Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Baronett's Bridge and Its Successors
After prospector and hunter Jack Baronett built his wooden toll bridge in 1871, the trip
from Gardiner to Cooke City was much easier for miners (although some of them couldn't
pay the toll), as well as for park staff and visitors. Ascending along the Yellowstone River's
south side, the prospectors formerly had to make the difficult crossing somewhere near the
junction. They wanted to follow the Lamar River to reach the rich diggings near Cooke
City.
The bridge figured in the Nez Perce tribe's escape from General Howard's pursuing
troops in 1877: the Nez Perce burned the bridge, delaying the troops some three hours
while Chief Joseph and his people escaped up the Lamar River Valley.
In 1880, Baronett rebuilt his bridge and continued to collect tolls until 1899, when the
government finally bought the bridge. It remained here in a dilapidated state until 1905,
but a steel one was built just upstream in 1903.
“Yellowstone Jack” Baronett's bridge over the Yellowstone River.
Look south as you cross the present concrete bridge, dedicated in 1963, and you'll see
some colorful thermally altered rocks on the banks of the river. Near that spot, a worker
lost his life in a tragic accident in 1939. He had been lowered into a deep pit dug to ex-
plore a possible site for a new bridge foundation, but he lost consciousness and could not
be hoisted out of the pit for 20 minutes. He died of exposure to hydrogen sulfide and car-
bon dioxide gases.
In about 2 miles (3 km) the trail leaves the canyon and continues for many miles along
Specimen Ridge. A branch of this trail leads back to the highway at mile 26.7/1.9, the Speci-
men Ridge Trailhead.
