A Bibliography Of National Parks And Monuments West Of The Mississippi River

This is the history of Death Valley, where that bitter stream the Amargosa dies. It embraces the whole basin of the Amargosa from the Panamints to the Spring Mountains, from the Palmettos to the Avawatz. And it spans a century from the earliest recollections and the oldest records to that day in 1933 when much of the valley was finally set aside as a National Monument. This is the story of an illusory land, of the people it attracted and of the dreams and delusions they pursued-the story of the metals in its mountains and the salts in its sinks, of its desiccating heat and its revitalizing springs, and of all the riches of its scenery and lore-the story of Indians and horse thieves, lost argonauts and lost mine hunters, prospectors and promoters, miners and millionaires, stockholders and stock sharps, homesteaders and hermits, writers and tourists. But mostly this is the story of the illusions-the illusions of a shortcut to the gold diggings that lured the forty-niners, of inescapable deadliness that hung in the name they left behind, of lost bonanzas that grew out of the few nuggets they found, of immeasurable riches spread by hopeful prospectors and calculating con men, and of impenetrable mysteries concocted by the likes of Scotty. These and many lesser illusions are the heart of its history.

Over thirty years after its original publication, former Yellowstone National Park archivist Paul Schullery's collection of travelers' accounts of their visits to the first national park still resonates with the tremendous impact the Park has had--and continues to have--as a wilderness and recreation destination. From John Muir's exultation of the beauty of "Wonderland" to Rudyard Kipling's hilarious invective of the American tourist, Old Yellowstone Days includes selections which form the best picture of what Yellowstone must have been like before the intrusion of the automobile. Updated with a new introduction by Schullery, new illustrations, and a new foreword by Yellowstone National Park Historian Lee Whittlesey, this volume, which takes its title from an article by Owen Wister, also includes the impressions of William O. Owen, Charles Dudley Warner, Theodore Roosevelt, John Burroughs, Mrs. George Cowan, George Anderson, Emerson Hough, and Frederic Remington.