Historic Game Ranch: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Yellowstone National Park, National Park Service

Nelson, Peggy; Fuller, Brian; Gibney, Tom

The Stephens Creek Administrative site is located in the northwestern section of Yellowstone National Park near the town of Gardiner, Montana. The Historic Game Ranch lies within this site, positioned in the Upper Yellowstone River Valley at the base Electric Peak. Stephens Creek flows past the site to its confluence with the Yellowstone River. The Historic Game Ranch site, formerly a vernacular homestead within the rural ranching river valley, was adapted and modified by Yellowstone National Park in the 1930s to serve game conservation and landscape naturalization programs through the Emergency Conservation Work program. In 1934, a landscape architect employed by the National Park Service Branch of Plans and Design designed this complex, which is now considered a historic designed landscape. After constructing the facility (1934-35), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) operated the ranch and nursery until 1942. The nursery was disbanded in 1942, coinciding with the end of funding for the the ECW program. The park later ceased irrigating the hay fields in response to a shift in game management policy that made it inappropriate to feed wildlife. The period of significance, 1934 to 1942, includes this span of development and operation. The unpaved historic access road that leads to the complex traverses sagebrush flats that are reminiscent of the extensive hay fields that preceded them. Structures built using NPS Rustic architectural principles are organized into two clusters: the residential area and the barn area. Other extant improvements from that period include a small fire hose shelter and two hydrants located near the residence and garage, indications of the historic system that provided water to the residential complex for domestic needs and fire prevention. Landscaping consists of the ornamental and agricultural vegetation that predated the 1930s park service acquisition of the site, including a small apple orchard in front of the residence and a row of remnant poplars lining one side of the access road. The historic nursery site, now primarily serving as the park horse corral, lies at the end of the access road. A small nursery lies within the historic nursery perimeter fence, sharing the area with the corral. The historic native plant nursery was constructed in 1935 to supply trees and shrubs for the park's landscape naturalization program. It was protected by a tall game- and rodent-proof perimeter fence. The area also contains shelter belt plantings to protect the plants from the wind, an irrigation system, seed beds, transplant areas, shade screens and bed frames, drying screens, and a storage shed. Today, the small park nursery is reminiscent of the once extensive nursery operations. The complex is located at a lower elevation than much of the park, currently houses utilitarian functions that require year-round access, such as the horse operation, storage, and the law enforcement shooting range. Historically compatible resource conservation operations continue to occur at the bison capture and holding facility at the end of the former nursery site. The Historic Game Ranch continues to have important associations with conservation-oriented land uses, as well as with the Rustic design style as seen in the residence, garage, and barn. They exemplify a time when the feeding of wildlife, strategically placed patrol cabins, and the growing of native plants were important aspects in conserving natural resources. Today, wildlife may graze at the ranch, but feeding is not managed. The irrigation ditches are linked to the non-extant hay fields that were part of the game conservation program. Through these remaining characteristics, the ranch landscape conveys its role in the park’s landscape naturalization program, which was an essential component of NPS landscape preservation ideals and the rustic design principles of that era.

Historic Game Ranch: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Yellowstone National Park, National Park Service

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