ADMINISTRATION OF THE PARK.
The administration of the Park is assigned by law to the Secretary of
the Interior, who delegates his authority to a local Superintendent.
By statute, also, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to call
upon the Secretary of War for such details of troops as may be
necessary to protect the Park. Owing to the failure of Congress to
provide for a civilian Superintendent and police force, since 1886,
the Secretary of the Interior has found it necessary to avail himself
of this second statute, so that the present working of the Park
administration is on this wise:
An army officer, commanding the troops of the Park, is the
representative of the Secretary of the Interior, and is called the
Acting Superintendent of the Park, on the assumption that the old
_régime_ of civilian Superintendents is only temporarily suspended.
The Superintendent is charged with the enforcement of the rules and
regulations provided for the government of the Park. As to all such
matters, he receives his instructions direct from the Secretary of the
Interior, and he annually submits to that official a report upon the
condition of the Park. For a police force, he has two troops of
cavalry, which he stations throughout the Park as necessity requires.
He has also one civilian scout, paid for from the appropriation for
the army, whose duty it is to patrol the 5,000 square miles, more or
less, in the original reservation and the forest reserve![AY]
[AY] A portion of the latest appropriation for the Park is authorized
to be expended in the employment of additional scouts. This policy
ought to be continued.
The specific duties which form the burden of the Superintendent's work
are:
1. To see that all leases and privileges granted by the Secretary of
the Interior to private parties are strictly observed, and that all
business conducted in the Park is in pursuance of government authority
and in accordance with specific conditions and limitations.
2. The protection of the Park from vandalism. This is a very important
matter. The pardonable desire to carry off specimens from the
beautiful formations, and the unpardonable craze to cover them with
individual names, would, if unrestrained, soon quite destroy what
nature, through long ages, has so laboriously produced.
3. The protection of game. All around the Park are hordes of
law-breakers, who let pass no opportunity to destroy the surviving
species. To avert this calamity requires the utmost vigilance of the
Park police.
4. The preservation of forests. This has always been the most onerous
and trying duty of Park officials. The importance of the forests is so
far-reaching that their destruction would be a public calamity. No
exertion can be considered too great which may prevent it.
5. The construction of roads and bridges in the Park.
Other functions which the Superintendent fills are the social duties
of his position, which at certain seasons exact much of his attention.
Official visitors depend upon him entirely for pilotage through the
Park. Private parties bring letters soliciting favors, and on the
whole he finds his time well occupied with these pleasant, though
sometimes onerous, duties.
The office building of the Superintendent, who is also commanding
officer of Fort Yellowstone, is at Mammoth Hot Springs. A pretty
little garrison is built upon the white formation opposite the hotel,
and in winter, the whole military force, except small detachments in
various places, is gathered at that point.
At Mammoth Hot Springs are also located the post-office and jail, and
at this point the judicial officers of the Park hold court to try
offenses against the Park statutes and regulations.