Prairie Dog Town was conceived and implemented by K. N. Clapp in 1935 because he was alarmed that the government’s poisoning program, which was becoming effective in the 1930s, would result in the extinction of the black-tailed prairie dog. Clapp designed the enclosure and, with his friend Ross Edwards, trapped two pairs of black-tailed prairie dogs to be its original residents. He oversaw Prairie Dog Town’s care and operation until his death in 1969.