Western Center for Historic Preservation

Look for us at Saving Places!

2012-01-26T14:19:00.002-07:00

Headed to the Colorado Preservation Inc. Saving Places conference in Denver next week? Keep an eye out for WCHP Director Craig Struble who will be presenting on Thursday, and for our poster! It should be a great conference, complete with a "Linseed Oil Paint for the Preservation of Historic Wood" presentation. We've been using linseed oil paint for a few years now, and are happy to see that others think it's a great as we do!

For more information on the conference, check out Colorado Preservation, Inc.'s website.

See you there!

We knew it all along...

2012-01-26T14:02:00.004-07:00

This week, Preservation Green Lab released a study showing that the greenest building is the one that's already built. We all knew it intuitively, but having the cold hard facts strengthens our arguments for rehabilitation over demolition. For a great summary of and a link to the report, visit the National Trust for Historic Preservation's website.

Volunteers at the White Grass Dude Ranch Rehabilitation Project

Thank You Becket-Chimney Corners!

2011-07-12T08:40:00.001-06:00

For the past few days, members of the Becket-Chimney Corners YMCA Summer Service Program have been hard at work out at White Grass Dude Ranch. The teenaged team hails from Becket, Massachusetts and has been putting their skills to use through their assistance with the chinking of Cabin 1160 in addition to the installation of an ADA ramp at Cabin 1155. We here at the WCHP just wanted to say THANK YOU for all your help and good luck with the rest of travels and work this summer!

And It's Summer Again (Finally!) in the Valley...

2011-07-07T16:39:00.002-06:00

It unfortunately has been a few months, and a very long winter since we last posted an update. With the last of the snow finally starting to melt off the mountain peaks, we decided that the time had probably come to let everyone know what we’ve been up to during the past few wintry months. Well accustomed to the long, cold winters you'll not be surprised to hear that we’ve been hard at work through it all- it would have been a shame to let all those feet of snow slow us down.

So what have we been up to you might ask? An excellent question! Well, to be honest, we may have cheated the weather for a little bit and headed over to Joshua Tree National Park in Twentynine Palms, California. But there was a better reason than merely dodging the snow- we had an assignment there helping out with the restoration of the McHaney Cabin. But fear not, we did get our fair share of snow time while we were doing window, roof, and stucco repair on the Dewey Gifford House at Captiol Reef National Park over in Torrey, Utah.

Not spending all of our time away from home, we continued and are still presently continuing our restoration work both at the Brinkerhoff Lodge and at our White Grass Dude Ranch (both located in Grand Teton National Park, our current place of residence) where we now have three buildings finished and currently occupied by two interns and our caretaker- a position new this season!

So that’s pretty much the jist what we’ve been up to while the rest of you were snowed in at home. We have a lot of great projects planned for the summer, some of which are already well underway. Hopefully more posts to follow about the aforementioned projects as the summer rolls on. We'd love for you to check in from time to time when you have a minute or two- it’s going to be a great summer!

Thank you Jackson Hole Community School Volunteers!!

2010-10-14T08:20:00.000-06:00

Thank you so much to the fantastic group of high schoolers who came out from the Jackson Hole Community School this past week! Four students - Esther, Henry, Miles, and Dan - and their professor, Christian, came out to the Lucas Fabian homestead to help us secure the window shutters in preparation for winter. The Lucas Fabian site was homesteaded in 1913 and was the home of the pioneering single woman Geraldine Lucas. The homestead is also significant to the development of Grand Teton National Park as it served as the summer residence for Harold Fabian, a key player in the 1950 expansion of the park lands.

It was a great time and we are so appreciative! Good luck with the rest of the school year and we would love to have you out again!

Thanks guys! You were the best!

Thank you Beckett-Chimney Corners YMCA!!

2010-09-23T13:11:00.000-06:00

It's been quite a long time since our last post and we are overdue in thanking some fantastic kids and counselors for volunteering with us over the summer! Three groups of really hardworking campers came all the way from Massachusetts' Beckett Chimney Corners YMCA Camp to help. All three groups, YAS White, YAS Green, & YAS Blue, helped us to rechink the Hammond Cabin at White Grass Dude Ranch. It was a little bit messy and a lot more fun! Thank you again Beckett-Chimney Corners! Hope to see you next year!

WCHP's Amelia & Lauren and the Group from BCC YAS White.

Some our our BCC YAS White volunteers!

Our awesome group from BCC YAS Green!

One of the girls from the BCC YAS Green group... Thank you!!!

Go Team Blue! A big thank you to BCC YAS Blue!

Some of our BCC YAS Blue boys chinking on the Hammond Cabin.

Thank You, Vertical Media!

2010-08-02T08:03:00.000-06:00

On July 29th, volunteers from Vertical Media worked with WCHP staff on several preservation projects. At the Bar BC Ranch, the volunteers replaced missing red roll roofing on several buildings, continuing the excellent roofing work they performed at Bar BC last summer. In addition, they helped stabilize another Bar BC cabin using tarps to protect against weather damage. Later that day, at the White Grass Dude Ranch, the volunteers placed chinking between exterior wall logs on the Hammond Cabin. Thank you for another day of great service work!

Thank You, Higher Grounds Teton Adventure Camp Volunteers!

2010-07-26T07:57:00.000-06:00

Higher Grounds participants from Miami, Florida (hosted by the Teton Science School) volunteered at Mormon Row on July 25th. The group worked at the Bunkhouse (located behind the "Pink House") replacing missing chinking and repairing a window on the west side of the building. These repairs will help protect the Bunkhouse from future weather and rodent damage. Thank you, Higher Grounds volunteers and the Teton Science School!

WCHP Helps Launch Historic Menor's Ferry

2010-07-22T09:49:00.000-06:00

On July 13th, WCHP crew members Al Williams, Greg Dodson, Jeff Olson, Chris Frank, and Tim Green helped Grand Teton National Park launch the Menor's Ferry. The historic ferry was lifted by a front loader (slightly more horsepower than the traditional mule team...) and rolled on logs into the Snake River. Once in the water, the ferry was attached to the cable system which guides it across the river. The ferry is now operational and will be for the remainder of the summer season. Check out the WCHP project page for a description of recent preservation work in the Menor's Ferry Historic District.

Historic Cabin at Center of Conflict

2010-06-29T13:40:00.000-06:00

While not in our neck of the woods, we're always interested when a log cabin makes the news! The National Trust featured this as their story of the day today--it's a solid article outlining the challenges faced by preservation organizations when preservation and wilderness advocates come face to face in the woods. In this case, the cabin in question is the Monte Wolfe cabin in the Eldorado National Forest in California. Although determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, wilderness advocates argue that the mere existence of the cabin in the Mokelumne Wilderness violates the Wilderness Act of 1964.

Historic Cabin at Center of Conflict

Thank You, Grauer School!

2010-05-20T15:11:00.000-06:00

On May 13 a very international group of students from the Grauer School in San Diego, hosted by the Teton Science School, visited Grand Teton to help prepare the Menor's Ferry for the season. Led by Mike Nicklas from Interpretation, the twenty students helped clean the ferry and then re-caulk it, between them putting in a total of 60 hours of work. THANK YOU!

When the ferry is launched this summer, it will sink as soon as it enters the water. After a week or so on the bottom of the Snake River, the wood will have swollen enough to seal all the seams. The hulls will then be pumped out, and Menor's Ferry will be afloat again! The efforts of our volunteers will be greatly appreciated by all who enjoy a ride on the ferry this summer!

Western Center for Historic Preservation: Old Santa Fe Trail Office

2010-05-10T11:42:00.001-06:00

Written by Betsy Engle

Preservation and Skills Training Team

In March, a WCHP crew traveled to New Mexico to do preservation work on the Old Santa Fe Trail Building. Constructed in Oklahoma City in the late 1930s, the building was begun by the WPA (Works Progress Administration) during the Depression and completed by the Civilian Conservation Corp. Influenced by a blossoming New Mexico regional architectural style called Spanish-Pueblo Revival the structure was designed by famed NPS Architect Cecil Doty. In 1937 the National Park Service moved its region III headquarters building from Oklahoma City to Santa Fe, N.M, renaming it “The Old Santa Fe Trail Building.”

The project undertaken by WCHP included repairing the columns that line the interior courtyard of the building. As part of the original construction, the columns were set directly on the flagstone terrace, allowing water to collect on the terrace and causing deterioration on the bottom portion of the columns.

Old Santa Fe Trail Building (Click image to enlarge)

The preservation of the columns took two approaches: first, columns that exhibited significant damage were repaired with a Dutchman repair that replaced the rotted portion of the wood. Second, columns that exhibited less damage were consolidated with epoxy to prevent further deterioration. The columns along the eastern side of the courtyard required additional preservation work. Located on a raised terrace, these columns were set down into the flagstone, which allowed water to collect below the column foundations. Crews filled the holes and cut the columns in order to prevent further damage. All of the columns treated were given new solid concrete foundations that raised the wood from the flagstone, and hopefully from further water damage.

A Dutchman Repair to Column #5

Epoxy Repair to Column #12

New Base on Column #11

The project was executed in cooperation with the service-wide Preservation and Skills Training Program (P.A.S.T.), consisting crafts people from, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, Olympic and Bandelier National Parks.

P.A.S.T. Training

Defending a Building: Jackson Lake Lodge

2010-05-05T11:51:00.001-06:00

Written by Betsy Engle

While I could write a book on the topic of Jackson Lake Lodge (and believe me, I’ve come close), I’ve noticed one reoccurring theme in the history of the building: someone is always defending it. Or perhaps it’s better to say, someone is always attacking it.

From the beginning, critics were skeptical of the lodge. One of my favorite remarks came from Devereaux Butcher, a National Parks Association board member who in 1954 called the lodge, “the ugliest building in the park and monument system.” He continued in his rant to refer to the building as “Alcatraz.” In the 1950s it fell to the Rockefellers, who were responsible for the construction of the great lodge, and columnists such as Jack Goodman, who wrote extensively on the lodge for the New York Times, to defend the building, arguing that while it wasn’t explicitly rustic, it wasn’t bad either.

While a flurry of articles condemned the lodge when it opened in 1955, the attacks didn’t subside completely once the initial excitement died down. In 1973 in his history of Jackson Hole, Frank Calkins wrote that the Jackson Lake Lodge was “surely one of the ugliest buildings in Wyoming. Sh*t brown in color and as slab-sided as Menor’s outhouse, it looks like something the Nazis built to fortify their Siegfried Line.” Harsh words indeed!

But again the lodge prevailed. In 2002 the Jackson Lake Lodge was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, quieting critics and ensuring its survival—which, at the base of the magnificent Tetons, was never really in question.

But critics are still unsympathetic to the building, which brings me to last week, when I was given the opportunity to defend the lodge I’m so biased-ly attached to.*

So no one said it was “ugly”, no one said it was “undeserving.” They just said it was different. “The Ahwahnee hotel is Underwood’s masterpiece. The Jackson Lake Lodge, well, it’s…different,” and, “Hard to believe the same architect built those magnificent rustic lodges and then this, isn’t it?” were the common reactions among our educated guests. But the Jackson Lake Lodge isn’t different. Well, not entirely.

In 1927 Gilbert Stanley Underwood was charged with constructing a lodge that harmonized with its surroundings. The result was the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite, with its vertical stone piers that mimic the stoic cliffs of the valley in which it sits. At the Jackson Lake Lodge twenty years later, Underwood was given the same task. He was to build a lodge that harmonized with the national park setting. The result of this challenge was a flat, low building that disappears into the landscape.

But it’s more than just the landscape of Grand Teton and Yosemite that is different: the buildings are very distinct in their appearance and impression. But they suit the same set of goals: keep park development to a minimum and construct buildings that harmonize with their surroundings. What the Park Service meant by “harmonize”, however, was what had changed between 1927 and 1955. In 1955, it no longer meant “complement the scenery”, but instead, “don’t intrude on the scenery.”

To criticize the Jackson Lake Lodge as too utilitarian, as Alcatraz or a Nazi bunker, is to overlook the detail and care that Underwood put into designing a lodge that harmonizes with its setting. It may not be constructed of log, but it is rustic enough in effect to be considered one of Underwood’s masterpieces, not just a “different” building associated with a great architect.

*I wrote my Master’s thesis on the Gilbert Stanley Underwood and the Jackson Lake Lodge in 2009.

See Christine Madrid French's comments on the preservation of modern architecture in the national parks at the National Trust Blog:
Modern Architecture in the National Parks: Living in Harmony

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Archaeological Education and Preservation News: Navajo Twins Pueblo Site

2010-04-13T08:46:00.001-06:00

On their blog, The National Trust for Historic Preservation recently reported the purchase of the Navajo Twins Pueblo site in Bluff, UT by the Southwest Heritage Foundation (SHF). The purchase has already had a positive effect on archaeological education and preservation, increasing discussions about cultural resource preservation and interpretation. The site will be used for scientific research and public education. The National Trust article is definitely worth a read, as is the Grand Canyon Trust News report on the purchase.

Spotlight on Rustic Architecture: Ranger Cabin, Jewel Cave National Monument, South Dakota

2010-04-12T09:56:00.000-06:00

Founded in 1933 by Franklin Delano Roosevelt to combat unemployment throughout the Nation, the Civilian Conservation Corp, or CCC, was responsible for shaping the national park experience prior to Mission 66. The contributions of the CCC were, and remain, many and varied.

This installment of “Spotlight on Rustic Architecture” features a log ranger cabin constructed by the CCC in Jewel Cave National Monument, South Dakota in 1935. Now restored, the structure is a three room, one-story log cabin approximately 34 X 24 feet in a T-plan with a front porch supported by log columns. A shallow intersecting gable end roof caps the structure with cedar shakes and a log ridgepole. The walls are distinct with white chinking and saddle-notched corners with whittle-ends extending 24 inches beyond the building. The foundation is stone.

The building is, as Harvey Kaiser states in his book The National Park Architecture Sourcebook “a superb example of rustic design and construction.” The structure is both compatible with the environment though the use of simple forms and natural materials, and was praised in Albert Good’s 1938 Park and Recreation Structures as an ideal example of log cabin structural techniques.

For more information on the CCC:
John C. Paige, “The Civilian Conservation Corp and the National Park Service, 1933-1942: An Administrative History.” 1985.

For more information on Jewel Cave National Monument, visit their website, http://www.nps.gov/jeca/index.htm

The Historic Structure Report, Cultural Landscape Report, and Historic Resource Study for Jewel Cave are also available on the Jewel Cave website here. Scroll down to “Additional Information.”

*Photographs from the Ranger Cabin Historic Structure Report, 1999

In the news: White Grass

2010-03-30T15:31:00.000-06:00

Two in a row! Well, not really. I actually missed this article at the beginning of March, but thought it was worth posting anyway. Ceci Clover published "White Grass will help teach preservation" in the March 3, 2010 Jackson Hole News & Guide. Take a look at it here.

In the news: Mormon Row

2010-03-29T14:16:00.000-06:00

We always love it when cultural resources in Grand Teton National Park make the news! This morning Wyoming National Public Radio ran a story on Mormon Row, titled "A Community Disappears but Lives on in Hearts of Former Inhabitants."

The piece is available on Wyoming Public Radio's website.

Thank you Jackie Skaggs for the tip! She maintains the Grand Teton National Park News Releases Blog.

The end of an era at White Grass

2010-03-24T11:12:00.000-06:00

When the White Grass Ranch closed in 1985, the structures and the property were turned over to the park. All of the items in those structures, however, were auctioned off. The below article is a report on this auction, and the end of an era at White Grass.

Click on the images for a more legible size version of the article.

White Grass Dude Ranch: Preservation and Sustainability

2010-03-23T10:54:00.000-06:00

The restoration of White Grass has been applauded as the ideal classroom to provide NPS employees in the Rocky Mountain Region with the critical skills and resources imperative to the preservation of rustic architecture. While the restoration of the ranch for education purposes has been the focus of discussions on the project, the adaptive reuse of the historic structures is also an excellent example of how preservation and sustainability go hand-in-hand. As the National Trust for Historic Preservation states on their website,

“Historic preservation can – and should – be an important component of any effort to promote sustainable development. The conservation and improvement of our existing built resources, including re-use of historic and older buildings, greening the existing building stock, and reinvestment in older and historic communities, is crucial to combating climate change.”

Often, the greenest building is the one that already exists. Reusing existing buildings saves on the energy it would take to manufacture or extract new materials, transport those materials to the site, assemble the new structure, and, if an existing structure is demolished to make way for the new building, transport the old materials to a landfill. The White Grass project is an ideal experiment in adapting an existing set of structures for a new use, in recycling the energy already invested in the construction of a building. As a center for preservation education, White Grass is a platform for teaching preservation techniques. It is also a display of what preservationists can bring to the discussion of sustainable development, an equally important lesson for students, contractors, and volunteers in the field of architecture.

Resources for sustainability through preservation:

National Trust for Historic Preservation’s “Sustainability and Historic Preservation” page (includes sustainable tips for preservation):
http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/sustainability/

Whole Building Design Guide “Sustainable Historic Preservation Guide”
Richard Moe’s 2008 speech on preservation and sustainability.

Western Center for Historic Preservation: Tusayan Museum, Grand Canyon National Park

2010-03-16T16:27:00.001-06:00

The Tusayan Museum

In January, a WCHP Crew traveled to the Grand Canyon to perform preservation work on the Tusayan Museum, an eighty-year-old stone structure constructed in the Southwest style. Their work there focused on the weathered and rotting viga* roof ends, which protrude beyond the exterior wall exposing them to the elements. Of the 21 viga ends, all but 5 were replaced around 1987. The WCHP Crew replaced all of the viga ends on the north side of the building and a number of the viga ends on the south side. The remaining viga ends on the south side were either repaired with Dutchman repairs or saved using epoxy consolidant and epoxy patching material applied to the top of the viga ends.

Preparing Replacement Viga Ends

Rotted Viga End

Replaced Viga End

Repaired Viga End

*A viga is a log typically found in Spanish Colonial architecture and its derivatives in the American Southwest that has been stripped of its bark and used as one of a number of roof beams spanning the width of a building between opposite walls. Usually evenly spaced along the length of the roof to support the roof.
Image and definition from: Cyril M. Harris, "American Architecture: An Illustrated Encyclopedia" (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1998).

White Grass Dude Ranch Gigapan

2010-03-11T09:50:00.000-07:00

If you haven't checked out Gigapan, you should. Especially the White Grass Dude Ranch photo! Here's the link, but I've also added it to our link toolbar on the right. There are a whole bunch from Grand Teton National Park--all worth a look!

White Grass Dude Ranch Gigapan

Spotlight on Rustic Architecture: Superintendant’s Residence, Mesa Verde National Park

2010-03-10T15:59:00.000-07:00

“A cherished dictum of the many friends of the national park concept through its formative years has been that structures must be regarded as intrusions in areas set aside to be conserved in their natural state.”

So wrote Albert H. Good in the Apologia of his book, “Park and Recreation Structures” originally published in 1938. This edition of “Spotlight on Rustic Architecture” focuses on the Superintendent’s Residence in Mesa Verde National Park, one of the structures Good identified as an acceptable intrusion.

The Superintenden’s Residence was begun 1921 in the “pueblo revival” style, drawing significantly on the cultural traditions of the area to establish a rustic identity. The structure is specific to the site and region, capturing the “spirit of the architectural prototypes of the American Southwest” through both the cultural reference and material. (Good, 1990, p 83). The projecting vigas, flat roof, and masonry technique were all taken from regional inspirations, including the Mesa Verde cliff dwellings. In some cases, the sandstone was even taken from prehistoric structures, connecting it further to the cultural past of the region.

The structure was originally constructed in 1921 as a four bedroom residence. Two more guestrooms were added in 1928, and a third addition in the 1930s expanded the building further. It is part of the Mesa Verde Administrative District National Historic Landmark.

For more information, see the National Historic Landmark Theme Study at This Link

Photo taken from wikipedia.org

What's going on at the White Grass Dude Ranch?

2010-03-09T12:41:00.001-07:00

What’s going on at White Grass? Quite a lot! Last Thursday Al and Greg kindly shuttled Katherine, Beth, Lisa and Betsy out to the ranch to see all the progress that has been made this winter. In the Hammond Cabin, new wood floors have been installed in the main common area, linoleum floors have been installed in the kitchen, and the first kitchen cabinets--the same ones pulled out load after load on the snowmobiles—have been moved out of storage in Cabin 15 and installed in the Hammond Cabin. The Hammond Cabin, Cabin 15 and the Girl’s Cabin will all be completed this summer.

The White Grass Express

A glimpse at the new wood flooring

Al explains how the new roof and fire suppression system will work

Katherine and Greg in front of Cabin 15

Even our visit couldn't slow work!

A peaceful White Grass in winter

Spotlight on Rustic Architecture: Hodgdon Homestead Cabin

2010-03-03T14:14:00.000-07:00

It seems appropriate to begin the “Spotlight on Rustic Architecture” series with a pre-park rustic structure in a park dominated by spectacular post-park rustic architecture. The Hodgdon Homestead Cabin in Yosemite National Park was constructed in 1879 by Jeremiah Hodgdon and his family, who homesteaded in the Sierra foothills and claimed land near Yosemite as summer pasture. The cabin is the only two-story log cabin in or near the park, and measures twenty-two by fourteen feet. The building timbers are notched on both the upper and lower sides and the shake roof covers the purlins, which extend about two feet on each end of the cabin. Several additions were made to the structure later, including the front porch, lean-to kitchen on the west side, and outside stairway on the south end. The cabin was moved from its original location in Aspen Valley to the Pioneer Yosemite History Center in Wawona, which displays structures from different eras of Yosemite’s history.

Like many ranchers in the area, the Hodgdon’s opposed John Muir’s efforts to establish Yosemite National Park, fearing that it would infringe on their property rights.

For more information on pioneer cabins in Yosemite, visit the Pioneer History Center website at:
http://www.yosemite.ca.us/pioneer-yosemite-history-center/introduction.html

Further sources can be found at Yosemite.ca.us/library

Photo from Pioneer Yosemite History Center

The Perks of the Park

2010-02-23T14:55:00.001-07:00

A furry visitor outside our window last week.

Spotlight on Rustic Architecture: An Introduction

2010-02-23T14:10:00.000-07:00

Spotlight on Rustic Architecture in the Western National Parks

The Western Center for Historic Preservation was founded in response to the lack of training and information regarding the preservation of rustic architecture in our Western National Parks. When we consider the Western National Parks, great natural landmarks come to mind: the Tetons, Half Dome, Old Faithful, Lake MacDonald, Angels Landing… All too often in our appreciation of these great expanses, however, we overlook the constructed landmarks. The “Spotlight on Rustic Architecture” blog series will regularly feature rustic buildings located within the National Parks.

Defining rustic architecture can be a challenge. The Merriam-Webster dictionary has two definitions for “rustic”, defining it as “relating to, or suitable for the country: rural” and “made of the rough limbs of trees.” While it seems the second definition is more appropriate to architecture, rustic has come to refer to more than just structures made of rough hewn logs, Webster’s “rough limbs of trees.” Rather, rustic architecture describes structures that utilize a variety of unrefined textures, natural materials, and that draw on local traditions, particularly those established by the Native Americans and early settlers. Rustic architecture, then, is not a style, but an approach to construction that may take the form of a log cabin, an adobe hut, or any number of other architectural types.

Perhaps the best way to approach rustic architecture as it exists in the western national parks is to consider pre-national park rustic architecture, the vernacular structures that were constructed prior to the founding of the national parks, and post-national park rustic architecture, the structures that were constructed subsequent to the founding of the national parks and drew heavily on the influences of pre-national park architecture. This regular blog series will consider a range of rustic structures from national parks across the west. Keep an eye out for our first featured building, coming soon!

A Penny Found is a Penny Earned..At White Grass Ranch

2010-02-08T12:46:00.000-07:00

Now when you see a penny,
Look at Lincoln’s face!
See how round and round again,
Lincoln saved the race!
Look at that small penny,
Hold it close to you,
And if you ever lose your way,
Abe will lead you through.

— Alfred Kreymborg,
“The Lincoln Penny,” 1942

As we approach the February 11, 2010 release of the new Lincoln penny, it’s worth considering two particularly interesting coins discovered during preservation work at the White Grass Dude Ranch. The first dates from 1916, only seven years after the release of the original Lincoln penny, and the second dates from 1941, only a year before War rationing denied metals to the Mint, altering the material composition of the one-cent coin.

(Image from "Dansco Supplies for the Collector", http://www.cheapdanscosupplies.com/)

Jeff found the two pennies in the Hammond Cabin, where crews are currently working to install new kitchen cabinets and windows. The pennies were tucked into a window jamb in a cranny sealed to access unless the trim is off the window. The pennies, therefore, couldn’t have fallen into the crack, but had to have been placed there during a period of construction, raising interesting speculations about when and how they ended up there.

The Hammond Cabin is a one-story log building with an irregular plan, a result of a series of additions attached to the original cabin. As reported in the Cultural Landscape/Historic Structures Report, the original building was likely constructed between 1923 and 1928. An addition was completed in 1936, and the date of a second addition is listed as “unknown.” The pennies were found in the first addition, dated to 1936.

Nineteen-forty-one is an interesting date in the history of the ranch. Only a year later the United States entered World War II and the ranch was closed and left in the care of a caretaker for the duration of the War. While it’s possible the 1941 (or even the 1916) penny was put in the window when the ranch reopened after the war, an aware carpenter could have left a penny with the date he was working.

The 1916 penny is equally interesting, and possibly confusing. The Cultural Landscape/Historic Structures Report does not estimate that any of the existing buildings were constructed prior to 1923. The Ranch was homesteaded in 1913, but the original buildings have been lost to time. As the Cultural Landscape/Historic Structures Report says, “By 1919, or possibly earlier, they had began accepting paying guests, apparently accommodating them in the three log houses claimed by Bispham in his final testimony of claimant.” It is easy to wonder if the carpenter working on the Hammond Cabin addition after 1941 knew the opening year of the Ranch as a dude ranch, and put the 1916 penny in the window as a nod to 25 years of service as a guest ranch. Or perhaps he helped dismantle one of the original cabins, and discovered the penny there himself, moving it to a new location with a new penny for history’s sake.

The pennies discovered at White Grass raise interesting questions about the history of the ranch. While they don’t offer any concrete facts, they do give us a glimpse the history of the Ranch in its heyday, and, “[Looking] at Lincoln’s face”, keep us searching for answers.

Snow? No big deal.

2010-01-27T14:52:00.000-07:00

It may be chilly outside, but that hasn't stopped work at the White Grass Ranch preservation site! The ranch is only accessible by snowmobile, making the large cabinet delivery that arrived last week an adventure in and of itself. It took a full day for Greg and Al to tow the cabinets out to the Hammond Cabin, where they are now being installed. What a unique delivery service!

Happy Halloween!!

2009-10-21T22:10:00.000-06:00

A Happy early Halloween to everyone!

(Based off of Ansel Adams' Grand Tetons photograph.)

2009-10-01T07:19:00.000-06:00

This past summer we had a great group of volunteers come out from Jackson architecture firm Dubbe Moulder Architects to help with preservation efforts on the Shane Cabins.

We all had such a good time! Thank you so much!

Architectural Spotlight: JH Airport's first terminal

2009-06-30T07:21:00.000-06:00

Somehow even at six a.m. the Jackson Hole airport showed more life than a jersey mall on black Friday. As I drove away from the terminal on the eve of this holiday weekend, separating the swarm of people with the front end of my car (okay, maybe I’m slightly exaggerating), I yearned for earlier days at the Jackson Hole Airport. Perhaps when the terminal still looked like this:

While I recognize that the front door of the terminal may have required widening for ADA needs and perhaps a second form of egress for fire safety concerns, I think this building is quite ideal. Built in 1942, this building—now standing on East Kelly Ave—was Jackson’s first airport terminal. This building predates the creation of the Jackson Hole Monument by nine months and served as Price Milward’s airport ‘office’ in the days before Western Airlines became the first commercial air service into Jackson in 1946. The original terminal, and even the 20’ by 24’ log terminal that came after this one, were located further south on the airport property than the current terminal. The landing strip was an unpaved 6000’ by 200’ break in a sagebrush field. Price Milward once said that it “was the only airport I knew of where you let the stock turn loose and corralled the airplanes.” (Jackson Hole Guide “The Airport & the Park” 7.4.90)

Employee of the Day

2009-06-22T12:30:00.001-06:00

“By concentrating on precision, one arrives at technique, but by concentrating on technique one does not arrive at precision” or so Hank McCurdy told me when he finished this lovely lap joint on the Hammond Cabin out at the White Grass Ranch. I later figured out (through a little tool called “google”) that he was stealing words from Bruno Walter. Nice try, Hank.

Menor Minutes: Dryland Sailing

2009-06-16T16:20:00.001-06:00

Not only has the continued poor June weather driven preservation carpenters indoors, but apparently it has driven them slightly crazy. Perhaps just eager for the Menor’s Ferry visitor season, WCHP preservation specialist, Greg Dodson, took to the helm of our dry docked Menor’s Ferry today. The crew is nearing completion of the ferry redecking project and the Youth Conservation Program will be caulking the pontoons to make her sea worthy in the next few weeks. Menor’s Ferry will hopefully take her maiden cross-Snake voyage July fourth weekend. We will be sure to keep you posted.

The Privy Report: When outhouses become inhouses

2009-06-11T10:11:00.000-06:00

No one here in the valley, even my gardener friend, is a fan of this two week window of Seattle-inspired weather. While the office staff here at the WCHP misses the majestic views we typically enjoy from the shop, our preservation carpenters are even more dismayed. Hank and Jeff are dragging their heals to complete work on the historic Menor’s Ferry redecking project. Al and Greg have suddenly found pressing office work to keep them inside. But Craig Crafton has found the most innovative way to fight ‘June Gloom.’ He has taken his outdoor project indoors. Reconstructing one of the most severely deteriorated outhouses, Craig is working at a breakneck pace in the comfort of our woodshop. Kudos to ‘Crafty’ for his innovation and leadership on the ‘Privy Patrol.’

History's Mysteries- The Wister Draw Trail

2009-06-08T12:53:00.000-06:00

As a historic preservationist, you often fancy yourself a private eye or a police detective. You especially feel this way when you receive a phone call asking for beta on a certain trail name or land feature. Sure, your target is more often than not deceased—ruling out possibilities for wire taps and undercover surveillance—but the rush is still there. We recently received a phone call asking for more information on the “Wister Draw Trail” located on the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve (formerly the JY Ranch) . Here is what we learned:

Owen Wister, Philadelphia-born author best known The Virginian(1902), visited the valley several times before 1900. In 1912, Wister purchased the homestead of Elsie James with the intention of creating a private retreat. Wister’s land was adjacent to the JY Ranch and Wister’s family stayed at the JY Ranch for four weeks during the construction of their one and half story, t-shaped cabin. The seven members of the Wister family and their governess and houseman moved into the primitive structure, using packing crates and cots as furniture. The family only lived in the cabin for six to eight weeks during the summer of 1912, never to return as Wister’s wife died the following summer. Wister’s cabin stood vacant for seven years until the R Lazy S ranch acquired the property in 1920. The cabin was moved 600 ft while on the R Lazy S property. The cabin was eventually removed along with all the cabins at the R Lazy S and is now reconstructed in Medicine Bow, WY.

A 1933 map shows the area west of the Wister property as “Wister Draw.” Similarly, a 1941 WPA guide, Wyoming: a Guide to its History, Highways, and People, identifies Wister Draw as “a small valley of snow-broken trees and shrubs, [that] is a typical snowslide area. Owen Wister once had a house here”(pg. 355). Thus, it seems that the draw, like the peak, was named after the famous author, but did not likely have any real connection with Wister’s time spent there as it was so limited. Interestingly, Stewart's Ranch was located east of Stewart's draw in a similar fashion, demonstrating that this naming practice was common. The Wister Draw Trail connects to the JY Summer road and was likely linked with the JY ranch’s recreational trail system.

The Privy Report

2009-06-04T14:34:00.000-06:00

For those of you waiting with bated breath to learn the status of the Murie Ranch outhouses, we have a thrilling update for you. The “Privy Patrol,” made up of a special forces crew of WCHP carpenters, performed their first field visit to the ranch this morning to assess materials needed to rehabilitate the historic privies. Miraculously, the crew discovered a yet-undocumented outhouse on this National Historic Landmark site (privy not shown). The “Privy Patrol” plans to replace rotten material in-kind and correct structural problems. Though the outhouses are no longer functional, they contribute to the cultural landscape of the historic Murie Ranch.

Bacon and Skillet

2009-06-03T14:59:00.000-06:00

One typically doesn’t think of a 24-foot 1963 Avion fifth wheel when they think about the worldwide mecca for log preservation (aka the Western Center for Historic Preservation). Former WCHP carpenter, Matt Marshal, graced us with his presence en route to Missoula today. He was accompanied by his truck, “bacon,” but sadly informed us that “skillet,” the 24-foot 1963 Avion—I was corrected when I referred to it as an Airstream—was not able to make the trek. Not known for his practicality—he also showed us his 33 lb single speed Schwinn-cruiser-turned-mountain-bike—Matt always brought humor to the preservation team. He informed us that the majority of his preservation energies have been devoted to skillet, as his working hours are spent as a wood shop teacher now. By summer’s end skillet will have new cork floors, fresh interior wall paint, and a reconfigured dinette. We miss you Montana Matt!

The First WCHP Post!

2009-06-03T09:22:00.000-06:00

Everyone here at the Western Center for Historic Preservation would like to say thank you to all of you who are interested in the future of this center as well as the historic buildings in the parks of the Intermountain region! And, welcome to our blog! This blog will be a quick and easy way to see what projects we are currently working on, what’s going on in Grand Teton National Park, and a few humorous things mixed in. We have a good crew out here and there are always stories to tell!

Our current projects include continued work on the White Grass Dude Ranch, which is just inside the park off Death Canyon Road. For those of you who haven’t heard too much about us, the Western Center for Historic Preservation was formed in 2005 to help support the western national parks with their ever-growing list of historic structures that need preservation work. In a unique partnership between the National Trust and NPS, White Grass Dude Ranch is going to be adaptively reused by the WCHP as a center for preservation work and training within the National Park Service. So far this summer, Will Galloway and David Stubbs (and the marmots) have hit the ground running with peeling and installing new sill logs for the Hammond Cabin at White Grass.

This involves the hand peeling of lodgepole pine logs with a draw knife in order to remove the bark, slicing them to have the sill logs lay flat, and then using a bubble scribe to mark and then cope out the saddle notches. By the end of the summer, many more of these logs will have been replaced because of rotten wood or structural needs.

Another project going on right now is the re-decking of Menor’s Ferry on the bank of the Snake River, also in Moose. The ferry and docks were historically used to transport people to and from across the Snake River since around the 1880s. Now, a reproduction of the ferry is being re-decked in order to continue a newer tradition of bringing park tourists across the Snake for a similar crossing experience.

With the extremely high level of the water on the river right now, it seems that there will be plenty of time to finish the re-decking (as seen through the hard work of Young Stubbs in the photo), but hopefully it will be submerged and then in working order sometime in August.

In addition to the work at these two locations, other projects coming up for this summer within Grand Teton include preservation work on historic residences in Beaver Creek, the Brinkerhoff, the Highlands, a historic barn typology survey within Grand Teton, and the stabilization of historic privies at the Murie Center. Also, keep coming for updates on past projects as well as posts on our two winter season projects at Zion National Park and Capitol Reef National Park.

Please post with comments and questions! We would love to hear from everyone about their interest in the projects being done by the WCHP!

Signed,

Woodchip
(Our cat mascot who will someday have a picture!)

Test Post for WCHP

2009-05-21T14:55:00.000-06:00

Test post for the Western Center for Historic Preservation.

Signed,

Woodchip