Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-04

savage. at the nSdu Oh lIe NAL lpOSo
Battalion, led his band of fighting
farmers into a deep canyon in pursuit
of a band of Indians. known as the
Yosemites. DR.. Lafayette II. Bunnell,
surgeon of the expedition. Jagged be-
hind. overcome with the scenic mag
nifcance of the rocky gorge. Little
dispute was occasioned at his sugges-
ton that the valley be named the
Yosemite, in honor of the Indians liV-
Ing there.
Coded to California.
In 1864 Congress coded the Yosem-
SNe Valley to the State of California,
ITO be preserved for all times because
Of its remarkable scenic value to flu
ture posterity." This act forecast the
crea ton of the National Park Service.
The proposed celebration is tenta-
lively set for the early part of August,
at which time the new highway built
for all-year service up the MERGED
River Canyon will be opened. Four
concrete bridges are now under con-
6truction and the finishing touches are
being put TO the four-mile stretch
near the FL Portal end of the road.
The road is about Is miles long and
It will be the first paved highway in
Yosemite Valley. For road work in
Yosemite S425, 500 will be used during
the coming year.
AS a result of the increased motor
traffic to the national parks in recent
years, the poor condition of the thor
oughfareS for modern day use within
those areas has been clearly revealed
Liberal appropriations under the Fed
eral aid act have been made for
proper road construction throughout
the country, but il was not until
about a year ago, when Congress au-
thoriZed an expenditure of $500 900
for national park roads during
three-year period, that governmental
responsibility for good roads in these
scenic parks was actually realized.
Changes Made in Plans.
When the road budget act was
passed, in April, 1924. the roads In
most of the parks were in a very
poor condition. Radical changes were
made in the original plans with the
object of bringing the main national
park roads up to the best standards
of automobile thoroughfares. The
plan, as recently perfected, provides
that all road Improvement work VIII
be intrusted to the Bureau OF Pubnc
Roads while the National Park Serv-
ice will approve the location OF all
projects and the areas to be opened.
protect the landscape from disf1gure-
ment and superintend all maintenance
and repair work.
OF the original 81 800 900 authorized
for expenditure it is planned to ex-
pend eventually $2.315,000 in the four
California national p2rkS-l oSemlte,
Sequoia, General Grant and Lassen
Volcanic. One important project un-
der way at present is the construc-
ton of the Generals Highway to con-
meet General Grant Park with the
giant forest in SeQuoia National Park,
xr-ho 0ta tha Cen Sner-
man tree. Another project is the
building of the Transmountain road
across the Rockies to Glacier National
Park, Mont, to connect by motor
highway the two sides of the park.
Under present conditions motorists
visiting the east side of the park and
desiring to go on the west are obliged
to ship their cars by rail, outside the
park, from one entrance to another
This road will cross the mountains
through Logan Pass at an altitude of
$500 feet When completed the
Transmountain road will be the most
scenic automobile highway in Amer
Sca, if not in the world. The recent
appropriation allots $524,000 for the
coming year.
100000 for Crater Lake Park.
1t is planned to spend approximately
$500 900 in Crater Lake National Park,
In Oregon, including a road to Dia-
inond Lake, lying north OF the park
There are 56.6 miles of roads at the
present time in the park, and miles
more are to be built. The road around
the Emile crater of the lake has been
completed During the coming year
900 Will be spent.
In General Grant National Park,
Calf it is expected to spend $4,000
ON the road which winds among the
big trees. The old wagon roads will
be widened. The Park Service intends
to complete the road from the end OF
the State pavement to Sequoia Park,
taking in the giant forest, and then
go to the north boundary and across
the General Grant Park making a
great loop, which tourists can use in
travelling from one park to the other.
At the present time it is necessary to
go from one park to the other by way
OF the San Joaquin Valley.
An expenditure of 100000 is pro-
vtded for Grand Canyon National
Park. but only 100000 is available
for the coming year. This park hith-
erto has had no assistance from the
Federal Government. except the APP
propriation of $4,000 in 1928 to i'm
proye the surface of miles running
along the canyon rim which was built
by the Santa Fe Railroad. All of the
other roads in the park. "A total of 81
miles, were constructed by the county
or the State Of Arizona
There are 154 miles of roads in Gla-
cier National Park, and it is proposed
to construct ass additional miles,
Plans entail reconstruction of all of
the existing roads and the completion
of the Transmountain Highway, on
which $685. has been expended.
Most of the present highways were
built by State or private enterprise.
The Government has built practically
no road eXcet the one along Lake
Mcdonald and leading up from Bolton.
Road building in Mount Rainier Ma
tional Park, Washington, is very ex-
pensive. due to the altitude of the re-
gion. The only section of road that
has been constructed there is the
Paradise Valley Road, leading from
the southwest corner of the park to
Paradise Valley. 1t has been finished
merely as a wagon road at a cost of
$4,000.
$50 Miles i'm Yellowstone.
In yellowstone there are $50 miles
Of road. A new road is to be built
from the West Thumb of Yellowstone
Lake to Lake Junction at a cost of
100000. The old Firehole Cutoff
Road Is to be finished. A small road
in the lower Geyser Basin which will
open up new features in that region,
costing $4,000, is also to be built.
In discussing the road situation in
the national parks, Horace NJ. AL
bright. field assistant to Director
Mather. said that since 1872 until the
recent act only s3.5o4.1oo has been