Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1921-05-18
BY GILBERT cRosvENoR,
President, the National Geographic
Society, Washington, D. c.


President, the National Geographic
Society, Washington, o. 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 81 al :he 5,ner con-
siiivis,...
Leaving the masterful Mississippi
valley and Joumeying westward, We
soon enter the region OF the national
parks, OF which there are nine OF the
drst order: the Yellowstone national
park. principally In Wyoming. the
Glacier national park IN Montana, the
Rocky Mountain and Mesa Verde ma
tiOnal parks in Colorado. the Crater
Lake national park In Oregon. the
Mount Rainier national park In Wash
ington, the Yosemite and Sequoia ma
tiOnal parks In California and the
Grand Canyon park In Arizona. the
scene masterpiece OF the world. Of
feially dedicated In 1920. Each park
has !ts own individuality, and each
IN its speciality excels.
Foremost In interest I'm the Yellow
stone are the geysers, OF which "Old
Faithful" ranks first. not because Of
size. for the Giant Is a Goliath beside
Il; not because Of beauty. for there
are others more beautiful; but be-
cause OF fidelity. II never disappoints.
II is 50 regular that II could almost
serve as the nations standard time
piece. Every 20 minutes "Old Faith
fuI" 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. ar,id a thousand retOrts and
pots. we may see Nature az work as
chemist or cook. cunningly compound
Ing an infinite variety OF mineral
MISSES cooking mountains, boiling
and STAINING fllnty rocks 20 smooth
paste aud mush-yellow. brown, red,
pink. lavender. gray and creamy
withdrawing the most beautiful
mud IN the world. and distllling the
most ethereal essences"
Glacier Park. TOP Of Continent
The situation 81 Glacier national
park Is unique. In that il mothers
streams which flow into three out OF
five Of the earth's great oceans. II
may well claim % be the top OF the
continent. FOR IS rivers drain into
Hudson bay aud the Arctic ocean. in
60 the Pacific. aud 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 thrusting
M and overlapping the other. II has
cliffs several thousand feet high. and
more than sixty glaciers feed hun
dreds Of lakes one lake floats ice
hergs all summer. The scenery is truly
Alpine
lake ST. Mary's. Lake McDermOtt
and Like Mcdonald are the peers Of
any 81 the mountain lakes Of Switzer-
land and Italy. This park covers an
AREA OF 1884 square miles. and main
talns such an excellent chain OF chal-
cts. hotels and trails that the tourist
can see ,ts many attractions in com
fort.
The Rocky Mountain national park
sfraddles the continental divide az 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 It's center. II was established
BY congressional enactment In 1915.
Estes PARK. the gateway 10 this noun
tain playground. is a beautiful little
valley totn nestled at the foot Of the
ridge. rnd yet itself more than a mile
and a half above sea-level Longs
peak Is nearly three miles high. and
has several nelghbors that run II a
close second.
Home Of the Aborioines.
The Mesa Verde national park hides
IN its barren canyons the wen-pre-
served ruins OF a civilization which
passed out OF existence so many CEN
turtles $50 that not even tradition re
calls It's people.
Here one may study the modes OF
life Of the prehistoric American as
they can be studied IN few places.
These aborigines had their civic CEN
te- ard they had some progressive
Ideas In city planning. Community
lie was the order OF those times. One
house had 200 roc.ns for family use
aud p for worship. Another one
sheltered $50 aborigines.