Yellowstone NP

1. Park Sign

We visited the park in 1971 with our two boys. Chet was 13 and Landon was 10. Supported by railroad companies, and with assistance from members of the Washburn expedition and others, Ferdinand V. Hayden promoted legislation in Congress in 1871 and 1872 to protect approximately two million acres of the land "lying near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River". On March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the law declaring that this area would forever be preserved: "dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people." The world's first national park had been born!