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. 
16 241 
