In the early years of America’s national parks, the ranger uniform was overwhelmingly associated with men. Women were already working in parks in various capacities, however, and some were beginning to take on duties that would later become central to the modern park ranger. One of the most remarkable early examples was a South Dakota schoolteacher who was hired in 1917 to guide visitors through Wind Cave in South Dakota. Her appointment reflected a period when the National Park Service and its predecessors were experimenting with how best to manage newly protected landscapes and explain them to growing numbers of visitors. The woman at the centre of this story was Isabel Bassett Wasson, who became one of the earliest women to hold a park ranger title in the United States. Her work at Yellowstone and her scientific background made her an important figure in the early history of women in the National Park Service. The story also reveals how the role of a ranger was changing from simply protecting park resources to educating visitors about the natural world. Her career helped demonstrate that women could contribute to national parks not only as guides, but also as scientists, educators and guardians of public lands. Her legacy would go on to challenge the gender barriers that shaped the early development of America’s national parks. Wasson’s career was part of a gradual shift that would eventually open more opportunities for women across the National Park Service. By combining scientific knowledge with public education, she helped broaden the idea of what a ranger could be and showed that women could play a meaningful role in both conservation and park management.
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