The Tomahawk., 1920-06-03

Yellowstone, our oldest and most famous ma.
tional parlS-the first national park in the Worio
never had been a success as q playground Inc
truth Is it is wonderhouse of freak scenery
geysers boiling springs volcanic curiOsites ana
the Yellowstone Falls. Also it has Its semi
domesticated bears and its wonderful big game. IN
the old days of the stage coach the regulation Trip
took five days. After that the tourist was ready
to leave And he seldom returned to see the
park a second time Now that the automoDle
has taken the place Of the coach, the time OF the
regulation trip has been cut In two; other"lso
the same conditions obtain. The Yellowstone at
tendance figures tell the story In l9lo, u,e
attendance was 81 $685. in 1916 it was 35,S49; In
1917 It was 49, 400; in 1913 1t was 1925; In 1917
It was G. POL BY way Of contrast take the cor
responding attendance at Rocky Mountain Natlon-
al park which is play ground park "here peo-
ME stay their entire vacation time and there are
thousands Of REGULARS" who go every year: d.
600 and 81 600 and 117,186 and 1O1,4 97 and l69-
1872 Rocky mountain has no freak scenery, out
its scenic magniacence wears well anu large
nronortion Of it's visitors regard 1t rs their sum-
mer home.
motl,g the project Of adding about thousand
SQUARE miles to the south end of Yellowstone, In
c,udng the Teton range, Grand Teton Mount
Moran Jackson lake and the Jackson Hole region
and the headwaters of the Yellowstone Ihls ad
dition will give the Yellowstone the kind OF seem
orv II lacks Moreover, plans for the farther de-
veIonment of the Yellowstone include large auto
mobile camps golf links, tennis courts and the en-
couragement of fishing, mountain climbing and rid
two Tn short the Yellowstone Is to be made a
nlevrround sufficiently attractive to hold the tour
;s+ Tor a time and to induce him to return.
Another example of needed enlargement is Sc
uuoia National park In California. ms park was
created in 1890 and contains 2o2 square miles,
# was created largely for the purpose OF preserv
ing the Big Trees (Sequoia gigantea)-the Dig
cest and oldest living things on the earth Inc
General Sherman tree, for example, IS ABOUT 90
feet in diameter and is approximately 5,OoO years
DID, Congress, with an eye to the Dig trees ohlS'
cut the park boundaries arbitrarily and left out
a magnifcenty scenic area which lies contiguous:
Features of this contiguous area are the canyons OF
the Kings and Kern rivers and the summit OF
Mount Whitney (14,501), the highest mountain In
continental United States. 1t is now purposed TO
odd about a thousand square miles of this con-
tiguous area to Sequoia and to change Its name
to Roosevelt, making the enlarged park a ma
tional outdoor memorial to the dead statesman.
Here again the public playground idea is the basic
proposition.
No description can do justice to Crater lake
itself. Uncle Sam, however, has done good JOB
under the circumstances in booklet issued last
season by the United States railroad administra-
tion And this booklet says among other things:
All Of our great national Fairgrounds have their
distinctive beauties; each is different in great
measure in the sublimity and attractiveness OF
its national grandeur, but Crater lake stands
alone in this, that all likeness to any familiar
landscape here ceases.
Other lands have their crater lakes-ltay, IN
dia and Hawa!i-and there are some craters IN this