The history of National Parks in the United States Research Paper

The history of National Parks in the United States - Research Paper Example This history is also considered as the history of the people who constantly worked hard to preserve and save the land which they loved throughout their lives as United Sates’ residents. The history of United States’ national parks can be traced as far back as the discovery of Yosemite in 1851. The discovery of this place of inspiring beauty elicited events which led to the legislations that were used to protect and preserve land for future generations. White men who were members of an armed battalion entered the Yosemite Valley in 1851 in search of Indians so as to drive them away from their homeland. Those white men then named the valley â€Å"Yosemite†, believing that it was the name of the Indian tribe which lived in that valley. In 1855, James Mason led a group of white men to the discovery of the valley (Gartner 1986). After failing as a gold miner for years, James Mason believed that he could prosper by establishing and running a tourist hotel in Yosemite V alley so as to promote the scenic attractions of California. Four years later, James Mason returned to the same site, but now with a photographer. Later, other writers and artists travelled to the valley and as a result images and word concerning the valley spread fast across the US. This attracted more tourists who were specifically eager to see the beautiful valley by themselves (Gartner 1986). An editor of the New York Tribune called Horace Greeley then wrote about the valley, saying that if the county of California and other relevant authorities do not take care of the safety of the trees in the valley, then he would be sure to deplore it. He perceived that the value of the valley several years later would be very high if care and caution was taken to preserve it. Therefore, the discovery of the valley served as an important path in the history of National Parks in the United States. By late 19th century, actions of the United States to tame the land had come with devastating co nsequences. Entire species of animals had been destroyed and forests had been subjected to outrageous ravage. All these actions were committed in the name of progress. One naturalist named John Muir then expressed his concerns by categorically stating that the great wilds of the United States of America which were once boundless and inexhaustible had now become invaded and destructed completely. Within this period, there were only a handful of concerned Americans who perceived that national parks were the only structures that were considered as the important means to protect the country’s pristine places. A young politician named Theodore Roosevelt was one of the few concerned people as of that moment. Roosevelt was later to become the president of the United States of America and establish five national parks, 51 bird sanctuaries, four national game reserves, 18 monuments and 100 million acres of national forests. In 1890, there were already four national parks established d ue to the concern of the few people who were determined to preserve the environment. Despite the fact that these national parks were under the guard of the army, they were nonetheless subject to great dangers (Albright 1985). Wildlife in the park was constantly killed; park meadows were overgrazed by livestock; tourists provided means for the destruction of rocks and trees through carvings and ancient forests were not spared either. Although the congress had created the