Making a Mannequin

I spent most of today constructing a mannequin for the early ranger uniform that I will be using in the "Creation of the National Park Service" case. The HRC does not have any mannequins, but will be getting some in a few weeks, so this one will be temporary.

I began by attaching a padded coat hanger to a large, torso sized piece of block ethafoam wrapped with batting. I attached them by tying them together with twill tape. Then, I covered the whole thing with muslin, which I pinned into the block ethafoam.

To hold the pants onto the bottom of the ethafoam, I made a makeshift belt out of a strip of muslin. Then, I made "suspenders" out of twill tape to hold the pants up. I rolled pieces of sheet ethafoam and tied them into tubes, which I used to "fill" the legs, and later, the arms. Next, I placed the coat on the hanger and used a little batting to fill the extra space between the jacket and the hanger and block ethafoam. I "filled" the arms the same way I did the legs.

The finished product will hang from a pole across the top of the exhibit case. Making the mannequin was definitely a process of trial and error, and I had to be creative to make it work. In the future, I will certainly appreciate the convenience of using a mannequin!

Label Writing for Creation of NPS Case

Today I concentrated on label writing for the "Creation of the National Park Service" exhibit case. I also picked out a few new objects for that case. Here are some of the objects and labels I worked on today:

Group Label for case:

In the first decade of the twentieth century, internal and external forces pushed Congress to transfer power in Yellowstone from military to civilian administration:

• Poor discipline and morale among the ranks at Fort Yellowstone
• Soldiers’ general lack of park knowledge due to frequent transfers
• Numerous government agencies were responsible for separate areas of park management, which was expensive and unwieldy
• As WWI approached, it became hard to justify a military presence in the park when soldiers would be needed overseas
• The problem of poaching was being replaced with the need to guide and police tourists

On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Service Organic Act into law. This began the two-year transfer of power from military to civilian governance under the newly formed National Park Service. The Army and the park service administered Yellowstone together until the last soldiers left in 1918.

Object Labels:

Ranger Boots, Circa 1925
YELL 106496

Revolver, Circa 1915
Smith and Wesson .38 – Special
YELL 134032a

Two Automobiles with Rangers and Visitors, Circa 1920
M.P. Skinner, Photographer
YELL 87186 (Reproduction)

Beginning in 1915, the new popularity of the automobile brought record numbers of visitors into Yellowstone. Updating the park’s infrastructure would be a major challenge during the early years of National Park Service administration.

Vehicle Decal, 1923

YELL 129070 (Reproduction)

Megaphone, Circa 1920
YELL 14124

Early park rangers in Yellowstone used megaphones to speak to large audiences during interpretive programs.

Ranger Petting Deer, Circa 1920
M.P. Skinner, Photographer
YELL 87091-1 (Reproduction)

Stephen Mather, Circa 1920
Photographer Unknown
YELL 7713 (Reproduction)

Working as assistant to the secretary of the interior beginning in 1915, Stephen Mather led a campaign to establish a federal agency to manage all of the national parks. When the National Park Service was established in 1916, Mather became the agency’s first director.

Horace Albright, 1925
Photographer Unknown
YELL 7634 (Reproduction)

As Stephen Mather’s secretary, Horace Albright attended meetings and discussions throughout the summer of 1916 about the National Park Service bill until its enactment in August. Named assistant director when the National Park Service was created, Albright served as acting director when Mather fell ill later that year. In that role, from 1917 to 1919, Albright set up the organizational structure and procedures for the National Park Service and urged Congress to appropriate money to run the new agency. Albright later served as superintendent of Yellowstone National Park (and of Yosemite briefly) from 1919-1929 and as director of the National Park Service from 1929-1933.

Rangers on Horseback, Early 1920’s
Photographer Unknown
YELL 10116 (Reproduction)

“I am convinced that with a properly organized civil guard the administration of this park could be brought to a higher and better standard, in two or three years, than could ever be attained by the successive changes of troops detailed by the roster from the Army... Cost of protection by a civil guard would be less than one-third of the cost by the present method.”
–Superintendent Young, Superintendent’s Annual Report for Yellowstone National Park, 1907

Label Writing for Poaching Case

This morning, I met with Bob Flather, a retired park ranger and historian who has spent years researching army scouts and snowshoe cabins. He was able to provide me with a lot of useful information and clarify some important details for me. Bob recommend that I concentrate on the difficulty, hardship, and danger of being an army scout.

After meeting with Bob, I concentrated on object labels for the case on poaching and army scouts. I was able to come very close to finishing my labels for that case. The only label I have left to write will summarize the case as a whole. Here are some examples of labels I wrote today:

Skis, Date Unknown
YELL 1956
YELL 1957

Army scouts patrolled Yellowstone’s backcountry on cross country skis, called “snowshoes.”

Mud Volcano Cabin in Winter, 1913
F.J. Haynes, Photographer
Courtesy Haynes Foundation Collection, Montana Historical Society, Helena, MT
YELL 127295 (Reproduction)

Before the first snowshoe cabins were built in 1890, army scouts slept outside with no shelter from the elements. Equipped with stoves and mats for sleeping, the tiny cabins provided limited comfort and protection from the weather. On occasion, unfortunate scouts would arrive, shivering and exhausted, to find their cabin burned by poachers or the roof caved in from the weight of the snow.

Scouts on Patrol Trip to Fall River, 1897
Photographer Unknown
YELL 7147 (Reproduction)

“I never knew until I had seen the Park itself in all its immensity, its impenetrableness, its forbidding and awful regions of forest, precipice and crag, until I had traversed with weary feet some of those endless miles of bottomless snow; until I learned how utterly small, lonely and insignificant a man looks and feels in the midst of solitude so vast, so boundless, so tremendous and so appalling.”

-- Emerson Hough, reporter for Forest and Stream magazine

Capture of Poacher Ed Howell, 1915
Photographer Unknown
YELL 1659 (Reproduction)

“When I saw him he was about 400 yards away from the cover of the timber. I knew I had to cross that open space before I could get him sure. I had no rifle, but only an army revolver, .38 cal. the new model… Howell’s rifle was leaning against a dead buffalo, about fifteen feet away from him… I thought I could maybe get across without Howell seeing or hearing me, for the wind was blowing very hard. So I started over from the cover, going as fast as I could travel. Right square across the way I found a ditch about ten feet wide, and you know how hard it is to make a jump with snowshoes (skis) on level ground. I had to try it, anyhow and somehow I got over. I ran up within fifteen feet of Howell between him and his gun before I called to him to throw up his hands, and that was the first he knew of anyone but him being anywhere in that country.”

--Army Scout Felix Burgess on his capture of poacher Ed Howell

Army Officers with Buffalo Confiscated from Poacher, circa 1900
Photographer Unknown
YELL 7757 (Reproduction)

A cache of eight buffalo heads was discovered by Army scouts at Ed Howell’s campsite just before capturing the notorious poacher.

Camera, 1895
The Blair Camera Co., Model 2367
Used by Army Scout Peter Holt
YELL 7148

“an old camera that I carried for many years in my pack on snowshoe trips…”
--Peter Holt, Letter to Chester Allinson Lindsley, December 1925

I know some of the labels are a little long, but the exhibit is very small so I am hoping people will take the time to read them. The rest of the labels will be very short or "tombstone" labels only to make up for the length of the text in some of these. I think the first person accounts will make the exhibit a lot more engaging, especially Felix Burgess' account of capturing the famous poacher, Ed Howell.

Exhibit Research and Label Writing

Today I continued my exhibit research, concentrating on the "Creation of the National Park Service" case. I identifed the reasons the Army administration of the park prior to 1916 was inadequate and took notes to use later in writing exhibit labels. After researching most of the morning, I was able to begin drafting exhibit labels for that case in the afternoon. Here is what I have so far (that I am satisfied with). It may be a little long, but it is still in draft form:

Unique challenges during military management of Yellowstone made the creation of a civilian administration desirable for park administrators and members of Congress. Poor discipline, lack of park knowledge, and frequent transfers in and out of Yellowstone made soldiers ineffective. Several government agencies – the Army Corps of Engineers, the Secretary of War, and the Department of Interior – were all responsible for separate areas of park management, resulting in expensive and unwieldy park administration. After thirty-two years of military management in Yellowstone, President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Service Organic Act into law in August 1916, creating the National Park Service.

I also spent considerable time looking for copies of the original Lacey Act of 1894 and National Park Service Organic Act of 1916 for my cases. The Lacey Act allowed for prosecution of poachers in the park, while the Organic Act created the civilian-run National Park Service. I found related documents, as well as the text of the documents I was looking for, but was unable to find scans of the original documents.

The museum interns met this afternoon to discuss our progress on our cases and to determine where our topics (and objects) overlap. We want to make sure our cases compliment each other and are not overly repetitive.

Object Selection and Scanning

Today I continued working on the new exhibit. I pulled all of the objects that I have chosen so far for the cases. The three dimensional objects I have chosen for the poaching/civilian and army scout case include a bear trap, a small game trap, wooden cross country skiis, a camera used by a scout, a leather bound pamphlet of rules and regulations for Army soldiers and civilian scouts, a rifle confiscated from a poacher, and a pistol found in a cache which likely belonged to a poacher. I have also chosen several photos portraying scouts and the snoeshoe cabins they used in the winter. After pulling the objects from storage, I scanned the photographs so they will be ready to print and mount for the exhibit.

Mud Volcano Snoeshoe Cabin

Dead Buffalo, killed by poachers

Soldiers from the Soda Butte Soldier Station

Army Scouts

I am having a little trouble finding three dimensional objects for the "Creation of the National Park Service" case. So far, all I have an early NPS ranger uniform (including hat, boots, shirt, and pants). I have selected a few photographs for this case as well: portraits of Stephen Mather and Chester Lindsley, who were both very important figures during the transition from Army to civilian control of the park. I still need to select a portrait of Horace Albright, an early superintendent of Yellowstone and later, the director of the National Park Service.

Chester A. Lindsley

Stephen Mather

After scanning the photographs, I made identification, or "tombstone" labels for the objects I have already selected. Then, I went to the library to do some additional research for the exhibit text labels. I found some transcripts of scout diaries and a few articles, and proceeded to read them and some history books for the remainder of the day. At 5:00 pm, my brother (who is visiting) came by for an insider's tour of the collection and storage area. He was really excited to see all the objects and what I have been working on all summer.

Exhibit Work

I worked on the exhibit almost all day today. In the morning, I continued researching for my cases and looked for objects that would be appropriate for the topics I am covering. In the morning, I met with Chris, who I will be working on the "Creation of the National Park Service" case with. Chris is an intern at the archives here at the HRC. We spent about an hour looking for photos and documents in the archives and discussing our game plan for the exhibit. At first, we had different ideas about what the case should cover. Chris wanted to focus on animal management issues because he had uncovered some really great photos and documents from the early years of the National Park Service related to this topic. Some photos even showed President Coolidge feeding bears during a park visit in the late 1920's. I had a different idea of what the case should be about after reading through the book on the history of park management in Yellowstone. We discussed our viewpoints and decided to focus more on the administrative history, especially since another case will likely cover animal and tourist management during the Army years.

After lunch, I met with Maeve, an intern from the library who I will be working on my Army years case with. Maeve and I went into the museum storage area and examined all the objects I had found in ANCS+ that might work in our case. Yesterday, we had thought the case would cover both Army responses to poaching and animal management. Now another group will cover animal management and our case will cover how both the Army and civilian scouts fought poaching in the park. Some of the objects we will be using include skiis (used by Army and civilian scouts to patrol the park in the winter), bear and beaver traps, a gun confiscated from a poacher, a leather book of rules and regulations for army and civilian scouts, and photos of scouts, army officers, and poachers with their kills.

Because the library and archive interns have only a few hours every week to meet with us about the exhibit, today Bridgette gave the museum interns the okay to take the lead on the exhibit cases as we will be working exclusively on the exhibits from here on out. We will be consulting our partners for their opinions about things, to edit labels, and things like that, but we are now able to start making executive decisions and choosing objects to put in the cases and scanning photos for the exhibit. This will definitely allow us to make more progress on the exhibit and I am excited to get to work!

Exhibit Research

This morning I began doing research for the two cases I will be working on for the new exhibit about early park administration in Yellowstone. The two cases I will be responsible for are on the Army years (one of three cases on this topic) and on the creation of the National Park Service. I started by reading a chapter in "Managing the 'Matchless Wonders': A History of Administrative Development in Yellowstone National Park, 1872-1965." From that resource, I learned about the Army years, and the main issues the Army dealt with when they ran the park.

After reading a while, I took a break to rehouse a sign from the previous exhibit, which the other interns deinstalled on Thursday (I had the day off because my brother was visiting). The previous exhibit was about the fires of 1988, which burned one third of Yellowstone National Park. The sign I rehoused was a trail sign that was burned in the fire, but is still readable. I made a box to fit the sign and lined it with ethafoam. I secured the sign in the box with twine tape.

The rehoused sign from the '88 fires

After rehousing the sign, the three museum interns working on Army cases (me, Erica, Jake) had a meeting to determine the topics for the three cases. Since I had just read about that era, I suggested that one of the cases be about poaching and vandalism and another be about army management of tourists and animals. Jake and Erica liked the idea, and we decided that the third case should be about Fort Yellowstone, the army base in Mammoth that remains to this day.

Specifically, I will be working on the Army case about poaching and vandalism in the park. I started looking for objects from the collection that would be appropriate for that case, and came up with a list of objects and photos that might work by searching in ANCS+. I am going to wait to look at the objects until Maeve, the library intern who I will be working on the case with, will be available to look at them with me (she has the day off today).

I spent the remainder of the day reading and continuing my research for my exhibit cases. The exhibit is our priority for the rest of the summer.