One of the first people generally credited with conceptualizing a "national park" was George Catlin (1796-1872), a self-taught artist who traveled extensively among the native peoples of North America, while sketching and painting portraits, landscapes, and scenes from daily Indian life. On a trip to the Dakotas in 1832, he worried about the impact of America's westward expansion on Indian civilization, wildlife, and wilderness. They might be preserved, he wrote, "by some great protecting policy of government . . . in a magnificent park . . . . A nation's park, containing man and beast, in all the wild and freshness of their nature's beauty!"
The idea had gained some acceptance years later, when in 1864 Congress donated Yosemite Valley to California for preservation as a state park.
The establishment of Yellowstone National Park by act of Congress on March 1, 1872, for the first time signified that public lands were to be set aside and administered by the federal government "for the benefit and enjoyment of the people." This enscription is carved into the rock of the Teddy Roosevelt Arch, the official entranceway at the north gate to Yellowstone from Gardiner, Montana. Please select a product of interest:
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Morning Glory Pool
Morning Glory Pool, Yellowstone National Park is a 10" x 12" original oil on stretched canvas by Yellowstone resident artist,... |
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Morning Glory Pool III
Morning Glory Pool III is an original 12" x 20" oil painting on canvas by resident Yellowstone artist, Tah Madsen.... |
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Mountain Goat on Turkey Feather
This is a unique original oil painting of a Mountain Goat on a Wild Turkey Feather by Montana artist, Vonnie... |
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Mountain Lion at First Light
Mountain Lions are seldom seen, secretive animals. To... |
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Mud Face
Steven Fuller looks far beyond the obvious whimsical nature of this Mud Face image when describing this photo:
"We recognize... |
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New Alpha Male Yellowstone Wolves
During the winter of 1998 Wolf #21 made a bold attempt to join the Druid Peak Pack as its new... |
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Old Faithful Geyser
Old Faithful Geyser received notoriety from the Washburn Expedition in 1870 and has lived up to its name by erupting... |
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Old Faithful Geyser
This 20"x36" high-quality poster of Yellowstone's Old Faithful Geyser in 4 classic images by master black and white photographer, Ansel... |
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Old Faithful Inn with Bison
The Old Faithful Inn was built in the winter of 1903-1904. One wing was added in 1913 and a... |
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One Morning Upon the Lower Geyser Basin
A herd of bison roam a grassy meadow near the Lower Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park. This beautiful... |
Overhanging Cliff
Overhanging Cliff just west of Tower Fall is an outcrop of junction butte basalt, a thick lava flow with columnar... |
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Quaking Aspen in the Fall
Aspens are the most prolific deciduous trees in Yellowstone. They derive both their Latin name (Populus tremuloides) and the... |
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