Part 2 (1/2)

The Act of Congress creating the Park provided that this region should be ”set apart for a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people,” but this end has not been accomplished except as the result of untiring vigilance and labor on the part of a very few persons who have never wavered in their loyalty to the Park. It may never be known how nearly the purposes of the Act of Dedication have escaped defeat; but a letter written to me by George Bird Grinnell and an editorial from _Forest and Stream_ may reveal to visitors who now enjoy without let or hindrance the wonders of that region, how narrowly this ”Temple of the living G.o.d,” as it has been termed, has escaped desecration at the hands of avaricious money-getters, and becoming a ”Den of Thieves.”

New York, July 25, 1905.

_Mr. N.P. Langford_.

Dear Sir: I am very glad that your diary is to be published.

It is something that I have long hoped that we might see.

It is true, as you say, that I have for a good many years done what I could toward protecting the game in the Yellowstone Park; but what seems to me more important than that is that _Forest and Stream_ for a dozen years carried on, almost single handed, a fight for the integrity of the National Park. If you remember, all through from 1881 or thereabouts to 1890 continued efforts were being made to gain control of the park by one syndicate and another, or to run a railroad through it, or to put an elevator down the side of the canon--in short, to use this public pleasure ground as a means for private gain. There were half a dozen of us who, being very enthusiastic about the park, and, being in a position to watch legislation at Was.h.i.+ngton, and also to know what was going on in the Interior Department, kept ourselves very much alive to the situation and succeeded in choking off half a dozen of these projects before they grew large enough to be made public.

One of these men was William Hallett Phillips, a dear friend of mine, a resident of Was.h.i.+ngton, a Supreme Court lawyer with a large acquaintance there, and a delightful fellow. He was the best co-worker that any one could have had who wanted to keep things straight and as they ought to be.

At rare intervals I get out old volumes of the _Forest and Stream_ and look over the editorials written in those days with a mingling of amus.e.m.e.nt and sadness as I recall how excited we used to get, and think of the true fellows who used to help, but who have since crossed over to the other side.

Yours sincerely,

GEO. BIRD GRINNELL.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NATIONAL PARK MOUNTAIN. AT JUNCTION OF FIREHOLE AND GIBBON RIVERS.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Geo. Bird Grinnell]

From _Forest and Stream_, August 20, 1904.

SENATOR VEST AND THE NATIONAL PARK.

In no one of all the editorials and obituaries written last week on the death of Senator Vest did we see mention made of one great service performed by him for the American people, and for which they and their descendants should always remember him. It is a bit of ancient history now, and largely forgotten by all except those who took an active part in the fight. More than twenty years ago strong efforts were made by a private corporation to secure a monopoly of the Yellowstone National Park by obtaining from the government, contracts giving them exclusive privileges within the Park. This corporation secured an agreement from the Interior Department by which six different plots in the Yellowstone Park, each one covering about one section of land--a square mile--were to be leased to it for a period of ten years. It was also to have a monopoly of hotel, stage and telegraph rights, and there was a privilege of renewal of the concession at the end of the ten years. The rate to be paid for the concession was $2 an acre.

When the question of this lease came before Congress, it was referred to a sub-committee of the Committee on Territories, of which Senator Vest was chairman. He investigated the question, and in the report made on it used these words: ”Nothing but absolute necessity, however, should permit the Great National Park to be used for money-making by private persons, and, in our judgment, no such necessity exists. The purpose to which this region, matchless in wonders and grandeur, was dedicated--'a public park and a pleasure ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people'--is worthy the highest patriotism and statesmans.h.i.+p.”

The persons interested in this lease came from many sections of the country, and were ably represented by active agents in Was.h.i.+ngton. The pressure brought to bear on Congress was very great, and the more effectively applied, since few men knew much about conditions in the Yellowstone Park, or even where the Yellowstone Park was. But pressure and influence could not move Senator Vest when he knew he was right. He stood like a rock in Congress, resisting this pressure, making a n.o.ble fight in behalf of the interests of the people, and at last winning his battle. For years the issue seemed doubtful, and for years it was true that the sole hope of those who were devoted to the interests of the Park, and who were fighting the battle of the public, lay in Senator Vest. So after years of struggle the right triumphed, and the contract intended to be made between the Interior Department and the corporation was never consummated.

This long fight made evident the dangers to which the Park was exposed, and showed the necessity of additional legislation.

A bill to protect the Park was drawn by Senator Vest and pa.s.sed by Congress, and from that time on, until the day of his retirement from public life, Senator Vest was ever a firm and watchful guardian of the Yellowstone National Park, showing in this matter, as in many others, ”the highest patriotism and statesmans.h.i.+p.” For many years, from 1882 to 1894, Senator Vest remained the chief defender of a National possession that self-seeking persons in many parts of the country were trying to use for their own profit.

[Ill.u.s.tration: W. Hallett Phillips]

[Ill.u.s.tration: GEORGE GRAHAM VEST.]

If we were asked to mention the two men who did more than any other two men to save the National Park for the American people, we should name George Graham Vest and William Hallett Phillips, co-workers in this good cause.

There were other men who helped them, but these two easily stand foremost.

In the light of the present glorious development of the Park it can be said of each one who has taken part in the work of preserving for all time this great national pleasuring ground for the enjoyment of the American people, ”He builded better than he knew.”

An amusing feature of the ident.i.ty of my name with the Park was that my friends, with a play upon my initials, frequently addressed letters to me in the following style: