UNFAMILIAR SCENES IN NATIONAL PARKS 



375 



or early September. It is necessary to employ a force 

 of smoke-chasers and patrolmen during the fire season 

 in part of the Forest. During the five-year period, 1916- 

 1920, 121 fires occurred within the Forest in this region, 

 burning over 7,442 acres and destroying timber to the 

 value of $4,257. The majority of these fires occurred 

 along the right-of-way of the Government railroad, 

 which starts at Seward, on the south end of Kenai 

 Peninsula, and will extend northward 467 miles to Fair- 

 banks when completed. One forest fire in 1919 de- 

 stroyed railroad property to the value of $125,000. 



With the exception of a few areas in the Cook Inlet 

 region, the topography of the Forest is exceedingly rug- 

 ged, the mountains often rising abruptly from the sea. 

 On Resurrection Bay the towering peaks seem to reach 

 into heaven. Timberline is usually at an elevation of 

 about 2,000 feet ; above this rise barren, glaciated peaks 

 ranging from 3,000 to 8,000 feet in elevation. 



The Chugach Forest contains some of the most 

 sublime scenery to be found anywhere. Glaciers, snow- 

 capped mountains, forested islands, and tree-bordered 

 lakes and bays are abundant. Unfortunately, much of 

 it is now inaccessible to the average tourist. The sum- 

 mer visitor on the regular routes of travel, however, may 

 see the wonderful Miles and Childs Glaciers and enjoy 

 the gorgeous mountain scenery along the Copper River 

 & Northwestern Railroad, some fifty miles from Cordova. 

 Here two giant glaciers almost face each other from op- 

 posite sides of a great river. The front of each is more 

 than two miles long, sheer ice-cliff rising vertically in 

 places more than 300 feet above the surface of the water 

 with background of mountain masses towering in awe- 

 inspiring grandeur. These gluciers vie with each other 

 in activity during the summer months, and the roar of 

 the ice breaking and tumbling into the waters can be 

 heard for miles. Frequent summer excursions are run 

 from Cordova to the glaciers over the Copper River 

 Railroad to witness the brawling Virginia Reel of the 

 liberated waters in restless vis-a-vis. 



UNFAMILIAR SCENES IN NATIONAL 

 PARKS 



(Continued From Page 355) 



The coloring of the Grand Canyon is a subject over 

 which most visitors wax enthusiastic. But in depth and 

 vividness of color the Grand Canyon does not equal Zion 

 Canyon in southern Utah. On the north fork of the 

 Virgin River there is a remarkable canyon, only twelve 

 miles in length and less than half a mile in width, which 

 so impressed Brigham Young when he visited it many 

 years ago that he called it "Little Zion." In 1909 it was 

 proclaimed a national monument under the Indian name 

 of "Mukuntuweap," and on November 19, 1919, Congress 

 created the Zion National Park which includes this can- 

 yon as its principal feature. The vertical walls, which 

 rise from two thousand to nearly four thousand feet 

 above the canyon floor, are of a red sandstone formation, 

 highly colored in shades of Indian red and terra cotta 



over their lower strata, while the upper are much lighter, 

 approaching a cream white, and this again is overlaid 

 in places with a deep pink formation. The rock-sculp- 

 ture is by no means uniform, but there are sharp pin- 

 nacles, rounded domes, bold headlands, and retreating 

 angles, the whole exhibiting a most pleasing variety. 

 At the upper end of the canyon the walls approach so 

 close to each other that there is only room for the dash- 

 ing torrent at their base. Although one hundred miles 

 from any railroad point, Zion Canyon is easily reached 

 by automobiles over most excellent roads ; and as soon 

 as its wonderful cliff scenery and brilliant coloring be- 

 come more generally known it will take its place on the 

 "familiar" list of our national parks 



The whole region contiguous to Zion Canyon abounds 

 in striking rock formations, often with intense coloring. 

 This is the country of the "Vermilion Cliffs," the White 

 Cliffs," and the "Pink Cliffs belonging geologically to 

 the Triassic, the Jurassic, and the Eocene deposits, 

 and at various points where the forces of erosion have 

 had their way, such as the so-called "Cedar Breaks" and 

 "Bryce Canyon," there is a display of most astonishing 

 rock-sculpture combined with a depth and variety of 

 color almost incredible. Bryce Canyon is already pro- 

 posed as a national park, which, in its final status, will 

 doubtless include other similar areas. 



Just a word as to the other national parks not thus 

 far noted. The Hot Springs Reservation in Arkansas 

 was the earliest of the national parks to be created the 

 date being April 20, 1832, and has long been famous as a 

 health resort of great value. Wind Cave Park in South 

 Dakota an extensive underground cavern of unusual 

 interest, Piatt Park in southern Oklahoma another 

 health resort, and Sully's Hill Park in North Dakota 

 an important wild animal preserve, are areas of small 

 extent and chiefly "familiar" only to residents of the 

 immediate neighborhood. The Hawaiian Park on the 

 Hawaiian Islands and Mt. McKinley Park in Alaska are 

 recent creations, not yet made the subject of develop- 

 ment, and their remoteness will doubtless for many years 

 place them beyond the travel scope of the great majority 

 of the American people. ' 



To become familiar with our national parks at least, 

 to a certain degree is the duty, as well as the privilege, 

 of every American citizen. They are among our most 

 precious possessions as a nation. We term them "the 

 people's playgrounds," but they are very much more 

 than that. We have not yet begun to realize what an 

 important part they are destined to play in our education- 

 al system, furnishing, as they do, object lessons of in- 

 calculable value of the operation of those world-building 

 and world-beautifying forces about which we study in 

 our schools ; while their aesthetic and moral stimulus is 

 sure to be increasingly appreciated as the years go by. 

 To preserve them inviolate for future generations, and 

 to resist to the utmost every movement directed even 

 in the slighest degree toward their commercialization, is 

 the sacred obligation resting upon every member of 

 this republic. 



