01/26/2020
Happy Birthday! By an act of Congress and legislation signed by Woodrow Wilson, Rocky Mountain National Park was set aside on January 26, 1915. The area has long geologic history of mountain uplift followed by glaciers shaping the valleys. Following the glacier period, Ute began venturing into these mountains to make it their home and were followed by many other native inhabitants.
With the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, the U.S. government acquired the land now known as Rocky Mountain National Park. Fur trappers and explores skirted the area during their wilderness forays. Later the gold rush drew many more people including ranchers, hunters, miners and homesteaders and along with their stories of the mountains, soon came tourists to explore these majestic mountains.
By 1900, the growing national conservation and preservation movement, led by Theodore Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, and John Muir, advocated an appreciation for nature. The Estes Park Protective and Improvement Association fostered local conservation efforts. "Those who pull flowers up by the roots will be condemned by all worthy people," they warned. In 1909, Enos Mills, a naturalist, nature guide, and lodge owner, championed the creation of the nation's tenth national park. He hoped that: "In years to come when I am asleep beneath the pines, thousands of families will find rest and hope in this park." Unleashing his diverse talents and inexhaustible energy, he spent several years lecturing across the nation, writing thousands of letters and articles, and lobbying Congress to create a new national park. Most civic leaders supported the idea, as did the Denver Chamber of Commerce and the Colorado Mountain Club. On January 26, 1915, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Rocky Mountain National Park Act.
(NPS Continental Divide we**am photo)sl
