Gardiner, Montana

Gardiner is a census-designated place (CDP) in Park County, Montana, United States,

Gardiner was officially founded in 1880. The area has served as a main entrance to Yellowstone National Park since its creation in 1872. Yellowstone National Park Heritage and Research Center, which opened May 18, 2005, is located in Gardiner and houses National Park Service archives, Yellowstone museum collections and reference libraries.

Gardiner was impacted by the 2022 Montana floods.

Etymology

The name "Gardiner" derives from Johnson Gardner, a fur trapper who operated in the area in 1830–31. He named the lush headwaters valley of today's Gardner River "Gardner's Hole". Originally named "Gardner's Fork", the river took on Gardner's name, although prospectors and explorers who visited the area later in the century were unaware of the trapper Johnson Gardner. In 1870, when the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition passed through the area, they began calling the river "Gardiner," a phonetic error. Hiram M. Chittenden (1895) and Nathaniel P. Langford (1905) confirmed this spelling in their accounts of the expedition.

McCartney's hotel

When the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 passed through the Gardiner area, they encountered two men, named J.C. McCartney and H. R. Horr, who had laid claim to and established a ranch and bath house on the Mammoth terraces near Liberty Cap. These entrepreneurs eventually established a primitive hotel at Mammoth, and were not evicted from the area until many years after the park was established. McCartney also went by the name "Jim Gardiner" and received messages, consignments and such destined for guests of his hotel addressed to "Jim on the Gardiner".

History

Pre-contact

Evidence shows that Native Americans have lived and hunted in the Gardiner area since at least 11,000 years ago. In the Nez Perce War of 1877, the United States forced all the Nez Perce people who formerly lived on the Yellowstone Plateau, which includes Gardiner, onto reservations. Early on, the small town of Gardiner was described in one account as "a veritable Shantyville... an ideal squatter town, with the rudest houses." a new town north of Gardiner Its role was taken on by the state highway passing through the town.

It is located at the confluence of the Gardiner River and the Yellowstone River.

Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Gardiner has a cold semi-arid climate, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 851 people residing in Gardiner. The population density was . The racial makeup of was 97.30% White, 0.35% African American, 1.41% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.12% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 0.47% of the population.

There were 435 households, of which 22.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.0% were married couples living together, and 51.5% were non-families. 43.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.96 people and the average family size 2.73.

Gardiner School (grades K-6; 101 students)
Gardiner 7-8 School (grades 7–8; 44 students)
Gardiner High School (grades 9–12; 85 students)

The CDP is in both Gardiner Elementary School District and Gardiner High School District, the two components of the Gardiner Public Schools school district.

A library in Gardiner opened in the 20th century.

Infrastructure

Gardiner Airport is a public use airport located two miles (3.7 km) northwest of town.

Media

{| class="wikitable"

! AM radio

! FM radio

! Television

| KBOZ 1090

| KOBB-FM 93.7

| KTVM 6 NBC

| KOBB 1230

| KMMS-FM 94.7

| KBZK 7 CBS

|KPRK 1340

|KISN 96.7

|KUSM 9 PBS

|-KEMC/KBMC-FM 103.9

|KMMS 1450

|KOZB 97.5

|KBOZ-FM 99.9 Gardiner Field, Montana was reported destroyed by an "enemy A-bomb" in the movie Invasion U.S.A.

|KXLB 100.7

|KZMY 103.5

|KBZM 104.7

|KSCY 106.9

Gallery

File:McCartneysHotelMammoth.jpg|McCartney's Hotel, precursor of the Gardiner settlement

File:Gardiner 1887.jpg|Gardiner, Park County, Montana, looking northeast, 1887. A one-sided street backed up to rocky foothills.

File:NorthernPacificDepotGardiner-Haynes.jpg|Northern Pacific Railway Terminal postcard, F. Jay Haynes

File:Yellowstone North Gate.jpg|Roosevelt Arch at Yellowstone's north entrance

File:Parks' Fly Shop Gardiner Montana.jpg|Parks' Fly Shop, 2nd Street, 2009

File:Gardiner Park St.jpg|Park Street, October 2009 with Roosevelt Arch

File:Gardiner Blue Goose.jpg|Red's Blue Goose

File:TinkersCemetaryYNPGardinerMT2009.jpg|Tinker's Cemetery, just north of town in Yellowstone National Park

File:YellowstoneHeritageAndResearchCenter2009.jpg|Yellowstone Heritage and Research Center

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