ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK 



725 



the country he lives in. I have also heard that while this 

 name has not the musical value of Sequoia, Yosemite 

 and Rainier, there is no doubt that there is in the phrase 

 " Rocky Mountain National Park " a certain hardness 

 and roughness which, when the phrase is once fixed in 

 the memory, prevents it from slipping out too easily. To 

 all these arguments I 

 can only say that it is 

 sincere love for this 

 beautiful area that sug- 

 gests the advisability 

 of selecting for it the 

 best name possible, and 

 if this has been done, 

 there is nothing more 

 to be said. Whether 

 the name that it shall 

 forever be known by 

 is beautiful or not, 

 there is no doubt that 

 " Rocky Mountain Na- 

 tional Park " contains 

 some of the most won- 

 derful scenery we have 

 in this country. 



There is no scenic 

 reservation in our sys- 

 tem of National Parks 

 which is so well located 

 to serve the people as 

 the Rocky Mountain 

 National Park. It is 

 but fifteen miles or so 

 from Fort Collins, 

 which is the terminal 

 of a branch line of the 

 Union Pacific system, 

 and may be reached in 

 cars of the Union Pa- 

 cific Railroad Com- 

 pany's standard service. 

 It is about sixty miles 



Photograph by Wiswall Brothers, Denver. 



ROCK CLIFFS, BIG THOMPSON ROAD TO ESTES PARK 



One approach to the Rocky Mountain National Park is up the canyon of the Big Thompson. 

 The road, for many miles, skirts the very edge of the roaring, rushing waters of the river, 

 clinging meanwhile at the base of the great cliffs. It is one of the most beautiful drives to 

 be found in this country. 



from Denver, whence it can be approached by motor over 

 some of the finest roads in the State of Colorado. It is in 

 the eastern portion of the Rocky Mountains and is, there- 

 fore, about the first location of high elevations that can 

 be reached by the westward exodus from the hot valleys 

 of the Mississippi and the Missouri. A thirty-six hour 

 ride from Chicago will land one practically at the toes 

 of the Park. This means that a very large percentage of 

 the population of the United States has at last a national 

 park, embracing glaciers, sparkling lakes and lofty peaks, 

 within thirty-six hours' train ride from their own homes. 

 In addition to this, when the tourist is landed at Fort 

 Collins on the Union Pacific, he is not dropped like a lost 

 soul in the wilderness, but steps from the train on to the 

 platform of a modern and well-kept-up depot, back of 

 which lies a town that is bidding strongly for the reputa- 

 tion of being spotless. 



Fort Collins is a picturesque, attractive and interesting 

 town and one that is well calculated to place the tourist 

 in that frame of mind which precludes quibbling over 

 such minor inconveniences as dusty roads, springless 

 wagons and federal politics, the last of which seems to be, 

 like the poor of Christ's parable, ever with us in Colorado. 



Why federal politics 

 should pick on a state 

 whose residents must 

 make scenery at least 

 the dessert of their 

 daily nourishment is 

 rather difficult to con- 

 ceive, unless it is that 

 this State on the top of 

 our continent presents 

 temptations as a site 

 for junketing parties. 

 Or perhaps it is that 

 an architect of talent 

 and ability once con- 

 ceived, at the instiga- 

 tion of Mr. William 

 Randolph Hearst, a 

 summer home for the 

 President, situated on 

 the precipitous peaks 

 surrounding Denver, 

 and through the broad 

 medium of the instiga- 

 tor's publications in- 

 stilled into the minds 

 of federal politicians a 

 scheme by which they 

 could justify trips to 

 the Rocky Mountains. 

 In any case, the fact 

 remains that if you 

 visit the Rocky Moun- 

 tain National Park, you 

 must mind your P's 

 and Q's and be careful 

 to carry with you certificates of political faith testifying 

 that you belong to any and all parties. Not only must 

 this be done, but the possibility of springing one certificate 

 on the wrong party must be carefully avoided. 



As an example of the influence of the Colorado vote, 

 the first attempt to appoint a superintendent of the Park 

 is an excellent example. Acting on the instructions of the 

 Secretary of the Interior, a department official was inter- 

 viewing likely candidates in a room, the door to which 

 would not close. Having found, perhaps, the best man 

 for the position that could be secured in that part of the 

 country, he shook hands with his selection and stepped 

 with him to the door. As he opened the door, a press 

 reporter removed his ear from the opening just in time to 

 save his head from coming into violent contact with a 

 material that gave strong evidence of having supplied 

 many similar heads. The next morning there were head- 



