House of Antlers Snagged Yellowstone Park Tourists 100 Years Ago

Picture this: a whimsical structure made entirely of antlers, once a tourist magnet in Yellowstone. What stories does it hold from the past?

Back in the 1920s, this was probably considered quite a spectacle.  And even back then then there were those tasked with getting as many people as possible to visit this national treasure.

WE GOTTA HAVE A HOOK TO BRING 'EM IN

That premise is where the present meets the past, as Angela Montana from the Montana Outdoor Radio Shared via the Yellowstone Insider. Yellowstone National Park has always been caught between two missions: 1) Protecting its wild wonders and 2) Tempting visitors to come see them.

Nowadays, with millions of people poring through each year, preservation rules the roost. But back in the day, according to the the park wasn’t shy about rolling out the red carpet for tourists…even if it meant building a funky little spectacle.

THE ARRANGER RANGER

Grainy postcard images show The House of Antlers, a unique structure made entirely of shed horns and antlers by Chief Ranger Sam T. Woodring in 1928, right across from the Albright Museum in Mammoth. Visitors admired it for decades, with antlers collected from moose, elk, deer, and antelope throughout the winter months.

READ MORE: Bison Battle: Yellowstone Park's Controversial Reduction Plan

IT HAD A GOOD RUN

Perhaps many of you Baby Boomers remember the Antler House. It survived until 1963, when officials dismantled it, worried that its popularity might inspire guests to grab their own souvenirs from the park. Being a mix of natural oddity and tourist bait, it is definitely a reminder that Yellowstone’s history wasn’t all geysers and bison. Sometimes it was just a whole lot of horns!