Category: National Parks

. . . was acquired from the B&O Railroad on this date in 1938. The property became a National Historical Park in 1971.

The C&O Canal follows the route of the Potomac River for 184.5 miles from Washington, D.C. to Cumberland, MD. The canal operated from 1828-1924 as a transportation route, primarily hauling coal from western Maryland to the port of Georgetown in Washington, D.C. Hundreds of original structures, including locks, lockhouses, and aqueducts, serve as reminders of the canal’s role as a transportation system during the Canal Era. In addition, the canal’s towpath provides a nearly level, continuous trail through the spectacular scenery of the Potomac River Valley.

National Park Service

… was proclaimed a national monument 102 years ago today. It was redisignated a national historical park in 1990.

Tumacácori NHP protects three Spanish colonial mission ruins in southern Arizona: Tumacácori, Guevavi, and Calabazas. The adobe structures are on three sites, with a visitor center at Tumacácori. These missions are among more than twenty established in the Pimería Alta by Father Kino and other Jesuits, and later expanded upon by Franciscan missionaries.

— Tumacácori National Historical Park

Padre Eusebio Kino was active in present-day Sonora and Arizona from 1687 until he died in 1711. He first visited Tumacácori in 1691.

Kino was a prolific author and mapmaker and has been called the primo vaquero (first cowboy). His is one of the two statues representing Arizona in the National Statuary Hall collection in the U.S. Capitol.

… was designated a national historical site on this date in 1951. It was redesignated a national monument in 1958.

For over 400 years Ojibwe families of Grand Portage have tapped maples every spring on a ridge located just off Lake Superior. During the summer, Ojibwe fishermen harvest in the same areas their forefathers have. Before the United States and Canada existed, the trading of furs, ideas and genes between the Ojibwe and French and English fur traders flourished. From 1778 until 1802, welcomed by the Grand Portage Ojibwe, the North West Company located their headquarters and western supply depot here for business and a summer rendezvous. Today, Grand Portage National Monument and Indian Reservation form a bridge between people, time and culture.

— Grand Portage National Monument

Grand Portage specifically is the 9 mile path around waterfalls and rapids on the last 20 miles of the Pigeon River before it reaches Lake Superior.

The Pigeon River (Rivière aux Tourtes) is the international boundary immediately west of Lake Superior.

… was formed 60 years ago today by combining the much smaller national park established in 1929 (which included just the Tetons and the lakes) and the Jackson Hole National Monument established in 1943. Today the park includes nearly 310,000 acres.

Located in northwestern Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park protects stunning mountain scenery and a diverse array of wildlife. The central feature of the park is the Teton Range — an active, fault-block, 40-mile-long mountain front. The range includes eight peaks over 12,000 feet (3,658 m), including the Grand Teton at 13,770 feet (4,198 m). Seven morainal lakes run along the base of the range, and more than 100 alpine lakes can be found in the backcountry.

Elk, moose, pronghorn, mule deer, and bison are commonly seen in the park. Black bears are common in forested areas, while grizzlies are occasionally observed in the northern part of the park. More than 300 species of birds can be observed, including bald eagles and peregrine falcons.

Grand Teton National Park

. . . was authorized on September 9, 1966.

San Juan Island is well known for splendid vistas, saltwater shore, quiet woodlands and orca whales. But it was also here in 1859 that the United States and Great Britain nearly went to war over a dead pig.

National Park Service

. . . was established on this date in 1961.

Set in the rugged beauty of the Davis Mountains of west Texas, Fort Davis is one of America’s best surviving examples of an Indian Wars’ frontier military post in the Southwest. From 1854 to 1891, Fort Davis was strategically located to protect emigrants, mail coaches, and freight wagons on the Trans-Pecos portion of the San Antonio-El Paso Road and the Chihuahua Trail, and to control activities on the southern stem of the Great Comanche War Trail and Mescalero Apache war trails. Fort Davis is important in understanding the presence of African Americans in the West and in the frontier military because the 24th and 25th U.S. Infantry and the 9th and 10th U.S. Cavalry, all-black regiments established after the Civil War, were stationed at the post.

National Park Service

Edward Rothstein has reviewed the new Old Faithful visitor center at Yellowstone. It opened last week.

I commend the article to you; I particularly liked this paragraph.

But as the symbol of one of the country’s most visited national parks, Old Faithful actually seems least faithful — least suggestive of untrammeled nature. From its measured eruptions to its paved surroundings, it can seem a manufactured extravaganza. Three hotels have grown around it, the most famous of which, the 1904 Old Faithful Inn, probably inspires far more gasps, with its fanciful, rustic, pine-log construction than the famed geyser’s jets of water. As for spectacle, the Bellagio’s Las Vegas fountains outdo nature, at least in this case.

Which is better, the Bellagio or Old Faithful?

… was established as a national battlefield site on this date in 1890. It was redesignated a national battlefield in 1978.

23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing after twelve hours of savage combat on September 17, 1862. The Battle of Antietam ended the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia’s first invasion into the North and led to Abraham Lincoln’s issuance of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

Antietam National Battlefield

It was the bloodiest day in American history. Among the battlefields I’ve visited, Antietam is my favorite, perhaps because it less congested and monumented-up than Gettysburg. It retains, it seems, more of its 1862 feel.

… was authorized on this date in 1964. According to the National Park Service:

Fort Bowie commemorates in its 1000 acres, the story of the bitter conflict between the Chiricahua Apaches and the United States military. For more than 30 years Fort Bowie and Apache Pass were the focal point of military operations eventually culminating in the surrender of Geronimo in 1886 and the banishment of the Chiricahuas to Florida and Alabama. It was the site of the Bascom Affair, a wagon train massacre, and the battle of Apache Pass, where a large force of Chiricahua Apaches under Mangus Colorados and Cochise fought the California Volunteers. The remains of Fort Bowie today are carefully preserved, the adobe walls of various post buildings and the ruins of a Butterfield Stage Station.

Visiting Fort Bowie requires a three mile round trip hike — unless you use the handicap entrance, which they keep a secret until you show up after walking a mile-and-a-half on a July afternoon with a daughter eight months pregnant and a two-year-old grandson.

… was authorized on this date in 1965.

Feel the old wooden floor give slightly beneath your footsteps and hear it squeak as you enter the doors of the oldest operating trading post on the Navajo Nation. Step back in time and experience this original 160 acre homestead, which includes the Trading Post, Hubbell home and Visitor Center with weavers. Hubbell Trading Post offers you a chance to become a part of this unique slice of history.

Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site

was established on this date in 1916. Legislation enacting the service set the director’s salary at $4,500 a year.

“Looking for some peace and quiet during your travels this summer? We give you America’s 20 least-visited National Monuments, taken from 2009 National Park Service data.”

Los Angeles Times

Six of the 20 are in New Mexico!

The New York Times reports on jerks and fools in the national parks. An excerpt:

The national parks’ history is full of examples of misguided visitors feeding bears, putting children on buffalos for photos and dipping into geysers despite signs warning of scalding temperatures.

But today, as an ever more wired and interconnected public visits the parks in rising numbers — July was a record month for visitors at Yellowstone — rangers say that technology often figures into such mishaps.

People with cellphones call rangers from mountaintops to request refreshments or a guide; in Jackson Hole, Wyo., one lost hiker even asked for hot chocolate.

A French teenager was injured after plunging 75 feet this month from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon when he backed up while taking pictures. And last fall, a group of hikers in the canyon called in rescue helicopters three times by pressing the emergency button on their satellite location device. When rangers arrived the second time, the hikers explained that their water supply “tasted salty.”

… was renamed on this date in 1952. It had been first designated Coronado International Memorial, but an adjoining Mexican memorial was never created.

“As a result of this expedition, what has been truly characterized by historians as one of the greatest land expeditions the world has known, a new civilization was established in the great American Southwest” reported the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in 1939. “To commemorate permanently the explorations of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado…would be of great value in advancing the relationship of the United States and Mexico upon a friendly basis of cultural understanding,” stated E. K. Burlew, Acting Secretary of the Interior in 1940. It would “stress the history and problems of the two countries and would encourage cooperation for the advancement of their common interests.”

Coronado National Memorial

… was established on this date in 1960.

In 1686, Henri de Tonti established a trading post known as “Poste de Arkansea” at the Quapaw village of Osotouy. It was the first semi-permanent French settlement in the lower Mississippi River Valley. The establishment of the Post was the first step in a long struggle between France, Spain, and England over the interior of the North American continent.

Over the years, the Post relocated as necessary due to flooding from the Arkansas River, but its position always served of strategic importance for the French, Spanish, American, and Confederate military. Spanish soldiers and British partisans clashed here in the 1783 “Colbert Raid,” the only Revolutionary War action in Arkansas.

Arkansas Post became part of the United States following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. By 1819, the post was a thriving river port and the largest city in the region and selected as the first capital of the Arkansas Territory.

During the Civil War, Confederate troops tried to maintain tactical control of the confluence of the two rivers, and in 1862 they constructed a massive earthen fortification known as Fort Hindman at the Post. In January 1863 Union troops destroyed the fort, ensuring control of the Arkansas River.

Today, the memorial and museum commemorate the multi-layered and complex history of the site. Located on a peninsula bordered by the Arkansas River and two backwaters, the site offers excellent fishing and wildlife watching opportunities.

National Park Service

… was established on this date in 1911.

Established in 1911 by presidential proclamation, Devils Postpile National Monument protects and preserves the Devils Postpile formation, the 101-foot Rainbow Falls, and the pristine mountain scenery.

The Devils Postpile formation is a rare sight in the geologic world and ranks as one of the world’s finest examples of columnar basalt. Its columns tower 60-feet high and display an unusual symmetry. Another wonder is in store just downstream from the Postpile at Rainbow Falls, once called “a gem unique and worthy of its name”. When the sun is overhead, a bright rainbow highlights the spectacular Falls.

The monument is also a portal to the High Sierra backcountry, with some 75% included in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. At 800 acres, Devils Postpile National Monument may be considered small by some, yet its natural and recreational values abound.

National Park Service

… was renamed and redesignated on this date in 1938. It had been Mount Olympus National Monument since 1909.

Glacier capped mountains, wild Pacific coast and magnificent stands of old-growth forests, including temperate rain forests — at Olympic National Park, you can find all three. About 95% of the park is designated wilderness, which further protects these diverse and spectacular ecosystems.

Olympic is also known for its biological diversity. Isolated for eons by glacial ice, and later the waters of Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Olympic Peninsula has developed its own distinct array of plants and animals. Eight kinds of plants and 15 kinds of animals are found on the peninsula but no where else on Earth.

Olympic National Park

… was authorized 75 years ago today.

Big Bend is one of the largest and least visited of America’s national parks. Over 801,000 acres await your exploration and enjoyment. From an elevation of less than 2,000 feet along the Rio Grande to nearly 8,000 feet in the Chisos Mountains, Big Bend includes massive canyons, vast desert expanses, and the entire Chisos Mountain range. Here, you can explore one of the last remaining wild corners of the United States, and experience unmatched sights, sounds, and solitude.

In Big Bend National Park all roads end at the Rio Grande, the boundary between the United States and Mexico. But far more than two nations meets here. Three states come together at Big Bend: Texas in the United States and Coahuila and Chihuahua in Mexico. Many of the park’s famous, expansive vistas mix scenes belonging to both nations.

Big Bend National Park also marks the northernmost range of many plants and animals, such as the Mexican long-nosed bat. Ranges of typically eastern and typically western species of plants and animals come together or overlap here. Here many species are at the extreme limits of their ranges. Latin American species, many from the tropics, range this far north, while northern-nesting species often travel this far south in winter. Contrasting elevations create additional, varied micro-climates that further enhance the diversity of plant and animal life and the park’s wealth of natural boundaries.

National Park Service