THE NATIONAL PARKS SYSTEM 235 



example. Had a well-chosen commission of scien- 

 tists, educators and lovers of the sublime in nature 

 planned the whole in advance when the first National 

 Park, Yellowstone, was created in 1872, a system 

 built thereon could have differed little except in su- 

 perior richness and variety from that which Con- 

 gress has since actually created, park by park, in 

 obedience to public demand originating from time 

 to time mysteriously in the genius of our people. 



In an accompanying table the parks are listed 

 historically in order of creation with statement of 

 area and characterization of difference. Here we 

 shall consider them in their most useful classifica- 

 tion as examples in supremely beautiful expression 

 of the natural processes through which our glori- 

 ously beautiful country was created. At the outset, 

 let me repeat my indisputable statement of 1919 that 

 our National Parks System presents scenery of far 

 greater magnificence and wider variety of kind and 

 beauty than is comfortably accessible in all the rest 

 of the world combined. 



ITS STORY OF CREATION 



Of the basic granite of the country, the Na- 

 tional Parks System offers four great examples: 

 Yosemite National Park, California, with its Valley 

 of remarkable origin, its wilderness of domes, lakes, 

 rivers and great forests, and its waterfalls of im- 

 mense height; Sequoia National Park, California, 



