National Parks

I have no idea where this was taken, but I bought it here, in the L.A. area, and it sure looks like some of our western mountain ranges, and since these people look like tourists, well it's not unreasonable to think park.  Before the age of the automobile, visiting a national park often meant a train trip, transfer to a horse drawn coach, and a ride along a not well maintained dirt road.  In other words, people of  wealth were park visitors, working class and poor people were not.

 Visit some of the older parks like Yosemite, Glacier, and Grand Canyon, and you'll see the grand lodges, rustic building that provided a bit of luxury between views.  Over the years, I've stayed at a few of those hotels, and while the rooms are small by the standards of today, I'd bet the gourmet food in the restaurants surpass what was on the menu in 1900.   Adjust the bill for inflation, and the old lodges are still catering to the well off.

And that's the rub.  When I was growing up, families packed up their army surplus cabin tents, coolers, cots, and camp stoves and vacationed in a national park.  Where I grew up, Great Smokey Mountains and Shenandoah.   Every once in awhile, one of my classmates parents were willing to drive twenty hour days so they could spend a week in Yellowstone.  Today, because of the ever increasing cost of transportation, lodging, and equipment, once again, the working classes are priced out of the parks.

And while I'm ranting, the Republican Party Platform calls for the transfer of federal lands to the states to manage or dispose of as they see fit.  I can't imagine that working out well.

On The Bridge

On the surface, this seems like a rather ordinary image.  A man in a uniform, and there are a lot of those floating around, standing on a bridge, a stream, trees, and rock in the background.  While I don't know where this picture was taken, it reminds me of places like the Virgin River in Zion National Park or Yosemite Valley.  It's also a reminder that we could have lost the national park system in World War 2.

 I didn't take long, after Pearl Harbor, for members of Congress, the Pentagon, and big business to  argue that the parks should be opened for timbering and mining.  The military also lobbied to use parks for training and bombing ranges.   Thanks to push back from the Roosevelt administration, by and large, that didn't happen.

Of course, the parks were affected by the war.  The men of the CCC, the men who built so many of the trails, campgrounds , and roads that we're still using today, went off to war.  And some parks did get used for training.  The 10th Mountain Division trained on the slopes of Mt. Rainier, and tank troops rolled across parts of Joshua Tree National Monument, now a national park.  Go to some of the more remote parts of Joshua Tree, and tank tracks can still be seen on the desert floor.   And, with the general public unable to travel because of gas rationing, the parks were, more often than not, a rest area for returned troops.

Views of the World, Hot Spring, Yellowstone National Park

I thought I'd start off the new year by revisiting some of the collections that I've started posting, but have yet to complete.   To recap, The Views of the World Collection goes back to my earliest days of collecting old photographs and postcards.  I turn 60 this month, I started buying old images when I was in high school, so these hand tinted postcards have been following me around for more than forty years.  Sadly, when I picked these up, some of the cards in the series were missing, and despite my best efforts, I've never been able to fill the gaps.

Despite the caption, I'm guessing geyser rather than hot spring.  It also looks like the steam and hot water gushing into the sky weren't suited to whatever method of tinting and printing were available when the card was made.  And while there are no publisher credits, photo credits, writing, or dates on any of them, clearly, they're from the early twentieth century.

Click on Views of the World in labels at the bottom of the post to see the rest.

Views of the World, Big Tree, California

This postcard is driving me crazy.  I'm sure I've seen the original black & white photograph.  But where? Haven't a clue.  I've just spent far too much time searching the net looking for the original and couldn't find a thing.

Anyway, in 1890 Congress passed a law creating Yosemite, Sequoia, and General Grant National Parks.  General Grant National Park?  Yes, in 1890, 10 or so acres of giant sequoia trees were protected as General Grant National Park.  In 1940, the park was folded into the newly established King's Canyon National Park.  Oh for the good old days when Congress was able to actually do things.  Don't know which park this photo is from, but it has to be either Sequoia or General Grant.

This card is part of a collection of cards Iv'e has since high school, and that was far too many years ago.  Click on Views of the World in labels to see what's been posted.

Bare Legs in the Snow

Written on the back of the top image, "Lassen Park Pat & Margret," the second, "Elaine B. Lassen."

It might have been quite warm the day these pictures were taken.  Mount Lassen Volcanic National Park is one of the snowiest places in California and it's not uncommon, even in these days of climate change, for there to be a blanket of snow well into the summer.  So, let's not make fun of Margret for choosing fashion over warmth.  I've hiked Lassen, in summer, in snow, in shorts and a tee shirt, and been very comfortable.  Climbing the peak, mid-day, in the sun, even in snow can be sweaty work.  Again, I know this from experience.

Mount Lassen is the southernmost active volcano in the continental United States.  It's part of the Cascade Range.  After thousands of years of dormancy, a series of eruptions began in 1914 and lasted until 1921.  On August 9, 1916, congress created Mount Lassen Volcanic National Park to preserve the landscape and it's devastation.  Compare that to Mount St. Helens after it's eruption,  where the creation of a new national park was blocked by timber interests that wanted to remove the downed trees, and those opposed to the parks movement on general principle. Yes, it is possible to go backwards.  Those interested in the U.S. National Parks system can go to www.nps.gov