The Yellowstone Park 



long ages from thermal waters, and that set- 

 tlers, learning their real value, would seize 

 upon all objects of interest for their own gain. 



On his return to Washington he urged the 

 enactment of a law establishing the Yellow- 

 stone Park as a government reservation. In 

 this work he was ably supported by Senators 

 Anthony, of Rhode Island, Edmunds, of 

 Vermont, and Trumbull, of Illinois, and also 

 by Mr. Dawes, of Massachusetts, then a 

 member of the House of Representatives, 

 who in an excellent speech presented the 

 matter so forcibly that the enabling act 

 passed the House without opposition. 



The report of the Public Lands Committee 

 of the House recommending the passage of 

 the act, after pointing out the worthlessness 

 of the region for agricultural purposes or for 

 settlement, closes with this expression of 

 opinion, valuable in the light in which the 

 Park is now held by the civilized world: 



The 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. 

 i6 241 



