Murie Ranch Historic Furnishings Report 2013 By Diane M. Sanders Under the direction of Dr. Janet Ore, Principal Investigator Public Lands History Center Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Rocky Mountains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit Cooperative Agreement Number H1200-09-0004 PR Number R1242110028 Table of Contents List of Illustrations i List of In-Text Illustrations i List of Supplemental Historic Illustrations (Appendix E) iii Administrative Information iv Executive Summary iv Acknowledgements v Significance of the Muries and the Murie Ranch 1 Biographical Information 2 Olaus J. Murie 2 Margaret (Mardy) T. Murie 5 Adolph Murie Becomes an Ecologist 8 Olaus and Mardy’s Partnership in Conservation 9 The Places They Called Home 10 The Muries’ Conservation Ethic as Seen Through the Furnishings 19 Building and Furnishings Recommendations 32 Administrative Recommendations 33 Evidence of Room Use and Recommended Furnishings 34 Residence 34 Homestead 40 Studio 41 Protection/Preservation Recommendations by Building 42 Residence and Homestead 42 Studio 44 Floor Plans Residence, Figure 17 46 Homestead, Figure 18 47 Studio, Figure 19 48 Appendix A: Contributing Furnishings by Building Appendix B: Non-Contributing Furnishings by Building Appendix C: Individual Furnishings Assessments Appendix D: Book Inventory Appendix E: Supplemental Historic Photographs Appendix F: Bibliography List of In-Text Illustrations Unless otherwise indicated, all photographs are courtesy of the Murie Center Archive (MCA). Figure 1. Mardy outside her family’s log cabin in Fairbanks, Alaska; 1914. Figure 2. Crabtree Cabin in Jackson, Wyoming. Figure 3. Pumpkin House in Jackson, Wyoming. Figure 4. Woodbury Cabin/Residence of Olaus and Mardy Murie. Photograph taken in August, 2012 by author. Figure 5. Homestead Cabin in 1947, taken by John C. Murray. Figure 6. Wilderness Society Headquarters sign. Figure 7. Residence living loom as seen in 1959. Shows nautical floor lamp, Habitant wood chair, and a sofa table (currently in the Homestead). Figure 8. Nautical floor lamp continues to occupy its traditional position next to the sofa. Photograph taken in June, 2012 by author. Figure 9. Taken in September, 1949, this is the earliest known photograph showing the pine and lodgepole table beneath the window beyond Mardy’s left shoulder. Other objects still in the Residence include the framed Fiordland poem hanging to the right of the windows, the wood frame chair next to the table, the bookcases below the window and along the right wall, the small bowl/vase at the far end of the mantle. Barely visible is the Wonders of the World sign in the upper right corner. The rifle floor and the firewood carrier at the end of the fireplace are in other cabins on the Ranch. Mardy and son, Donald, are seated in the chairs. Figure 10. The Office (the current Residence dining room) in 1959. The worktable in the foreground at the right is still in use in the Studio. The stool with the woven rawhide seat (WL-1) is still in use in the Wild Lone Cabin. The metal desk with single center drawer is quite possibly the ChromCraft desk found in the Belvedere Cabin and the edge of a i globe at the far right (R-BR1-3) is most likely the one in Bedroom 1 of the Residence which dates to the early 1940s. Figure 11. Taken in September 1948, the Packard-Bell radio/phonograph is against the wall on the right. Thw Wonder of the World sign hangs above the fireplace mantle. L-R: the Murie’s dog, Chimo, Jess and Clara Rust, Mardy, and Olaus (seated on the Navajo rug). Figure 12. China cabinet in the Residence dining room attributed to Bob Kranenburg by Rob Dearing. Photograph by the author. Figure 13. Tables shown in the guest dining room of the Homestead Cabin in an STS Dude Ranch brochure. Kept by the Muries, one survives and is still used on the Residence porch. Courtesy of the Jackson Hole Historical Society, Jackson, WY. Figure 14. Taken in September 1955 during the Wilderness Society Governing Council meeting held at the Ranch, the photo shows the back portion of one of the wood frame chairs normally located in the living room. The chair, either R-LR-19 or R-P-1, is on the left, mostly obscured by Harvey Broome. L-R: Dick Leonard, Harvey Broome, unidentified man, Anne Broome, Olaus, Ade, Howard Zahniser, and Bernie Franke (seen from behind, wearing cap). Figure 15. The chair in the foreground with the woven leather seat is ST-1. Now utilized in the Studio, it was normally in the living room. L-R: Charlie Woodbury, Anne Broome, and Olaus. Figure 16. This photograph from June, 1955 clearly shows all three chairs – R-LR-19, R-P-1, and R-LR-17. Combined with Figures 14 and 15 these photgraphs clearly demonstrate how “inside” chairs filled the dual purpose of outside seating whenever there was a need. Olaus is fourth from the left. Figure 17. Residence Floor Plan. Figure 18. Homestead Floor Plan. Figure 19. Studio Floor Plan. ii List of Secondary Illustrations included in Appendix E Unless otherwise indicated, all photographs are courtesy of the Murie Center Archive (MCA). Figure 20. Living Room furnishings in December 1949. Figure 21. Living Room furnishings in December 1949. Figure 22. Living Room, 1955. Table R-WS-1 is partially hidden by the heater. Figure 23. Table R-WS-1; weathered from being exposed to the elements in the open Wood Shed. Photo by author. Figure 24. Living Room, 1955. Includes two side chairs (ST-1 and R-LR-12) and two Navajo rugs. Figure 25. Living Room, 1959. Documents furnishings in the room. Figure 26. Living Room from a different angle, 1959. Documents furnishings in the room. Figure 27. Living Room showing the piano and top of the piano bench, 1959. Figure 28. Living Room, 1958. Figure 29. Mardy in the Kitchen, 1959. Figure 30. Kitchen nook showing sideboard and hutch, 1959. Figure 31. Olaus painting in the Studio, 1959. Figure 32. Mardy and others gathered around the fireplace, engaged in conversation in 1959. Figure 33. Mardy’s Bedroom, 1998. Figure 34. Olaus, Howard Zahniser, and Irving Clarke, Sr. in front of the Residence with the former garage in the background, 1955. iii Administrative Information Executive Summary In recognition of the contributions made to wildlife biology, natural resource management and conservation made by Olaus, Adolph, and Mardy Murie, in 1998, the National Register of Historic Places added the family’s home at the southern end of Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) to its prestigious list. Named the Murie Ranch Historic District, it encompassed the ranch’s entire seventy-seven acres. In 2006, the property received National Historic Landmark designation, acknowledging the nationally significant role of the Muries to the post- World War II environmental movement. The preparation of the National Register and National Landmark nominations and the 2010 Cultural Landscapes Inventory required extensive documentation of the grounds, the buildings and other structures, and an analysis of the brothers’ work as scientists and conservationists. They also acknowledged Mardy’s almost sixty years of unwavering advocacy for conservation, especially wilderness protection. These studies largely ignored the buildings’ furnishings and use of interior domestic space. However, as early as 1982 GTNP Superintendent Jack Stark recognized that “keeping the furnishings [of the Murie Ranch] intact is of paramount importance.”1 In 2012, the National Park Service (NPS) contracted with the Public Lands History Center (PLHC) at Colorado State University to assess the furnishings of the primary buildings — the Residence, Studio, and Homestead Cabin — and draft a Historic Furnishings Report (HFR) for the Murie Ranch. The project began in May 2012 as Rocky Mountains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit Cooperative Agreement Number H1200-09-0004. Per the agreement, PLHC Researcher and Author Diane Sanders documented the furnishings in all buildings except the Estes Cabin (currently used as the residence of the on-site manager) and the offices of the Murie Center which are housed in the former garage, identified historic contributing pieces, and made recommendations regarding the maintenance and use of the furnishings and primary buildings. Sanders spent four weeks of research at the Murie Ranch. She studied the furnishings, located documentation of the interiors, found and analyzed historic photographs, and read published and unpublished writings of Murie family members, especially Olaus and Mardy, to 1 Jack E. Stark to Stewart L. Udall, January 6, 1982, Murie Tract files, GTNP, Moose, Wyoming. iv understand how the family used the spaces in the primary buildings. She obtained information from several people who had been affiliated with the Murie Ranch, family friends, and two family members, Donald and Jan Murie. The final Historic Furnishings Report for project H1200-09-0004 provides biographical information about Olaus, Adolph, and Mardy Murie, details about specific historic furnishings, inventories of contributing and non-contributing furnishings, and recommendations to GTNP and the Murie Center regarding the future use and care of the furnishings, particularly those in the Residence. Most significantly, the report has compiled the domestic history of the Murie family at the Ranch: its use of interior spaces, its acquisition (and non-acquisition) of furnishings, and its blending of the indoor and outdoor. The Murie Ranch—the entire site and its remarkably preserved interior and exterior built environment--stands as a material representation of the Muries’ conservation ethic and love of nature. In keeping with the Murie family wishes, the HFR recommends that the Murie Center continue to use the buildings for meetings and other functions that promote conservation. Wherever possible, the Center should maintain the historic integrity and appearance of the Residence by returning to the Residence the few items that are currently located in other buildings on the property.