Theodore Roosevelt's Prophetic Tribute to Yellowstone
During a bitter cold day, April 24, 1903, Theodore Roosevelt, then President of the United States, delivered an official estimate and personal tribute to Yellowstone at the borders of the…
From: 1903 C.E. To: 1903 C.E.
Location: 44°36′N 110°30′W
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
“Theodore Roosevelt's Prophetic Tribute to Yellowstone” from A’Top o’ the World: Wonders of the Yellowstone Dreamland by Joe Mitchell Chapple, 1922.
During a bitter cold day, April 24, 1903, Theodore Roosevelt, then President of the United States, delivered an official estimate and personal tribute to Yellowstone at the borders of the Park. The occasion was the laying of the cornerstone of the impressive archway at the Gardiner entrance. Several thousand people gathered from these sparsely settled parts and listened with bared heads and appreciative ears to this tribute from one who knew and had felt the power of Nature's charms in God's open.
Cowboys were there—cowboys who rode the range in the eighties when young Roosevelt was at the Medora Dakota ranch, recuperating and storing up the health and vigor that later enabled him to hold firm the torch of Conscience and light the pathway of duty for the people of his beloved country during the World War. That vigor, too, played its part in making him a man of destiny as President of the United States. He understood this domain of the free West. His words at this time are historic and prophetic. From the hands of Mrs. Roosevelt herself I received a copy of his treasured address at Yellowstone to include as a climax to my own work—a voice from the heights—words which will never be forgotten—a glowing tribute to the Nation's Wonderland—a place "not wholly to be paralleled elsewhere on the globe."
"The Yellowstone Park is something absolutely unique in the world... Nowhere else in any civilized country is there to be found such a tract of veritable wonderland made accessible to all visitors, where at the same time not only the scenery of the wilderness, but the wild creatures of the Park are scrupulously preserved; the only change being that these same wild creatures have been so carefully protected as to show a literally astounding tameness.
"The creation and preservation of such a great natural playground in the interest of our people as a whole is a credit to the nation; but above all a credit to Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho. It has been preserved with wise foresight, and the scheme of its preservation is noteworthy in its essential democracy. Private game preserves, though they may be handled in such a way as to be not only good things for themselves, but good things for the surrounding community, can yet never be more than poor substitutes, from the standpoint of the public, for great national playgrounds such as this Yellowstone Park. This Park was created, and is now administered, for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.
"The Government must continue to appropriate for it, especially in the direction of completing and perfecting an excellent system of driveways. But already its beauties can be seen with great comfort in a short space of time and at an astoundingly small cost, and with the sense on the part of every visitor that it is in part his property—the property of Uncle Sam, and therefore of all of us.
"When we have a good system of carriage roads throughout the Park—for, of course, it would be very unwise to allow either steam or electric roads in the Park—we shall have a region as easy and accessible to travel in, as it is already every whit as interesting as any similar territory of the Alps or the Italian Riviera. The geysers, the extraordinary hot springs, the lakes, the mountains, the canyons, and cataracts, unite to make this region something not wholly to be paralleled elsewhere on the globe. It must be kept for the benefit and enjoyment of all of us; and I hope to see a steadily increasing number of our people take advantage of its attractions. At present it is rather singular that a greater number of people come from Europe to see it than come from our own eastern states. The people nearby seem awake to its beauties; and I hope that more and more of our people who dwell far off will appreciate its really marvellous character.
"I have always thought it was a liberal education to any man of the East to come West, and he can combine profit with pleasure if he will incidentally visit this Park, the Grand Canyon of Colorado, and Yosemite, and take the sea voyage to Alaska.
"But of course this Park, also because of its peculiar features, is to be preserved as a beautiful natural playground. Here all the wild creatures of the old days are being preserved, and their overflow into the surrounding country, so long as the aws are observed by all, will ensure to the people and to their children and to their children's children much of the old-time pleasure of the hardy life of the wilderness and of the hunter in the wilderness. This pleasure, moreover, can, under such conditions, be kept for all who have the love of adventure and the hardihood to take advantage of it, with small regard for what their fortune may be. I cannot too often repeat that the essential feature in the present management of the Yellowstone Park, as in all similar places, is its essential democracy—it is the preservation of the scenery, of the forests, of the wilderness life and the wilderness game for the people as a whole, instead of leaving the enjoyment thereof confined to the very rich who can control private reserves. I have been literally astounded at the enormous numbers of elk, deer, antelope, and mountain sheep which I have seen on their wintering grounds; and the deer and sheep in particular are quite as tame as range stock. This is a territory which I look to see develop astoundingly within the next decade or two."
Nineteen years after this utterance Yellowstone Park has witnessed the prophecy fulfilled and going on to further fulfillment. Nearly one hundred thousand people of varied wealth and station have revelled in the delights of Yellowstone Dreamland within the three brief summer months. Its wonderful highways are open to the public. The records of W. M. Nichols, in charge of hotels and transportation, and the report of Superintendent Albright, director of the park, prove mathematically that the fiftieth anniversary year of Yellowstone Park was a golden memory to a myriad of delighted guests in Uncle Sam's great playground domain.
Chapple, Joe Mitchell. A’Top o’ the World: Wonders of the Yellowstone Dreamland. Chapple Publishing Co., 1922.
About TOTA
TOTA.world provides cultural information and sharing across the world to help you explore your Family’s Cultural History and create deep connections with the lives and cultures of your ancestors.
