Judge John W. Meldrum (September 17, 1843 – February 27, 1936) was a carpenter, a Wyoming politician and the first U.S. Commissioner in Yellowstone National Park, a position he held for 41 years (1894–1935).

In the spring of 1867 he moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory and then to Fort Collins, Colorado where he worked on a ranch for two years.

After convention, he was appointed Surveyor General of Wyoming Territory by President Chester A. Arthur, a position he held until November 1885.

[2] In March 1894, Edgar Howell, a poacher from Cooke City, Montana was captured by Captain G. L. Scott, U.S. Army, and a patrol of soldiers for killing Bison in the Pelican Valley section of the park.

The story prompted George Bird Grinnell, editor of Forest and Stream to lobby congress for a law to allow prosecution of crimes in Yellowstone.

5 That the United States circuit court in said district shall appoint a commissioner, who shall reside in the park, who shall have jurisdiction to hear and act upon all complaints made, of any and all violations of the law, or of the rules and regulations made the Secretary of the Interior for the government of the park, and for the protection of the animals, birds, and fish and objects of interest therein, and for other purposes authorized by this Act.As a long standing member of the Republican party in Wyoming, Meldrum had become closely acquainted with many prominent Wyoming politicians.

One of Meldrum's first duties was to supervise the construction of the Commissioner's building, funded by the Lacey Act and designed by a local soldier.

Marshal's Residence (Building 49), which stood alone west of the parade ground, was a one-and-a-half-story rock-faced sandstone dwelling with gable-on-hip roof with through-the-cornice dormers and a full-width porch.

The building was of a restrained and dignified design, qualities which would typify the stone housing built at the fort in future years.

[5]On August 14, 1897 two armed men held up a caravan of four stages and an Army ambulance en route from Canyon to Mammoth.

Witness accounts were insufficient to identify and arrest the robbers so the Army was engaged find whatever evidence could be found near the crime.

They located a variety of circumstantial evidence in a recently abandoned campsite just north of Grebe Lake that tied the robbers to the scene.

On August 30, 1897, Smitzer and Reeb were arrested and shortly thereafter Meldrum heard the evidence and bound them over for trial in the Federal court in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

On February 24, 1936 he learned of the death of Yellowstone superintendent and personal friend, Roger W. Toll, in a New Mexico traffic accident.