Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-15
Capital Sidelights
BY WILL r. KENNEDY.

printed in this country than the Con-
gressional Record, which reflects the
human might as we'll as frailties Of
the individual members of Congress,
into which goes many q story Of local
achievement: pathos as well as romance
and political connivance run through
its pages; current history and biography
and the cooperation as we'll as rival
rous friction between States and Sec
tions
One Of the best features of the Con-
gresSional Record is that 1t not In
frequently carries tributes to men and
women who have performed some out
. standing service for the Nation and for
their fellow men. An illustration OF
this is when Representative Cramton,
Republican, of Michigan, emphasized
the labor of love performed by the
late Stephen T. Mather, founder and
director of the National Park Service,
in preserving nature itself in its might
lest and most beautiful phases for flu
ture generations, saying, There will
| never come an end to the good that
he has done"
Representative Cramton, who has
himself performed nobly In preserving
the gorge and other scenic features
of the Potomac River and assured de-
velopment of riverside park and recrea-
ton areas that will give the National
Capital attractions unequaled anywhere
else in the world, put into the Record
an enthralling story Of the building up
of the National Park System in the
past so years so that today this bureau
administers 81 national parks and 80
national monuments, which were visited
by more than 100000 tourists last
year and on which the Federal Govern
ment will spend more than $40, 200, 900
next year.
In 1870 there were no national parks
in the world. In the Territory Of Mon
tana there lived coterie of pioneers
who had heard amazing tales of Jim
Bridger and other trappers of marvels
of the headwaters of the Yellowstone
River-a mystic region, uncharted, and
infested by wild beasts and marauding
war parties Of Indians. 1t was our last
frontier. Custer had not been killed
on the Little Big Horn; Gen. Nelson A.
Miles had not captured Chief Joseph.
These men of Montana Territory
washburn, Langford, Hedges and the
rest, is in all, including their military
escort-set out from Helena In August,
1870, and spent more than four weeks on
one Of the greatest adventures in West
ern history. They authenticated the
existence of the geysers, the hot springs,
the yellow Canyon, the great water
falls, the vast lake and all the other
marvels. Finally the time came to leave
for home. On the night of September
10, 1870, the party held a farewell camp
fire meal near the Firehole River, only
few miles from Old Faithful Geyser
fa1a I1aS Il. .
very afternoon.
Here in the glow Of the camp fire
were all the elements of a successful
Lyons meeting splendid environment
hearty appetites, good food, mental
vigor, the song of the rushing river and
live subject for discussion and de-
| ciston. The imminence of the return
to civilization tempered excited minds
with practical thoughts. One of the
band suggested that Immediately upon
the return to Helena each member
pre-empt parcels of land around the
geysers and other phenomena, thereby
converting the wilderness abode of these
natural wonders into a privately owned
area quite natural, sudden mental
descent from the sublime to the selfish
1t was critical period in Western
history. Judge Cornelius Hedges, a
pioneer Montana lawyer, stood up in the
glow OF that memorable camp fire and
said he did not approve of any of the
ideas expreSSed-that there ought not
to be any private ownership in that
region; but that the whole of IL
ought to be set apart as a great ma
tional natural park for the benef1t and
enjoyment Of all the people, and that
each one ought to make an effort to
have this accomplished.
Langford, historian of the expedition
whose diary is more romantic than fic-
| ton, records that this suggestion met
with an instantaneous and favorable
response. Thus at this camp fire was
| created the national park idea, as we
now know It; that camp fire meeting
holds an important historic place in the
beginnings of our modern concept oil
the conservation of all natural re-
sources.
Just rs the Minute Men" at Con-
| cord and Lexington little dreamed OF
| the worldwide significance Of their
days work on April 10, ITS, so did
! the band of Montana pioneers around
the Yellowstone camp fire on Septem-
Der l9, 1870, little dream that they, too
had fired shot heard around the
world"
In the United States of tomorrow, "
| emphasized Howard Hayes, who pre-
pared the statement inserted by Repre-
sentative Cramton in the Record, ma
tional parks and State parks will spread
across the length and breadth Of our
country, like bright stars in the firma-
ment, natural sanctuaries for our phys
zeal and mental recreation, memorial
| halls for quickening our patriotism, and
cathedrals for our spiritual betterment."