As recent controversy has moved St. Louis County's Lone Elk Park into the spotlight, it seems appropriate to remember how the park came to be.

Lone Elk is part of the large Tyson Valley tract assembled by the U.S. government in 1941 for use as a "powder dump," a place to store and test ammunition. This location was attractive because it was in a secluded valley that had remained very little developed. The Ranken Estate held 2,350 acres, and the Mincke family still had 134 acres from the old company town of Mincke, where limestone quarrying and mining had taken place from 1877 to 1927. Only two other owners had to be approached to fill out the 2,600-acre tract. During the war, the government is said to have spent more than $3 million on 52 concrete storage bunkers called igloos, 21 miles of paved roads, two stables, a perimeter fence and trail and other improvements.

The ground was declared surplus in 1947, and St. Louis County was able to acquire it for only $175,000, which later was reduced to $76,081 to be paid in installments. Twelve thousand people gathered at the new Tyson Valley Park on July 5, 1948, for the formal opening, but the event was washed out by rain. The park offered athletic fields, picnic areas with 50 barbecue pits, hiking trails and bridle trails for horseback riding.

Tyson Valley, twice the size of Forest Park, with a fence already built around most of it, seemed ideal for wildlife, and soon elk from Yellowstone, buffalo from Oklahoma and 15 deer from Grant's Farm were roaming the park.

County Supervisor Luman Matthews held a more successful dedication on July 23, 1950, after the park's cost had been fully paid. Just nine months later, Matthews received a letter from the Department of the Army, notifying him that they were reclaiming Tyson Valley because of the conflict in Korea.

Matthews and the Parks Advisory Board were able to retain about 200 acres west of the perimeter fence, which they named West Tyson Park. The buffalo were removed to Rapid City, S.D., but the elk and deer were left until a bull elk rammed an Army truck. Then the Army rounded up the elk and shot them.

At first, the Army paid rent for the park, but, in 1954, the Army decided to repurchase it for $74,448. The deed that was executed in 1956 failed to include any provisions to give the county priority on a future resale. When the Army finally decided to relinquish the property in 1961, the county found that it was competing with Washington University to buy the land, and a three-year struggle ensued.

The university submitted a plan for "intensive development" devoted to "highest priority scientific, medical and technological" studies. This appealed to many civic leaders, including U.S. Sen. Stuart Symington, and even the Parks Advisory Board. The county's director of planning thought the research center would be a significant factor in the economic growth of the county, and the foundation associated with Stupp Brothers Bridge and Iron Co. contributed half a million dollars to the university to launch the new research center.

Wayne C. Kennedy, the county's parks director, maintained his claim. He refused the university's offer of a nearly inaccessible ridge adjacent to West Tyson Park and held out for the rolling ground east of the main valley, which included a potential lake site. By 1963, the General Services Administration was able to negotiate a compromise that gave Kennedy the tract he wanted. The university got 1,966.46 acres, and the county 405.24 acres, for which the county paid $60,787.

Kennedy planned a winter recreation area for skiing, bobsleds and toboggans. But then an elk was discovered roaming the park, the sole survivor of the roundup 10 years earlier. Public sentiment led to the revival of the wildlife idea. Rockwood elementary schools collected $300 to bring in more elk. Any student contributing a dime or more earned a share of "Elk Stock." Fred Weber brought six elk from Yellowstone, and more buffalo came from Oklahoma and the St. Louis Zoo. The park even experimented for a few years with Barbados sheep.

Lone Elk Park has become the eastern gateway to the county's largest contiguous green space, which includes Castlewood State Park and the Al Foster Trail to the north, Route 66 State Park and the Beaumont Boy Scout Reservation to the west. Forest 44, the state conservation area of nearly 1,000 acres just to the south, was saved in 1990 after an intense public campaign against development.

Now, however, the St. Louis County executive says that Lone Elk Park is a drag on the county's budget and should be closed, possibly to be sold to private individuals. How times have changed!

Esley Hamilton is the preservation historian for St. Louis County Parks.