboats that served as ferries between the West Thumb boat dock and the Lake landing (top) to small rented boats in the later years (bottom). Notice the house of E.C. Waters, the president of the boat company, on the hill in the background of the lower photo. [top image from the Collection of William Wyckoff; bottom image printed in Schreier 1989, 70.] 225 points on the shore of the Lake, -one on Dot Island and one for ‘ways’ near the site of his present landing in the front of the hotel. All of these ha ve had my approval” (Anderson 1896, 10). The superintendent continues: “Mr. Waters has put on Dot Island a few bison, mountain sheep, and elk. Upon each trip he lands the passengers at this point in order that they may see the game, and I believe it adds not a little to their enjoyment. All these animals were obtained outside the park a nd shipped into it by Mr. Waters” (Anderson 1896, 10). As this quote reveals, the park s uperintendent seemed to support this early phase of Dot Island operations conducted by the Yellowstone La ke Boat Company. Indeed, according to Mark Spence “park officials later supported” E.C. Waters who wanted to have Native Americans as well as bison and elk on “exhibit” to tourists on the island in the 1890’s (Spence 1999, 69). Spen ce argues that Waters wanted to “attract more business for his Yellowstone Lake Boat Company by creating the sort of ‘aboriginal exhibit’ that had fascinated vi sitors at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago” (1999, 69). Spence found that “[p]ar k authorities and the secretary of the Interior made only one stipulation: Waters needed to use Crow Indians instead of Shoshone or Bannock” (1999, 69). Here we se e that building tensions between park managers and Native American groups extended well beyond the shoreline of Yellowstone Lake and into the island environm ent. Traditional Native American uses of the lake were being discouraged by the U.S. Army throughout the nineteenth century. Crow, Bannock, and Shoshone peoples were be ing forced to leave Yellowstone and by the time of the Dot Island project there were few recorded instances of Native American activity on the shoreline or islands of Yellows tone Lake. The U.S. Army encouraged the Dot Island operation and its appropriation of Native American authenticity. Water’s plan 226 for a Native American display failed however , as he could not convince any Crow groups to live on the tiny isla nd surrounded by Yellowstone Lake’s cold, deep waters. The U.S. Army’s support of the Dot Isla nd display did not have a long history. The animals for the Dot Island exhibit were kept in corrals at the Lake Developed Area in the winter time and then boated across the lake to Dot Island for the summer season. By 1906, the park superintendent recorded c oncern and disapproval of the Dot Island operation: “In the corrals of the Yellowst one Lake Boat Company, where buffalo, elk, and sheep were confined during the long pr evious winter, the conditions were found filthy, inhumane, and disgusting...These corrals were cleaned as soon as possible, and the buffalo and elk were removed to corrals on Do t Island and kept there in confinement as an attraction to induce tourists to take the boat trip. Numerous complaints were made criticizing the superintendent for permitting these native wild animals to be kept in captivity in the park” (Pitcher 1906, 5-6). U nder the scrutiny of public attention to the situation at Dot Island, the U.S. Department of the Interior requested that Waters remove the animals from Dot Island. The president of the company refused to discontinue this operation from his business and eventual ly the corrals were dismantled under Superintendent Young’s supervision on Oct ober 5, 1907; eight buffalo and seven elk were released into the park. Many buildings at Yellowstone Lake—parti cularly during the early years of this period—served multiple roles. As was the case with the West Thumb lunch station being combined with early lodging at the therma l basin, support structures often served many uses and were remodeled and expanded over th e years to meet new visitor demands. An example of the evolving construction of se rvice and support buildings at Yellowstone 227 Lake may be found by looking at the records of the Yellowstone Lake Boat Company. By 1912, the Yellowstone Park Boat Company was described as “operating a system of pleasure and fishing boats on Yellowstone Lake , renting and selling fishing tackle, etc.” (Brett 1912, 20). Authorized activities for the company were further outlined in the lease described in the superintendent’s annual report for 1913: Contracted date February 7, 1913, runs for 10 years, and grants to company privileges of maintaining, operating, and conducting on Yellowstone Lake…motor boats and launches, motor vessels, rowboats, and dories for accommodation of tourists, with right to sell and rent fishing tackle, and sell fruits, nuts, c onfectionery, books, periodicals, cigars, tobacco, and camping supplies, and lease or sell bathing suits. Contract agrees to lease lands on shores of Yellowstone Lake on which wharves and ways are constructed, and at other points to be agreed upon on which to erec t buildings for storage of equipment, accommodation of employees, etc.” (Brett 1913, 14-15). The boat company filled an interesting and unique space in the cultural landscape history of Yellowstone Lake and the bi gger story of Yellowstone Nati onal Park in that it was the only operation licensed to conduct its business on park waters; no ot her park lake or stream was opened by the Army or National Park Service for concession aire operations. More specific locations for these facilities at Yellowstone Lake are difficult to pinpoint, but clues may be found by looking at the legal agreements between the boat company and the National Park Service. An Articles of Incorporation of the Yellowstone Park Boat Company lists several sites and buildings as part of the Yellowstone Park Boat Company including a store and barn “site near Lake Hotel, ” a “Way Site near Lake Hotel,” a dock site near the lake hotel, and a dock site “at Thumb of Lake” for a period of nine years. The agreement also gave the boat company the right to harvest for building purposes local lumber and quarry stone ( Articles of Incorporation of the Yellowstone Park Boat Company 1923). In addition, the boating company was allowed to operate motorized vessels on the lake prior to the offi cial admission of automobiles to the park in 228 1915. According to the Articles of Incorporation signed by the Yellowstone Lake Boat Company and the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1911, the company’s purpose is to own, control, and operate boats prope lled by steam, electricity, gasoline, or any other motive power upon the Yellowstone lake…t o lease, loan, dire row and sail boats, fishing tackle, and other pleas ure crafts and appliances…t o construct, own, use, and occupy docks, piers, boat-houses, warehouses , lodging houses for employees, landing stages” ( Articles of Incorporation of the Yellowstone Park Boat Company 1923). Renting boats was not always the domain of a single concessionaire. The boat company pursued a joint business with anothe r concessionaire on the lake to rent boats and sell fishing goods. This shared business was not very successf ul, but its inception speaks to the increasing popular ity of boating on Yellowstone Lake and the need for more boats and equipment. Unlike other co ncessionaire operations such as lodging or dining that existed at multiple areas of the lake and park, the boating business required special equipment and storage structures that could not be transferred by companies between their other operating sites. For ex ample, when tent lodging demands rose at Fishing Bridge Developed Area, the tent company could move its “good tent cabins” from the Lake Developed Area to the Fishing Bridge Developed Area. Such was not the case for the boating concessionaires at Yellowstone Lake which was mostly run by one concessionaire and had limited equipment at the West Thumb and Lake areas. Park Superintendents were frustrated by the limited services offered by the Yellowstone Park Boat Company and leaned on this concessionaire to increase its available services. Unable and perhaps unwilling to make this investment, the Yellowstone Park Boat Company entered into an agreement with Hamilton Stores. Under this arrangement, Hamilton stores would operate a boat rental facility at the Lake Developed Area. Even 229 with this concessionaire collaboration, the park superintendent was not satisfied with the level of service at the Lake Developed Area. The boating facilities were redistributed and realigned starting in 1924. After the war years, many buildings around the lake were in need of repair and renovation. In a 1924 report, Superintendent Albright discussed the survey of a leased site: “The Old buildings in front of the Lake Hotel were removed last autumn, many old barns and sheds were razed at various points, and general cl ean-up programs carried out at several point of interest. If we now had the means to clean up the roadsides of Yellowstone, this park would be in first-class condition so far as its landscape protection is concerned…”(Albright 1924, 11). Then in 1926, the Yellowstone Lake Boat Company improved its facilities. In a 1926 report, Albr ight noted changes at the Lake Developed Area: “Old Boat house torn down and new one , 20 x 40 feet, built. New warehouse built. New speed boat, 2 new motor boats and 10 new rowboats purchased” (Albright 1926, 30). The West Thumb site was also rework ed by the Yellowstone Park Boat Company during this period. In 1927, the Yellowstone Park Boat Company built an office and “sleeping quarters” for thei r dock attendants at the West Thumb landing and rebuilt the West Thumb dock. The boat company also built a “floating dock with office and sleeping quarters” near the Fishing Bridge (s ee Figure 47), bought twenty steel row boats and a motor boat, and started a “marine railroad and warehouse” (Albright 1927, 26). The Yellowstone Lake Boat Company also comp leted a “large buildi ng for the storage of boats” (Figure 59) at the Lake Developed Area “just west of the Fish Hatchery in the autumn of 1926” (Albright 1927, 26). 230 The lake’s dynamic environment necessi tated expanding lake boating operations and facilities. At the West Thumb boat docks , the fluctuating water levels and extent of the thermal features necessitated that the early boat dock be moved to a more stable location. Although this second site was still ve ry close to such thermal features at the lakeshore thermal pool, it was not poised on th e extension of the geyserites cliff over the lakeshore. This site was dangerous for a boa t dock since the repeti tive lake waves eroded the foundation of the geyserite and the thermal pool claimed at least one passenger’s life; in 1926, a passenger lost their footing on the dock and fell into the boiling waters of the thermal feature (Whittlesey 1997, 20). The boat dock in front of the Lake Hotel had Figure 59. Boat Storage Building at the Lake Developed Area In 1926, the Yellowstone Lake Boat Company built a “large building for the storage of boats” and a “marine railroad and wa rehouse” (Albright 1927, 26). This 1941 photograph shows a government boat docked at the landing site. The “marine railroad” may be seen in the background and may have served as a way to convey boats down the hillside to the lakeshore at this location. Th e boat storage building is seen in the left background of the photograph [Courtesy of Yell owstone National Park Photo Archives]. 231 slightly different physical challenges. No t only was this dock bu ilt to withstand the strong, repetitive wave action generated by th e daily afternoon southwesterly winds, it also had to withstand the movements from the winter ice over of th e lake and fluctuating lake levels throughout the summer. A le tter in 1929 from the president of the Yellowstone Lake Boat Comp any—J. Nichols—to the park superintendent asked permission to enlarge the company’s dock in fr ont of the Lake Hotel. Nichols cited the need to enlarge the boat dock to “protect ou r boats against the severe southwest storms which frequently arise on the Lake” (Letter from J. Nichols to Mr. Roger W. Toll 1929). His letter also cited that part of the lake boat dock (Figure 60) had been “c arried out by the ice several years ago” (Letter from J. Nichols to Mr. Roger W. Toll 1929). The boat company president also mentioned that docks ne eded to extend out into the lake to avoid times when “there is hardly enough water for the boats when the lake gets low” (Letter from J. Nichols to Mr. Roger W. Toll 1929). Stores There were also a number of stores bu ilt at the three main developed areas of Yellowstone Lake between 1892 and 1932. At the Lake Developed Area, there was a store selling consumer goods and a fishing tackle and boat rental store. The park superintendent report for 1895 relates that E. C. Waters—the manager and owner of the Yellowstone Lake Boat Comp any—ran stores (Figure 61) which provided a range of services and goods to tourists: “During the last year he [Waters] has been granted a license by the Department to sell candies, nuts and small groceries to camping parties, to do blacksmithing for the same, as well as take parties to the Natural Bridge by vehicle or on horseback. It was quite necessary th at some one should conduct these small 232 Figure 60. Ice on Yellowstone Lake near Lake Area Boat Docks Boat docks at Yellowstone Lake proved di fficult to build and maintain for park concessionaires. This 1951 photograph shows th e lake frozen over in the winter with the lake docks in the foreground. The Yellows tone Lake Boat Company had to make revisions and improvements at least once to it s docks because of the annual ice flow and fluctuating lake levels. [Courtesy of Ye llowstone National Park Photo Archives.] enterprises at this point, and Mr. Waters seemed to be the only person desirous of undertaking them, and so far, I believe ha s conducted them satisfactorily” (Anderson 1895, 10). The boat dock area in front of the Lake Hotel became a bustling area of activity at the lake where the boat company operated a store, the dock sites, and where Waters situated his residence. Although the park superintendent su pported the operation as a necessary component of the Lake Area development, th ere were problems. According to an 1895 superintendent annual report: “Mr. Walters , the manager of the Boat Company, is courteous and attentive to the wants and the interest of his passengers. The complaints against him are mostly from overcharge of damage done fishing tackle, and other minor 233 Figure 61. Yellowstone Lake Boat Company Store The lake’s first boating company also started a small store to “sell candies, nuts and small groceries to camping parties, to do black smithing for the same” in 1895 (Anderson 1895, 10). [Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park Photo Archives.] items furnished by him” (Anderson 1895, 10). A later government report found additional issues with the multiple use site occupied by the boat company. Acting Superintendent Pitcher noted that the house “occupied by Mr. Waters” was “a very neat and pretty structure,” but that Waters ha d “small boats and boathouse” and a store that was an “unsightly building and badly locate d, for it is entirely too near the proposed addition to the Lake Hotel” (Pitcher 1901, 7). Pitcher also noted that the “barns and corrals” were “too near the hotel” and listed guest complaints of the unpleasant smells from the detritus from the horse and Dot Island bison and elk corrals (Pitcher 1901, 7). 234 Nevertheless, later superintende nt reports reveal that the boa t company continued its store operations at Yellowstone Lake. A 1913 leas e for the Yellowstone Lake Boat Company records that the company was authorized “to se ll and rent fishing tackle, and sell fruits, nuts, confectionery, books, periodicals, ciga rs, tobacco, and camping supplies, and lease or sell bathing suits” (Brett 1913, 14-15). The stores at Yellowstone Lake we re operated as joint ventures between concessionaires and were susceptible to th e same economic problems that affected the entire lake and park. While discussing the decreased travel in the park in 1918 because of World War I and the closing of most service areas at Yello wstone Lake, Acting Superintendent Lindsley noted: Practically no business was done by the Yellowstone Park Boat Company during the summer, as there was no opportunity to patronize the boats, due to the lack of accommodations for the night at the Lake Outle t. A few of the motor and other boats were inspected by a representative of the St eamboat Inspection Service, for the use in case there was any demand for them. The Boat Company’s store at Lake Outlet was run by Mr. C.A. Hamilton, as a branch of his ma in store at Upper Geyser Basin (Lindsley 1918, 12-13). However, the economic recession ended after World War I, and lake businesses benefited. Superintendent Albright was a zealous supporter of upgrading and enlarging park facilities to meet the increasing visito r demands. In a 1919 report, Albright noted: “Taken in connection with the new store that will be built at the Lake by C.A. Hamilton and the new filling station of the Yellow stone Park Transportation Company, the improvements at this point will go far toward making it the most popular tourist resort of the park. The establishment of a large new public automobile camp is another project that we hope to complete next year at this point, and if authorized a new ranger station and information office will also be erected here” (Albright 1919, 24- 26). Albright also 235 discusses services provided by the Yellows tone Park Transportation Company, and included that a “[g]arage, ga soline and oil, and repair service was maintained by this company” at the Lake Developed Area (Albri ght 1919, 27). Albright offers an indicator that the company intended to replace or upgrade its automobile servi ce station: “During the autumn or early next spring the co mpany [Yellowstone Park Transportation Company] will construct three very attractive fi lling stations. They will be built of stone and logs, and will be located near the stores at Upper Geyser Basin, Lake Outlet, and Grand Canyon” (Albright 1919, 80). This referen ce is a bit confusing as to the location of the lake filling station sin ce park superintendent annual re ports alternately referred to the “Lake Outlet” as being the Lake Devel oped Area or the Fishing Bridge Developed Area. The movements of the concessionaires around Yellowstone Lake were further outlined in Albright’s 1919 annual report. Based on the following reference to Hamilton Stores activities at Yellowstone Lake, it seem s that the filling station mentioned in 1919 was constructed at the Fishing Bridge Developed Area. While discussing concessionaires in the park, Superintende nt Albright’s 1919 report describes Hamilton making several alterations to his company’s operations in the park: According to the report, Hamilton ran a “general store… under a subleasing arrangement with the Yellowstone Park Boat Compa ny…at Lake Outlet. In addition to general merchandise and groceries, Mr. Hamilton carried full lines of curios and souvenirs, and also operated gasoline and oil stations” (Albright 1919, 82). Hamilton also expanded his operations at the West Thumb Developed Area: “He is now e ngaged in building a fine new store at the Lake which will take the place of the boat company’s store…Mr. Hamilton expects to 236 arrange for the maintenance of a store next year in the old lunch station of the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company at the T humb of Lake Yellowstone where the south approach road joins the belt line system” (Albright 1919, 82). In 1920, Hamilton Stores expanded its operations yet agai n by building a store on an “e ntirely new site; on the lake shore” at Lake Outlet (Albri ght 1920, 37). The work was completed for the store, “residence,” and a “filling st ation” in 1921 (Albright 1921-22, 42). The “small but very attractive store structures at West Thumb of Lake Yellowstone and at Fishing Bridge” were completed in 1924 (Albright 1924, 29). A more detailed description of these structures was available in the annual superi ntendent report: “New frame store with log trim erected at Lake Fishing Bridge and filling station with 5,000 gallon tank completed at this point; new lighting…at La ke store; new log trim store with 80’ frontage erected at Thumb and filling station with 5,000 gallon tank; float constructed for care of new boats in conjunction with Boat Co mpany” (Albright 1924, 30-31). Stores and related facilities continued to expand throughout the 1920’s and early 1930’s at Yellowstone Lake. A 1925 government report included this description of Hamilton Store operations: “Enlarged Fish ing Bridge store to double its former size…Built a 30’ addition to Basin Auto Ca mp Store. Completed knotted wood porch on Basin store…ten rowboats were purchased to be operated jointly with the Boat Company” (Albright 1925, 34). The “Basin” site mentioned in this reference presumably refers to the West Thumb Developed Area th at was also the location of an extensive geothermal basin. In 1926, Hamilton Stores completed an “addition to Fishing Bridge store and painted entire building” (Albright 1926, 33). In the same year, Yellowstone Park Camps Company built stores and additional service structures such as “a curie [ sic] 237 store, registration building… transportation company office and general office…a boiler house building…new linen room building of log and frame” at the “Lake Camp…in the Fishing bridge Auto Camp” (Albright 1926, 31-32). The 1928 superintendent report relates lake shore building projects undertaken by Haynes Picture Shops Incorporated; the concessionaire “constructe d [a] building 60x60 feet in size at Fishing Bridge automobile camp to house Haynes’ pictur e shop, mess and photo finishing plant” (Albright 1928, 19). In 1929, Hamilton Stores improved its Fishing Bridge Auto Camp operations by building a “duplicate” of its Old Faithful Store that had 150 feet of “frontage, with 48 capacity dormitory a bove” (Toll 1929, 44). My research also uncovered a 1931 reference to Hamilton Stores completing a “new Fishing Bridge store” (Toll 1931, 15). It is unclear whether this is a reference to a new facility of a remodeling of the earlier structure. Other Yellowstone Lake area developments included a “new bath house at Fishing Bridge” (Toll 1931, 16). Employee Housing Employee housing around Yellowstone Lake varied from houses to dormitories. Early housing structures were te nts or houses often used as combination housing, store, and visitor service area. Such was the case for the Yellowstone Lake Boat Company operations where E.C. Waters built his house and store in front of the Lake Hotel and adjacent to his company’s boat docks (see Fi gure 58). By the 1920’s, concessionaires were building dormitories to house their grow ing numbers of employees at Yellowstone Lake. Between 1921 and 1922, the Yellowst one Park Camps Company constructed a women’s dorm for twenty four employees at the Lake Developed Area (U.S. Department of the Interior 1921-22, 39). Yellowstone Pa rk Transportation Company constructed 2 238 new driver’s bunk houses and 2 new mess houses at Yellowstone Lake (U.S. Department of the Interior 1921-22, 40). Yellowstone Park Transportation Company finished building a “12 room bunkhouse” (Albright 1923, 46) and a “Two-story girl’s dormitory, consisting of 57 rooms” (Albright 1924, 27). Also by 1924, the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company completed a “new girls’ dormitory ” at the Lake Developed Area (Albright 1925, 32). In 1927, Hamilton Stores constructe d “new quarters for kitchen crew” at the Lake Developed Area and the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company built a “new bunk house and drivers’ wash house” (Albright 1927, 25). In 1926, the Yellowstone Park Boat Company built an office and sleeping quarters for the boat attendant” at the West Thumb dock site and a “floating dock with office and sleeping quarters” was completed near Fishing Bridge (Albright 1926, 26). At the Fishing Bridge Developed Area, an “office building with 24 capaci ty dormitory above” was constructed (Toll 1929, 43). Conclusion By 1932, Yellowstone Lake was the site of bustling service areas along the north and southwest shores of the Lake, centrali zed at three major nodes—the Lake (Figure 62), West Thumb (Figure 63), and Fishing Brid ge (Figure 64) Developed Areas. Each of these developed areas increased in size. Lit tle evidence is available to prove that the islands were used except the brief period of act ivity seen on Dot Island. Each of these sites posed developers with uni que challenges that were c onnected to the lake’s wide range of physical environments. From stab ilizing the Lake Developed Area boat docks from wind and ice to maintaining a boat dock in close proximity to geothermal pools at the West Thumb Developed Area, concessiona ires and federal agencies operating at 239 Yellowstone Lake faced challenges not present at other park developed areas. The three developed areas also varied by the facilities available, but there were similarities; by 1932, each area had government and concession operations that offered an array of services including tran sportation infrastructure, lodging, stores, employee housing, boat docks, and dining facilities. National and international events affected development at Yellowstone Lake between 1892 and 1932. The entrance of automo biles increased visitati on to the park and the need for more automobile campgrounds and cabin areas at the Lake, West Thumb, and Fishing Bridge Developed Ar eas. The network of park a nd lake roads also expanded during this period to include a continuous route along the north shore of the lake and connections to the Grand Canyon to the north, the Upper Geyser Basin to the West, Cody to the east, and to the south entrance. The creation of the National Park Service in 1916 also had a great impact on lake infrastructure. This federal agency constructed ranger stations at Lake, West Thumb, a nd Fishing Bridge Developed Areas and a museum at the Fishing Bridge Developed Area. The National Park Service also included a planning department that oversaw all plans fo r new structures in the park and regulated the style and design of lake buildings. Wo rld War I and the Great Depression were both major events that affected park visita tion and economic conditions. Yellowstone visitation and employee counts dropped dur ing both of these events and lake infrastructure was relocated and refurbished after these events. Figure 62. Lake Developed Area, 1932 240 Figure 63. West Thumb Developed Area, 1932 241 Figure 64. Fishing Brid ge Developed Area, 1932 242 243 PERIOD THREE: 1933-1966 Planning a Wilderness Experience In contrast to Nature’s efforts to overawe and startle you at the geyser basins, she now puts forth every effort to reassure you and regain your confidence. The lake waves lap the s hore in friendly fashion. Forests of lodgepole pine nod their tufted boughs and perfume the air. Bears amble about the glades and meadow and wh ite gulls and awkwar d pelicans skim over the blue water (North ern Pacific Railway 1933, 17). This site is most impractical both from the standpoint of present operations and/or future expansion. Unprotected waters forces loss of boating business for as many as 25 afte rnoons in one month….Steep slope at this site, lack of parking, poor ap proach and rough weather all combine to make this site unsuitable for further development (Pickering 1958, 38). The rugged West Thumb Camper Cabins are in keeping with the mood of their wilderness setting on the western shore of Yellowstone Lake, where steaming hot springs meet the cool lake waters. They offer shelter for hardy folk who, on a vacation lark, en joy roughing it for a bit without any frills…The fishing and boating on Yellowstone Lake is an outstanding recreation (Yellowstone Park Company 1966). Between 1933 and 1966, Yellowstone Lake experienced a tremendous amount of change to its cultural landscape. Major events that affected the lake during this time included the Great Depression, the New Deal , World War II, the wilderness movement, and Mission 66. This chapter discusses changes in Yellowstone Lake’s cultural landscape and the effects of these ev ents on development plans. This period begins with many of the fac ilities at Yellowstone Lake being closed to public use. Although visitor estimates st arted to rise again (see Appendix) in 1933— 161,938 people visited the park in 1933, comp ared to 157,624 touris ts in 1932 (Haines 1977b, 479)—concessionaires with ope rations at Yellowstone Lake were hit hard by the 244 economic recession associated with the Great Depression. Most conc essionaires closed their operations from 1933 to 1935 at Yellows tone Lake (Toll 1935, 2). By 1935, at least 317,998 visitors entered the park and lake businesses opened their doors once again. However, the years of inactivity took their toll on some of the park structures such as the Lake Hotel and the quality of services was reduced. A boost in business after the recession funded a brief spell of renovati ons and improvements for structures around Yellowstone Lake. In response to the economic recession from the Great Depression, the New Deal implemented nation-wide measures to provide employment and business activity. Part of the New Deal measures included creating the Civilian Conservation Corps. The labor from the Civilian Conservation Corps had a di rect impact in Yellowstone National Park as superintendents used this labor source to complete many useful projects and the construction of at least fifteen campgrounds (B artlett 1985, 301). Bart lett describes some of these projects: Roadcuts [ sic ] were sloped gracefully from roadbed back to timber, auto camps improved by planting shrubs and trees, and d ead timber was removed. New barns and corrals were built were needed and abandoned buildings, many dating from stagecoach days, were destroyed and all si gns of human habituation removed. Eyesores such as old trash dumps behind hotels were hauled aw ay. Where roads ha d been abandoned, the CCC boys plowed them up in such a way as to encourage the return to natural flora. Barren slopes were reforested” (Bartlett 1985, 301). Such projects would have been difficult for the National Park Service to fund alone. The Civilian Conservation Corps built a camp n ear the Lake Developed Area and completed many projects around the lake duri ng the New Deal era. The outbreak of World War II caused anot her slump in park activity and lake businesses. In 1941 (see Appendix), 581,761 tour ists entered Yellows tone National Park 245 (Haines 1977b, 479). In 1942, even fewer people—191,830—journeyed into Wonderland (Haines 1977b, 479). The lowest wartime visitor counts were in 1943 at 64,144 (Haines 1977b, 479). Because of this lack of patronage as well as a paucity of personnel to operate businesses, park conce ssionaires decided to close many of their Yellowstone Lake facilities from 1940 to 1947 (Rogers 1947, 5). Many structures at developed areas around Yellowst one Lake suffered from neglect during this period, but some concessionaires took advantage of the slackening of business to make long overdue repairs and adjustments to their facilities. Starting in 1942, the superintendent’s reports begin to document some of these projects at Ye llowstone Lake: “At Lake most of the old Lake Hotel is being torn down and a combin ation of hotel and cottages…is programmed to take place [at] the Lake Hotel and L odge” (Rogers 1941, 3). During the war years, limited services were available at Fishing Br idge but West Thumb and Lake did not offer services (Rogers 1943, 2; Rogers 1946, 5). At Fishing Bridge, the cabins and cafeteria were open; however the museum was closed (Rogers 1943, 2). By 1947, most facilities at the Fishing Bridge, West Thumb, and Lake Developed Areas were reopened to the public (Rogers 1947, 5). The postwar years brought a tremendous surge in visitation to Yellowstone National Park. Comparing wartime with pos twar visitor estimates reveals a telling picture of this period in park history(see Appendix); in 1944, 85,347 people visited the park; in 1945, the official count jumped to 178, 296 visitors; and in 1946, visitor estimates escalated to 814,907 people entering Yellowstone (Haines 1977, 479). With more leisure time, income, and the desire to explore new places, Americans traveled to their national parks in record-b reaking numbers. Many of thes e postwar tourists traveled 246 to their national parks in automobiles. Pr ivate automobile travel in the Yellowstone became the transportation method of choice; park superintendents and concessionaires struggled to accommodate growing visitor use and impact on existing structures. According to a 1950 superintendent’s report, “a maximum of 7,800 accommodations being available in the hote ls, lodges, and tourist cabins, it was not possible to accommodate all the persons seeking accommodations in the park and many visitors had to sleep in their cars or leave the park” (Rogers 1950, 7). Ideas about how to manage and use na tional parks also changed during this period. Growing awareness and interest in th e ecological health of national parks was promoted by the Wilderness Society. Founded in 1935, the society’s focus was “to work for the preservation of roadless, undeveloped land in North America” (Glover 1995, 686). The projects that this group focused on in lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service helped to raise nati onal awareness of scenic landscapes and of human impacts in nature preserves. The pa ssage of the Wilderness Act in 1964 also had a tremendous impact on National Park Service policies and management tactics. The act called for protection and management of w ilderness areas or places “without permanent human improvement” (Cohen 1995, 686). More broadly, it promoted protection of open spaces, environmental integrity, and solitude. These movements affected Yellowstone La ke in at least two ways: managing lake recreation and planning developed areas. E nvironmental historian James A. Pritchard points out a connection between the wilderness movement and Yellowstone Lake boating regulations: “Thinking about wilderness values in the parks was manifested in Yellowstone by the creation of wilderness z ones on Yellowstone Lake” (Pritchard 1999, 247 197). The “wilderness zones” refer to the S outh and Southeast Arms of the lake. These areas were of special concern to wilderness enthusiasts and supporters since these bays were the favored nesting spots of osprey, Caspian terns, California gulls, double-crested cormorants, and white pelicans (Pritchard 1999, 1 98). Bird nesting areas in the southern arms of the lake were being di sturbed by motor boat activity. A recreational use study of Yellowstone Lake completed in 1959 confirmed these suggestions and recommended that motor boats should be prohibited from the southern arms of the lake (Haines 1977b, 382). The regul ations “sought partly to protect fragile beachlines and nesting grounds of water bird s from the damaging wa kes of fast-moving boats and partly to provide a sanctuary of quiet naturalness for those wishing the experience of canoeing in a wilderness setting” (Haines 1977b, 382). In 1961, the National Park Service compromised its zoning regulations with “powerboat enthusiasts” by allowing them access, at reduced speeds, in the South and Southeast Arms of the lake (Haines 1977b, 382). Eventually, the zoning ev olved to include non-motorized zones and no wake zones in the South and Southeast Arms. The second influence of the wilderness movement on Yellowstone Lake involved the planning and design of the lake’s devel oped areas. Wilderness enthusiasts urged the National Park Service to consider development plans that encouraged people to step out of their cars and explore the scenic areas of parks. Speak ing of the values promoted by the Wilderness Society president, Olaus Murie, Pritchard recounts Murie’s rationale: “Roads did not have to cling to the very edge of a scenic canyon; instead, the road might approach here and there, w ith parking areas hidden from view at panoramic vistas” (Pritchard 1999, 196). 248 The Mission 66 project also shaped the la ke’s cultural landscapes. It was a ten year plan initiated in 1955 that aimed to complete vast construction, relocation, and refurbishment goals in national parks by 1966. The plan accentuated “building and refurbishing trails, visito r centers, roads, campsites, employee housing, and other facilities” while also lessening the impact of swelling visitation in the national parks (Pritchard 1999, 198). At Yellowstone Lake, this project contributed to more trails being restored and maintained along the eastern and southern shores of the lake, the realignment of the north shore road along the lake to include scenic turnouts and picnic areas, the redistribution of park structures at Fishing Br idge Developed Area and West Thumb to alternative sites, and a proposal to remove boat docks from the fragile geothermal areas around the West Thumb Developed Area. There were also other facets of the Mi ssion 66 plan that affected Yellowstone National Park and Yellowstone Lake. The pa rk-wide plan called for major revisions to park infrastructure and, thus, to the cultura l landscapes of Yellowstone. Haines quotes part of the “Mission 66 for Yellowstone Nationa l Park”: “Three things are necessary in order for Yellowstone to yield the benefits of which it is capable: an adequate road and trail system giving access to important and significant features of the Park; adequate facilities for visitor comfort, welfare, a nd subsistence; and effective pedestrian, interpretation, and protection of the resources of Yellowstone by a management staff” (Haines 1977b, 373). These changes w ould not come without a cost. The “improvements to facilities and management” would call for a construction and management phase. The construction stage of the proposed park developments would cost $70 million for new facilities in Yellowstone over the ten years of the 249 program’s duration (Haines 1977b, 373). The expens es of this plan were to be shared by the federal government—covering $55 million—and “private investment” that would total $15 million in “new con cession facilities” (Haines 1977b, 373). The other stage of the plan, the management phase, called for additional employees, “changes in protection and interpretation, and the dispersion of visitor use in order to lessen the impact on particular areas” (Haines 1977b, 374). An interes ting and, at times, very difficult part of Mission 66 plans was the delicate task of creating more spaces for increasing numbers of visitors and employees while also designi ng settlements to disperse and lessen the impacts of all that activity. Over two million visitors were expected to visit the park by 1966 and the National Park Service intended to prepare the park for such an increase in activity. Many of the buildings and support structures were outdated and unable to accommodate these new visitor estimates. In addition, Mission 66 planners aimed to reorganize “the administrative and concession facilities” and relocate these buildings “as a means of conserving scenic, geological, and recreational values” (Haines 1977b, 375). This government-initiated program calle d for massive projects to relocate, upgrade, and modernize park structures while being sensitive to eco logical resources and human impact on the park’s natural features. Although Mission 66’s goals were “essentially developmental, intending to impr ove access to the Park, services rendered to visitors, and the administration of the area ge nerally,” it also aimed to further “use of park resources by preparing the area for an increased visitor load” (Haines 1977b, 380). But this plan had another side that made it a particularly beneficial and, at times, contested initiative. Mission 66 proponents were also intere sted in preservation of the natural resources of Yellowst one, a movement that was “appa rent in the steps taken to 250 protect ecological relationships, and maintain ‘naturalness,’ in the effort to disperse visitor use and thereby lessen its impact on the park environment, and in better orientation of the visitor-user to the wilderness” (Haines 1977b, 380). Mission 66 changed the spatial organization of numerous park facilities as well as how those facilities were managed, improve d, allocated, and designed. Highlights from the original plans that invol ved Yellowstone Lake included altering the lakeshore road around the north section of the Yellowstone Lake, constructing two new developed areas (Grant Village along the West Thumb Bay a nd Bridge Bay near the Lake Developed Area), massive relocation of structures from the Fishing Bridge Developed Area, West Thumb Developed Area, and—to a lesser extent —the Lake Developed Area. However, these plans ultimately met with controvers y from gateway communities, environmental organizations, and other federal agencies. Ultimately, the Mission 66 plans for the lake did come to fruition, although some aspects of these proposed changes—such as th e relocation of Fishing Bridge facilities— were not completed until the early 1980’s and then, only a portion of the settlement was relocated (Pritchard 1999, 264). Another impor tant obstacle to the successful completion of Mission 66 plans came from concessionaires; the decade long progr am called for joint activity and investment from the National Park Service and the Yellowstone Park Company—the park’s major concessionaire. The Yellowstone Park Company, however, suffered under the financial burden of Mission 66 development and reluctantly cooperated with the National Park Service. The National Park Service forced the hand of concessionaires in Mission 66 plans. The fe deral agency threatened to not renew the 251 concessionaire’s franchise which was coming up for review if the concessionaire did not agree to the proposed park developm ent schemes (Haines 1977b, 375-6). The contentious relationship between concessionaires and the National Park Service played out well past 1966; howe ver a look at the beginning of Mission 66 projects and concessionaire re sponses to the plans provides a useful portal into which we may explore some of the planning issues th at faced Yellowstone Lake throughout this period. One of the first steps in the Missi on 66 program was an assessment of current park infrastructure. Such a survey was conducted at Yellowstone Lake to assess the concessionaire services. The results of that survey—which incl uded photographs and verbal descriptions of the lake area—were recorded in a 1958 “S urvey of Facilities and Operations for Yellowstone Park Company.” The report rate d the condition and economic feasibility of visitor services at the Lake and made development recommendations on the three major developed areas—West Thumb, Lake, and Fish ing Bridge. The survey found that the facilities at all these sites were in poor structural condition, not developed to their full economic potential, and were generally inad equately prepared to handle the growing number of park visitors (Pickering 1958, 25- 44). Plans to improve these service areas began in the early 1960’s, but uneven c ontributions to development plans by concessionaires and the National Park Service caused esca lating tensions between the two organizations. The effect of the uneven development was apparent on the cultural landscape of Yellowstone Lake; according to historian Mark Barringer, the Yellowstone Park Company “had fallen so far behind construc tion schedules that new roads led only to 252 vacant sites, and government service buildi ngs stood idle near proposed developments” (2002, 165). This description certainly fit th e newly developed Grant Village site. By 1966, the National Park Service completed roads, utilities, campgrounds, comfort stations, a marina, and a vi sitor center—all usable by th is year (Haines 1977b, 378). However, new roads built by the National Park Service to proposed lodging and dining areas led to “vacant sites” where Yellowstone Park Company had not matched the federal investment at Grant Village and failed to cons truct facilities there. The concessionaire was hesitant to take on the enormous financia l burden of relocating its profitable stores, boat docks, and overnight accommodations from the adjacent development at the West Thumb Developed Area to Grant Village. Other developed sites around Yellowstone Lake suffered from similar problems. The company also lagged behind National Park Se rvice efforts to relocate facilities from the Fishing Bridge Developed Area. The Bridge Bay Developed Area was a slightly more successful operation (in terms of Missi on 66 proposed plans); at this site, the National Park Service completed most of its proposed facilities by 1966. These structures included a large multi-use building (housing a marina center, ranger station, and comfort station), dredged a new marina, and constructed roads and service stations for a campground at that site. By 1966, Yellowstone Lake was caught in th e crosshairs of National Park Service planning and concessionaire resistance to increasing investment; th e dueling objectives of creating vast modern visitor facility areas while also provi ding a national playground for wilderness recreation ultimately wore on th e relations between the federal agency and private corporations. This chapter explores some of the decisions and planning that 253 factored into this situation and altered the cultural landscape of Yellowstone Lake. The chapter is divided into three sections: a di scussion of transportation infrastructure, government structures and services, and conce ssionaire built and maintained facilities at the lake. In addition, each of these sections is further subdivided to reflect changes to the cultural landscape of Yellowstone Lake between 1933 and 1966. By 1966, Yellowstone Lake had five major developed areas (Figure 65): Fishing Bridge Developed Area, Lake Developed Area, Bridge Bay Developed Area, West Thumb Developed Area, and Grant Village. Transportation Transportation in Yellowstone also ch anged throughout this period. Automobile tourism continued to gain in popularity, both as a form of individual and group (tour) transportation. Railroads were also a continuing part of the transportation geography in the park. However, the routes and methods of transporting tourists from railroad stations into the park shifted; the specially built tour ing cars of previous er as gave way to buses for the preferred method of transporting tourists from railroad depots into the park. Many of these bus tours were operated as a subdivision of existing railroad companies and serviced railroad depots that terminated at gateway communities around Yellowstone National Park. For example, a National Park Service brochure from 1939 listed the Burlington Transportation Company as a subsidiary of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and serving as a transp ortation agency for bussing visitors from Cody, Wyoming into the park (U.S. Depart ment of the Interior 1939, 21). Similar ventures were listed in the brochure for th e Union Pacific Stages Incorporation as a 254 Figure 65. Yellowstone Lake and Backcountry Cabins, 1966 255 branch of the Union Pacific Railroad serving West Yellowstone, Montana and the Northland Greyhound Lines working from Livingston and Bozeman, Montana (U.S. Department of the Interior 1939, 21). The brochure also recounts that from “Cody, West Yellowstone, and Bozeman bus passengers use the busses of the Yellowstone Park Co. for their park trip, while from Livingst on the trip can be made by train or bus to Gardiner, Montana…at which point to busses of the Yellowstone Park Co. are available” (U.S. Department of the Interior 1939, 21). A park guidebook from 1955 confirmed that these services continued to the later part of this period; th e Haynes guide advised visitors that the Yellowstone Park Co mpany operated “the yellow buses within the park to and from all entrances, connecting with the railro ads at the north and west boundaries and at the nearest points outside of the park serv ed by other railroad and bus lines” (Haynes 1955, 21). Air travel also entered the Yellowstone National Park scene during this period. Airplanes began to transport visitors to sm aller airports located at gateway communities around the park. The first service starte d in 1936 at West Yellowstone, Montana. In the vicinity of Yellowstone Lake, tra ils and boating routes gained an increasing importance during this period. More park vis itors used trails around the lake to ride horses or hike towards the southern arms of the lake. There were no roads built or maintained around the southern arms, so visitors wishing to travel to these areas sought out alternative forms of tran sportation including walking, bo ating, and horseback riding. The wilderness movement greatly affected this shift in use patterns. Although the structures built and maintained in the southern areas of the lake were not large or numerous, the affect of these facilities and their use should not be ignored. Wilderness 256 recreation attracted visitors w ho increasingly wished for activities to more remote parts of the park. With the increase in motorized tr avel (particularly after World War I), those areas of the park were far from roadways. Yellowstone Lake offered visitors the chance to hike miles of remote trails, paddle lakes hore routes with decrea sed motorboat traffic, and see areas that many visitors did not e xperience. In this sense then, the period between 1933 and 1966 saw an expansion in the spatial pattern of buildings at Yellowstone Lake (towards the south with ra nger cabins and boat docks). Thus, a mix of transportation services offered access to Ye llowstone Lake by 1966 and included train service, automobiles, airplanes, motorboats, hand-propelled watercraft, and horses. Trails Trail construction, maintenance, and use increased during this period around the lake. Trails during this peri od included long trails around the lake requiring several days travel by horseback or on foot, short trails from developed areas to scenic vistas or features, and foot paths around and between deve loped area facilities. An example of a foot path between developed area facilities includes the 1936 addition to Fishing Bridge Developed area where “2,000 linear feet of permanent type footpath with rock curb” was built (Rogers 1936, 26). The foot trails ar ound the thermal areas of the West Thumb geyser basin also were upgraded during th is period. In 1936, Superintendent Rogers reported the construction of “2,400 linear feet of permanent asphaltic surfaced footpaths over the thermal area and guard rails around numerous hot pools and mud pots” (Rogers 1936, 25). Longer foot trails around the la ke also received renewed attention. Guidebooks from this period increasingly refe rred to and described longer trails around the lakeshore. A 1949 guidebook described a “historic trail from Fishing Bridge 257 Developed Area along the east si de of the Yellowstone Rive r, to the Canyon Developed Area” (Haynes 1949, 111). References to trails increased in guidebooks and superintendent reports sampled from 1933 to 1966. The increase in trail desc riptions may be related to the greater attention that National Park Service superint endents were paying to trail construction and maintenance and the influx of Civilian Conservation Corps labor: Mission 66 plans called for “an adequate road and trail syst em giving access to important and significant features of the Park” (Haines 1977b, 373). Many of these trails were based on paths used by Native Americans and Euro-Americans in pre-pa rk or early park years, but these trails received renewed use and atte ntion during this period. Alth ough records did not indicate the direct involvement of la bor in trail construction proj ects at Yellowstone Lake, Civilian Conservation Corps completed many trails throughout the park and may have been involved in trails around the southern shore of the lake. Visitors seeking more remote destinations in the park could use the trails to access the southern reaches of the lake for camping, boating, or scenic trips. A map of the lake from 1957 depicted a “horse trail” that follo wed the shoreline of Yellowstone Lake and allowed visitors to entirely circumnavi gate it (Yellowstone National Park 1957). However, this trail system around the lake wa s not advertised with all of these paths intact on subsequent maps. A map of the lake in 1965 only depicts a “trail” along the eastern, southern, and part of the northern section of the loop trail displayed in the 1957 map (U.S. Department of the Interior 1965). An interesting feature of the 1965 map is that it portrays several shorter trails to lakes near Yellowst one Lake and to overlooks of Yellowstone Lake. The shift in the trails depicted on maps is a good indicator of 258 changing trends in park use and management during this period. The trails systems depicted on maps from this period are longer and are gradually marketed in park brochures to both horse and foot traffic. There is also a trend to provide a greater variety of trails during this period; more short, spur trails to lakes and overlooks were built that would appeal to families or those interest ed in a less demanding trail experience than many hours on a trail would call for. Park gui debooks during this era do not elaborate on specific trails to visit at Yellowstone Lake , but the Howard Eaton Trail was frequently mentioned in these descriptions as being close to the lake. Roads Although the major roads around Yellowst one Lake were established by 1933, road projects on a smaller scale were carried out throughout this period. These projects augmented the route of the primary or “Grand Loop” road system established by 1932 at Yellowstone Lake. Three types of road projects between 1933 and 1966 included those that realigned existing roads to and around developed areas, those that maintained secondary roads to scenic lake attractions, and road building and maintenance endeavors that extended the road system to newly deve loped sites. Private automobile tourist visitation of Yellowstone continued to in crease during this period—with the notable exceptions of the years around the Great Depression and World War II—and these visitors provided a strong client base fo r park concessionaires. A Yellowstone Park Company brochure from 1946 provides an exampl e of the way that Yellowstone National Park roads were projected to a national audience: If you enjoy motoring on good roads, you’ll like Yellowstone Park. The highways of the Yellowstone are as inviting and pleasant to drive over as any roads in this country. Mountain grades have been leveled, curves and st raightaways widened. 259 Now Yellowstone is ready for the automobile vacationists [ sic ] of the United States, Canada and Mexico. Come this summer. You’ll be welcomed” (Yellowstone Park Company 1946, 1). Although this description of park roads is enthusiastic about their condition, park superintendent reports often noted vast repair s and maintenance projec ts for park roads. Automobile tourists throughout the postwa r years found increasing overnight lodging facilities, dining areas, and interpretive stations at Ye llowstone. However, soon the burden of increasing traffic overwhelmed Yello wstone’s tourism infr astructure and vast changes and additions were planned for the park with the Mission 66 program. Examples of road building projects an d realignment at established developed areas may be seen by looking at the historical records for Lake, Fish ing Bridge, and West Thumb Developed Areas. In 1951, the road s around the housekeeping cabin area at Fishing Bridge Developed a nd Lake Developed Area were extended. The road at the West Thumb campground was also altered dur ing this time (Rogers 1951, 24). During the early 1940’s, Civilian Cons ervation Corps labor was used on at least one road project at Yellowstone Lake. At the West Thumb Developed Area, plans were made to use Civilian Conservation Corps labor to realign the existing road and build more cabins for overnight visitors (Rogers 1940). Archival research also revealed extending improved roadways to larger areas around government fac ilities such as the Fishing Bridge museum (Rogers 1936, 26). A second type of road building enterprise during this period involved maintaining older primary roads as secondary roads to scenic attractions around the lake. For example, in 1949 the road from Bridge Bay to the Natural Bridge was described as a “side spur road, 1.2 miles in length” (Haynes 1949, 101). The same guidebook also 260 mentions a “side road” that “leads northeast 0.9 mile to a lookout point on Lake Butte where a splendid view may be had of Yello wstone Lake” (Haynes 1949, 109). Also that year an “old road from Turbid Lake” is me ntioned as joining the main loop road after passing the northwest edge of Mary Bay (Haynes 1949, 109). The third type of road project that wa s completed during this period was perhaps the most dynamic in terms of change to Yellowstone Lake’s cultu ral landscape. In association with Mission 66 plans, the National Park Se rvice proposed building new developed areas at the lake and roads to acce ss those sites. According to Haines, under the Mission 66 plans modernizing the road system in Yellowstone was “key to the program. The general pattern of the system was satisfactory but many segments required upgrading…” (Haines 1977b, 374). New sites for service, recrea tion, administrative, and interpretive activities were planned along the north and southwest shores of Yellowstone Lake. Grant Village and Bri dge Bay Developed Area were the two major sites at the lake that were constructed through agreements between the National Park Service and concessionaires. Roads were extended from the main Grand Loop road to and around these planned service areas. In addition to the c onstruction at Grant Village and Bridge Bay, Mission 66 plans also involved “[r]econstruction of part of the lakeshore road between West Thumb and the outlet of Yellowstone Lake” which “made possible an increased recreational use of that enticing locality” (Haines 1977b, 374) . The road reconstruction project for the lakeshore road included addi ng several scenic pullout s, picnic areas, and scenic one-way roads such as the new Gull Poin t route near Bridge Bay. Park records did not indicate speed limit changes or vista clearing associated with these specific projects. 261 Bridges Since the Grand Loop Road around the park was well established by 1933, most of the bridge building projects after this time consisted of upgrading existing structures to accommodate increasing automobile traffic and to accomplish some of the road building goals of Mission 66. A notable bridge altera tion took place at Fishing Bridge. In 1937, the bridge (Figure 66) was rebuilt to accomm odate increasing vehicle traffic, the demand for another boat dock at the lake, and pedestri an traffic on the bridge (Haynes 1949, 105). Boating Routes Boating routes and the number of boats continued to increase throughout this period. Routes around the lake proliferat ed as more boats were introduced to Yellowstone Lake and visitors continued to be interested in tours around the lake. Both government-and concessionaire-operated boat dock s were located at Yellowstone Lake. The Fish and Wildlife Service maintained a government boat dock at the fish hatchery site in the Lake Developed Area. By 1966, the National Park Service built two new marinas—at Bridge Bay Deve loped Area and Grant Village—and used these areas as docking facilities and points of departure for their patrols around Yellowstone Lake. This period includes the emergence of a “government fleet” of boats that were used to patrol and monitor the lake’s shoreline beginning in 1938 (Haines 1977b, 414). Concessionaires also purchased, operated, and maintained fleets of boats around Yellowstone Lake (Toll 1934, 23). Boating became a popular recreation as well as a profitable one for park concessionaires who o ffered a variety of boating services such as rentals, guided tours, scenic tours, and fishing excursions. The Yellowstone Park 262 Figure 66. Fishing Bridge In 1937, the Fishing Bridge over the Yellowstone River was rebuilt once again. The latest project for the bridge improved its struct ure to accommodate increasing automobile traffic, pedestrian walkways across the br idge, and boat access underneath. A notable addition to Yellowstone Lake’s transportation geography is a boat rental hut and dock on the west bank of the river (left, center in im age). [Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park Photo Archives.] Company started offering a scenic tour around the lake in large mo torized touring boats (Figure 67) known as “scenicruisers” (Y ellowstone Park Company 1966). By 1966, scenicruisers left the Bridge Bay Marina and West Thumb boat dock for “hour long” cruises on the lake (Yellowstone Park Company 1966). The concessionaire also continued the popular practice of boat and fishing gear rentals from facilities at West Thumb, Lake, Fishing Bridge, and (by early 1966) Bridge Bay docks. Yellowstone Park Company operated a “fleet of sightseeing boa ts on Yellowstone Lake and a large number 263 of small boats for fishing” at the West Thumb Developed Area, the Lake Developed Area, and near the Fishing Bridge (Hayne s 1955, 21). Each of these locations had boathouses and docks. Figure 67. Boating on Yellowstone Lake Boating on Yellowstone Lake between 1933 and 1966 included tours on large motor boats known as “scenicruisers.” These tour boats would whis k passengers across the lake and around its islands while highlighting the lake ’s scenic attractions. [Yellowstone Park Company, map. From the collection of William Wyckoff.] The Yellowstone Park Company also starte d offering more tours to the islands of Yellowstone Lake than in previous periods. Stevenson Island (F igure 68) was used by the Yellowstone Park Company as a stop-over po int where guests could partake in a fish fry after an afternoon of fishing for trout in the lake. An ear ly reference to this activity appears in the superintendent’s report in 1934. In that report, the superintendent discusses the Yellowstone Park Company making a “small addition to the table at Stevenson Island” and that the company was considering building a “roof over this table” (Toll 1934, 23). A later National Park Servi ce brochure also describes the “boat trip, including fishing and fish fry at Stevenson Island” as a “popular feature” of boating on Yellowstone Lake in 1939 (United State Depa rtment of the Interior 1939, 26). The tours 264 were still being offered in 1949 as a Ha ynes guidebook from that year reported “[s]peedboat excursions for fishing partie s are made to Stevenson Island from the boathouse near the road east of the fish hatchery” (Haynes 1949, 102). Figure 68. Stevenson Island Stevenson Island, the second largest island at Yellowstone Lake, became a popular stopping point for commercial boat tours of the lake. Groups would stop at the island after a day of fishing for a fish fry and scenic layover. A boat dock and several support buildings on the island represent some of the divers ifying cultural landscape of Yellowstone Lake throughout the modern pe riod [image printed in Pickering 1958]. As the popularity of boating on Yellowstone Lake increased, more tourists sought destinations in the southern arms of the lake. The Molly Islands (Figure 69), in the Southeast Arm of Yellowstone Lake also a ttracted concessionaire activity; Yellowstone Park Company offered guided tours (by 1932) of the islands featuring interpretive activities highlighting the white pelican ( Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) and California gull ( Larus californicus) populations that roosted on the islands (Haynes 1949, 103). The proliferation of motor boats on the lake from concessionaire and private boaters certainly contributed to more visitors seeing Yellowsto ne Lake from a variet y of locations. By 1958 around five thousand boats used Yellows tone Lake (Pritchard 1999, 198). Motor boats provided a form of swift transportation and increased the accessibility of this large sub-alpine lake. 265 Figure 69. Molly Islands The Molly Islands of Yellowstone Lake’s S outheast Arm were the favored site of many avian species and an active rookery. Comm ercial boat tours of the lake throughout the early 1930’s would feature trips to the islands where visitors could view the birds in close proximity. The tours were later discontinued be cause of heavy visitor use to these fragile ecological areas. [Image prin ted in Pritchard 1999, 99.] Yellowstone Park Company also profited fr om private boat rentals at Yellowstone Lake. Public marinas—where park patrons co uld rent buoys for their boats, rent small motor or row boats for a day, or rent fish ing gear—were operated at the West Thumb Developed Area (Figure 70) and, by 1966, at Br idge Bay Marina (Fi gure 71). The Lake Developed Area boat docks (Figure 72) also se rved the public through most of this period as a location for boat rentals and guided tours. Near the Fishing Bridge, a small floating boat rental hut (Figure 73) and fishing e quipment station were operated through 1966. Private boating became an increasingly popular attraction for park visitors who could now store their boats on the north shore of the lake within easy motored access to the southern realms of the lake. 266 Figure 70. West Thumb De veloped Area Boat Dock The boat docks at the West Thumb Developed Area continued to be a site of bustling activity at least until 1966. Once the launching site of steamboat tours across the lake, the West Thumb docks were improved and altered to accommodate motor boats of various sizes. Visitors could rent boats, fish ing gear, or guided trips from this lakeshore developed site. A marina (note boats atta ched to buoys in center of image) also complemented the services av ailable at the docks and provi ded a point of departure for lake tours by private boaters. [Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park Photo Archives.] Finally, boating routes on Yellowstone Lake received new attention from the National Park Service which began to enforce boating restrictions in the southern arms of the lake. By 1961, these regulations called for reduced motor boat speeds in the South and Southeast Arms of the lake and (eve ntually) non-motorized boating zones in the farthest southerly reaches of these arms (Haines 1977b, 382). These regulations were enforced by National Park Service rangers on pa trols of the lake. However, these rules 267 Figure 71. Bridge Bay Marina The Bridge Bay Developed Area was a product of the Mission 66 project. By 1966, this developed site included a National Park Service built marina, ranger station, store, boat reservation desk, and campground. Plans from the Mission 66 project (top) called for a new boat dock and marina (bottom) location on Ye llowstone Lake as an alternative site to the Lake Developed Area boat docks. [top im age Courtesy of Yellowstone Park Photo Archives; bottom photo by author 2003.] 268 Figure 72. Lake Developed Area Boat Docks The boat docks in front of the Lake Hote l continued to operate as an important commercial boating area in 1966. As one of the oldest sites of boating activity on Yellowstone Lake, the Lake Develope d Area docks evolved from wood plank boardwalks to assist steamboat passengers onto their craft to floating docks which provided pedestrian footing as well as landi ng areas for rental and private motor boats. [photo printed in Haynes 1955, 115]. did not dissuade tourists from seeking out these more remote regions of Yellowstone Lake. Transported by speed boa ts and inspired by the driv e to explore more wilderness settings in the park, tourists sought out the south arms of the lake to fish, camp, and cruise. Government Structures Government agencies operating at Yellowstone Lake between 1933 and 1966 included the National Park Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Civilian Conservation Corps. The Nationa l Park Service maintained and built ranger 269 Figure 73. Fishing Bridge Boat Dock The boat dock and rental hut built on the west side of the Yellowstone River bank near the Fishing Bridge served as a bustling ar ea of boating activity in 1966. Before the Mission 66 project removed the boat hut, it wa s a place where fishing enthusiasts could rent boats and fishing gear for an afternoon of trout fishing near the outlet of the Yellowstone River from Yellowstone Lake. [image printed in Whittlesey 1997, 78.] stations, amphitheaters, museums, backcountry cabins, marinas, and auto campgrounds. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service continued to opera te a fish hatchery complex along the north shores of Yellowstone Lake which included a fish hatchery building, a boat dock, a boat storage building, and empl oyee housing. The Civilian Conservation Corps built and briefly maintained a camp near the Lake Developed Area and completed several projects at the lake. 270 National Park Service Structures Between 1933 and 1966, the National Park Service built and maintained a variety of interpretive, service, and support st ructures around Yellowstone Lake. The interpretive facilities supported by the Nationa l Park Service during this period included ranger stations, amphitheaters, and a museum. The ranger stations built at the Lake Developed Area in 1923, the West Thumb Developed Area in 1925, and the Fishing Bridge Developed Area in 1930 continued to be operated as points of contact between park rangers and visitors offering interp retive ranger led discussions and park information. In 1936, the National Park Se rvice augmented the in terpretive services available at Fishing Brid ge by building a 900-person capacity outdoor amphitheater (Figure 74) (Rogers 1936, 12). The station at West Thumb soon followed suit with a 137-person capacity outdoor amphitheater built there in 1937 (Rogers 1937, 5). These amphitheaters were the sites of evening “campfire programs” where National Park Service rangers presented in terpretive programs to Yellow stone visitors (Rogers 1951, 18). The amphitheaters consisted of large sc reens for viewing slides or movies, a stone fire ring, and benches for visitors. Al though Civilian Conservation Corps may have assisted with amphitheater projects in other parts of the park, reco rds do not indicate their involvement with similar plans at Yellowstone Lake. The Fishing Bridge Museum (Figure 75) c ontinued to present interpretive exhibits to tourists at the Fishing Bridge Deve loped Area throughout this period. Many government structures at Yell owstone Lake were modeled in similar styles as the museum—an architectural form that came to be known as “rustic.” Historian James 271 Figure 74. Fishing Bridge Amphitheater The interpretive sites constr ucted and maintained at the Fishing Bridge Developed Area included this outdoor amphitheater. Located near the Fishing Bridge Museum, this outdoor venue featured a 900-person seating capacity and a place for park rangers to present public talks on lake ecology and history. A similar structure was also constructed at the West Thumb Developed Area [photo by author 2003]. Pritchard describes how the logs, stones and “native…materials” used to construct the Fishing Bridge Museum became important elements in “the rustic style, and their design was widely imitated during the New Deal development of st ate and local parks throughout the nation” (Pritchard 1999, 264). Finally, by 1964 a fifth ranger station (Figure 76) was established at Yellowstone Lake at the Brid ge Bay Developed Area. The station was situated in a large multiple use building also featuring a general store and a boat rental station (U.S. Department of the In terior 1965; Spatial Anal ysis Center). This building was the center of most marina activities at the Brid ge Bay Developed Area. 272 Figure 75. Fishing Bridge Museum, 1955 The Fishing Bridge Museum was located at the Fishing Bridge Developed Area. This interpretive museum was built in the “rusti c” style of architecture that dominated the form of many National Park Service build ings. [image printed in Haynes 1955, 117.] Service and support structur es built and maintained by the National Park Service at Yellowstone Lake between 1933 and 1966 incl uded backcountry cabins, marinas, boat docks, and automobile camps. The National Pa rk Service continued to use the Trail Creek patrol cabin and barn (built in 1933) al ong the southwestern shore of the Southeast Arm throughout this period (see Figure 65). However, the National Park Service also increased the number of backc ountry cabins at Yellowstone Lake during this period by building two additional structures; one wa s built in 1937 near Clear Creek along the eastern shore of the lake and the other was built in 1942 on Peale Island in the South Arm (see Figure 65). The backcountry cabins were used by Nation al Park Service rangers as housing during their patrols around the lake. 273 Figure 76. Bridge Bay Developed Area As part of the Mission 66 program, the Bridge Bay area was developed as a major service area at Yellowstone Lake in the 1960’s. An anchor point at the marina was this large complex that featured a ranger station (far left), boat ticketing office, and Hamilton Store (far right with flags). [photo by author 2003.] Marinas and boat docks we re also important features that the National Park Service supported at Yellowstone Lake. The National Park Service shifted more of its attention to the southern arms of the lake , not only with backcountry patrol cabins but with the completion of a boat dock in the Southeast Arm. A 1934 annual superintendent’s report notes the comple tion of “a warehouse and dock” (Figure 77)— under construction since 1933—in the Southeas t Arm of the lake (Toll 1934, 20). Another boat launching site was a “governme nt boathouse and dock” (see Figure 58) operated at the Lake Devel oped Area along the shoreline in front of the U.S. Fish Hatchery until at least 1949 (Haynes 1949, 105). This site was probably used to dock the 274 Figure 77. Boat Dock at the Sout heast Arm of Yellowstone Lake, 1934 As motor boats became a more common sight on Yellowstone Lake, the National Park Service and concessionaires focused more of their attentions on the southern realms of the lake. This boat dock was located in the Southeast Arm of the lake near Clear Creek. [Courtesy of Yellowstone Park Photo Archives.] small National Park Service fleet and served as a launching point for park boating patrols until the completion of the marinas at Bridge Bay Developed Area and Grant Village. The National Park Service seemed to struggl e during this period to maintain order at Yellowstone Lake; in 1950, the park superi ntendent’s reported th at “enforcement of fishing regulations on Yellowstone [Lake]…wer e hampered by the lack of suitable boats and sufficient personnel for effective protecti on of fish resources” (Rogers 1950, 30). To augment their patrolling locations and to provide more vi sitor boating facilities in agreement with the objectives of the Mission 66 project, the Nationa l Park Service built two new marinas and boat docks at Yellows tone Lake. The Grant Village Marina 275 construction was begun in 1961 and comp leted by 1966 (Haines 1977b, 378). Another marina was built at Bridge Bay Devel oped Area where dredging of the naturally protected bay was also finished by 1966. The National Park Service also focu sed attention on the automobile campgrounds around Yellowstone Lake. The automobile campgrounds were free and open to the public and they continued to grow in popul arity for motorists visiting the park and looking for an economical overn ight situation. Some campgrounds were relocated, others were expanded, and new campgrounds we re constructed at the lake. By 1939, automobile campgrounds were located at the Fishing Bridge, West Thumb, and Lake Developed Areas (United Stat es Department of the Interior 1939, map). The West Thumb campground and Fishing Bridge campground continued to be popular locations for overnight camping parties throughout this period. However, sometime after 1939, the Lake Auto Campground was removed from the Lake Developed Area. Although the archival records sampled for this study did not include an exact date for the removal of the campground, mention of this National Park Service site does not appear after this date. A reference to the Lake Auto Ca mpground in 1939 provides a glimpse into the condition of auto campgrounds at the lake and the short tenure of the site at the Lake Developed Area: At Fishing Bridge campground it was necessa ry to clear-cut part of the west end because of the danger to visitors by falli ng trees.…At West Thumb two roadways were built and this campground was extended to take care of 30 additional sites….The vegetative cover at Lake campground has suffe red from over-utilization and it is likely that this area will be aba ndoned as soon as facilities are developed to carry the load elsewhere” (Rogers 1939, 22). The West Thumb and Fishing Bridge campgrounds (Figure 78), however, continued to operate throughout this period. 276 Figure 78. Fishing Bridge Automobile Campground, 1963 The Fishing Bridge Automobile campground was constructed and maintained by the National Park Service. The campground was en larged to accommodate additional private motorists who patronized this popular and fr ee site at Yellowstone Lake. Mission 66 plans proposed to remove the automobile ca mpground and relocate facilities to the Grant Village site on the southwestern shore of th e lake. [Courtesy of Yellowstone Park Photo Archives.] As the National Park Service came to terms with the task of accommodating the projected two million visitors by 1966 (H aines 1977b, 375), the automobile campgrounds became areas targeted for new investment and planning attention. As early as 1951, the Fishing Bridge automobile campground was extended to include more sites (Rogers 1951, 24). A park guidebook from 1955 describe d the services ava ilable at the auto campgrounds and supported concentrated camping; the guide describes the campgrounds as providing “pure water, sa nitation facilities, and some equipment are supplied for the 277 free use of campers…The use of these campgrounds…is encouraged rather than promiscuous camping in outlying areas” (Haynes 1955, 18). Finally, the later part of this period includes several construction projects for new campgrounds at Yellowstone Lake. Under th e auspices of Mission 66 which called for relocating and redistributing park servi ces, a new campground at the Bridge Bay Developed Area provided an alte rnative site to the removed Lake auto campground. A similar shift in camping areas took place at West Thumb Bay, where the auto campground at the West Thumb Developed Ar ea was relocated to the newly developed Grant Village site a mile to the south (United States Department of the Interior 1965). By this point in park history, the National Park Service and park guidebooks discouraged visitors from camping in open sites in the park and instead suggested using the improved campground areas. United States Fish and Wildlife Service Structures The period between 1933 and 1966 brought many changes to the fish hatchery operations at Yellowstone Lake. The United States Fish Commission was combined with the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife to become the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. By 1933, the hatchery complex at the Lake Developed Area included a residence (built in 1932), a South District Office (built in 1930) , the hatchery itself (built 1930). A 1933 park guidebook referred to the fi sh propagation and display operations as the “United States Fish Hatc hery and Aquarium”( Northern Pacific Railway 1933, 19). A map insert from the same guidebook also prov ides a confusing centerfold map that shows a label for only one “U.S. Fish Hatchery” at Yellowstone Lake—al ong the northern shore of the West Thumb Bay (Northern Paci fic Railway 1933, map centerfold). The 278 description of the lake area in the guidebook doe s not mention a fish hatchery at the West Thumb Bay, so this map reference may be a displaced notation of the Lake Fish Hatchery or it may be a reference to the older West Thumb Fish Hatchery. The Lake Fish Hatchery ceased to be used as such in 1957 when the United States Fish and Wildlife Service began to focus its attentions on resear ch goals and discontinued its artificial fish propagation program (The Offi cial Website of Yellowst one National Park). The buildings of the Lake Fish Ha tchery, the residence, the South District Office all remained standing after their use was discontinued. Civilian Conservation Corps Camp As part of the New Deal plans to boo st the national economy and provide civilian jobs, the Civilian Conservation Corps built a nd maintained five camps in Yellowstone National Park. A Civilian Conservation Corps camp was operated at Yellowstone Lake from 1940 to 1943 (Rogers 1943, 16). The appr oximate location of this camp was near the Lake Developed Area. According to a superintendent’s annual report, the camp was located “between Fishing Bridge and Lake” al ong the north shore of Yellowstone Lake. After the Civilian Conservation Corps left th is camp “during World War II,” the National Park Service “operated a road maintenance camp” at this site (Haines 1977b, 423). Haines also mentions that “a residential and utility development was added” to the former Civilian Conservation Corps camp at Yell owstone Lake under the Mission 66 project (Haines 1977b, 379). The Civilian Conserva tion Corps members who resided at the camp performed a number of services around Yellowstone Lake including “the partial completion of one boat dock at Yellowst one Lake” (Rogers 1939, 30), repair and construction work at the cabins at Lake and Fishing Bridge Developed Areas (Rogers 279 1942, 11), and a road relocation project at the West Thumb Developed Area (Rogers 1940). Concessionaire Structures Concessionaries operating at Yellowstone Lake were under great pressure during this period to keep pace with the alternating demands of increasing visitor numbers and economic recessions facing lake businesses. This period begins at a difficult time for concessionaires as the economic hardships of the Great Depression necessitated the closures of most service facilities at Yellowstone Lake. From 1933 to 1935, most overnight accommodations, stores, boat docks , and campgrounds were closed to public use at Yellowstone Lake (Toll 1935, 2). Serv ices at the three majo r developed areas of the time—Lake, West Thumb, and Fishing Br idge—were temporarily closed due to high operating costs and the difficulty of securing personnel (due to the economic recession of associate with the Great Depression) to opera te these business enterprises. Once these areas reopened, the available services receiv ed a brief period of repair, refurbishment, and heavy visitor use until the outbreak of World War II. The war years proved to be another difficult period for the visitor facilities at Yellowstone Lake. Between 1940 and 1947 the Lake Hotel and many adjacent facilities at the Lake, Fishing Bridge, and West T humb Developed Areas were closed (Rogers 1947, 5). Historian Aubrey Haines argues th at “[c]oncessionaires made no effort to improve their facilities during the war year s. Beyond the minimal operations…they were content to protect the fleet of buses, the silent hotels, and other equipment from weather damage and theft” (Haines 1977b, 368). Ho wever, archival research focusing on 280 Yellowstone Lake reveals that a different picture was bei ng painted there during the war years of World War II. The Yellowstone Park Company completed several major construction projects during this time including remodeling the tourist cabins at the Fishing Bridge Developed Area, building cabins at the Lake Developed Area, and additions to the West Thumb Developed Area facilities. The landscape engineering department of the National Park Service played a key role in documenting and regulating these changes to the cultural landscape of Yellowstone Lake—an increasi ngly popular location for tourist activity in Yellowstone National Park. An example of the level of National Park Service involvement in architectural design and execution of the building plans may be seen by looking at archival documents. For example, the proposal for rebuilding the West Thumb Developed Area in the early 1940 ’s met with some resistan ce from this government agency. According to a letter from the Regional Chief of Planning dated October 3, 1941, the plans for the addition of a gas station, repair shop, cafeteria, and boat house did not meet with his approval: I must admit that I am not too happy about the character of the sketches submitted to Mr. Hamilton as I feel they definitely lack the architectural character that I think would best fit the West Thumb area. I suppose I can say that the most disturbing features in the architectural design now presented are the combin ation of gable and flat roofs, the use of two different kinds of materials on such a sm all structure and the introduction of a few modernistic details. I do not object to using concrete as a construction material…although I would want the…general architectural details to be more in conformity with the park character (Baker 1941). Another letter from the planning division re marked on similar issues with a proposed sketch for the West Thumb Service Station which even included a consideration for landscaping during the short season that Yellowstone Lake was used for concession operations: “The introduction of the boxes for plants is not a very practical detail for 281 such short seasonal use. We visualize that they would require replanting each year and would more than likely be “rod” [ sic ] within a few weeks” (Pattson 1947). These examples are helpful to understanding the infl uences of concessionaires and the National Park Service landscape design department on the evolving cultural landscape of Yellowstone Lake. The appearance, placement, size, and use of buildings at the lake were not haphazard; instead they were the re sults of concessionaire investment, National Park Service planning, and visitor demand for services. Following World War II, business in the park boomed. This placed concessionaires in an awkward position. A ccording to Haines, “[i]t had been presumed that the return to normalcy after the war w ould be a gradual one, but that was not the character of the Park’s awakening” (Hai nes 1977b, 368). Outfitted with postwar affluence and a desire to find a “change of s cene,” Americans visited the national parks in record breaking numbers (Haines 1977b, 368). “T he wave of visitors,” Haines continues “that inundated Yellowstone Park in the su mmer of 1946 was nearly one and one-half times greater than the peak visitati on before the war” (1977b, 368). Rising visitor numbers forced concessiona ires to expand their guest facilities, renovate dilapidated structures, and build ne w structures for the increasing number of employees required to operate expanding opera tions. According to the superintendent’s report for 1951: “In an endeavor to keep p ace with the tremendous increase in travel since World War II and to provide additional and more comfortable accommodations for visitors and employees, the Yellowstone Pa rk Company is engaged on a program which will involve the expe nditure of over a half million dol lars” (Rogers 1951, 8). These projects included build ing 116 “cottages” at Lake Hotel, the “rearrangement of cabins 282 and improvements at Lake Lodge,” buildi ng a women’s employee housing unit at the Lake Developed Area, “repairing 80 rooms at Lake Hotel,” and improving the boat docks at West Thumb and Lake docks (Rogers 1951, 8). By 1955, the Yellowstone Park Company was the largest concessionaire in Yellowstone National Park, operating all transportation, hotels, lodges, cabins, cottages, cafeterias, and boating docks at Yellowstone Lake (Haynes 1955, 21). The president of Hamilton Stores found his company in a similar predicament of needing to increase facilities and employee housing to accommodate increasing visitor demands. According to a 1952 letter to the pa rk superintendent fr om C.A. Hamilton: “The continually increasing numbers of touris ts entering Yellowstone has placed us at a great disadvantage in serving the public with our present facilities. This is due to two main reasons: first, we lack the necessary st ore space for the customers; and secondly, we lack the necessary housing facili ties to employ the required number of employees to cope with the increased trad e” (Hamilton 1952). Concessionaires also came under fire for the state of their facilities well past the war years. An example of the complicated relations between the National Park Service, concessionaires, and park visitors may be seen in a letter from a Yellowstone tourist to the Secretary of the Department of the Interior. The author , Paul E. Harris, begins the letter: “At the outset, let me say that I am ve ry pleased with the Miss ion 66 project, as it has greatly improved general conditions in the Yellowstone area” (Harris 1961). Harris then describes a recent visit to Fishing Bri dge and his disapproval of the paucity of heated cabins at the developed site and th e way that his reserva tion was handled by the Yellowstone Park Company. He ends his le tter: “I am not suggest ing heated cabins for 283 all, for the average traveler does not require this in a wilderness setting. Rather, these disproportionate prices and the company’s an tiquated methods of serving the American public are very much in question” (Harris 1961 ). Concessionaires during the Mission 66 years had to navigate their businesses th rough the sometimes tumultuous waters of National Park Service expectations, m ounting constructions costs, outdated infrastructure, and demands for new visitor services. Overnight Accommodations Between 1933 and 1966, concessionaire s at Yellowstone Lake built and maintained overnight accommodations that included a hotel, a lodge and cabin area, housekeeping cabins, and cottages . Most of these faciliti es were closed from 1933 to 1935 during the economic recession of the Great Depression. After this period of inactivity, though, all of thes e overnight facilities were reopened. A National Park Service brochure described the park hotels as “fir st-class hotels with the charm of a wilderness setting, and the rates are compar able with those that prevail in metropolitan hotels of the same type, though all supplies have to hauled great distances” (United States Department of the Interior 1939, 25). The Na tional Park Service brochure was appealing to those tourists seeking a “w ilderness setting” at a more cosmopolitan price and with the same amenities. During this period, the National Park Service and concessionaires advertised their hotels, cabins, and lodges at Yellowstone La ke with this dual purpose in mind as they appealed to more private au tomobile tourists seeking a rugged, yet convenient outdoor experience. Visitati on from the 1930’s to the 1960’s changed dramatically; in 1933, there were 161, 938 visitors entering Yello wstone, in 1955 these 284 numbers soared to 1,368,515 tourists, and by the end of Mission 66 in 1966 there were 2,062,476 people in the park (Haines 1977b, 479-480). An example of the complicated forces at work between the National Park Service, concessionaires, and tourists in developing Yellowstone Lake during the early part of this period comes from looking at a proposal for the Lake Developed Area in 1940. The Lake Hotel and Lake Lodge were under review in 1940 to change their design and layout. According to a letter from the Yellowst one Park Company president to the park superintendent, the concessionaire intended to eliminate the Lake Hotel completely from the cultural landscape of Yellowstone Lake. In a letter to the Park Superintendent, the president of the Yellowstone Park Comp any—W.M. Nichols—discusses extending the Lake Lodge onto the “present Lake Hotel site”: This site has been chosen after very car eful consideration of both the Lodge site and the Hotel site. The Hotel site offers the advantage of much bett er ground, level, and much more easily developed…It contemplat es the gradual tearing down of the Lake Hotel and, this summer, the tearing down of the back bedroom wing of the hotel…The main object is to put cabins in the rear of the hotel and have them made presentable and comfortable…The operation of the hotel as an hotel is out of the question on account of the expense involved and particul arly in view of the fact th at train Park tours, under the present schedule, do not call for a stop at the Lake. The patronage there will, therefore, be mainly private motorists who, in view of our experience of the last several years, have shown great partiality toward s cabins rather than toward hotel rooms (Nichols 1940). Although the Lake Hotel was not razed, parts of these plans were eventually carried out; cabins were constructed behind the Lake Hotel and additional units placed near the Lake Lodge. The Yellowstone Park Company was struggling against operation costs of the large and unwieldy Lake Hotel wh ich had been closed for several years and recently reopened. Since this type of ove rnight accommodations attracted tourists on guided tours without independent means of trav el, the fact that tour companies did not visit the hotel was a difficult hurdle to ove rcome for the Yellowstone Park Company to 285 overcome. In 1940, the largest park conce ssionaire was struggling to meet the demands of increasing private motorist traffic at Yellowstone Lake. The concessionaire’s economic troubles became exacerbated after th e war as demands increased on already overtaxed structures. Other concessionaire construction and relocation plans carried out during the years of World War II were focused on the West Thumb Developed Area. A 1940 letter from Nichols to Park Superintendent Edmund Rogers details planned adjustments to the cabins at the West Thumb Developed Area. In connection with a road project that intended to relocate part of the road through the West Thumb Developed Area and an expansion of cabins available at Yellowst one Lake, the Yellowstone Park Company intended to temporarily relocate cabins. Acco rding to a park report, the relocation would include all cabins within the existing area affect ed by the road development. These cabins are to be assigned a temporary site for two years…It is further understood that preliminary plans for the ultimate cabin deve lopment at West Thumb will be prepared this winter so that construction of the cabin road can be started next summer if C.C.C. labor is available. This will pe rmit moving all cabins to their ultimate sites at the end of a two year period… (Rogers 1940). However, the plans for the “ultimate cabin development” met resistance from the concessionaire over design considerations a nd were postponed. During negotiations over the proposed cabin development project, the president of Yellowstone Park Company wrote to the park superinte ndent in 1941: “Regarding th e Thumb lay-out…It has never been our intention to build all cabins with bath in this partic ular area, as it was to be primarily a housekeeping site. Possible we ha d better let this whol e matter go until we can get together in the Park and really have the plat interpreted to us” (Nichols 1941). Nichols also expressed interest in “the possibility of f acing…[the] cabins onto a central 286 plot rather than as shown on the print—that is , I think they are shown that way, I am not quite sure about it” (Nichols 1941). Hurdles for the conces sionaire during this period included negotiating with the National Park Service over design plans as well as finding an economically feasible way to increase th e number of lodging units it could rent to tourists. By the end of World War II, the Yellowstone Park Company had constructed additional cabins around the Lake Lodge which cat ered to private automobile tourists. In 1946, the concessionaire advertised “guest l odges” at the Lake Developed Area (Figure 79) (Yellowstone Park Company 1946, 4). These small cabins or cottages were Figure 79. Overnight Accommodations - Lodges Guest Lodges provided an affordable ove rnight accommodation at Yellowstone Lake that catered to automobile tourists looking for less rugged ex perience than the automobile campgrounds afforded. [image printed in Yellowstone Park Company 1946.] strategically located around a central lodge building that served as a housing unit for a variety of guest services such as eating, s ouvenirs, photo stores, and guest lounge areas. The 1946 Yellowstone Park Company brochure described their lodges in the park as “huge rustic log and stone build ings, containing attractive danc ing, stores, soda fountains and rest rooms. Nearby are compact cottag es for one, two, three, and four guests” 287 (Yellowstone Park Company 1946, 4). The company described access to the cabins serviced by the lodge: “You can drive your car alongside your cottage, unpack and there you are” (Yellowstone Park Company 1946, 4). The nearby dining facilities in the lodges were a place where “you take your meals in the Main Lodge, Dining Room or Coffee Shop, with college girls to wait on you” (Yellowstone Park Company 1946, 4). The guest lodges included a “comfort able bed, fresh linen, electric light, heating stove and the price includes maid and bellboy service. Ever y morning a fire will be built in a cabin if desired…Telephone, laundry service, beauty, barber shops, and soda fountains at all lodges” (Yellowstone Park Company 1946, 4). The Yellowstone Park Company also cont inued after the war to offer cabins for rent to private automobile t ourists at the Fishing Bridge Developed Area. By 1946, the “housekeeping cabins” of previous years were now advertised as “r ustic tourist cabins” (Yellowstone Park Company 1946, 5). The tourist cabins at Fishing Bridge were scattered units around a “headqua rters building” where guests could register and rent bedding materials (Yellowstone Park Compa ny 1946, 5). The cabins could accommodate up to four people and were partially furnished to include beds, “stoves, washstand, table, bench, mirror, slop jar, wash basin, pitcher, [and] teakettle” (Yellowstone Park Company 1946, 5). In 1946, the Yellowstone Park Company also offered “canvas and frame cabins” or cabins with “sinks and running water in kitchens” for an additional cost (Yellowstone Park Company 1946, 5). The cabin style overnight accommodations gained in popularity and the concessionaire met this demand by providing additional cabins for tourists. By 1949, cabins were offered at the three major deve loped areas of the lake with a “group of 288 cabins” at the West Thumb Developed Area, “cottages” behind the Lake Hotel at the Lake Developed Area, and cabins at the Fi shing Bridge Devel oped Area (Haynes 1949, 100 and 105). In 1950, sixty four additional co ttages were built and opened to the public behind the Lake Hotel (Rogers 1951, 7). Th e Yellowstone Park Co mpany increased its overnight accommodations again in 1 953; the concessiona ire constructed “47 additional cottage rooms with bath in connection with the Lake Hotel” and moved “40 additional cabins from Mammoth to the West Thumb Cabin area” as well as moving forty more cabins that fall from Mammoth to the West Thumb Developed Area because there was a “greater demand for them at that area” (Rogers 1953). The 1950’s brought continued high use of the overnight accommodations at Yellowstone Lake and an initia l study of these facilities in preparation for Mission 66 projects. By 1955, Yellowstone Park Compa ny offered visitors at the Lake Developed Area the Lake Hotel (Figure 80) and cottages and the Lake Lodge (Figure 81) and cabins. The West Thumb and Fishing Bridge Devel oped Areas also included Yellowstone Park Company cabins for overnight rentals (Hayne s 1955, 110 and 116). In 1958, a “Survey of Facilities and Operations for Yellow stone Park Company” was completed that assessed the “personnel, equipment, opera ting methods, building layouts, sources of income, advertising and other phases of opera tions – together with recommendations of items for immediate action and items deservi ng further analysis and study for future action” by Orr Pickering and Associates, a Billings, Montana architecture and engineering firm (Pickering 1958) . This study—launched to a ssess facilities in the park in conjunction with the Missi on 66 program—provides a useful source of data about the number and condition of concessionaire structures at Yellowstone Lake. 289 Figure 80. Lake Hotel, 1955 The Lake Hotel, one of the oldest sta nding hotels in Yellowstone National Park, underwent several remodeling stages and re novations from the 1930’s to the 1960’s. Although this structure was also closed to busines s for several years in this period, it still attracted visitors seeking a more catered overnight accommodation situation than what was offered at the adjacent Lake Lodge or cott ages behind the Lake Hotel. [image printed in Haynes 1955, 114.] Figure 81. Lake Lodge, 1955 The Lake Lodge, operated by the Yellowstone Park Company, expanded its operations to include more cabins to the north and west of the main lodge building (seen below). The cabins were situated around the lodge wh ich offered overnight visitors a central dining area, shops, and other visitor servic es. [image printed in Haynes 1955, 115.] 290 The 1958 survey evaluated concessionaire operations at the three major developed areas at Yellowstone Lake. At the Lake Developed Area, the survey documents “approximately 200 rooms” at the Lake Hotel and 111 “cottages” behind the hotel (Pickering 1958, 30). The study found that the Lake Lodge was situated at a “desirable location near the lake” and th at it was “not lacking in pot ential for increased revenue” (Pickering 1958, 34). However, the Lake L odge was also describe d as “deteriorating” and the cabins (located north and south of the lo dge) were “typically old log structures of questionable value” (Pickering 1958, 34). At the Fishing Bridge Developed Area, the survey counted 330 cabins that were available to overnight guests. The survey authors did not find these cabin s to be sufficient for the current visitor needs: “There is a serious s hortage of cabins for this area. The cabin office and cafeteria are also inadequate to handle the large crowds” (Pickering 1958, 25 and 27). The West Thumb Developed Area also came in short of meeting the survey’s assessment: The two hundred cabins at West Thumb and many of the structures at that site were deemed “old but in fair condition” (Pickering 1958, 41). Given these grim re views it is interesting that the survey found redeeming qualities in the We st Thumb Developed Area to the point of opposing the Mission 66 plans to eliminate all services from th e site; the survey suggested that “eventual and complete aba ndonment of this area may not be appropriate” (Pickering 1958, 44). By 1966, concessionaire facilities remained concentrated at the Fishing Bridge, Lake, and West Thumb Devel oped Areas. Although Mission 66 called for a relocation of facilities from Fishing Bridge Develope d Area and West Thumb Developed Area, the Yellowstone Park Company was slow to move these faciliti es on account of financial as 291 well as political problems the concessionaire en countered with the National Park Service. While private automobile tourists in 1966 had an expanded selection of four automobile campgrounds (included the latest editions at Bridge Bay and Grant Village built by the National Park Service), visitors seeking a more permanent shelter for the night had a range of hotel, cabin, and lodge buildings to choose from around the lake. By 1966, the Lake Hotel’s “charm of a wilderness setting” had shifted to a hotel “with the hospitality of a great Southern plantation, [that] graces the north shore of Yellowstone Lake” while offering guests “traditional and restful, but not fancy” rooms (Yellowstone Park Company 1966). All these rooms were advert ised as including steam heat and a few included a private bathroom. The Lake Hotel complex also included “guest cabins” located behind it offering “the outdoor type of lodging for the more informal traveler” and included showers and wood burning st oves but prohibited c ooking (Yellowstone Park Company 1966). The Yellowstone Park Company also maintained cabins at the West Thumb Developed Area (Figure 82). Called “camper cabins” a description of these cabins almost reads as a warning against their use; a 1966 brochure described these “rugged” cabins as offering “a wood-burning stove for cooking, but no utensils are furnished. Cabin furnishings include bed, ta ble, and benches. Be dding, towels, and fuel are furnished in almost all cabins. Lighting fixtures are not wired for appliances. The cabins do not have running water; however, water taps and restrooms area in the area” (Yellowstone Park Company 1966). The Fishing Bridge Develope d Area, in 1966, offered a slightly different variation on overnight guest accommodations from the othe r developed areas at Yellowstone Lake. 292 Figure 82. West Thumb Cabins, 1966 The bustling West Thumb Developed Area in cluded many visitor services including overnight accommodations such as these cabin s which were advertised as an enticing option for private motor tourists which to park close to their own “rugged” shelter. [image printed in Yellowst one Park Company 1966.] A large cabin complex—expanded thr oughout this period by additional cabins— was present at the sites near the Yellowstone River (Figure 83). The cabins at the Fishing Bridge Developed Area sounded onl y slightly more appealing than those at the West Thumb Developed Area: the Fishing Bridge cabins included “wood burning stoves…for heating and cooking,” and a “bed, table, benc hes, and a sink with cold running water” (Yellowstone Park Company 1966). In additi on, guests were warned that some of the cabins had “toilets, but most do not” (Ye llowstone Park Company 1966). The Lake Lodge was still present with two choices of cabins associat ed with the lodge—“standard cabins” that included “showers, baths, toilet s, and individual gas heaters” and “rustic cabins” that offered “wood burning stoves and no running wa ter” although there were “water taps, community restrooms, and show er facilities” located nearby (Yellowstone Park Company 1966). Another concessionair e at the lake—Hami lton Stores—operated 293 Figure 83. Fishing Bridge Cabins, 1966 The Fishing Bridge Develope d Area along with the West Thumb and Lake Developed Areas, offered visitors at Yellowstone Lake the option of renting a small cabin for overnight accommodations. The cabin complex at the Fishing Bridge site was located to the east of the Yellowstone River. Settleme nt at the Fishing Bridge Developed Area was concentrated around the cabin complex which wa s also complemented by a general store, picture shop, ranger station, museum, gas station, and repair station as well as employee quarters. Mission 66 plans proposed to relo cate the cabin complex to Grant Village, although controversy surrounding the proposed project caused delays until the 1980’s when the structures were removed. [image printed in Yellowstone Park Company, map 1966]. an overnight facility like none other at Yellowstone Lake. By 1966, the concessionaire managed “a large trailer village nestled s nugly in the pines near Yellowstone Lake” (Figure 84) (Yellowstone Park Company 1966) . Camping at this site—located on the north side of the road across from the automobile campground—was limited to hard sided vehicles. Dining Facilities From 1933 to 1966 the cafeterias at the West Thumb Developed Area and Fishing Bridge Area continued their operations. At the Lake Deve loped Area, dining areas were integrated into hotel and lodge building designs. During th e 1960’s—as the Bridge Bay Figure 84. Fishing Bridge Deve loped Area Trailer Campground, 1966 294 The Fishing Bridge Devel oped Area included a recreational vehicle campground by 1966 operated by Hamilton Stores. [image printed in Yellowstone Park Company, map 1966.] Developed Area and Grant Village sites emerged—camping parties could shop for groceries at nearby Hamilton Stores. Support and Service Structures Other prominent structures present on the Yellowstone Lake cultural landscape between 1933 and 1966 were boat docks and a hosp ital. At the beginning of this period, the major docks at the lake were located at the Lake Developed Area in front of the Lake Hotel (see Figure 71) and at the West Thumb Developed Area near the thermal basin (see Figure 70). In 1935, two additions were made to this landscape: a boat dock at Fishing Bridge and another on Stevenson Island. Al though Fishing Bridge had, over the years, floating boat rental huts near its base, the one built in 1935 (see Figure 72) was a more permanent structure built on the west bank of the Yellowstone River near the bridge (Whittlesey 1997, 78). The boat landing at St evenson Island (see Fi gure 68) was also constructed in 1935 for tour boats from the Ye llowstone Park Company. According to the park superintendent annual report for 1935, the concessionaire built a “fish fry pavilion…on Stevenson Island and a landing doc k 4 ft. wide by 50ft. long” (Toll 1935, 295 23). Stevenson Island became a regular part of boat tours leaving the Lake Developed Area commercial docks and the site wa s present until 1958. A 1949 park guidebook mentions that “speedboat excursions for fi shing parties are made to Stevenson Island from the boathouse near the road east of fish hatchery” (Haynes 1949, 102). The archival record after 1958 did not include additional references to the Stevenson Island dock site. Two other boat landing areas worth ment ioning during the 1930’s were located in the Southeast Arm of Yellowstone Lake. Du ring the early 1930’s commercial tours to the Molly Islands (see Figure 69) were offere d to those tourists interested the bird rookery there. Based on archival photos, a small boat dock appears to have been present on one of the islands. The Molly Island t ours were discontinued because of their disturbance to the avian populations breedi ng there (Pritchard 1999, 99). Archival research also revealed a photograph (see Figure 76) of a boat dock being extended in 1934. Based on field research in the South east Arm of the lake, this boat dock was probably near the Clear Creek backcountry patrol cabin which was maintained by the National Park Service. However, the agency that built this dock and the term of this site were not revealed in the archives. A survey of concessionaire’s infrastructu re completed in 1958 is a useful tool for assessing the number, condition, and location of boat docks a nd associated structures at Yellowstone Lake during this period. By 1958, there were three public boat docks (and one government dock) located on Yellowstone Lake. The survey completed that year found all of these docks to be “inadequate” and the Lake Hotel si te as additionally “impractical” (Pickering 1958, 37). The repor t suggested a number of recommendations to improve the facilities at Yellowstone Lake : “The boat division at present develops only 296 a fraction of the available business. It n eeds promotion and enlargement of all present services and installations. New se rvices should be added” (Pickering 1958, 37). The report cited environmental as well as aesthetic reasons to renovate and enlarge the dock areas. The recommendations reflect the vast spatial variability at Yellowstone Lake from one area to another. For example, the West Thumb boat dock was “open and not crowded, with plenty of room for expansion; however, the terrain is not good for boat launching. Thermal activity minimizes winter i ce conditions. [The] Beach is fairly well protected from rough weather” (Pickering 1958, 38). The overnight accommodations and guest services at the West Thumb Developed Area were deemed “old but in fair condition” by the survey but the “boat dock and office” were found to be in “poor shape” and “inadequate for the s easonal demands” (Pickering 1958, 41). Quite a different situation was assessed at the docks in front of the Lake Hotel in the Lake Developed Area: This site is most impractical both from the standpoint of present operations and/or future expansion. Unprotected waters forces loss of boating business for as many as 25 afternoons in one month. Construction of a breakwater has been discussed but such a project would be almost prohibiti ve in cost. Steep slope at th is site, lack of parking, poor approach and rough weather all combine to make this site unsuitable for further development (Pickering 1958, 38). The 1958 survey made recommendations for all the commercial boat docks (Fishing Bridge, West Thumb, Lake Devel oped Area, Stevenson Island) present at Yellowstone Lake that year and called for incr easing facilities in the southern bays of the lake. For example, the recommendations included adding “large excursion boats” offering “various terminal points designed to offer lodging and meals for overnite [ sic] guests. Such plans could envision small lodge buildings located at [t he] lake arms and on islands” (Pickering 1958, 40). Ar chival records did not reveal why these plans were not 297 pursued. The survey suppor ted the Mission 66 plans to relocate the Lake Developed Area boat docks to the proposed Bridge Bay Ma rina: “Development of a major Marina at Bridge Bay regardless of what is planned at Thumb or Grant Village. This Marina would serve the Lake Hotel and Lodge particularly a nd also serve as one of many terminals for lakeshore boat traffic. It w ould not detract from a similar future Marina at Grant Village but rather increase its value, each Marina complementing the other for trip terminal points” (Pickering 1958, 39). By 1966, some of the recommendations of the 1958 survey and the Mission 66 project were completed for Yellowstone Lake’s boating infrastructure. By the close of this period, the boat docks at the Lake De veloped Area were relocated and the Bridge Bay and Grant Village marinas were completed. In 1966 boating facilities were available at the Fishing Bridge, Bridge Bay marina, Grant Village marina, and West Thumb boat dock (Yellowstone Park Compa ny 1966; Haines 1977b, 378). Another service facility that was cons tructed by the close of this period was a hospital. A fourteen bed hospital was built at the Lake Develope d Area in 1962 (Spatial Analysis Center). This medical structure was located near the Lake Fish Hatchery building and was still standing in 1966. Refe rences to the services and staff of this hospital included that it cared for park visitors and personnel who suffered from hypothermia from the lake waters, near drow ning, fishing accidents (hooks in unpleasant places), wildlife encounters (bison, bears, el k), and car accidents (Whittlesey 1995). Stores 298 Hamilton Stores operated stores selling consumer goods and groceries at Yellowstone Lake. Hamilton St ores continued to operate its retail enterprises at the Fishing Bridge Developed Area (Figure 85), Lake Developed Area, and West Thumb Figure 85. Hamilton Stores at Yellowstone Lake Hamilton Stores operated concessions at Yellowstone Lake selling groceries, fishing supplies, souvenirs, clothing, and camping g ear. The Lake Hamilton store (top) in 1950 with knotted lodgepole pine framework was located on the north shore at the Lake Developed Area. The Fishing Br idge store (bottom) , pictured here in 1957, was located near the outlet of the Yellowstone River at the Fishing Bridge Developed Area. [top image printed in Whittlesey 1997, 76; bottom image printed in Haynes 1957, 118.] 299 Developed Area throughout this period (Ha ynes 1957, 110; U.S. Department of the Interior 1965, map). Hamilton Stores advert ised in 1966 that that their customers would “enjoy browsing through the relaxed, Wester n atmosphere of a Hamilton General Store” (Yellowstone Park Company 1966). The same brochure also detailed the variety of merchandise sold at the stores: “Many an Eastern visitor has outfitted himself smartly with a pair of cowboy boots from Hamilton St ores. Western souveni rs, curios, and other gifts are found at all the stores” (Yellowstone Park Company 1966). By 1966, a Hamilton Store was also located at th e Bridge Bay Developed Area. Gas stations and repair shops were also maintained throughout this time at Yellowstone Lake. A gas station and an au tomobile repair shop were located at the Fishing Bridge Developed Area (Figure 86). At the West Thumb Developed Area and Lake Developed Area, gas st ations were also operated from 1933 to 1966. By the end of this period, the Yellowstone Park Service Stations offered tourists “clean, convenient service stations” so that a “motoris t need never worry about lack of gasoline and other automobile service facilities wh en touring Yellowston e” (Yellowstone Park Company 1966). Haynes Picture Shops were also operated at Yellowstone Lake. These stores were located at Fishing Bridge Developed Area and the West Thumb Developed Area from 1933 to 1966 (Haynes 1949, 96; Haynes 1955, 105; U.S. Department of the Interior 1965). The Lake Developed Area also had a Ha ynes Picture Shop, but it was located in the lobby of the Lake Hotel. These stores sold “a wide asso rtment of pictorial souvenirs, photographs, post cards, films, photographic supplies, lithographs, etchings, paintings, 300 Figure 86. Fishing Bridge Gas Station The Fishing Bridge gas station was built in the rustic st yle architecture prevalent throughout Yellowstone, featuring native lodgepole pine beams. The station was part of a number of services for automobile tourists at Fishing Bridge including a cabin complex, automobile campground, recreational vehicle campground, and nearby repair station. [Courtesy of Yellowstone Na tional Park Archives.] stationary, the Haynes Guide Book and other publications” (Yellowstone Park Company 1966). Employee Housing Employee housing increased during this period. Although housing units were present at all of the developed areas at th e beginning of this period, the number of quarters available for employee housing and th e condition of these structures increased and improved over time. As concessionaires struggled to keep pace with tourism at Yellowstone Lake through two multiple year closing periods and subsequent business booms, they also worked to provide e nough housing for their growing numbers of employees. After World War II, efforts were made to create more housing units. For 301 example, in 1951 Superintendent Rogers noted that the Yellowstone Park Company built a “new girls dormitory at Lake” and Hamilt on Stores converted an “Old bathhouse” into employee housing (Rogers 1952, 15). Employee quarters in Yellowstone National Park were an integral part of the Mission 66 project. According to Haines, a “target for the Mission 66 effort was the improvement of employee facilities. Much of the year round housing available to government employees were old buildings in herited from the army past, unsuited to modern living and uneconomical to heat and maintain” (Haines 1977b, 380). The description fit for National Park Service and concessionaire housing where “seasonal quarters…were flimsy, hardly satisfactor y for pre- and post-season use….Also, increasing staffing proposed under Mission 66 meant additional quarters for both permanent and seasonal employees” (Haines 1977b, 380). Staff housing by the end of this period took the form of one or two level buildings with rooms for groups of employees. These structures were present at the Lake Developed Area, Fishing Bridge Developed Area, and West Thumb Developed Area. Conclusion By the close of this period in 1966, the cultural landscape of Yellowstone Lake had experienced changes unlike those of any ot her time. The transportation networks and structures around the lake were expanded and multiplied to meet the demands of more Americans who wished to visit the lake. Th e north shore of the lake was a site of continued growth and development. The five major developed areas by 1966 included the Lake Developed Area (Figure 87), the We st Thumb Developed Area (Figure 88), the 302 Figure 87. Lake Developed Area, 1966 303 Table. 3. Key to Features on Lake Developed Area Map, 1966 1 Lake Hotel 2 Lake Hotel Annex 3 Service Buildings 4 Employee Housing 5 Boat Docks 6 Boathouses 7 Fish Hatchery 8 Fish Hatchery South District Office 9 Garage 10 Boathouse – Concessionaire (left) , National Park Service (right) 11 Gas Station 12 Hamilton Store 13 Lake Ranger Station 14 Lake Lodge 15 Lodge Complex (Guest Lodges) 16 Hospital 17 Lake Government Area (National Park Service and Concessionaire Storage Buildings and Employee Housing) 18 Parking Areas 19 Cottage Complex (Guest Cottages) 20 Government Boat Dock Fishing Bridge Developed Area (Figure 89), th e Bridge Bay Developed Area (Figure 90), and Grant Village (Figure 91). The Fishing Bridge, Lake, and West Thum b Developed Areas all remained intact after the lake-wide closures from the econom ic recession after the Great Depression and the subsequent surge in use afterwards. Thes e service, lodging, and interpretive locations also weathered the storms of World War II cl osures and the subsequent tremendous surge in visitor use after this event. The landscape planning at the lake ca tered more to private automobile tourists when concessionaire s increased overnight cabins, cottages, recreational vehicle campgrounds and when the National Park Service expanded its auto campgrounds. The road along the north shore of the lake was realigned to provide more Figure 88. West Thumb Developed Area, 1966 304 Figure 89. Fishing Brid ge Developed Area, 1966 305 306 Figure 90. Bridge Ba y Developed Area, 1966 Figure 91. Grant Village, 1966 307 308 picnic and scenic pullouts for motor visitors . But perhaps the great est alteration of the cultural landscape of Yellowst one Lake came with the Missio n 66 era and the effects of the wilderness movement. Because of Mission 66, the boat docks at the Lake Developed Area—one of the oldest con tinuous boating sites at Yellows tone Lake—were relocated a little over a mile to the west at the newl y developed Bridge Bay marina. Two entirely new areas were added to the cultural lands cape of Yellowstone Lake—Grant Village and Bridge Bay Developed Area. Th e wilderness movement persua ded more visitors to seek remote regions of the lake for their recreati ng needs. The National Park Service began to maintain more extensive trails around the lake, particularly in the southern arms. Private and commercial boaters also sought out the islands and shoreline of the South and Southeast Arms for fishing, camping, and sightseeing. The National Park Service built and maintained more backcountry cabins for ranger patrols of these areas and enforced speed zones and watercraft laws for the southern arms of the lake. An uneven distribution of development emerged acro ss Yellowstone Lake, favoring permanent settlements and roadways along the northern shores with trails and few permanent structures at the southern realms of the lake. A striking pattern that emerges from th is period is that infrastructure at Yellowstone Lake seemed to peak in 1966. By that year, there were more boat docks (five) at Yellowstone Lake than in times since or before, there were multiple overnight accommodations available for tourists in cabins at Lake, Fishing Bridge, and West Thumb Developed Areas and in the plush Lake Hotel, and the automobile camps offered visitors even more opportunities to spend the night. The tr affic around the lake may have peaked during this period also; during the late 1950’s there were up to five thousand 309 boats on Yellowstone Lake and a similar number of cars and recreational vehicles traveling around the lake’s roads. Compared to other developed areas in Yellowstone National Park, Yellowstone Lake had a larg e number of lodging, dining, and recreational structures for park visitors. 310 CONCLUSION The Yellowstone Lake is larger than that of Geneya or Constance…. It is an incomparable enchanted solitude, where winter’s snow and summer’s sunshine battle with each other. He re is the pleasure ground for the future. Here the overworked will come for re st, the feeble to build up their strength, the old to take a measure of renewed existence, the young and vigorous to enjoy. The studious will find here the book of nature opened at its brightest pages. The artistic and poetic will find here Inspiration, Genius, and expansion of ideas (Gustavus Doane, 1889). A visitor to Yellowstone National Pa rk in 2004—an era of cell-phones, high- speed internet connections, and jet planes—may decide to book their trip to Wonderland via an internet-based travel we bsite. I priced a ticket from Chicago, Illinois to Bozeman, Montana and found—along with the price and itinerary for the ticket—a link from my travel itinerary to a short description of my destination. The sparing sketch of Yellowstone included mention of Old Fa ithful, Mammoth Hot Springs, Grand Canyon, grizzly bears, weather, volcanoes, intact temperate zone ecosystems, and where I could call for shuttle service from the nearest ai rport—Bozeman, Montana—to the park. But where was the mention of Yellowstone Lake? The Changing Visitor Experience at Yellowstone Lake In 1891 (Figure 92), Yellowstone Lake was a stop on the stagecoach tour of the recently created national park. As an early tourist to Yellowst one National Park, you may have traveled many miles to explore and experience the nation’s first national park. Perhaps your journey started in Boston, Mass achusetts. If so, you would have taken a long transcontinental train trek across the Great Plains to the looming Rocky Mountains. Figure 92. Comparison Maps for Ye llowstone Lake in 1891 (bottom), 1932 (middle), and 1966 (top) 311 312 Reaching the train station just outside of th e park’s borders, you would have then met with a stagecoach and joined the other memb ers of your touring party around the park. After a long, dusty trip around the park’s at tractions from Mammoth Hot Springs (the U.S. Army’s park headquarters) to the Uppe r Geyser Basin, your stagecoach arrives at the West Thumb (Figure 93) Bay of Yellows tone Lake. Here you see geothermal pools of brilliant colors, boiling mud, and a vast mountain lake stirred by the afternoon’s wind. After a lunch at this stop, you have a choice—travel to your next destination by the stagecoach that has borne you across the rutted, dirt roads of the park or climb aboard the Yellowstone Lake Boat Company’s steam boat and journey across the lake. You choose to spend the afternoon boating and shorten your trip considerably from your companions who decided to see th e lake from the shoreline road. As the steamer leaves the dock and travels across the wave-studded lake, you see the Absaroka Mountains to your east and pass by two isla nds— Dot Island and Stevenson Island— before arriving at the dock in front of your hotel. As the only overnight accommodation at the time, your choices are limited to this recent addition to the lake financed by the Northern Pacific Railroad—the same compa ny whose train you rode to the park. The facilities at the lake (Figure 94) are few at this point—a hotel, th e boat dock, and a road to the Lake Developed Area. The dynami c landscape before you has been shaped by Native Americans, U.S. Army park superi ntendents, concessionaire investment, and visitors such as yourself. Ther e are no other developed areas at the lake at this point, but the view across the lake from the northern shore is fantastic and you enjoy the evening trying to make out the distant shoreline and forest ed ridges of the lake to the south. In the 313 Figure 93. West Thumb Developed Area in 1891 (top), 1932 (middle), and 1966 (bottom) 314 Figure 94. Lake Developed Area in 1891 (t op-left), 1932 (top-right), and 1966 (bottom- right) 315 morning, you may board your stagecoach again and follow the Yellowstone River from its outlet at the lake north to that da y’s destination at th e Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. You may also choose to prolong your stay at Yellowstone Lake for a few days; a longer stay at the lake would o ffer you the chance to rest and relax after a long stagecoach journey to the park. Although there are not many developed services or scheduled activities at the la ke in 1891, you could find plea sure in long walks along the shoreline, picking wildflowers around the hotel, or trying your hand at fishing for trout in the afternoon. As a Yellowstone National Park trav eler in 1932 (see Figure 92), you would find a very different experience at Yellowstone Lake. Perhaps you choose to ride a train across the country to the park and then join an organized automobile tour. However, at this time more visitors to the park are ma king the journey by their private automobile. A national system of highways connecting Yello wstone’s Grand Loop road to points north, south, east and west of the park and the growing popularity of automobiles is making travel to Yellowstone more accessible fo r many new car owners. Yellowstone Lake would be a stop on your tour, part icularly if you are with an or ganized park tour. At the lake, there are now three developed ar eas—West Thumb (see Figure 93), Lake (see Figure 94), and Fishing Bridge (Figure 95). At each of th ese areas along the northern shore of the lake there are overnight accommodations, National Park Service ranger stations, general stores, dining facilities, boat docks, automobile campgrounds, and service stations for autos. However, ther e are some notable vari ations between these areas. West Thumb offers a geothermal ba sin to walk around, cabins, an automobile campground, a general store, a cafeteria, and a boat dock. The Lake Developed Area has 316 Figure 95. Fishing Bridge Developed Area in 1932 (top) and 1966 (bottom) 317 a hotel, a lodge, an automobile campground, boat docks, a U. S. Fish Commission fish hatchery, and bear feeding grounds behind the hotel. The Fishing Bridge site offers fishing from the famous bridge, a museum, cabins, an auto campground, a general store, a gas station, and a repair shop for vehicles. Your stay at the lake could include a few nights or a week. You could ta ke scenic boat rides across the lake, fish from a rental boat or the shoreline, visit the museum, walk along the beach, or just rela x at your cabin, tent, or hotel room with all the creature co mforts at your disposal. By 1966 (see Figure 92), your activities and experiences available to you at Yellowstone Lake would have changed noticeably from previous eras. Overnight accommodations, dining, interpretive, and re creational activities are located at an increasing number of developed areas— Bri dge Bay (see Figure 90) , and Grant Village (see Figure 91), West Thumb (see Figure 93), La ke (see Figure 94), and Fishing Bridge (see Figure 95). These five developed areas offer you and other park visitors boat docks, general stores, and a National Park Service ranger station. At Yellowstone Lake in 1966 you could choose from a variety of overnight accommodations; you could stay in a cabin at Fishing Bridge, Lake, or the West Thumb Developed Area, at a the lodge complex in the Lake Developed Area, or in a tent at one of the automobile campgrounds located at each site around the lake (except for at the Lake Developed Area). With five boat docks and over five thousand boaters on the lake ea ch year, Yellowstone Lake is a good place to have a memorable fishing or boating holid ay. You would have joined thousands of other park visitors in a bu stling scene of wate r recreation, auto touring, and camping at the lake. 318 As popular of a location as Yellowst one Lake was to visit in 1966, you might have noticed an uneven availability of services at the lake developed ar eas. In an effort to prepare for the over two million visitors expected in the park by 1966, the National Park Service recently initiated a plan to expa nd and relocate visitor facilities with the cooperation of park concessi onaires. However, the main park concessionaire—the Yellowstone Park Company—did not match the fe deral investment in all of the proposed new developments; Yellowstone Lake has become a showcase for these shortcomings. Grant Village and Bridge Bay are the latest additions to this landscape and offered only limited services. At the Grant Village you could stay at the auto campground, visit the National Park Service ranger station, or launch a boat at the marina. Although the National Park Service has completed the ro ads and these services for you at Grant Village, the lodging and dining facilities are difficult for you to find. Most of the concessionaire facilities for this part of the lake are still located a mile and a half to the northwest at the West Thumb Developed Area. Another site at the lake that draws your attention is the recently completed Bridge Bay Developed Area. This is another site, similar to Grant Village, w ith a disproportionately large investment of National Park Service funds and construction compared to the few concessionaire services that you find at this north shore development. At Bridge Bay you coul d catch a scenic boat tour across the lake, visit the ranger stati on, buy fishing tackle and grocerie s at the general store, and stay the night at the vast automobile campgr ound. If you are trave ling in a recreational vehicle, you could stay anot her night at the lake in th e Fishing Bridge RV campground— the only campground for that type of vehicle at Yellowstone Lake. You may leave the lake already looking forward to your next visit but, if your visit was delayed for a few 319 years, you would find that the developed area s around the lake changed vastly since your visit in 1966. In the next few decades, the number and locations of services around the lake—particularly at the Fishing Bridge, Lake, and West Thumb Developed Areas—will be considerably reduced and relocated. Value of the Yellowstone Lake Study This study of Yellowstone Lake provides insight into future developments at the lake as well as a detailed reconstruction of one of Yellowstone National Park’s most significant cultural landscapes. Following thes e changes over time is a valuable addition to our understanding of cultural landscape evolution within Yellowstone as well as in other western national parks. This st udy offers a template and methodology for reconstructing cultural landscapes in national parks as well as a detailed narrative of cultural change in this portion of Yellowst one. By tracing these changes over time, we can see that Yellowstone Lake was a key loca tion of concessionaire investment and park manager interest since the establishment of Yellowstone National Park in 1872. This study also reveals where those developments took place and therefore adds to a better understanding of changing visitor experiences at Yellowstone Lake. By looking at the evolution of park ma nagement and concessionaires’ decisions, we can also get a better idea of how those in stitutions approached planning issues in Yellowstone over time. It was a complex process that began with the task of initial exploration and mapping of the lake region. From that information, decisions were made on where to place buildings and infrastructure. Special issues also faced lake developers. These included the geothermal areas of the lake as well as the high winds, erosive waves, 320 and fluctuating lake levels present along the shore. Over time, concessionaires and park managers came to understand the opportunities and hurdles presented by these environmental factors. In some cases, such as with lake roadways, developments were moved farther away from the lake’s shorelin e. For example, the road around the north shore of the lake was moved back from the s horeline to avoid the erosion and soft sands near the mouth of Arnica Creek. A Yellowstone Lake study also reveal s an interesting geographic history of wildlife management in Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone Lake was the scene of diverse interactions between humans and wildlife that resulted in situations which were endemic to the lake’s landscape. Animals and fish were a constant and important part of the physical environment at Yellowstone Lake . The U.S. Fish Hatchery at the Lake Developed Area and at West Th umb Bay (early in the timelin e) were centers of fish hatching, management, and recreation. The fish hatcheries were early lake developments that continued throughout the time period of this study. They were constant features whose activities had a lasting affects on the lake’s environment; the fish hatcheries increased the number and types of fish released into the lake, impacted recreational fishing at the lake, and other animals at th e lake—such as pelicans and bears—that relied on the fish as a food source. Yellowstone Lake’s wildlife also included a diverse array of animals and birds. Bears were an important part of the Yellows tone Lake story. These large animals were the focus of a government built and maintained bear feeding ground in the Lake Developed Area. The avian population of the la ke, specifically birds th at use the lake as a breeding ground and a niche environment in Yellowstone National Park, was also the 321 focus of human-environment interactions. The Molly Islands were the breeding grounds for white pelicans, California gulls, and ot her lake birds. These islands became a destination for scenic boat rides and tourism on the lake as concessionaires highlighted the bird population for the visi ting public. The National Park Service also focused on the Molly Islands as a management location; the fe deral agency monitored the effect of avian feeding behavior and tourist angling on th e lake’s fish population. Originally, the National Park Service’s management policies pr ivileged fishing enthusiasts’ success over the health of the bird rookeries at Molly Is lands but later came to protect and encourage interpretation of these island environments (Pritchard 1999). Bison and elk use the lake on a seasonal basis and were early on an expl icit part of development at Yellowstone Lake. The Dot Island Game Corrals of th e late 1890’s and early 1900’s included bison, elk, and coyotes fenced into areas as wild life exhibits for steamboat passengers on the lake. Finally, the Fishing Bri dge Museum highlighted the lake ’s wildlife in interpretive exhibits developed to describe the natural history of Yellowstone Lake. All of these examples suggest that Yellowstone Lake wa s a scene of evolving interactions between wildlife and humans in Yellowstone Nati onal Park and a location for some unique habitats and situations for Yellows tone’s biogeography. This study of Yellowstone Lake’s cultura l landscape can also help us understand other national parks. This case study offers fu ture researchers archival and field-research methods as well as mapping techniques for reconstructing cultural landscapes in other national parks. For this study, the archival records served as an important source of information but also one that had to be supplemented with other visual, verbal, and field- based information. Piecing together the histor y of this cultural landscape has involved 322 archival research in the national park arch ives as well as the Special Collections at Montana State University. Through a combinati on of written archival materials, historic photographs, guidebook descriptions , historic maps from concessionaire files, national park service files, and aerial photographs, I assembled the story of this cultural landscape evolution. This study also called for several day-long fieldwork sess ions where I visited the developed areas around the lake and walked beyond the pa ved parking lots into the woods around the shoreline looking for clues on the landscape that might help me understand the location and chronology of landscape change. These experiences were an invaluable part of the data used in this study; I visited the lake many times over the summer with copies of historic maps of the lake and took many pictur es of the shoreline while also keeping my eyes open to subtle cultural clues still visi ble on the land. These field experiences helped me piece together the gaps in archival materials as I analyzed my data for this study. Because of additions and relocations of many buildings and roads at the lake, there are few clue s that remain about the locations of these features. While some of these locations are approxi mate, the verbal descriptions and maps that this study provides will hopefully inspire future researchers to go out into the field and retrieve more precise information about these features. For example, a good future project for the lake would combine the findings of this study with additional archival materials and the locations of past landscape features using a Global Positioning System unit. In that way, the locations of relocated features, such as the Fishing Bridge auto camp could be entered into a database and aligned precisely with current National Park Service spatial information for a GIS da tabase. Yellowstone National Park GIS databases are well endowed with physical featur es but they lack important coordinates for 323 cultural features, particularly those recovered through a hist orical cultural landscape study. This study also highlights some of the challenges in reconciling conflicting data within the archives as well as data in the fi eld. Others who are interested in pursuing a similar study of national park landscapes s hould appreciate the investment of time and energy involved with this anal ysis. Only by consulting a vari ety of archival sources and then taking the time to repeatedly visit the fiel d site can this type of work be completed. The frustration of encountering numerous conflicting sources or finding a paucity of evidence for past landscape features must be balanced with perseverance and an eagerness to explore pa st landscapes. Accumulating data about the cultural landscape of Yellowstone Lake is also important for national park management. It provides a valuable sour ce of concentrated material for park managers and concessionair e who must make decisions about how this landscape will be managed and used over time. This study is helpful since much of this information about Yellowstone Lake has not been gathered together previously and presented in a verbal and cartographic format. With this study in hand, park mangers can better understand what areas of the lake have be en historically important for this national park and make cultural resource protection d ecisions about this area. Looking at the decisions made in the past can reveal what worked and what did not work and apply that information to future decisions. Broader Implications Tracing Yellowstone Lake’s cultural la ndscape evolution also provides insight into the broader discussion of the lake in Yellowstone National Park’s history. By 324 collecting and analyzing data about the placement and timing of developments around the lake, we can see that Yellowstone Lake ha s been a constant and central feature of Yellowstone National Park’s history. Yellows tone Lake was included in early maps of the region. Probing into the materials used fo r the congressional debate over the creation of Yellowstone National Park is also important . This part of the study found that the lake was geographically important to lawmakers w ho used the lake to establish the park boundaries according to the Yellowstone Park Ac t. From the establishment of the Lake Hotel in 1891 to the multiple sites of cabins, auto campgrounds, and a hotel in the late 1960’s, Yellowstone Lake was a place of c oncessionaire investment and National Park Service planning. Indeed, by 1966 Yellowstone Lake may have been at its peak of development and visitor use. By that year, there were five boat docks at the lake, up to five thousand boats on the lake in a summer, a nd cabins or auto camps at all five of the lake developed areas. Just thinking about this distribution of park f acilities in terms of the number of beds available to park visitors is revealing. By 1966, thousands of visitors in Yellowstone were staying each night at Yellowstone Lake. During the day, these tourists were fishing, hiking, boating, and dr iving around this large, subalpine lake. This study also has implications for better understanding national park tourism and western tourism generally. The types and locations of facilities that park managers and concessionaires provided and that park t ourists demanded, reveal the changing course of tourism in the western United States. Fr om stagecoach tours in the early park period, to the advent of auto tourism, to the wild erness movement with an emphasis on natural landscapes—the facilities and locations of deve lopments in the park have changed over 325 time. These shifting patterns and activities found at Yellowstone can also be compared to other national parks and wester n landscape settings. The impact of transcontinental transportation networks such as railroads, highways, and airplane routes opened up the West to new forms of tourism and recreation. These technologica l changes shifted the way that the parks were developed and decisions about which areas of the parks we re set aside from development. With the advent of the wilderness m ovement, motorized activity and development were restricted from many western landscapes. We see this movement’s influence in the restriction of motorized boats from Yellowstone Lake’s arms and in the proposed relocation of facilities at the lake in conjunction with Miss ion 66 projects. By restricting the use of motor boats in the arms of the lake and by moving auto campgrounds, cabins, and other service facilities from the Fishing Bridge, Lake, and West Thumb Developed Areas to the newly developed areas at Grant Village and Bridge Bay, the National Park Service made a lasting impact on this landscape. The areas of the lake with the longest historic boating use—Lake and West Thumb—were removed from the cultural landscape as centers of boat-related activities. In addition, the ne w developments at Bridge Bay and Grant Village attracted heated criticism from nearby communities, environmentalists, and national audiences concerned about the health of ecosystems and the use of natural resources. This study of Yellowstone Lake is he lpful to projects involving other large western lakes. Comparative research betw een western lakes is a promising area for future research. This study could be used to identity research questions and strategies for comparing the cultural landscape histories of Lake Tahoe, Flathead Lake, Great Salt 326 Lake, and Jackson Lake. Each of these la kes shares a common history of recreation, development, and management that is varied by local physical and cultural influences. This Yellowstone Lake thesis also describes the effects of national and international events and proce sses in a national park setti ng over time. During the pre- park era, Yellowstone Lake was a contested landscape. Native Americans and Euro- Americans often clashed on their perspectives on the use and occupation of the lake. Often Native American people living in the area—Bannock, Crow, Sheep Eater, and Shoshone peoples—during the time of Euro-A merican exploration would relate their knowledge of the landscape to Euro-American explorers seeking rout es of travel or information for mapping purposes. Although Native Americans and Euro-Americans shared geographic information about the lake, the geopolitical relationships that evolved between the two groups were highly unequal. Native Americans possessed extensive geographic knowledge of the lake, but their contributions to early mapping are often overlooked. Native American knowledge wa s used to guide Europeans and was integrated into the standard maps produced and distributed during the early settlement of North America. By the time Euro-Ameri cans began formal mapping and surveys of Yellowstone in the early 19 th century, there were many non- European groups who lived near Yellowstone Lake and seasonally used its resources. Native Americans had a system of mapping the lake and understanding its location; however, these native systems of mapping were reinscribed by Euro-American s in an effort to colonize the area and eventually develop it. Members of explora tion parties recorded encounters with Indians in part of their journals, yet di scussed an Indian presence in the park as if it was a historic element of the landscape. Yellowstone Lake first appeared on a Euro-American maps as 327 a product of the transcontinental Lewis and Cl ark Expedition. The lake continue to be included and mapped in more detail as increasing numbers of Euro-Americans traveled to the Yellowstone Plateau and produced their ve rsions of its physical dimensions. Between 1870 and 1891, Yellowstone Lake became a scene of tourism development and national attention. With th e creation of Yellowstone National Park in 1872, the nation looked to the American West to see the national park idea emerge and begin to flourish. Although various tourist attractions we re established throughout the country by the late nineteenth century (Sear s 1989), none of them carried the moniker and identity of a national park. Once the Pa rk was created, the regul ations and vision for this new type of land use slowly adapted to changing conditions with in the Park. Since early experiences and mapping efforts by Euro-American explorers and surveyors included Yellowstone Lake, it was a logical move to include the lake as one of the major attractions to visit in Yellowstone. The evid ence for this lies in the early building of roads to the lake, the early establishment of a hotel there, and park service personnel being stationed there. Also, the lake area developed a unique form of transportation in the park: the steamboat. Political and cultural tensions throughout the United States were present in Yellowstone National Park during this early period. Native Americans continued to use the lake as a location for seasonal hun ting activities and clashes between Native Americans and Euro-American tourists made for uncomfortable and dangerous situations for all groups involved. The Unite d States Army served as th e prime manager of the park during this time and the role of this agency in park development includes establishing a soldier station at Yellowstone Lake as we ll as frequent patrols around the lake. This 328 period also reveals the emergence of Indi an Reservations and the Native American dispossession of national park landscapes. Between 1892 and 1932, several national a nd international events affected Yellowstone Lake’s cultural landscape deve lopment: the entrance of automobiles into Yellowstone National Park, the creation of th e National Park Service, World War I, and the Great Depression. The arrival of the first automobile in Yellowstone in 1915 increased the number of people who came to the park, the way that they moved around the park, and the timing and spatial organiza tion of park development. The 1916 creation of the National Park Service also transformed the cultural landscape of Yellowstone National Park by forcing concessionaire conso lidations and by regulating the construction of all buildings constructed in the park. With the creation of the National Park Service in 1916, the U.S. Army was relieved of its administrative duties in Yellowstone National Park. With this shift came a major reorgani zation of the concessionaire structure in the park. A goal for the newly established Nationa l Park Service included Stephen Mather’s vision for increasing the number of visitors to the parks. The first director wanted to “persuade Americans to visit the national parks” by providi ng as many opportunities as possible for the greatest number of people to enter the parks (Bartlett 1985, 87). In the process, Mather hoped to expand national awar eness and support for the national parks. An ideal vehicle for increasing the speed a nd number of people who could visit the parks was the automobile. Mather encourag ed auto travel to Yellowstone. The National Park Service also effectiv ely marketed national parks in conjunction with the See America First movement. The See America First campaign urged Americans to explore their homeland scenic ar eas instead of the attractions offered by a 329 European vacation. Another event of great consequence during this period was the outbreak of international hostil ities during World War I. A lthough the efforts of the See America First campaign were in full swing, visi tor numbers in the park declined during the war years and many facilities at Yellowstone Lake were closed. This trend reversed after the war. More than a decade later, th e Great Depression also dramatically affected park visitation. For Yellowstone National Pa rk, it was difficult to secure personnel and resources to support the park and visitation dwindled duri ng these economically difficult years. Between 1933 and 1966, Yellowstone Lake experienced a tremendous amount of change to its cultural landscape. Major events that affected the lake during this time included the Great Depression, the New Deal , World War II, the wilderness movement, and Mission 66. Concessionaires with operations at Yellowstone Lake were hit hard by the economic recession associated with the Great Depression. Mo st concessionaires closed their operations from 1933 to 1935 at Yellowstone Lake (Toll 1935, 2). By 1935, visitor numbers recovered and lake businesse s opened their doors once again. A boost in business after the recession funded a brief spell of renovations and improvements for structures around Yellowstone Lake. In re sponse to the economic recession from the Great Depression, the New Deal implemen ted nation-wide measures to provide employment and business activity. Part of th e New Deal measures included creating the Civilian Conservation Corps. The labor from the Civilian Conservation Corps had a direct impact in Yellowstone Lake with a ca mp and labor to complete several projects around the lake. 330 The outbreak of World War II caused anot her slump in park activity and lake businesses. Because of this la ck of patronage as well as a paucity of personnel to operate businesses, park concessionaires decided to close many of their Yellowstone Lake facilities from 1940 to 1947 (Rogers 1947, 5). Many structures at developed areas around Yellowstone Lake suffered from ne glect during this period, but some concessionaires took advantage of the slack ening of business to make long overdue repairs and adjustments to their facilities. The post World War II years brought a tremendous surge in visitation to Yellowstone National Park and a park-wide response to increasing visitor demands. With more leisure time, income, and the desire to explore new places, Americans traveled to their national parks in record-breaking numbers. Many of these postwar tourists traveled to their national parks in automobiles. Private automobile travel in the Yellowstone became the transportation met hod of choice; park superintendents and concessionaires struggled to accommodate growing visitor use and impact on existing structures. The passage of the Wilderne ss Act in 1964 had a tremendous impact on National Park Service policies and management tactics. Examples of this impact at Yellowstone Lake included shifts in the ma nagement of lake recreation and the planning of developed areas. The Miss ion 66 project also shaped th e lake’s cultural landscapes. This government-initiated program called for ma ssive projects to relocate, upgrade, and modernize park structures while being se nsitive to ecological resources and human impact on the park’s natural features. Mi ssion 66 changed the spatial organization of numerous park facilities as well as ho w those facilities were managed, improved, allocated, and designed. Highlights from the original plans that involved Yellowstone 331 Lake included altering the lakeshore road around the north section of the Yellowstone Lake, constructing two new developed areas (Grant Village along the West Thumb Bay and Bridge Bay near the Lake Developed Area), massive reloca tion of structures from the Fishing Bridge Developed Area, West Thum b Developed Area, and—to a lesser extent— the Lake Developed Area. However, these plans ultimately met with controversy from gateway communities, environmental organizations, and other federal agencies. The contentious relationship between concessionair es and the National Park Service played out well past 1966; however a look at the beginning of Mission 66 projects and concessionaire responses to the plans provide s a useful portal into which we may explore some of the planning issues that faced Yellowstone Lake throughout this period. Value of a Historical Geographic Approach This historical geographic study of a national park landscape draws on the literature of many authors. Many of the questi ons posed in the introduction to this study may be used to understand the evolving cu ltural landscape of Yellowstone Lake. Schein’s (1997) work draws a ttention to the many discourses that became tangible pieces of the lake’s cultural land scape and subsequently shaped how people viewed and experienced their travels in th e park. His framework helps i lluminate the distinctive roles that concessionaires, government agencies, and visitors had in shaping the cultural landscape at Yellowstone Lake. Through a comb ination of all of these forces the lake was transformed over time from a minor resort location with a single hotel and few roads to a bustling center of tourism within Ye llowstone. Concessionaires and government agencies built the infrastructure at Yellowsto ne Lake and visitor de mands influenced the type and location of many facilities. Thes e discourses changed over time as technology, 332 national political events, and economic processes affected the visitation at the park and the availability of funds to finance new infrastructure. This thesis also explores visual da ta sources and suggests that a careful interpretation of such sources can offer important insights into how people experience places. As with Schwartz and Ryan’s ( 2003) work, the Yellowstone Lake study uses photographs as important sources of data for geographic inquiry. For example, the landscape photography of William Jackson was in fluential in the creation of Yellowstone National Park and the widespread disseminati on of information about Yellowstone Lake. Western image analysis is also the focus of a study by Wyckoff and Dilsaver (1997). As with Wyckoff and Dilsaver’s study, this work uses a variety of promotional materials as data sources. The appearance of the lake in guidebooks and brochures emphasizes the importance of visual representations in portr aying national park expe riences to a broader national audience. The Yellowstone Lake study revealed several of the western landscape types explored by Vale and Vale (1989) in their transect of the American West. Specifically, Yellowstone Lake was seen as an “empty quarter” by early Euro-American mapping and exploration parties who—despite their frequent interactions with Native Americans in the area—depicted the Yellowstone Plateau and Yellowstone Lake as unsettled and unexplored areas. Yellowstone Lake was also a frontier inhabited by Native Americans, fur-trappers, and “trail-blazers” (Vale a nd Vale 1989, 7). The developed areas around Yellowstone Lake contributed to the lake’s image as a middle landscape where “[w]ild nature and civilized culture remain distinct but in close juxtapos ition to one another” (Vale and Vale 1989, 8). As a national park landscape, Yellowstone Lake was also a 333 landscape of protected wild nature where th e lake’s undeveloped areas were valued for their scenic and natural qualities. Fina lly, Yellowstone Lake was a playground where boating, camping, hiking, and fishing were popular forms of recreation. This study also looks at role that romantic writers and artists played in depicting western landscapes. As Allen (1992) noted for the early nineteenth century West in general, my study found that the literature and art produced by Euro-American fur trappers and explorers depicted Yellowstone Lake as a place of romance. These images of the lake did not “depend upon European tradition but upon American experience and upon the invention of tradition” (Allen 1992, 28) . Early accounts of the lake from explorers ranged from second-hand reports of a large lake at the headwaters of the Yellowstone River to the direct experiences reported by travel ers such as David Folsom. Folsom described Yellowstone Lake as a “beau tiful sheet of water” that included “gently sloping mountains, bold promontories, low n ecks, or level prairies” (Haines 1974, 53). Such accounts of the lake were based on Amer ican experiences at the lake that were informed by the European romantic tradition. Written descriptions of the lake from nineteenth century accounts portrayed the lake as a romanticized western landscape and an important location in the West. This study also explores the role of tourism in shaping western landscapes. Athearn (1986) explores the development of th e American West as a mythic landscape in the twentieth century. As Athearn related in his study of the West, ignorance was a key ingredient in depictions of Yellowstone Lake as a myth ic western location of unreal proportions. Many early reports of the la ke were exaggerated from second-hand information but they were the only sources of information about the lake; these 334 descriptions of the lake were often copi ed and referenced as factual accounts of Yellowstone Lake. An example of this myth creation process at Yellowstone Lake may be found in an 1868 account of the lake that described it as “the largest and strangest mountain lake in the world” wh ich was full of “fish half as large as a man, some of which have a mouth and horns and skin like a catfi sh and legs like a lizard” (Haines 1974, 39). Similar descriptions of the lake were repe ated in park guidebooks and brochures which became the trusted source of information about the park tour. This study parallels MacCannell’s (1976) conclusions because visitor experiences at Yellowstone Lake changed over time to refl ect shifting social values and ideas. In particular, a study of the cultural landscape evolution at Yellowstone Lake provides examples of the “empirical and ideological expansion of modern society” through the experiences of the “modern leisure class” (MacCannell 1976, 3). For example, as transportation technology and networks developed around Yellowstone Lake, park concessionaires and the National Park Service catered mo re to tourists seeking convenient lodging and services that accomm odated their automobiles. Experiencing Yellowstone Lake also became institutionali zed as an “authentic attraction” by “modern society” that participated in its “ceremonial ratification” (MacCannell 1976, 14) by including early explorers reports of the lake in guidebooks and visiting the lake to fish, boat, and stroll along its shores. This study also connects to Young’s ( 2002) work in exploring national park landscapes in historical contexts. As Young found for Cascades Cove, Yellowstone Lake is a “palimpsest of land uses and structures” and it did not al ways appear as it does today (2002, 178). A historical geogr aphic approach is particularly helpful here for 335 illuminating the development, relocation, and re moval of cultural lands cape features at the lake over time. The impressions around the lake’s shoreline from the extensive Wylie camps, housekeeping cabin areas, and auto campgrounds at West Thumb and Fishing Bridge Developed Areas are only visible on aerial photograp hs and recognizable to a trained eye while walking along the lake. These overnight facility areas may have dominated the lakeshore landscape in 1932 or 1966 but they are removed from our current view of the lake. Although Yellowstone Lake is not interpre ted as a settled area such as Cascades Cove, the lake did host regular residents such as Crow, Bannock, and Shoshone people; these groups are not actively in terpreted as being residents at the lake and evidence of their structures are not easily discernible on today’s lake landscape. Tourism and its promotion are central research areas for many writers. Hal Rothman (1998) explores the cultural meani ng and representations of a diversity of tourist landscapes in American culture. This study fits well with Rothman’s in that it exposes Yellowstone Lake as a diverse site for tourism. Lake developments included improved roads, auto campgrounds, and accessible cabins. The lake was also publicized for its natural features. Guidebooks and National Park Service brochures depicted Yellowstone Lake as a wild landscape with trails, remote bays for boating, and vast expanses of calming views. The lake was part icularly highlighted as a natural and scenic location in the park during the latter years of this study as the effects of the wilderness movement made impressions of park manage rs, visitors, and concessionaires. The Yellowstone Lake study adds to a better understanding of how a western tourist landscape and a national park location evol ved over time to accommodate visitors. 336 Schaffer (1996) also centers her attenti on on the role of promotion in expanding tourism. Applying her general discussion of the See America First movement, we see from the Yellowstone Lake study that railro ads and promoters invested time and money in developing Yellowstone Lake into an acces sible and desirable resort destination to compete with European resorts. Building the Lake Hotel and advertising stagecoach travel throughout the park and to the lake a dds another case study to Schaffer’s depiction of western promotion and development. Similar to Magoc’s (1999) work, the Ye llowstone Lake study l ooks at the creation of Yellowstone National Park and how park landscapes were promoted to tourists. However, instead of focusing broadly on the whole park the Yellowstone Lake study is a more detailed account of the cultural landscape developments at a specific region of the park. This study can enrich Magoc’s an alysis by providing ex amples of how the Northern Pacific Railroad promoted Yellowstone Lake in its brochures and built overnight facilities at the lake such as the Lake Hotel. In addition, this thesis provides examples of how the U.S. Army managed th is part of Yellowstone National Park by establishing a soldier station at the Lake Developed Area and sending regular patrols around the lake. This thesis also adds to a growing body of literature documenting changing park management policies in Yellowstone National Park. Paul Schullery (1997) examines the evolution of National Park Service policy in Yellowstone. A Yellowstone Lake study supports many of his findings in greater detail than his work record s; the additions and removal of cultural landscape features such as cabins, tents, and support structures is included in Schullery’s study but this th esis more specifically explores these 337 developments and finds a more exact date for their evolution through the efforts of concessionaires and government agencies. Pritchard’s (1999) work, while focusing on some aspects of Yellowstone Lake’s management such as fisheries policies and wildlife interpretation, differs from this case study which documents boating policies, fisheries management, and visitor experiences at the la ke over time and space. This study will also add to Chase’s (1987) critical look at National Pa rk Service policies. The Yellowstone Lake thesis provides insights in to the degree that changing park policies affected developments at Yellowstone Lake and includes specific examples of contentious development projects in the park su ch as the Grant Village development. Finally, this study adds to the increasing number of geographic research papers about Yellowstone National Park. Although Meyer (1996) and Smith (1999) focus their works on the broader subject of Yellowstone National Par k, this study will strengthen their findings by focusing on a region within th e park and adding another case example of changes they document for the whole park as taking place at the lake over time. Byrand (1995) completed a similar cultural landscape reconstruction for the Upper Geyser Basin using his geographic training. The Yellowsto ne Lake study increas es the number of historical geographic studies for Yellow stone National Park and expands on the techniques and methods employed in these studies by using a regional approach and a GIS component. Although ma ny historians and geologists have focused their work on Yellowstone National Park, more geographic stud ies of this federal reserve are needed to improve our understanding of this dynamic area. 338 Beyond 1966 During a recent visit to Montana St ate University, historian William Cronon discussed environmentalism and dual meani ngs of “nature” (Cronon 2004). His lecture included a discussion of a “nature that is us ” and a “nature that is not us” (Cronon 2004). Although Cronon argued that we may frequently feel tempted to make decisions about wilderness areas based on our perceptions of a nature as being separate from our existence, this is a dangerous proposition. Cronon urged his audience to consider the “nature-culture boundary not as a wall but as a bridge” (Cronon 2004). By this he suggested that cultural landscapes and natural landscapes should not be separate in our minds, but linked together so that we can make decisions about our use of the earth that we live upon. We must in clude our “working landscap es” (Cronon 2004) such as Yellowstone Lake’s developed areas in our di scussions of the lake’s wilderness areas if we are to make balanced decisions about growth and natural resource allocation. Geographer Judy Meyer (1996) also argues for a balanced park management plan that considers management values and park landscapes. Meyer’s ra tionalization is that each unit in the national park system pr esents managers with “constraints and opportunities” that are intrinsically woven into the sense of place that we cherish about these different locations. The task before park administration is balancing management goals for “science, economics, and ecological re storation” with management ideals such as “change and permanence, science and history” that inevitable unfold in each park in a different and unique way (Meyer 1996, 112-113). By tracing the temporal and spatial changes in cultural landscapes we can better asse ss the values and planning strategies that have gone into creating these areas. Cultura l landscapes are a corollary of natural 339 landscapes; including the whole lake—with cu ltural and physical attributes in mind—will help park managers, concessionaires, and vi sitors make better decisions about this pleasure ground for the future. In 1966, Yellowstone Lake was at what was perhaps the apex of its use and development. At the close of this study, the cultural landscape of Yellowstone Lake included five major boating areas. In the course of only a few summer months—the season of peak activity at this high altitude lake environment—at least five thousand boaters were fishing, boating, a nd exploring the lake’s 110 mile s of shoreline. During these same months, thousands of park visito rs were staying at Yellowstone Lake each night. With major cabin and auto campground areas at the Fishing Bridge, Lake, Bridge Bay, West Thumb, and Grant Village Develope d Areas, there were thousands of beds available each night for visitors. Change was on the horizon for Yellowstone Lake, however. Now many of these developmen ts are gone from the landscape. Striking examples of these landscape alte rations are at the former sites of the West Thumb Developed Area and Fishing Brid ge Developed Area. As of 2004, the West Thumb Developed Area is all but removed. A ranger station and boardwalk around the geothermal pools is all that remains. Only th irty-eight years before, this location buzzed with activity as park visitors stayed at the cabins or auto campground, rented a fishing boat at the docks, or launched their own pers onal boat on the shore. Visitors could also stop at a cafeteria for lunch, fill up their gas tanks at the service station, stop by the ranger station for park information, or buy souvenirs at the Hamilton Store. The Fishing Bridge area has also changed since the late 1960’s. The site of one of the earliest developments at Yellowstone Lake, now this area offe rs a recreational vehicle campground, a service 340 station, general store, museum, and amphitheater. The large auto campground and cabin complex was removed from this site. So t oo, the boat rental hut at the Fishing Bridge was removed. Yellowstone Lake visitors in 2004 have far fewer opportunities to recreate and stay at the lake than tourists in previous eras. There are fewer boats docks at the lake now. From five boat docks in 1966, now there area only two marinas at the lake and one of them—the Grant Village Marina—is unusable because of lake erosion. A visitor to Yellowstone Lake today has far fewer options fo r where to stay at the lake. Instead of a selection of cabins and auto campgrounds around the lake’s five major developed areas, the lake now has overnight accommodations at Grant Village and the Lake Developed Area in the form of lodges and a hotel. At Fi shing Bridge, only hard-sided recreational vehicles may stay, and Bridge Bay and Grant Village offer the lone auto campgrounds available at the lake. In the middle of July—the peak of th e tourist season for Yellowstone—the campground and lodges at Gr ant Village are often vacant and it resembles more of a ghost town than a thrivi ng visitor service area. Why do the millions of Yellowstone visitors choose to visit othe r areas of the park? Is it the design and placement of the facilities at Grant Village? One commentat or of this developed area called it something between “a curious mixtur e of Cap Cod and Star Wars” also noting that it felt like “a wilderness ghetto” (Chase 1987, 198). Park employees often refer to the now defunct National Park Service built ma rina at Grant Village as the “mistake on the lake.” Is it the lack of boating facilities at Yellowstone Lake th at discourages people from visiting the area? With only one working marina at the lake (Bridge Bay), there are dramatically fewer options available to a pot ential fishing enthusiast in 2004 than in 341 1966. Future studies of Yellowstone Lake may reveal some very inte resting results with these questions in mind. This study can provide a base to begin such future research projects and an idea of the changing face of Yellowstone National Park’s developed areas. The course of this study traces the history of Yellowstone Lake from an emerging wilderness setting to a highly developed na tional park cultural landscape by the late 1960’s. From that point to the present the pendulum has swung back to less concentrated development at the lake and more of an em phasis on wilderness recreation. Perhaps the future will bring a balance between these tw o extremes. If Yellowstone Lake is to become that “pleasure ground for the futur e” that Gustavus Doane spoke of in 1889, it will take a balanced view on the park from park administration, concessionaires, and visitors to make that happen. A Yellowstone concessionaire brochures hints at this more balanced view that takes into account the mu ltiple perspectives on use, development, and recreation at Yellowstone Lake: “The excitement of this great lake calls to its shore visitors in a variety of ways. 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APPENDIX Visitor Statistics for Yellowstone National Park, 1872-1966 Note: Chart based on Haines 1977b, 478-480 0 500,000 1,000,000 1,500,000 2,000,000 2,500,000 1 8 7 2 1 8 7 6 1 8 8 0 1 8 8 4 1 8 8 8 1 8 9 2 1 8 9 6 1 9 0 0 1 9 0 4 1 9 0 8 1 9 1 2 1 9 1 6 1 9 2 0 1 9 2 4 1 9 2 8 1 9 3 2 1 9 3 6 1 9 4 0 1 9 4 4 1 9 4 8 1 9 5 2 1 9 5 6 1 9 6 0 1 9 6 4 Ye a r V i s i t a t i o n 357