The Raymer enterprise., 1921-06-09
BY GILBERT oRosvENoR,
erssident the National Geographic
Society. WaahIno$on n r

Society. Washington, D. c.
The national parks Of the United
States. meccas for thousands Of tour.
lists this summer, contain more fea.
lures Of conspicuous grandeur than
are accessible in all the other con.
tinents. /.
Leaving the masterful Mississippi
valley and journeying westward, we
soon enter the region Of the national
parks, OF which there are nine Of the
first order: the Yellowstone national
park, principally In Wyoming, the
Glacier national park in Montana, the
Rocky Mountain and Mesa Verde ma.
ti0nal parks In Colorado, the Crater
Lake national park In Oregon. the
, Mount Rainier national park In Wash.
ington. the Yosemite and Sequola ma.
tional parks In California and the
Grand Canyon park In Arizona, the
scenic masterpiece Of the world. Of.
fcially dedicated In 1920. Each park
has Its own individuality, and each
in its speciality excels.
Foremost In interest In the Yellow.
stone are the geysers, Of which "Old
Faithful" ranks first, not because Of
size, for the Giant is Goliath beside
IT.; not because Of beauty, for there
are others more. beautiful: but be-
cause of fidelity. It never disappolnts.
It Is SO regular that 1t could almost
serve as the nations standard time.
piece. Every 10 minutes "Old Faith.
full" shoots its great column Of water
heavenward. At each eruption Il
sends up into the air 100000 gallons
Of water.
One writer has described the geyser
basins "as laboratories and Kitchens
In which, amid thousand retorts and
pots, we may see Nature at work as
chemist or cook, cunningly compound
Ing an Infinite variety Of mineral
messes; cooking mountains, boiling
and steaming flinty rocks to smooth
paste and mush-yellow, brown, red,
pink, lavender, gray and creamy
withdrawing the most beautiful
mud In the world, and dlstilling the
most ethereal essences"
Glacier Park, Top Of Continent.
The situation Of Glacier national
park Is unique, In that It mothers
streams which flow into three out Of
five Of the earth's great oceans. II
may well claim to be the top Of the
continent, for Its rivers drain into
Hudson bay and the Arctic ocean, in.
to the Pacific. and through the Mis-.
souri, and the Mississippi into the
Atlantic.
The Glacier national park was made
by the earth cracking in some far.
distant time and one side thrustine
up and overlapping the other. II has
cliffs several thousand feet high, and
smore than sixty glaciers feed hun.
dreds Of lakes One lake floats ice.
bergs all summer. The scenery Is truly
Alpine.
Lake st. Mary's, Lake McDermott
and Lake Mcdonald are the peers Of
any Of the mountain lakes Of Switzer.
land and Italy. This park covers an
area Of 1854 square miles, and main.
tains such an excellent chain Of chal.
cts, hotels and trails that the tourist
can see Its many attractions In com
fort.
The Rocky Mountain national park
straddles the continental divide at a
lofty height, with snow-capped noun.
tains extending from end to end. This
park Is in the heart of the Rockies
northwest of Denver. with Longs
peak as Its center. II was established
BY congressional enactment In 1915.
Estes park. the gateway to this moan.
tain playground, Is beautiful little
valley town nestled at the foot Of the
ridge, and yet itself more than mile
and a half above sea.level. Longs
peak Is nearly three miles high, and
has several neighb0rs that run It
close second.
. Home Of the AborIsinss.
The Mesa Verde national park hides
In Its barren canyons the well.pre.
served ruins Of a civilization which
passed out Of existence so many cen.
turies ago that not even tradition re-
calls Its people.
Here one may study the modes Of,
life Of the prehistoric American al
they can be studied in few places.
These aborigines had their civic cen
ter and they had some progressive
ideas In city planning. Community
life was the order Of those times. One
house had 200 rooms for family use
and ~, for worship. Another one
sheltered $50 aborigines.
Mount Rainier seems to keep per
petual guard over Seattle, Tscoma
and Olympia. Anyone who has be-
held its many moods. who has watched
the ever-changing picture as varying
lights have played upon Ito summit,
who has coasted on Its glacial rivers,
can understand why the Indians
called It .Tahoma-the mountain that
was sod."