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ooooThe
bill now before Congress has for its object the withdrawal from
settlement, occupancy, or sale, under the laws of the United States, a
tract of land fifty-five by sixty-five miles, about the sources of the
Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers; and dedicates and sets it apart as a
great national park or pleasure-ground for the benefit and enjoyment
of the people. The entire area comprised within the limits of the
reservation contemplated in this bill is not susceptible of
cultivation with any degree of certainty, and the winters would be too
severe for stock-raising. Whenever the altitude of the mountain
districts exceeds 6,000 feet above tide-water, their settlement
becomes problematical unless there are valuable mines to attract
people. The entire area within the limits of the proposed reservation
is over 6,000 feet in altitude, and the Yellowstone Lake, which
occupies an area 15 by 22 miles, or 330 square miles, is 7,427 feet.
The ranges of mountains that hem the valleys in on every side rise to
the height of 10,000 and 12,000 feet, and are covered with snow all
the year. These mountains are all of volcanic origin, and it is not
probable that any mines or minerals of value will ever be found there.
During the months of June, July, and August, the climate is pure and
most invigorating, with scarcely any rain or storms of any kind; but
the thermometer frequently sinks as low as 26 degrees. There is frost
every month of the year. This whole region was in comparatively modern
geological times the scene of the most wonderful volcanic activity of
any portion of our country. The hot springs and the geysers represent
the last stages the vents or escape pipes of these
remarkable volcanic manifestations of the internal forces. All these
springs are adorned with decorations more beautiful than human art
ever conceived, and which have required thousands of years for the
cunning hand of nature to form. Persons are now waiting for the spring
to open to enter in and take possession of these remarkable
curiosities, to make merchandise of these beautiful specimens, to
fence in these rare wonders so as to charge visitors a fee, as is now
done at Niagara Falls, for the sight of that which ought to be as free
as the air or water.
ooooIn a few years this region will be a
place of resort for all classes of people from all portions of the
world. The geysers of Iceland, which have been objects of interest for
the scientific men and travelers of the entire world, sink into
insignificance in comparison with the hot springs of the Yellowstone
and Fire-Hole Basins. As a place of resort for invalids it will not be
excelled by any portion of the world. If this bill fails to become a
law this session, the vandals who are now waiting to enter into this
wonderland will, in a single season despoil, beyond recovery, these
remarkable curiosities which have required all the cunning skill of
nature thousands of years to prepare.
ooooWe have already shown that no
portion of this tract can ever be made available for agricultural or
mining purposes. Even if the altitude and the climate would permit the
country to be made available, not over fifty square miles of the
entire area could ever be settled. The valleys are all narrow, hemmed
in by high volcanic mountains like gigantic walls.
ooooThe withdrawal of this tract,
therefore, from sale or settlement takes nothing from the value of the
public domain, and is no pecuniary loss to the Government, but will be
regarded by the entire civilized world as a step of progress and an
honor to Congress and the nation.
DEPARTMENT
OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, D. C., January 29, 1872
SIR:
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of
the 27th instant, relative to the bill now pending in the House of
Representatives dedicating that tract of country known as the
Yellowstone Valley as a national park. I hand you herewith the report
of Dr. F. V. Hayden, United States geologist, relative to said
proposed reservation, and have only to add that I fully concur in his
recommendations, and trust that the bill referred to may speedily
become a law. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
C.
DELANO,
Secretary.
Hon. M. H. DUNNELL,
House of Representatives.
The committee therefore recommend the passage of the bill without
amendment.
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Be
it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That the tract of land in
the the Territories of Montana and Wyoming lying near the headwaters
of the Yellowstone River, and described as follows, to wit: commencing
at the junction of Gardiner's River with the Yellowstone River and
running east of the meridian to the parallel of latitude, passing ten
miles south of the most southern point of Yellowstone Lake; thence
west along said parallel to the meridian, passing fifteen miles west
of the most western point of Madison Lake; thence north along said
meridian to the latitude of the junction of the Yellowstone and
Gardiner's Rivers; thence east to the place of beginning, is hereby
reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale under the
laws of the United States, and dedicated and set apart as a public
park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people;
and all persons who shall locate, or settle upon, or occupy the same
or any part therof, except as hereinafter provided, shall be
considered trespassers and removed therefrom.
Sec. 2. That said public park shall be under the exclusive control of
the Secretary of the Interior, whose duty it shall be as soon as
practicable, to make and publish such rules and regulations as he may
deem necessary or proper for the care and management of the same. Such
regulations shall provide for the preservation from injury or
spoliation of all timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities, or
wonders within said park, and their retention in their natural
condition.
The Secretary may, in his discretion, grant leases for building
purposes, for terms not exceeding ten years, of small parcels of
ground, at such places in said park as shall require the erection of
buildings for the accommodation of visitors; all of the proceeds of
said leases, and other revenues that may be derived from any source
connected with said park, to be expended under his direction in the
management of the same and the construction of roads and bridle-paths
therein. He shall provide against the wanton destruction of the fish
and game found within said park and against their capture or
destruction for the purposes of merchandise or profit. He shall also
cause all persons trespassing upon the same after passage of this act
to be removed therefrom, and generally shall be authorized to take all
such measures as shall be necessary or proper to fully carry out the
objects and purposes of this act.
Approved March 1, 1872
Signed by: James G. Blaine, Speaker of the House
Schuyler Colfax, Vice-President of the United States and
President of the Senate
Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States
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