Ranger Archivist?

It would seem a brief explanation is in order to clarify the title of this blog.  The name is really a pun of a job that was created in the 1920s – ranger naturalist.  The term alludes to park staff we refer to today as interpretive rangers, but the job of interpreting nature is as old – if not older – as the National Park Service itself.  In fact, John Muir used the word a year before Yellowstone National Park was created in 1872.  He said, “I’ll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche.  I’ll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can.”  Author and ranger Butch Farrabee explained that Muir’s use of the word “interpret” is cited as the beginning of the term’s eventual use by the NPS, a significant fact in the heritage of the organization (2003, 41).

However, it was soldiers from the U.S. Army who should be credited with being the first interpretive rangers.  Farrabee writes:

"The United States Army replaced Yellowstone’s civilian staff in 1886, and energetic and often-bored soldiers were called upon to explain the park’s novel natural features to the curious visitors.  Troopers were instructed to give those who inquired what information they could, “always in a courteous manner.”  Not particularly scientific in nature, these early geyser-cone talks supplemented the information that stagecoach drivers and other park quasi-guides were providing their guest, and were essentially the original National Park interpretive programs" (2003, 43).  

The job of protecting parks was returned to civilian control soon after the NPS was created in 1916.  Four years later both Yosemite and Yellowstone began interpretive programs which included guided hikes, evening campfire talks, and lectures.  In Yellowstone, Superintendent Horace Albright appointed Ranger Milton Skinner to the position of park naturalist, thus creating NPS’s first ranger naturalist.*  

So, if the NPS can have a ranger naturalist, they surely have room for a ranger archivist!

Upcoming articles:

• A Brief History of the Junior Ranger Program
• A Field Guide to NPS Uniform Regulations (yes, really)
• Stars, Stripes, and the DOI Length of Service Award
• Fort Yellowstone, the 22nd Infantry Regiment, and the Immortal 15
• A Field Guide to DOI and NPS Awards
• The Myth of the Dual Mission (of the NPS)

*Skinner also created Yellowstone’s first museum in 1920 in the old bachelor officers’ quarters at Fort Yellowstone, i.e. Mammoth Hot Springs.  The building is used today as a visitor center.

Charles R. “Butch” Farabee, Jr.  National Park Ranger: An American Icon.  Lanham, Maryland: Rinehart Publishers, 2003.