Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE NATIONAL PARK IDEA
Portrait artist George Catlin is credited with originally suggesting the idea of a 'national
park' during an 1832 trip through the wild Dakota Territory. The US' first nationally pro-
tected area was created a few months later at Hot Springs, Arkansas. For decades the park
service promoted the romanticized notion that the idea of a Yellowstone national park was
born at Madison junction by the members of the Hayden expedition, though the reality was
more complex.
In 1872 President Ulysses S Grant signed the landmark Yellowstone National Park Act,
setting aside 'the tract of land in the Territories of Montana and Wyoming, lying near the
headwaters of the Yellowstone River,' and 'all timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities,
or wonders…in their natural condition.' The proclamation put a box on the map around
what was thought to be the extent of the region's thermal areas but neglected to appropriate
any management funds. The park's first superintendent, one Nathaniel Langford (he of the
1870 expedition), was unpaid and only visited the park twice in his five-year tenure. This
lack of funding led the park to seek private business partners, such as the railroads, to de-
velop infrastructure and promote tourism; a problem that today's park administrators would
recognize well.
The most important legacy of the National
Park Service (NPS) is much greater than simply
preserving a unique ecosystem. That the nation-
al park and preservation idea has spread world-
wide is a testament to the pioneering thinking of
early US conservationists.
You can see examples of Jackson and Moran's
iconic artwork at Mammoth's Albright Visitor
Center, alongside a copy of the 1872 act of Con-
gress that created Yellowstone National Park.
 
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