EXPLORATION, ENCOUNTER, EXCHANGE IN HISTORY
To Provide for the Enjoyment
for Future Generations
I
The First 100 Years of the National Park Service
Linda Rosenblum, Katherine Orr, and Nicholas R. Murray, National Park Service
n 2016, the National Park Service will be celebrating its 100th
birthday. On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson
signed the Organic Act creating the National Park Service, a
federal bureau in the Department of the Interior. This act states,
“the Service thus established shall promote and regulate the
use of Federal areas known as national parks, monuments and
reservations…which purpose is to conserve the scenery and
the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to
provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by
such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of
future generations.”1
To commemorate that milestone, the National Park Service
is planning its Centennial, with a goal of connecting with and
creating the next generation of park visitors, supporters,
and advocates. The National History Day theme for 2016,
Exploration, Encounter, Exchange in History, provides a unique
opportunity for students and teachers to engage in the many
stories and primary resources preserved by the National Park
Service and join in the Centennial commemoration.
The history of the National Park Service actually begins before
the Organic Act of 1916. As early as the 1830s, concern arose
Stephen T. Mather, the first Director of the National Park Service,
Yellowstone National Park, 1923
National Park Service Historic Photograph Collection/George A. Grant
over the settlement of the western territories and the impact of westward expansion on wilderness, wildlife, and Native
American populations. Native American portrait artist George Catlin noted during a trip to the Dakotas that “some great
protecting policy of government…in a magnificent park…a nation’s park” could preserve the wilderness and resources.
In 1864, Congress bequeathed the Yosemite Valley to the state of California, to be preserved as a state park. Although Yosemite
was recognized by Congress as a national treasure worthy of preservation, it was not until 1872 that the region was delegated
to the U.S. Department of Interior, to be designated as the world’s first national park. Because the department had no central
agency to administer the park, Army troops were detailed to provide protection, enforce hunting and grazing laws, and assist
with the visiting public.
“Organic Act of 1916,” National Park Service, accessed January 23, 2015, www.nps.gov/grba/parkmgmt/organic-act-of-1916.htm.
“American Antiquities Act of 1906,” National Park Service, accessed January 23, 2015, www.cr.nps.gov/local-law/anti1906.htm.
1
31