Distinctly Montana Magazine

2022 // Spring

Distinctly Montana Magazine

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w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m 37 approach from Red Lodge into Yellowstone National Park. Much emphasis was placed on the benefits of being able to haul timber and to access the riches of Cooke City—both of which were revenue sources for the federal government. Creating a new entrance for tourists to enter the park was initially far less of a selling point. Debates over the proposed roadway went on for years and the idea of connecting the cities teetered on the edge of fail- ure more than once. The highway's fate was sealed in the wake of the 1929 stock market crash and the ensuing Great Depression. When Pres- ident Herbert Hoover signed the National Park Approaches Act in January of 1931, the route between Red Lodge and Cooke City was the first park road to receive funding, accord- ing to the Federal Highway Administration. The first contracts were awarded five months later and construction on the roadway began that summer, provid- ing essential economic boosts to Yellowstone National Park

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