Yellowstone Historic Resource Study The History of the Construction of the Road System in Yellowstone National Park, 1872-1966

WEST THUMB TO LAKE JUNCTION

One of the prominent but hidden features of this road section is the geologic feature, the Natural Bridge. Philetus Norris' survey for possible routes in this area, he found the bridge to be his answer for bypassing the sandy spits, ponds, and numerous gullies near Bridge Bay. The bridge showed evidence of its use as a long-time game trail and Norris felt that as soon as funds became available, he would prepare the bridge for tourist use. In his 1880 report to the secretary of the interior, Norris described the area:

What is now the bridge was once the brink of a cataract nearly one hundred feet high, over a ledge of peculiarly hard, durable, variegated trachyte upheaval to the vertical across the stream. Directly across this ledge countless ages of erosion have formed first a shallow, trough-like channel; then, or simultaneously with this channel, a vertical orifice, several feet long by one foot wide, between the strata, some two feet from the brink. There is farther upstream . . . one of the finest archways I have ever seen, has about ten feet of stone support for a carriage way above, and about thirty feet of waterway beneath. The chasm is fully spanned by the bridge, which, by measurement, I found to be twenty-nine feet long, and including the above mentioned vertical orifice, ten feet high above the top of the arch, and forty-one feet to the bedrock of the chasm, which, at this point is a rapidly deepening cascade. As the two outside layers of the vertical orifice, as well as the ancient channel, can readily be filled or floored with timbers. . . . This route will be on of the most traveled, and this natural bridge one day be crossed by thousands of pilgrims to this wonderland. [104]

Historical records indicate that the road across the Natural Bridge was not built by Norris and the travelers continued to use the Mary Mountain route to Yellowstone Lake until 1891 when a road followed the shore for much of the way from West Thumb to the lake outlet. In 1895, Captain Anderson completed a road from the Lake Hotel to the Natural Bridge. [105] In 1899, Hiram Chittenden began to plan the construction of 8 miles of road across the peninsula to replace the 12 miles of road built in 1891. The 1891 road that followed the shore had been severely eroded by the lake and had been abandoned and the portion that passed through the wooded section had been constructed over uneven and rough ground. Chittenden believed that this road was "the most monotonous drive in the park" [106] and that the road he planned would reduce the distance by four miles, it would be a better road and that the road would offer the visitors a view of the Natural Bridge. Chittenden estimated that the new road would cost approximately $2,000 per mile or a total of $16,000. In 1902, the new road was "put over the mountain by way of the natural bridge and the knotted woods" and the old section along the shore was abandoned. [107] In 1908, the road was surfaced and ditched and the 1909 report listed the road as in "very good condition." [108]

In 1923, the route from Lake Junction to West Thumb was evaluated again. The National Park Service's engineering division found the:

existing road between Arnica Creek and Bridge Bay passes over high divide, necessitating a hard climb on one side and an equally difficult descent on the other. This 9 miles section is entirely void of scenic attractions and is a difficult piece of road to maintain because of steep grades and the absence of water for sprinkling. It is proposed to reconstruct the old original road along the shore of the lake, making an attractive drive on practically a water grade, and abandon the present road over the hill. . . . This crew (Cosey's Crew) is now moving to West Thumb to rebuild the log bulkhead along the lake shore. They should also place culverts and make fills in places of the three log bridges between West Thumb and Arnica Creek. [109]

Two years later, this section of road was included as part of the first 3-year improvement program with the intentions for this portion to be completed in 1925. In a letter to the director, Albright described the project:

I have discussed this project very thoroughly with our engineers and we have reached the conclusion that we can do this work cheaper by force account. If this was a case of constructing an entirely new road, there would be no question but what is ought to be done by contract. However, it is purely a matter of reconstruction. The old original road between Thumb and Lake Hotel followed the Lake shore quite closely as you note from old maps. In 1901 this road was abandoned when the cut-off road was built across the mountains. This cut-off road was apparently built to shorten the distance, but in order to make the change it was necessary to construct a highway with grades running up to 16 percent. The road possesses no scenic qualities whatever, has many sharp turns and narrow places where cars cannot pass and as I have just stated a maximum grade 16 percent. When the old road was abandoned in 1901, it was usable for several years, apparently was used; however, gradually the culverts and bridges which were of wood decayed and for the past 20 years the road has been impassable except to saddle horses and pedestrians. I have been over the road several times and there are many miles that are in excellent condition today; all these stretches of road will require widening and installation of drainage structures which, under our plans, will be galvanized iron culverts of proper sizes. We expect to do away with the two or three bridges by putting in culverts and making fills. In three places the road will be realigned in order to give better scenic effects of Lake Yellowstone, but these stretches are short. [110]

By 1926, the reconstruction of the 11 miles stretch along Yellowstone Lake between Bridge Bay and West Thumb replaced the steep, narrow, and uninteresting section that went over the hill. A 3/4 mile section at Bluff Point had been widened. [111] Major landscape improvements were made to this section as part of the parkwide road cleanup project funded by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. [112]

The road which had been brought to the standard of the other main park roads, with the exception of side drainages, was oiled in 1928, and a new 2 inch oil top placed upon it during 1931. The 1931 oiling expedited the necessity for improvements to the side drainages to lower the water table under the road to avert corrugation from capillary action. [113]

In 1935 a field survey was completed for this road section, however no more major work was done until the Mission 66 period other than replacing 1,500 linear feet of guardrail with guideposts. [114] The Final Construction Report for work on this section during 1960-61 listed the project as:

The major improvement on this project begins at the Natural Bridge Road, approximately four miles south of Lake Junction, at Station 888, elevation 7753, and extends northerly 3414.82 feet to Station 922, elevation 7759. At Station 894+50, the road crosses the inlet to the Bridge Bay Lagoon on a 237 feet 8 inches three-span steel welded plate girder structure. All of the main improvement are on new alignment except for the last 200' to 300' on the north and where a tie is made to the existing Grand Loop Road. Immediately to the south, the project abuts the Bridge Bay-Arnica Creek project, which is now under construction. To the north of the project is a section extending to Lake Junction, approximately 3 miles long, which is still unimproved to Mission 66 standards. [115]

Other work completed on the project was the construction of spur roads, one extending 2,000 feet to the west end of the Bridge Bay Lagoon and another extending 400 feet to a future lake front parking area for fishermen's use. By the end of 1963, Long Construction Company of Billings, Montana, had completed the work totaling $861,986.23. This section of road had received clearing, grading, an emulsified stabilized base course, a wearing surface of plant mix base course, bituminous and concrete curbs for traffic and water control, and a box culvert on Bridge Creek. The old Gull Point by-pass section was converted to a fishermen access and the construction of the Lake by-pass was begun in late 1969. [116]