The Historic Women of Yellowstone
By Avery Borum
In March of 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act, officially making Yellowstone the world’s very first National Park. Yellowstone, located primarily in Wyoming, is home to famous geothermal geysers, like Old Faithful, the Yellowstone Lake and a rich Taiga biome. Following its establishment as a national park, Yellowstone tourism grew tremendously. To account for this new influx of potential natural disturbances, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was created. The CCC was formed under President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal as a relief agency to promote conservation, reforestation, firefighting and the proper formation of trails and campgrounds. These conservationists played an important role in preserving Yellowstone’s ecosystem as it was being developed. Reminiscent of the early “mountain men” who explored the park’s land, the young men in the CCC continue to be praised for this work. Additionally, male park rangers have garnered quite a lot of glorification for their research and preservation since the park’s establishment. While it’s true that these men deserve recognition for their dedication to conservation, the women of Yellowstone are sorely overlooked in our historical exploration of the park.
Amongst these influential women was Marguerite Lindsley. Lindsley, born and raised in Yellowstone as the daughter of an interim Superintendent of Yellowstone, became the first ever female park ranger in 1925. With an immense love and respect for her home, Lindsley led educational park tours, logged plants with her own illustrations and worked at the information center. As a woman in a traditionally masculine, male-dominated job, Lindsley was faced with many challenges. The Department of Interior was strongly against her employment, and the agency failed to provide her with a proper uniform, forcing her to design one for herself and the other female rangers who followed her lead. On the topic of her adversity, Lindsley said, “Many still think that women’s work should be inside, and it is a problem to satisfy everyone even though I may be qualified for the world in the field.” In her time as a ranger, Lindsley was revered by parkgoers for her apparent appreciation for Yellowstone and her wealth of knowledge on its natural history.
Another prominent woman of Yellowstone’s history is Herma Albertson Baggley. After earning her masters in botany, Baggley was employed at Yellowstone in 1929 as a seasonal employee until 1931 when she was hired as Yellowstone’s first full-time female naturalist ranger. Baggley’s claim to fame is “Plants of Yellowstone National Park,” a guide she co-authored with
her associate, Dr. Walter B. McDougal, that continues to be studied and referenced to this day. It is well documented that Baggley’s knowledge on the park’s vegetation far surpassed her male colleagues. Like Lindsley, Baggley’s park tours were heavily attended with hundreds of parkgoers requesting her as their guide. Baggley’s deep understanding of Yellowstone’s ecosystem quickly evolved in an adoration for the park. This devotion is perfectly summed up in this excerpt from her guide: “The whole surface of the earth is made beautiful by the vegetation that clothes it. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine what a drab place this world would be, were it not beautified by the infinite variety of forms of plant life.”
Lindsley and Baggley make up just a small portion of the brilliant group of women that have been positively impacting Yellowstone for over a century. Their stories are proof that women have had a lasting presence in nature conservation, even if they have been overshadowed by their male counterparts. It is important to research women like those of Yellowstone, because it shows young girls of today that they can and should take on any area of interest to them even if it is male dominated. Women like Lindsley and Baggley have paved a trail for their descendants and, while the trail is often jagged and rocky, it is lined with the beautiful plants they preserved for us.
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Avery Borum is a senior at Belmont University studying motion pictures editing and public relations. As a non-athlete growing up in a very athletic family, Borum often felt disconnected from the outdoors. However, after traveling to Yellowstone National Park, she has grown an immense fondness for nature and the people who work in it. This new appreciation of Borum’s has bled into other parts of her life, showing up in both her film and PR studies. She hopes to continue to be inspired by Yellowstone and the many women who worked there as she continues to pursue her own career path.
Image Credits: Marguerite "Peg" Lindsley, circa 1923. YELL 42781, Yellowstone National Park Archives