E. Burket, temporary ranger, Yellowstone National Park, 1922. Burket is wearing a surplus military uniform. Due to cost, temporary rangers were not required to purchase regulation uniforms until 1922. Because of a shortage of new badges, temporary rangers were often issued older styles, in the case of Yellowstone this was the small round type. NPSHPC/YELL#130,011

Clare Marie Hodges, temporary ranger, Yosemite National Park, 1918. Hodges was one of the first two women to be hired by the national Park Service. Since uniforms were not specified for women, she is wearing what were termed "camping clothes" at that time, with only her 1906 badge to identify her as a ranger. NPSHPC-HFC/YOSE#931

Apparently there was another badge issued in some of the parks around 1917 or 1918. There is evidence that Yosemite and Yellowstone received them, but whether or not any of the other parks did is not known. There are photographs showing rangers in these two parks wearing a small badge approximately 1-1/4 inches in diameter, about the size of the 1921B superintendent's badge. Replying to the uniform committee's questionnaire of December 2, 1922, Chief Ranger Sam T. Woodring, at Yellowstone, answered question 5b by saying: "The present badge is a great deal larger than necessary. I believe that the small round badge issued prior to the one now used should be re-adopted." [6] It has been suggested that this badge was applied to a shield to make the 1920 park ranger badge. This is highly speculative, and it is inconceivable that there would not be some reference in the official correspondence to the fact that the new director's and superintendent's badges, when they were inaugurated in 1921, were the same as the old ranger badges. Even more unimaginable would be the issuance of superintendents badges to temporary rangers as attested by several photographs from Yellowstone taken in 1922.

One possible answer may lie in a badge that was issued by the Interior Department in 1919. That year the department adopted a design for a new field service badge that was available for the use of all its bureaus. This design consisted of an adaptation of the departmental seal, with US over the buffalo and a blank space under the feet of the animal in which the name of the particular field service could be inserted. [7] If this is the case, then the 1917 date on the photograph is wrong. There are a number of photographs from Yellowstone that fit this time frame. One, taken in 1919, shows a group of rangers on motorcycles. While not uniformed, Eivid Scoyen's small badge can be seen protruding below his pocket flap.

Another photograph is of E. Burket. taken in 1922. At first glance this image would appear to have been taken prior to 1918. He is wearing a uniform with a military cut which was not to be purchased after 1918. Ranger Burket is also wearing a small round badge. The answer is quite simple. Burket was hired as a temporary ranger in 1921. Rangers had to pay their own expenses and due to their low salary, temporary rangers, for the most part, did not want to spend money for a uniform that they would probably only be wearing for one summer. Consequently, they were allowed to wear whatever they wished. Many, like Burket, purchased surplus Army uniforms to wear. Superintendent Albright changed this in the summer of 1922 by requiring the purchase of a regulation uniform as a condition of employment.

However, the best image showing a ranger wearing this badge is of Forrest Townsley, taken at Grand Canyon National Park in 1919. Townsley was chief ranger at Yosemite National Park, but was on detached duty to the Canyon. This image is the only one to show any contrast on the surface of the badge, but unfortunately, not enough to determine what it displayed. There are no known examples of a badge fitting this description.

There must not have been enough of the small round badges for all park personnel because photographs show that some retained the larger 1906 badge, notably temporary rangers like Claire Hodges, one of the first women to be hired by the Service.

Apparently, with the issuance of the 1920 badges, the 1906 badges were not redistributed to the parks to cover the shortage. Instead, the parks retained the badges previously used. In the case of Yellowstone and Yosemite. this was the small round badge.