A Geek's Adventures

todaysdocument:

The Act creating Yellowstone National Park, 140 years ago today, from our colleagues at the Center for Legislative Archives:

congressarchives:

On March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed H.R. 16 into law, creating Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone was our young nation’s first national park. In 1888 there was a nationwide movement to further preserve Yellowstone. The Center for Legislative Archives has numerous petitions, like the one shown above, from citizens across the U.S. asking Congress to protect the park against trespassers and developers, as well as to preserve the wildlife and other natural wonders that exist within the park. In 1916, Congress created, with the approval of President Woodrow Wilson, the National Park Service within the Department of the Interior to oversee the preservation of national parks and monuments “for the enjoyment of future generations.”

An Act to Create Yellowstone National Park,3/1/1872, General Records of the U.S. Government (ARC 596351)

Petition from citizens praying for the protection of Yellowstone National Park, 3/1888, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives

Documentation about the creation of Yellowstone