Geography 5 Week 3 Lecture 6 4/20/2012 9:48:00 PM *No lecture, film shown in class - “Our National Parks” by Ken Burns - National Parks: America’s Best Idea Yosemite Valley - A report of the Sierras had mentioned a waterfall more than 1000 ft high o James Hutchings, American businessman and prominent advocate for Yosemite National Park, rushed to see it for himself - literal translation of Yosemite: they are klllers - Word and images of Yosemite quickly spread and attracted the attention of many tourists largely because of the works of Hutchings and others Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias - Fifteen miles south of Yosemite Valley - Contained the largest living things on Earth - Giant Sequoias – trees nearly 3000 yrs old Thomas Jefferson - Considered the entire nation (US) as a national wonder/national park - America had been kept as a symbol of what the world once was - As Jefferson’s country grew, so did its possibilities [political sphere, the arts, and in its relationship to God] - Manifest Destiny o systematically dispossessing Indians from their own land o concern over the vast herds of buffalo and the Indians, who had depended on them, would someday be gone forever Niagara Falls - Nation’s most famous landmark - By 1860, it was nearly ruined - Europeans criticized Americans for allowing such a majestic work of nature to become plighted by the works of commercialism- Seen as evidence that the United States was an uncivilized nation by its critics - Sacred spots ought to be preserved Legislation - The Senate approved that the areas of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the state of CA constitute one of the greatest wonders of the world would be regarded as a city park - Transferred to the care of the state of California under the premise that it would never be under the hands of private ownership - Preserved for public use, resort and recreation - Received Senate approval very quickly, then the House of Representatives approved as well - 1864 - Lincoln signed a bill to preserve Yosemite Valley; in this, he realizes that the West is the fuel of American idealism; Lincoln wanted to save some significant portions of it from what he saw as the North’s industrialism Frederick Olmstead - American landscape designer, celebrated designer of New York City’s Central Park - Spoke at Yosemite National Park in front of a large group of settlers - Called for strict regulations to protect the land and from anything that would: obscure or distort the dignity of the scenery - The rights of posterity are more important than the desires of the present - Small group of commissioners decided that his recommendations were too controversial and quietly shelled his report James Mason Hutchens - Hutchens was one of those who studiously ignored the suggestions of Olmstead - No one had done more than Hutchens to bring the Valley to the nation’s attention - The Hutchens house (hotel) o Guests were given tours of the area- 1875 – he was evicted from his hotel and vanished from the Yosemite Valley - Did three important things to the idea of national parks/lands: o 1. Brought Yosemite and its wonders to national attention o 2. Inadvertently by challenging the law to the Supreme Court, he helped create a precedent o 3. Most important – hired John Muir and brought him to Yosemite John Muir - 1869, Scottish born, applied for a job with Hutchens - Referred to himself as an unknown nobody - Did far more than Hutchens for Yosemite Valley and Olmstead for preservation - Lyrical voice helped to advocate for Yosemite Valley with a religious fervor - Believe that over thousands of years glaciers had helped to create what now is ‘Yosemite’ - in 1851 he discovered a glacier in the Sierras and he led other geologists to his evidence o Muir’s theory was eventually proven right - devoted himself to the wilderness and to teach and share with others what he discovers - Eventually left Yosemite and began to write for various magazines, which helped articulate to Americans their deep and divided love for their land - The act creating Yosemite was in fact constitutional despite of contrary accusations The Railroad and its impact - 2nd transcontinental railroad - More tourists were arriving at the park as a result o Artists, scientists, wealth Easterners, etc came and listened to Muir1869 - A group of prospectors (mountain men) had journeyed to the Valley of Death o deep canyon in which voices echo - Many had considered there narratives on this land as fiction o magazines in the East refused to publish these reports 1870 - Another group, more prestigious and prominent group, had journeyed to this same area which included prominent men, including Nathanial P. Langford, well connected Montana politician o proposed the Northern Pacific railroad o any publicity of the lands would benefit the likelihood of a railroad construction o two weeks into the journey he saw the scenery that the mountain men had described o Devil’s Canyon and other names for this area Yellowstone - Potentially was going to be an even bigger attraction - Langford was able to confirm all the rumors and tales of Yellowstone - hot springs, unimaginable strangeness and beauty, geysers, etc - Langford’s claims of the Yellowstone region were eventually