Celebrating An Important Birthday

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Celebrating an important birthday. The madman loves a party. Who else celebrates the birthday of a National Park – especially one whose roads are mostly closed to everything except over-snow vehicles? The official birthday was a week ago but he’s still celebrating. I suspect that’s because the birthday coincided with the diminishing specter of COVID. That means that we can begin to solidify our 2022 travel plans.

The madman and I posing at a trailhead — *We appreciate our country’s National Park System. Here we are at a trailhead in Grand Teton NP.*

As we’ve told you, we love to hike in the National Parks, and March 1 was the birthday of Yellowstone, the first park in the system. In 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone Act of 1872 into law. According to history.com the act set aside 2+ million acres of land in the future states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho as a “public pleasuring ground which would be preserved from injury or spoilation.”

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone is amazing. It has mountains, lakes, geysers, rivers, waterfalls and colorful geothermal pools. And running around in these natural splendors is the largest concentration of mammals in the contiguous United States. Most notable among these is the grizzly bear who would just as soon eat you as look at you.

But remember, we are plant geeks. This park has over 1,000 native flowering species, including three endemics (not nearly as many as Madagascar). It also hosts nine species of conifers, and you know how the madman loves his conifers.

Tough Trip

The biggest drawback to visiting Yellowstone in the early years was its remoteness. But in 1883, the Northern Pacific Railroad (NPRR) reached the park, making it easier to visit. To attract more people, the railroad went so far as to promote Yellowstone as a wonderland full of curiosities. At first, only a few thousand tourists traveled to the park each year, a far cry from the 4.9 million visitors in 2021.

cover of brochure entitled Alice's Adventures in the new wonderland. — *In the 1880s, the railroad enticed visitors by creating a “modern-day” Alice in Wonderland*

The establishment of Yellowstone as a National Park set a precedent. Congress has gone on to designate 423 National Park Sites since then. Interestingly, Yellowstone with all its curiosities is not the most visited. Last year it ranked #12. It is the madman’s favorite park, but from Farmington, it’s a long trip which is why his visits have been 50 years apart.

Yellowstone Falls as seen from the top — *One of the wonders at Yellowstone National Park is Yellowstone Falls.*

The madman complains about how hard it is to visit some of the National Parks in the 21^st century. Can you imagine what he would say in the late 1800s? Airplanes and automobiles were not options in those days. Visiting National Parks was an ordeal. Trains and horse-drawn wagons brought visitors to the parks. The very early visitors were the modern day equivalent to backpackers. Only the most hardy made the journey.

Parkitecture To Attract Visitors

To attract more visitors, the railroad companies constructed grand hotels and lodges at the parks. Using local materials, timber and stones, the architects created adventurers’ castles to blend with the natural scenery. They called it Parkitecture. These grand hotels made guests feel safe and comfortable in the wilderness. And they still draw visitors today. Think of El Tovar in the Grand Canyon, Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone or the Zion Lodge. Obviously, the only people who could afford the time and expense involved were the wealthy.

*Built in 1928, the Grand Canyon Lodge at North Rim still blends with the natural surroundings of a National Park.*

At that time, unpaid superintendents or military officials ran the Parks. Their jobs were mostly to maintain order and stop poaching. They didn’t try to explain the geology, ecology and biology of the parks. A change was needed. On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson created the National Park Service, “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” The madman says no wonder we need lawyers to help us understand this stuff.

National Parks In The West

At first, all but one of the National Parks were in the west. After all, the most strange and spectacular scenery was west of the Mississippi River. Acadia National Park in down east Maine with its rugged coastal features was the only exception.

Ocean waves crashing on the rugged Maine coast — *The rugged coast of Maine was considered spectacular enough to be preserved at Acadia National Park.*

Stephen T. Mathers became the first director of the National Park Service. Along with his assistant, 25-year-old Horace M. Albright, Mr. Mathers sought to make the parks more accessible to visitors. They realized visitors were the key to the success of the National Park System. Hotels, along with museums, publications and other educational activities were established in these parks. Automobiles, once banned, were now permitted throughout the parks. And, always, they were on the lookout for extraordinary natural sites.

Go East, Young Man

But, in order to make the park system accessible to greater numbers, Mathers needed to look to the east. In 1926, the Park Service added Shenandoah, Great Smokey Mountains and Mammoth Cave to its list of National Parks. After Mathers retired in 1929, his assistant Albright moved up to director and continued park acquisition in the East where the biggest growth potential was in the realm of history and historical sites.

Tunnel on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park — *A tunnel on the main road through Shenandoah National Park.*

In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered an executive transfer of all the Military Parks, Forest Service Monuments and National Capitol Parks to the Park Service. From this point forward, the National Park Service was not only in the scenery business. It was in the history business as well. The madman says this also helped get rid of bureaucratic turf wars.

Stone bridge spanning Antietam Creek — *The famous Burnside Bridge at Antietam is preserved by the National Park System.*

The CCC Helps

With Roosevelt’s New Deal during the depression, thousands of young men from the Civil Conservation Corps (CCC) were hired by the Park Service to improve infrastructure. They built roads, created trails, constructed visitors centers and generally improved the parks. Their efforts are visible today. The madman’s favorite example is Walter’s Wiggles, a trail on the way to Angels’ Landing in Zion National Park.

Looking down from a top section of Walter's Wiggles with its rock edges — *Walter’s Wiggles is a series of switchback leading up to Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park. This trail is not for the faint of heart (like me).*

In the 90 years since then, the Park Service has grown and changed to meet the needs of our changing world. Today, the National Park Service oversees 423 National Park Sites, 63 of which are truly National Parks, known for their unique and spectacular scenery. Because our country is so much more than natural scenery, the other NPS sites celebrate our nation’s waterways, seashores, historic battlefields, sites and monuments – in short, our heritage. They seek to preserve and interpret that heritage for future generations.