HISTORY 7 



To summarize, the Yellowstone was the first national park, 

 and the system of parks and monuments — including Hot 

 Springs — of which it was the beginning was the direct result 

 of the conception of the National Park Idea. 



Distinction between Parks and Monuments. The act of 

 June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. L., 225), entitled "An act for the 

 preservation of American antiquities," gave the President 

 discretionary power to set aside by proclamation any lands 

 owned or controlled by the United States containing "historic 

 landmarks, historic or prehistoric structures, and other ob- 

 jects of historic or scientific interest" as "national monuments." 

 Provision was made also for the punishment by fine or im- 

 prisonment of persons injuring the monuments, and juris- 

 diction over the monuments was given to the Secretary of the 

 Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, or the Secretary of 

 War, depending upon which department had jurisdiction over 

 the areas in which the monuments were severally located. 



Section 4 of the act provides that the secretaries of the 

 three departments — Interior, Agriculture, and War — shall 

 make uniform rules and regulations for the purpose of carry- 

 ing out its provisions. Secretaries Hitchcock, Wilson, and 

 Taft promptly complied by promulgating — Dec. 28, 1906 — an 

 appropriate set of rules which are still in effect without change. 



The passage of this act was the culmination of an organ- 

 ized movement by a group of archaeologists, scientists, and 

 others, to put such safeguards about the unique archaeological 

 treasures which the country possesses in the ancient pueblos 

 and cliff dwellings of the Southwest as would prevent their 

 spoliation and ultimate destruction. Their protection by the 

 creation of additional park areas had been found impractic- 

 able because a special congressional enactment was necessary 

 in each case, and because Congress was unwiUing to create a 

 great number of parks, many of which would be, necessarily, 

 of very limited area. The original idea had been to protect 

 ancient ruins only, but the act was broadened so as to include 



