The History of Badlands National Monument and the White River (Big) Badlands of South DakotaMattison, Ray H.
History
The History of Badlands National Monument and the White River (Big) Badlands of South Dakota
Mattison, Ray H.
Badlands National Park (S.D.) -- History
The decision to develop the Cedar Pass area for headquarters greatly
altered development plans. The CCC enrollees numbering 207 in February
1940 were encamped at Quinn Table some 35 miles west of Cedar Pass.
Since much of the development was taking place at Cedar Pass, it was
necessary to drive them between these two points each day.[160]
One of the great handicaps of Cedar Pass as a headquarters area was the
lack of water. To develop a satisfactory supply, the NPS found it
necessary to go to the White River, three miles south. One of the major
projects undertaken soon after selecting the headquarters site was to
dig a trench and lay pipe to the river. Since this stream is
intermittent above ground, but has a dependable subsurface flow, water
was collected in perforated pipes laid on hard clay and shale about
eight feet below the river bed. The pipe brought water to a sump on the
river bank where it was pumped to a 100,000-gallon storage tank above
the headquarters area.[161] Work was begun on this reservoir in April
1940 and completed by the CCC in September 1941. At the same time the
CCC also erected a checking station at Pinnacles which Stricklin and his
family occupied from November 15, 1940, until about May 15, 1943.[162]
Handicapped by the location of the original CCC camp at Quinn Table, a
new camp was authorized at Cedar Pass and work on it began in June 1941.
Five months later the new camp was occupied.[164]
At that time the only visitor-contact point in the Cedar Pass area was
at Cedar Pass Lodge. During the summer season Mr. Millard lectured
nightly to lodge guests on the geologic history of the Badlands, thereby
initiating interpretive programs. He also showed movies of the Badlands
and other scenic areas. A temporary park ranger, who checked travel in
the Cedar Pass area during the day, took part in the evening
programs.[165]
[Illustration: Figure 21 PINNACLES RANGER
STATION AND CHECKING STATION, 1941
Completed in 1941, the ranger station also served as quarters until
January 1965 when the new Pinnacles ranger station-residence was
completed. The checking station was removed about 1958 to make way
for road improvement, and the old ranger station was razed in April
1967.[163]]
The problem of stock grazing in the national monument grew increasingly
worse during the 1940’s. The acting custodian complained early in 1940:
Until the boundary is fenced and we are in a better position to know
what is private and what is monument land, there appears to be very
little that can be done to prevent this.[166]
In December 1941 he wrote in a similar vein:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account