Hillory Alfred Tolson (1897-1983) received the Pugsley Silver Medal for significant contributions to the national park field. He was born in Laredo, Missouri. His father was the city marshal. When he left high school, he worked for the Laredo Tribune. In these early days, Tolson also worked for his grandfather as a cowboy for a dollar a day plus room and board. His job was to herd steers into a corral and then drive them to the nearest railhead for shipment to Kansas City or Chicago. He was renowned for his work ethic and demanded excellence from all ourselves very seriously in the early days of the NPS.
Tolson served with the Marine Corps in Italy in World War I, moved to Washington D.C. and in 1919 went to work for the War Plans Division of the War Department. In 1921, he took a job in Washington D.C with the Panama Canal Commission. He was admitted to practice before the U.S Supreme Court in 1935 with Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes presiding. ?In 1931,Tolson joined the FBI as a special agent. He began his career with the NPS in 1932 as assistant to George A Mosley who was an assistant director of NPS responsible for all legal matters including legislation. In 1935, he was promoted to assistant director in charge of the Branch of Administration. A comprehensive listing of NPS staff was first compiled by Tolson in 1964. He was also the inititator of an alumini list when the number was relatively small. In late 1930's the NPS was reorganized into regions and in 1939 Hillory Tolson was sent from Washington office to be the first Region III director based in Santa Fe. He remained there for a year before returning to Washington as assistant director and chief of field operations. He held that post until he retired in 1963.