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Earl Thomas ferries another load of supplies to Trail Creek. Earl estimated he made forty trips across Yellowstone Lake in 1955, and twenty trips in 1956.

Traveling to the cabin construction site, Ronald Bell leads the infamous horse carrying the roll-away bed and fifty-five gallon barrel.

Building the Thorofare Cabin: A Former Game Warden Looks Back

Earl Thomas Interview—Recorded by Tim Fagan

In June 1955, Cody Game Warden Earl Thomas realized the upcoming summer would be one filled with adventure. Earl worked for Cody Game Division Supervisor Ronald Bell, and Bell had spent the winter planning the construction of a backcountry patrol cabin in Earl's warden district on Thorofare Creek. Earl was familiar with this remote area and knew he would be called upon to be a major player in the construction.

Earl spent the summer of 1955, as well as 1956, working on the cabin project. As the summer unfolded, Earl's role became twofold. First, he was responsible for boating building supplies twenty miles across Yellowstone Lake . Second, he took on the role of horse packer as he assisted with loading and hauling building material on packhorses for the eighteen mile journey to the cabin construction site.

On February 15, 2005, we caught up with Earl and his lovely wife Darlene at their home in Surprise, Arizona . We ended up seated around the kitchen table during the afternoon, as Earl shared with us his adventures from both summers. Additionally, he provided a step-by-step account of how supplies were relayed between Cody , Wyoming , and the cabin construction site on Thorofare Creek. Earl ran the gamut of emotions, as he recalled his experiences, shared his memories, and viewed some dusty snapshots of the cabin construction.

Transporting the Supplies

Transporting supplies and equipment for the construction of a backcountry patrol cabin to the remote Thorofare Region was a challenging task. The year was 1955, and Cody Game Division Supervisor Ronald Bell had completed the planning phase for the construction of the cabin. Supplies and equipment had been ordered and the necessary work force assembled to begin the project. By July his crew was anxious to begin building this wilderness outpost.

Earl Thomas was part of that work force. It fell upon Earl's shoulders and that of fellow wardens Pete Muchmore and Chuck Hereford to begin the process of transporting cabin supplies. Once purchased, supplies were loaded into pickup trucks, next into boats, and then onto packhorses before finally arriving at the construction site. From start to finish, these supplies traveled some eighty miles by truck, twenty miles by boat, and eighteen miles by packhorse. All supplies were loaded and unloaded three times before reaching the final destination. This strategy would exhaust today's FedEx ground tracking system, but to this crew it was just another step in their adventurous routine.

Cody to Yellowstone Lake

Earl always tried to get an early start in Cody on days when supplies were to be freighted across Yellowstone Lake to Trail Creek. The supply lists Bell had prepared were reviewed, and the necessary purchases at the feed store, lumberyard, hardware store, and grocery store were made. These items were loaded into pickup trucks to begin the first leg of the journey. The amount and weight of the material to be transported determined if one or two people would be hauling supplies that day. If two boats were needed, Chuck or Pete would accompany Earl. If they could pack everything into one boat, Earl would make a solo trip.

The drive up the North Fork Highway , over Sylvan Pass , and down to Yellowstone Lake was typically uneventful. The highway was narrow and steep, and although the distance was only eighty miles, it took several hours.

After arriving at the dock at Yellowstone Lake , each warden would begin the process of unloading supplies from his vehicle and loading the items into his boat. The boats were 18-foot Larsons Crestliners, and each was propelled by a 25 horsepower Johnson motor. All boats and motors were kept in good repair. Yellowstone Lake can be treacherous to navigate, particularly when unexpected winds come up during the day. Earl felt their boats were ideal for the job, and once loaded and underway, “the boats didn't do much jumping around. The waves might beat you to death, but the boats were plenty seaworthy.” Bell insisted the boat crew take no chances when crossing Yellowstone Lake . It generally took three hours to navigate the twenty miles across the lake, and traveling at night was not recommended. Earl felt that if he could not be underway by 2:00p.m., he would wait until the following morning to transport the supplies.

Trail Creek Camp

There was always a feeling of relief when he had successfully crossed the lake and arrived at the Trail Creek patrol cabin. The Park Service had allowed Bell to set upa camp by the cabin, complete with wall tents and stoves. On occasion, Earl did make a round trip across the lake in one day, but normally he would stay the night at the Game & Fish camp. He would always try to have his boat unloaded before sundown, so he could take advantage of the excellent cutthroat trout fishing on the lake.

Earl spoke highly of the Park Service trail crew stationed at Trail Creek. “They always came down to help unload the supplies,” which was much appreciated after the many hours he had already worked that day. The supplies were stockpiled along the shore for the pack crew to load on their packhorses, and groceries and horse feed were stored in two large metal boxes. “There were a lot of bears at Trail Creek,” Earl recalled, and the metal boxes prevented the bears from getting into the food. Earl also remembered continually hauling horse hay across the lake. The horse packers were picking up supplies several times each week at Trail Creek, and there was no meadow in the area for the horses to graze. To prevent the horses from going hungry, they were tied for the night near the camp and fed hay.

The Wrath of Yellowstone Lake

Earl seldom felt at risk crossing Yellowstone Lake , whether in the company of a fellow warden or when crossing alone. He did admit that on one occasion, he nearly became a victim of the frigid and turbulent waters of the lake.

Earl recalled, “The lake was dead calm when I was loading my boat that afternoon at the dock.” He had arrived at the lake in good time and was preparing to make a solo trip to Trail Creek. After loading his boat, he made his departure. He had gone about two miles when the air temperature dropped considerably, and the wind startedblowing from the west. The wind velocity continued to increase, storm clouds were building, and he could see huge whitecaps on the lake coming in his direction. Earl realized that the ferocity of the pending storm could capsize his boat and put him at risk of drowning in the cold water. He needed to make a quick plan and get his boat to shore as soon as possible.

Earl was aware of a Park Service cabin located on the east shore of Yellowstone Lake called the Park Point Cabin. The shoreline was very gentle there, and this would be a safe place to portage under the circumstances. The weather conditions continued to deteriorate, his boat was filling with water, and now a cold rain was beginning to fall. All these factors were hampering his ability to control the boat. He turned his craft to the east and, with the wind at his back, was quickly on line to Park Point.

Blinking the rain from his eyes, Earl could begin to make out the shore at Park Point. The wind continued to blow harder and harder, causing his boat to travel faster and faster. Suddenly it struck Earl that “the shoreline was coming up faster than I was slowing down!” As he approached the shore, a wave suddenly picked up his boat, the force of which shot the boat into the air, finally setting it down “out of the lake and clear up on the beach.”

He was now safely on land, but the storm continued to intensify. He needed to find shelter and felt he only had two options. He could break into the Park Point Patrol Cabin, a choice that did not appeal to him, or he could empty the supplies from his boat, turn it upside down, and seek shelter under it. Earl opted for the latter and, surprisingly, stayed dry and actually got some sleep in spite of the storm that raged around him.

Earl woke up to clear skies the next morning. He crawled out from under his boat and surveyed the area. He could see it would be necessary to drag his boat down to the lake and begin the process of reloading the supplies. During the chaos of the previous evening, Earl had noticed a small stream flowing into the lake near his landing. It struck him that the stream was not running that morning, so he walked a short distance to investigate. He hadn't gone far when he discovered a small lake was forming above him. During the storm, the wave action in Yellowstone Lake had pushed gravel and sediment into the mouth of the stream, damming up the outlet. Water was building up against this fragile dam, the pressure of which would soon cause the dam to break. This could put Earl's boat and supplies at risk again. Earl hustled down to his boat, flipped it upright, and wasted no time in dragging it down to the lake. He began relaying supplies from shore to boat, often glancing upward to check on the status of the ever-growing “Thomas Reservoir.”

Once loaded, Earl pushed off from shore, cranked up his boat motor, and was soon underway. He sped off in the direction of Trail Creek, relieved his brush with fate was now behind him.

Horse Packing

By August, Earl had made numerous trips across Yellowstone Lake , ferrying supplies to the cabin builders. As could be expected, he desired to see the progress the builders were making on the cabin and wanted to assist with the horse packing and cabin construction. To this end, Earl “worked like crazy to get supplies stacked at Trail Creek” and soon had more supplies stockpiled than the packers could pack. The packers gladly drafted him into their ranks, and soon he was loading supplies on packhorses and was finally en route to the cabin construction site.

The Telephone Line—1955

Earl was aware of the telephone line that stretched from Lake Ranger Station to Hawks Rest Patrol Cabin. This fifty-mile line was maintained along the Thorofare Trail prior to the 1950s but, with the advent of two-way radios, had been abandoned and had fallen into disrepair. Trees had crashed down on the line, causing it to become a serious hazard. The wire could be found lying on the ground or hanging anywhere from knee high to neck high along the trail.

On one occasion, Earl assisted in packing the rollaway beds and fifty-five gallon barrels. These items proved challenging to load on the horses, even though Ronald Bell was an expert in packing such bulky and awkward supplies. After much deliberation, Ronald finally set one bed over a packhorse and lashed a fifty-five gallon barrel on top of the bed. This made for a very high pack but appeared secure when the ropes were tightened. After packing the remaining fourteen horses, Ronald, Earl, Sonny Reesy, Jerry Lanchbury, and Dean Spiegelberg all began the journey to the cabin construction site. Ronald was in the front leading the horse that carried the barrel on top of the rollaway.

They forded the Yellowstone River without incident and soon were southbound on the Thorofare Trail, making good time to the cabin. Ronald had been traveling the trail all summer and was aware of a place where trees had fallen over the telephone line along the trail. The downed line was so hazardous that Bell had been detouring around it in order to prevent injuring any of the men or horses. As Bell began his detour, he failed to recognize that the horse he was leading was carrying a much higher top pack than usual. Earl recalled the following incident as Ronald began his detour: “Leaving the trail, Ronald rode out in the timber and came to a low-hanging branch by a tree. He grabbed the branch with his right hand to push it out of the way, ducked under it, and, after passing by the limb, let it go. The limb snapped back, smacking the barrel on the packhorse behind him. It sounded like he had banged on a huge bass drum. The sound vibrated through the forest, scaring all fifteen packhorses. The horses ran through the timber in all directions, and we were rounding up horses and repacking supplies the rest of the day. It was dark by the time we arrived at our cabin, and we had a very late supper that night.”

Finishing Up—1956

The summer of 1956 found many of the same individuals at the cabin site building the combination storage shed and outhouse and finishing up work on the cabin. This was not quite the production of the previous year, but it required the same boating and horse packing support.

Two changes from the previous year occurred. Mel “Stony” Stonehouse was hired as outfitter to provide the necessary packhorses and also assist with the packing. Additionally, supplies were boated to Beaverdam Creek in Yellowstone Park rather than Trail Creek as in 1955. A temporary camp was set up near Beaverdam Creek, and supplies were stockpiled there.

Earl and Stony were returning to their Beaverdam Creek camp one afternoon after taking a load of supplies to the cabin. The telephone line ran along the trail where they were riding with numerous trees and deadfall lying on it. The line was stretched so tight it was ready to snap, and Stony was about to demonstrate to Earl his rendition of the domino theory. Earl recalled:

“Stony was about three pack-horse-lengths ahead of me. The telephone wire came out of the timber ahead of us, through a tree in the meadow where we were riding, through another tree, and then back down into the timber. Stony had a pair of fencing pliers tied on his saddle, and I could see he was untying them. The wire was a few feet off the ground, and I saw Stony reach down with his pliers to cut it. I heard the pliers snap, and immediately the wire flipped back over my shoulder and hit my horse on the rump. A chain reaction of trees falling ahead of us and behind us further spooked my horse, causing him to wheel around. The wire looped around my neck, but I quickly reached up and put my hand between my throat and the wire. When the line tightened from all the timber falling on it, I was flung out of my saddle like you shot me out of a slingshot! I ended up on my back, unable to breathe and could hear Stony hollering in the background. My horse ran off about fifty yards before stopping and just stood staring at me. I rolled on the ground for several minutes until I was finally able to catch my breath and remove the wire from my neck. Dazed for a moment, I eventually sat up, then stood up, and finally walked over to catch my horse. We had a very quiet supper that night.”

So much for Professor Stonehouse's physics lesson!

Moving on

The Thorofare cabin project was completed in 1956, and Earl continued his duties as Cody Game Warden until 1960. It was at this time he moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, to serve as the Department's Interagency Coordinator. He was later promoted to State Game Warden, and then to Assistant Director, and from 1976–1982, proudly served as Director of the Wyoming Game & Fish Department.

In spite of his enormous contribution, and even with these credentials, Earl remains humble when discussing his role in the cabin construction. He continually credits the ability of the skillful log men, young horse packers, experienced cooks, and especially Ronald Bell, for ultimately completing the cabin project.Now, fifty years later, Earl remembers everyone by name and can detail experiences he shared with each. “We were just having fun,” Earl finally admitted. “It never struck me we were making history.”

I would like to express my appreciation to Earl and Darlene Thomas for welcoming two weary travelers into their home on February 15, 2005. As in Thorofare tradition, freshly brewed coffee was on the stove, and a newly baked coffee cake was hot out of the oven. Their hospitality was appreciated beyond words.

Tim Fagan
Cody Damage Warden 1977–1993
South Cody Game Warden 1993–present