The nationally significant Fort Yellowstone-Mammoth Hot
Springs Historic District is in the northwestern portion of Yellowstone
National Park on an old hot springs formation. The buildings on this
plateau represent the first development of administrative and concession
facilities in the park.
For the decade after 1872 when Yellowstone National Park was established,
the park was under serious threat from those who would exploit, rather
than protect, its resources. Poachers killed animals. Souvenir hunters
broke large pieces off the geysers and hot springs. Developers set up
camps for tourists, along with bath and laundry facilities at hot springs.
Civilian superintendents were hired to preserve and protect this land
from 1872 through 1886. The good intentions of these early administrators,
however, were no match for their lack of experience, funds and manpower.
Word got back to Congress that the park was in trouble and legislators
refused to appropriate any funds for the park's administration in 1886.
Yellowstone National Park turned to the U.S. Army for help. Invoking
the Sundry Civil Act of 1883, the Secretary of the Interior called upon
the Secretary of War for assistance in protecting the park. The Army
came to the rescue and in 1886 men from Company M, First United States
Cavalry, Fort Custer, Montana Territory under Captain Moses Harris came
to Yellowstone to begin what would be more than 30 years of military
presence in Yellowstone.
When Company M arrived in August 1886, they lived in temporary frame
buildings at Camp Sheridan, established at the foot of the Mammoth Hot
Springs Terraces. After enduring five cold, harsh winters, the cavalry
realized there was no end in sight to this assignment. Therefore, in
1890, Congress appropriated $50,000 for a permanent post. So the days
of Fort Yellowstone began.
The first buildings of Fort Yellowstone were finished by late 1891.
As more troops were needed, more buildings were constructed: officers'
quarters, guard house, headquarters, barracks for enlisted men, stables
for their horses and non-commissioned officers' quarters. In 1909, Scottish
masons began constructing sandstone buildings here - among them the
Albright Visitor Center (then the Bachelor Officers' Quarters) and the
administration building (then a two-troop barracks for 200 men). The
Chapel, the final building constructed during the Army's tenure, was
also constructed of native sandstone. The stone from these buildings
was obtained from a local quarry between the Gardner River and the Mammoth
Campground.
In 1910, at the height of the Army's presence in Yellowstone, there
were 324 soldiers stationed here - plus some families and numerous civilian
employees. These troops staffed not only Fort Yellowstone, but were
stationed throughout the park in small details at various outposts.
The U.S. Army constructed backcountry cabins and snowshoe cabins to
provide facilities for troops patrolling for poachers. Typically these
were about 16 miles apart-a day's travel. The four backcountry cabins
surviving from this period are still used by the National Park Service
for backcountry patrols (visitor safety, law enforcement, poaching),
to temporarily house researchers, and as visitor contract stations.
Located in remote parts of the park that are accessible only by foot
and horseback, these cabins serve as welcome refuges for crews where
they can rest and get out of the cold, rain, and snow.
Each cabin is rectangular in the "Rocky Mountain" style which
is exemplified by the entrance and covered porch with a gable end. This
contrasts with eastern and midwestern log cabins where the entrance
is often found on a side wall and the covered entry porch incorporates
a shallower pitched shed roof. The roofs are cedar shingles, but were
originally sod. Foundations (floors) were originally dirt, but have
been replaced with concrete. Doors are on the south side. The cabins
rest on concrete foundations with the sill logs directly on the foundation.
Each cabin is on the edge of a relatively flat, irregularly-shaped
meadow. Vegetation in the meadow area consists of thick bunchgrasses
with a predominance of Idaho fescue. Outside the meadow, the canopy
is lodgepole pine, with some Englemann spruce and subalpine fir.
Cabins are one or two rooms incorporating sleeping, cooking and work
areas. Interiors are simple. Cabins have both wood heat and cooking
stoves. Interior furnishing are typically sparse and include bunk beds,
bookcases, table, and may have desks.
Thorofare Patrol Cabin
Built in 1915, the Thorofare patrol cabin is 27.8 feet (L), 15.5 feet
(W), and 12.5 feet (H) and consists of two rooms. The saddle notched
log walls consist of logs that measure 10-12 inches in diameter at the
butt. The gaps between the logs have mortar and lodgepole dowel chinking
on the exterior. The roof extends out ten feet to form a covered porch
with a wood deck and support posts at each corner. The gable ends are
a continuation of the log walls from below and are trimmed in a descending
pattern from sill log to roofline.
Fox Creek Patrol Cabin
Constructed in 1915, the Fox Creek Cabin is one room with an overhanging
porch (21.5 feet [L], 15.0 feet [W], and 12.2 feet [H]). The log walls
have dovetail notching at the corners. The roof extends out 4.5 feet
to form a covered porch with a wood deck. The cabin has been modified
by replacing original dirt floor with concrete and the original sod
roof with cedar shingles (by the CCC in the 1930s).
Harebell Patrol Cabin
This 1915 cabin is just inside the south boundary of the park. Dimensions
are 23.0 feet (L), 16.2 feet (W), and 11.0 feet (H). The walls feature
saddle notching. The gable roof extends out four feet to form an overhand.
The cement floor has a 3.3 feet x 3.7 feet x 4.3 feet cellar in the
south corner. The cellar is used to store canned goods.
Buffalo Lake
The men of the "snowshoe cavalry" liked their rough life
in the remote recesses of the mountains and often applied freely for
detached service. The life was demanding and often isolated, rugged
and dangerous, and very different from that most of them had known before.
Edwin Kelsey, who served as a soldier in Yellowstone in 1898, later
became the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. Private Kelsey's letters
to his niece describe a difficult but very enjoyable life as a Yellowstone
soldier. "December 3, 1898. Left here for the Post [Fort Yellowstone]
the Sunday before Thanksgiving...I made 26 miles the first day, staying
all night at the Norris [Soldier] Station. The next morning it was 22
degrees below zero, but I pulled out for the Post, which I reached about
two p.m. after a cold hard ride of 20 miles." It is not difficult
to imagine how important the shelter afforded by the backcountry cabins
and snowshoe outposts that the Army constructed was during such outings.
The army built Fort Yellowstone and backcountry outposts during the
years they managed the park and these buildings may have the highest
integrity of any army post from that period. When you visit Mammoth
Hot Springs, park headquarters, be sure to take the Fort Yellowstone
Walking Tour which begins at the Albright Visitor Center.
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