The Washington herald., 1907-05-05
OUR NATIONAL PARKS.

( tower, is said 20 DE the most famous
work Of prehistoric Americans now IN eX-
/ istence. The Casa Grandt ruin. discOv-
/ cred by Padre Kino In 1854. is also am
( other government acquisition. II is eight
/ cen miles northeast OF C3sa Graude sta
! tion. in Pinal County Arizona. and was
/ taken under government protection in
] lSi9 The interesting prehistoric ruins Of
/ the Gila and Verde River Valleys and
/ the chalcedony of the famous petrifed
/ forests Of giant trees in Arizona are eX-
posed to the depreGations Of tourists and
/ collectors. and should be placed under
4 government protection.
( In 1850 it was decided to preserve the
! famous battlefield of ChickamauEa as a
national military park This was the
/ first of It's kind IN the world BY 1881 the
/ government had acquired an the terri
tory lying about Chattanooga on which
the famous eight-days battles had been
fought. Under the direction of the De
partment of War the territory was turn
ed into "a large, military reservation.
where monuments were set 10 commcmo-
rate The deeds of Northern and Southern
/ heroes and markers set TO designate the
positions of the various commands. In
the battles fought on this ground five Of
I the great armies OF the country were
engaged, under such leaders as Grant,
I Bragg. Sherman. L0ngstreet. Sheridan,
Forrest. Thomas. Wheeler. Rosecrans.
and Stewart The fields Of Chickamauga.
Wauhatchie. Orchard Knob. Lookout
Mountain. ana Missionary Ridge are in
cluded in the $500 acres ana the tract
lies IN Walker and Coosa counties, Geor-
gia, and Hamilton County. Tennessee. In
tqVgfq 1rillg and anrg r,-,-ar,ta E-,1.7
in this park every summer.
Another military park is at Shiloh.
Hardin County, Tennessee, where Grant
and Buell. defeated the Confederates un-
der Albert Sidney Johnston and Beaure-
gard. and where Johnston was killed.
There are 3.000 acres in this park. Wis
c0nsin last s-ear added a Sl5.0o0 monument
in honor OF her dead to those already
there. Ten Southern and eleven Northern
States contributed the soldiers for this
memorable battle. ViCkSburg was the
third of the national military parks. tt
was provided for by act of Congress in
1889 and dedicated with great ceremony
not long ago This has about POO acres
Of land and lies near Vicksburg. Warren
County Miss. Il was here that the Con
tederates withstood "a siege until the
NolilcI dltd CulluIeii. ukluE IN DOem-prO0f
caves. were forced to live on mule meat
and rats. and half rations of bad meal
Then Pemberton, seeing resistance use
less. surrendered the city TO Grant on July
4. 1863
IN 1904 o bill creating a national mill
tary park at Gettysburg, Pa. was passed
Thirteen hundred acres have been taken
under national care, and like the three
other parks il has been set with monu-
ments and markers, laid cut in drives and
walks. and made a veritabIe garden
There Is little trace of the warriors of
long ago. The only ones there to-day are
the gray-clad West Point seniors who
come down for annual maneuyers. Flow
ers bloom where the blood of Northern
and Southern Chivalry was poured out
long ago as tribute to Mars. and where
the gathering battles smoky shield
once darkened the sky, there smiles Sc
rene and confident the sun of peace.
To-mOrrow - Seed Industry in
America.