Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-11-08

graphs will be close to 100 in number
before the whole government is anal
wed. Besides the monographs on the
Reclamation Service and the Geological
Survey, those now published include
studies of the bureau of mines, Alaskan
engineering commission, federal board
for vocational education, federal trade
commission, tariff commission, steam
boat inspection service, employees COM
pensation commission, weather bureau,
bureau of education, women's bureau,
children's bureau and the national park
service.
While the monographs primarily are
not intended for popular consumption.
but are written for the guidance of
legislators and administrators, they are
distinctly readable. and most of them
are of broad general interest. The
new one on the National Park Service
sketches the history Of the national
parks and monuments from the year
1906, when Lewis and Clark missed
discovering the Yellowstone by about
30 miles. to the creation of the National
Park Service in 1916, and the addition
Of the latest of the national parks
Hot Springs-only last year.
Oldest National Park
incidentally, the monograph settles
the old dispute of whether Hot Springs
or the Yellowstone is the Oldest of
the national parks. Hot Springs was
set aside as q reservation in 1882,
and it was 40 years later that the Vel
lowstone National park was created by
act of congress. Yet the latter was the
first true national park in the SENSE
that it was to be a region developed
for the pleasure of the public. Hot
Springs was merely reserved to pre-
vent the medicinal waters from being
exploited by private ownership.
The establishing of Yellowstone Ma
tional park was a romantic episode.
The marvels of hat region were dis
er who had been attached TO the Lewis
and Clark expedition. 1t was the fate
of Golfer and the other white men who
went into the Yellowstone district dur
ing the next half century to be dis
believed when they told their stories
of the ~spouting water and mud from
the geysers. In fact. the region was
at first derisively called Golfers He'll"
In 1869 a reliable expedition of Mon
tanans explored the Yellowstone. veri-
fled the preceding reports Of it, and
published the discoveries. This was
followed the next year by the explora-
ton made by the Washburne-Doane ex-
petition. which took in a military escort
detailed by the var department. This
expedition brought about the creation
of the park, and gave birth to the ma
tional park idea which has since worked
out in the national park system as we
know it today.
When the members of the Wash
burn-Doane expedition saw the won
dnrc ~ tha Noi1pu-SfaYa thnv licn1GSoH /
among themselves the suggestion that
it would be profitable to pick up own-1
ership to the land surrounding the gey-
sers and other phenomena and exploit
the place as a commercial venture.
an act would not have been re
garded so r~eprehensible then as it
would now But one of the members
Of the party expressed the opinion that
such a wonderland ought never to be
to pass into private ownership
at all. but should be held in perpetuity
the whole population. The others
TO this at once. aud the members
OF the expedition later took the lead
in the movement which resulted in the
of the Yellowstone National
park in 1872.
No other parks were added to the
until 1880, when the Yosemite.
'eluola anu oeueFd1 1FHnL parks III
were taken over by the gov
eminent. Then followed the creation
Of the Mount Rainier park in 1890.
Since the wear 1900 the government has
IA national parks, SO that the
total number of them is now 10. The
parks did not attain great popularity I
with the travelling public until after
the outbreak Of the war in Europe.
That fact. shutting off ocean travel,
added TO the development of automobile
roads in the west, and turned a flood
Of tourists into the parks. Whereas,
1915 only about 250. 900 persons
the parks zach year. last year
the tourists numbered over 10000 o