The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-05
America Has Provided Many
 Magnificent Resorts
YELLOWSTONE IS GREATEST
Military Parks In the South and In Pennsylvania Are a Source of Never Ending Wonder to
 Visitors.
BY FREDERIC j. HAsKlN.

Yellowstone Park had become great mecca for enthusiastic pilgrims and na- ture- -worshipers. It was then set aside by the government as pleasure ground, policed with several troops of United States cavalry, and the people of the United States were invited to come and enjoy it. It is now under the control of the department of the interior and in- cludes over 100000 acres of land lying in Montana and Wyoming 5000 feet above the sea This is the oldest and largest of the national parks, and because of it's wild scenery, its uncouth and marvellous geological formations, it is also the most interesting. Its geysers are from five to sixty feet in diameter, and spout from fifty to three hundred feet high. The turbulent boiling of the springs and the hissing of steam through the Assures in the ground caused John Muir, the great naturalist, to lllsen the park to a giant kitchen where Mother Natures pots have been bubbling and boiling over through many long, long ages. Queer tricks these kettles play, for when Excelsior Geyser sends up it's enormous volumes of water it sometimes overfows the small creek near by, rendering the current so hot and swift that it Is impossible.
 History has written wonderful records in the Yellowstone Park. On Amethyst Mountain an exposed ledge shows fifteen layers of world-mal1ing, Representing pe- riods of time too long for human compu- tation Opal and agate stumps show that back in the worlds dim dawn empires of nature had been founded there on oth- CT empires of nature that had long before fallen in some great battle of the ele- ments Giant forests had their begin ning had lived and died, to be covered by other forests, which, when they had lived their day, gave place to still others, until nc less than fifteen dynasties of the tree kingdom are recorded there in opal and agate pages on the mountain side.
 By stage, on horseback, in prairie schooners and light wagons, the children of the nation come to see this great play ground year after year. Bronzed troop CTS rido over the trails day and night winter and summer, to see that no laws protecting the parks are violated, that no vandal defaces the edges of the geysers in gratifying the national thirst for sou venirs. that no fires are left burning, and that the game is not molested. The gov ernment plants and harvests large field of alfalfa in the park each year for the use of the herds of antelope and elk when winter forage on the mountain side grows scarce. Last year in one evening a forest ranger counted 12OO elk in one herd that came down to the hospitable government feeding ground
 Another national pleasure ground is the Yosemite Valley, which was placed under government control in 1899. From 1861 until that time it had been under the care of the state of California. There a natural column 150O feet high dominates the scenery for miles around. Symet- rical, ice furnished. set with crystals, carved by the irresistible forces of na- ture through countless ages, it has been named Glacier Monuments. Here, too, na- ture has carved basaltic paving stones for one terrace, polishing them to the smoothness of glass, and laying them on the floor of her garden for all the world to see. Startling shapes and effects in the rocks precipitous and gigantic water falls, exquisite colors at sunrise and sun set and noon hours, rich in warmth and glow-these has nature given the spot. It is said that even the dogs and horses who enter the enchanted ground for the first time are puzzled at every turn of the trails that cross the 1124 square miles of playground.
 Last summer the state of California ceded to the general government all con- trol over the Mariposa Big Tree Grove, and this was added to the Yosemite res ervaton. It Is pollced in like manner by troops and rangers. California preserves
  verons Park in the Great Basin. Trees are standing there that were dourishing when Pharaoh of the Hard Heart was sending the children of Israel into exile, and that saw the glortes of Babylon rise and fall.
 In the fall of 1890 the Sequoia and Gen eral Grant National parks of Tulare coun- ty. California, were added to the growing list. Not only are the trees now standing to be preserved, but in nurseries seedlings are being carefully reared to be used in reforesting where 1t is needed. There have recently been several large, picturesque caves discovered on the grounds. The state of Washington has one of the most beautiful of the national parks within it's boundaries. This is Mount Rainier Park tract of land about eighteen miles square, that includes most of the famous peak for which 1t was named Old trails have been located and put in order. tent hotels erected for guests, and forest ranges sent to patrol it to guard against destructive fires. Two hundred and forty nine square miles of territory surround ing Crater Lake in Oregon have been withdrawn from public settlement. and last year over 1900 tourists went that way to feast thein eyes on the landscape. Winter early locks up the mountain pass es. then the superintendent has the floors taken from the bridges that they may
  all the tools and boats stored away, and goes into winter quarters at Klamath Falls until spring unlocks the ways again.
 The Dakotas have each a national park.
 Twelve miles southeast of Custer, s, D..
 is the Wind Cave Park. and last year 5000 tourists went down the winding stairs
 there to see the wonders in the cave far
 below On the south shore of Devil s Lake, North Dakota, Is three-year-old national park. containing about thou sand acres and known as Sully's Hill park In this reservation are many pre- historic mounds in which skeletons, stone, copper and ivory trinkets have been found.
 lone cowboy from the Mancos. riding his wiry cayuse out across the hills and mesas in search of lost cattle a few years ago, came upon a number of ancient | pueblos built high against the face of a | cliff. The state of Colorado, realizing | the value of these buildings. set about preserving them Later they became the leading features of the Mesa Verde Ma tional rAark The buildings and their con 1 tents have suffered greatly from the hands of vandals. though the famous l Spruce Tree House, the Balcony House | and the Cliff Palace have been preserved. l Cliff Palace. with its tapering, loop-holed 1 tower. Is said to be the most famous work 1 of prehistoric Americans now in exist l ence. The Casa Grande Ruin, discovered i bv Padre Kino in 1894. is also another 1 government acquisition. It Is eighteen 1 miles northeast of Casa Grande station | In Pinal county, Arizona, and was taken