Robert A. Grom

author

Robert A. Grom

A longtime National Park Service naturalist and historian, he wrote about the South Dakota Badlands with the kind of firsthand knowledge that only comes from years spent there. His work helps bring the landscape’s human and natural history into focus for modern readers.

1 Audiobook

The History of Badlands National Monument and the White River (Big) Badlands of South Dakota

The History of Badlands National Monument and the White River (Big) Badlands of South Dakota

by Ray H. Mattison, Robert A. Grom

About the author

Best known for his writing on the Badlands of South Dakota, Robert A. Grom was closely connected to the National Park Service and served as chief park naturalist at Badlands National Monument. That background gave his historical writing a practical, on-the-ground feel, shaped by deep familiarity with the place itself.

He is credited as coauthor, with historian Ray H. Mattison, of History of Badlands National Monument and the White River (Big) Badlands of South Dakota, a work noted by the National Park Service in its park history materials. His writing centers on the creation of the monument and the people, policies, and landscapes that shaped its story.

Available memorial records indicate that he lived from 1929 to 2016. While detailed biographical information is limited in the sources I found, his published work remains a useful window into the history of one of America’s most distinctive national park landscapes.