Vila Wolf's Dyslexic Folklorist Ranting

Happy 106th to Glacier National Park, established on May 11, 1910!

Featuring a scene set in Glacier National Park, this proof of a Saturday Evening Post cover was done by renowned western artist John Clymer in commemoration of the park’s 50th anniversary.  Among 80 Saturday Evening Post covers to Clymer’s credit, this cover was published on July 30, 1960.   Now part of the National Park Service records held by the National Archives at Denver, a note accompanying the proof concluded, “Please keep the enclosed proof to yourself until publication time.”

via the National Archives at Denver on Facebook

2016 also marks the centennial of the National Park Service.  Be sure to follow our colleagues at @phillyarchives and @riversidearchives for more #NPS100 related posts!

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(Dogs at Yosemite National Park,  excerpted from the film “Yosemite Valley“)

Opening this Saturday—

“Geographies of Wonder: Origin Stories of America’s National Parks, 1872–1933″

This is the first of two Huntington exhibitions commemorating the centennial of the U.S. National Park Service. The show will feature an array of items—including the three shown here—from our collection of rare books, manuscripts, photographs, prints, and other materials. The exhibition runs through Sept. 3.

images: Thomas Moran, “Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,” chromolithographic reproduction of a watercolor sketch as published in Ferdinand V. Hayden, The Yellowstone National Park, and the mountain regions of portions of Idaho, Nevada, Colorado and Utah. Boston, 1876. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

Raymond-Whitcomb Co., guide book cover, Two Grand Tours Through the Yellowstone National Park, 1891. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

William Henry Jackson, vintage photograph of Yellowstone National Park’s Grand Canyon, from photo album of Yellowstone National Park and views in Montana and Wyoming territories, 1873. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

Effigy Mounds National Monument is seeking your input, from now until March 25! Read the post below and access the report at the link above. (post and photo from Jim Nepstad) 

What’s wrong with this picture?Like most things in life, it all depends on how you look at it. It’s tough to beat a sunrise at Fire Point, so at first glance it may appear as though all is good here. The photo features a mound basking in the first rays of morning sunlight. But when you look closely, you’ll see there’s more than just a mound here. That mound is a part of a larger landscape, and that landscape contains elements that are both ancient and modern; both natural and human-constructed; both sacred and secular. What SHOULD you be seeing in this photograph? That’s where park management can get tricky. Different people might answer this question in completely different ways, sometimes based on their own aesthetic preferences. This might lead to inconsistent or even harmful management practices if those personal preferences are not enlightened with the best scholarship and/or traditional knowledge. And that is where documents known as cultural landscape reports can come in handy.

Effigy Mounds National Monument has released a Draft Cultural Landscape Report and Environment Assessment (CLR/EA) for public review and comment, beginning today and extending to March 25. For the past three years, we’ve been working with tribal and state historic preservation professionals to document what is known of the mounds and their surrounding landscape. That knowledge is then put to use as the Draft CLR/EA recommends long-term landscape treatment practices that are respectful and protective, while still meeting the needs of our visitors.

We’re interested in your thoughts, and hope you will consider joining the conversation! Copies of the Draft CLR/EA can be downloaded athttp://parkplanning.nps.gov/efmoclr. Comments can be submitted electronically from that page, or mailed to the park. (JN)