Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1916-04-18
0llmpses Of Our National Parks.

! 0llmpses OF Our National Parks.
UNSURPASSED SCENERY OF SPOTS Re
| SERVED FOB THE PEOPLE.
i (By Robert Sterling Yard)
| The national parks are areas which
Congress has set apart, because of ex.
traordinary scenic beauty, remarkable
phenomena or other unusual qusliflca.
tion. for the use and enjoyment of the
people for all time. They are admins.
tered by the Department OF the Interior.
/ These are not parks In the common
meaning of the word. They are not
beautiful tracts Of cultivated country
with smooth lawns and winding paths
like Central Park In New York, or Lin
coin Park In Chicago, or Golden Gate
Park in San Francisco. They are, on the
contrary, large areas which nature, not
man, has made beautiful and which the
hand Of man alters only enough to pro.
vide roads to enter them, trails to pene.
irate their fastnesses, and hotels and
camps to live In.
There are fourteen national parks, of
which eight are of the first order of size
and scenic msgniflcence ce-whioh means
great deal In land 90 beautiful % ours
Every person living In the United States
ought to know much about these eight
national parks and ought to visit them
when possible, for, considered together,
they contain more features OF c0nspicu-
Gus grandeur than are readily accessible
In all the rest of tho world together;
while, considered individually, there are
few, II any, celebrated scenic places
within easy reach abroad which are not
equaled or excelled in America. Even
the far-famed Swiss Alps are equaled,
and, some travellers believe, excelled by
the scenery Of several of our own national
parks.
SCENERY OF THE FIRST ORDER.
We have said that In some respects
American scenery is unequaled abroad.
There are more geysers of large size 10
our Yellowstone National Park, for in.
stance, than in all of the rest of the
world together, =. tho nearest approach
being the geyser fields of Iceland and far
New Zealand. Again, 1t is conceded the
world over that there is no valley in ex-
istence so strikingly beautiful as our
Yosemite Valley, and nowhere else can
be found canyon of such size and ex-
quisite coloring as our Grand Canyon of |
the Colorado. In the Sequoia National |
Park grow trees so huge and old that
none quite compare with them. These |
are well-known facts with which every
American ought to be familiar.
The eight national parks Of the first
order are the Mount Rainier National |
Park In Washington, the Crater Lake |
National Park 10 Oregon, the Yosemite |
and Sequoia National Parks in Califor-
MIA, the Glacier National Park In Mon |
tans, the Yellowstone National Park,
principally in Wyoming, and the Rocky |
Mountain and Mesa Verde National
Parks In Colorado. With these must be |
classed the Grand Canyon OF the Colors. |
do in Arizona, which, though still re-
naming national monument, is one of
the great wonders of the world.
The principal difference between |
national monument and national park |
Ia that the former has merely been made |
safe from encroachment by private inter-
ests and enterprise, while the latter Is
also in process Of development by roads
and trails snd hotels, go as to become
convenient resort for the people to visit |
and enjoy.
EACH A PERSONALITY OF ITS OWN.
One of the striking and interesting |
features of the eight greater national
parks of our country is that each one OF
them is quite different from all the
others; each has q marked personality Of |
Its own.
Mount Rainier, for instance. is an OK.
tinct volcano down the sides of which |
dow twenty eight glaciers, or rivers of
Ice.
Crater Lake fills with waite. OF aston.
ishing blue the hole left when the top of |
Mount Mazama, another volcano In The
same chain % Mount Rainier, was swal- |
lowed up in some far distant past.
The Yosemite National Park, In addl
tion to It's celebrated Yosemite Valley
and lofty waterfalls, has In the north
river called the Tuolumne which spouts |
wheels of water fifty feet and moro into
the air. It has great areas OF snow-topped
mountains.
The Sequois National Park contains
more than . million sequoia trees, of
which $4,000 are more than ten feet In
diameter, and some twice that and sew
eral from twenty-five to thirty-six feet
through from side to side. Measure
thirty six feet on the sidewalk and see
what that means. Some of these trees
are older that human history.
The Glacier National Park was made
by the earth cracking In some far distant
time and one side thrustipg up and over.
tapping the other. It has cliffs several
thousand feet high and more than sixty
glaciers feed hundreds of lakes. One
lake floats icebergs all summer. This
scenery is truly Alpine.
The Yellowstone National Park, be-
side Its geysers, has many hot springs
which build glistening plateaus OF highly
colored mineral deposits. It has can
yon gorgeous with all the colors and
shades Of the rainbow, and 1t is literally
the greatest wild animal preserve In the
The Rocky Mountain National Park
straddles the Continental Divide at
lofty height, with snow.capped noun
tains extending from end to end. Its
glacier records are remarkable.
The Mesa Verde National Park hides
In its barren canyons the eil-preserved
ruins of civilization which passed ont
of existence 20 many centuries ago that
not even tradition recalls its people.
It will be seen that one may visit .
now national park each year for nearly Q
decade and see something quite new and
remarkable at each visit.
HOTELS AND CAMPS.
These National parks are oil upon lines
of railways and are easily and comforta-
bly, reached from any part OF the United
States. Each of them 10 In charge Of .
resident supervisor who has under his
charge enough park rangers to protect
the forests from. fire, the wild animals
from hunters, and the visitors from
harm. There aM good roads In oil Of
these parks. and hotels and public camps