Rocky Mountain National Park 



By Mark Daniels 

 Foruicr Superintendent of National Parks 



THERE are many who consider the name " Rocky 

 Mountain National Park " as nothing short of an 

 inspiration, and I know that any criticism of this 

 title of one of our national playgrounds will make the 

 hair on the aesthetic necks of those who harl much to do 

 with the naming of this Park bristle with antagonism. 



Mount Rainier National Park is definitely indicated 

 by its name; Glacier National Park is more or 

 less described by its name, and so with Mesa Verde, 

 Sequoia and most of the others. They might have 

 called it " The Rocky Mountain-Colorado-Sixty-Miles- 

 from-Denver-National Park " without, in the minds of 



Not that the name has much to do with the Park, for, many, having detracted materially from the euphony of 



after all, what's in a name? And if those who named a the name selected. 



lake " Round Lake " because it was round, " Red Peak," I have heard the arguments in favor of this name and 



because it was red, and " Gray Peak," because it was they are many. For example, it is contended that the 



almost gray, 

 have continued 

 to draw their 

 inspiration 

 from the same 

 inexhaustible 

 source, who 

 should criticise 

 them for nam- 

 ing the Rocky 

 Mormtain Na- 

 tional Park as 

 they did, lie- 

 cause it is in 

 the Rock y 

 Mountains ? 

 Such consist- 

 ency deserves 

 compliment 

 rather than 

 c r i t i c i s m. 

 Nevertheless it 

 would seem 

 that something 

 more specific 

 than the partic- 

 ular cognomen 

 selected might 

 have been in- 

 troduced which 

 would indicate 

 either that this 

 National Park 

 did not extend 

 from the Gulf 

 of Mexico to 

 the Canadian 

 border or that 

 it was located 

 where it was 

 for some spe- 

 cific purpose. 

 724 



ESTES PARK VILLAGE, ESTES PARK, COLORADO 



This village nestles at the base of the Continental Divide in one of the most beautiful valleys in the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. The picture does not seem to bear out the statement in the Government bulletin to the effect that it is 

 tteautiful, despite the fact that the Stanley Hotel has done a great deal to lift the village out of the class of 

 tawdriness. 



mind of the 

 sweating h u s - 

 bandmen of the 

 sultry east, 

 wliose thoughts 

 at eve turn 

 from heating 

 labors to the 

 long coveted 

 trip to the cool 

 and snowy 

 heights, lights 

 automatically 

 and without 

 mental effort 

 upon the magic 

 l>hrase " Rocky 

 Mountains." 

 What more log- 

 ical, therefore, 

 than a Rocky 

 .Mountain Na- 

 tional Park ? 

 But can it not 

 also be said that 

 while we are 

 thus saving the 

 tired business 

 man the labor 

 of taking down 

 his geography 

 t o determine 

 where the par- 

 ticular national 

 |iark he may 

 read of is lo- 

 cated, we are, 

 by this very 

 saving of ef- 

 fort, failing to 

 broaden his 

 knowledge of 



