Today we drove up to Mammoth Hot Springs where the park headquarters has been since the beginning. It is the headquarters location because it is at a lower altitude, by 2-3000 feet, and that makes it somewhat less frigid in winter.
The park was run by the U.S. Cavalry for several decades before the National Park Service was set up. So...much of the headquarters area looks like the old-time military post that it was for many years.
Today we took a stroll down "officers' row," housing for the senior officers of the detachment and their families. Only the CO or commanding officer had a free-standing house. Other senior officers' families lived in duplexes. Junior officers lived in the BOQ or bachelor officers' quarters. Officer housing looks like that at the Presidio in San Francisco or any other old time military base.
The enlisted cavalry troopers lived in barracks that housed large groups. Their housing was no worse than that of their horses, the care of which took up a serious part of the work day.
Cavalry patrols throughout the park did preserve much of the natural wonder. The pony soldiers arrested poachers and vandals, built roads, and kept the peace.
When the National Park Service was finally established, they recruited a substantial number of cavalry troopers to be the first park rangers. You can still see echoes of the old cavalry uniforms in today's rangers' uniforms.
