Captain Hiram M. Chittenden was the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers senior engineer in Yellowstone from 1899–1906. The Corps had been responsible for road and other infrastructure construction within the park since 1883. In 1901, in cooperation with Captain John Pitcher, Acting Park Superintendent, he began a series of projects to improve the quality of life at the fort. Chittenden had a reservoir built in 1901 to provide a consistent supply of water for irrigation, human consumption and fire fighting. The engineers oversaw a project during 1901 which cleared, manured and seeded the area immediately in front of officers' row to create a grassy parade ground and seeded areas around the various buildings to reduce perennially dusty summer conditions. Fort Yellowstone transitioned from oil to electric lighting in 1902 after Chittenden completed a 100-kilowatt powerplant east of the fort. The powerplant and reservoir no longer exist, but most of the grassy areas around Fort Yellowstone that Chittenden planned remain.