Rocky Mountain National Park celebrates a century of preserving nature

Posted by Jeff on Jan 26, 2015 @ 9:52 am in Conservation | 0 comments | Last modified: January 26, 2015

One hundred years ago today, President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation that created Rocky Mountain National Park, which promoters called “America’s Switzerland,” a massive parcel of pristine wilderness that now includes more than 260,000 acres of panoramic vistas and alpine majesty. It’s one of the most popular attractions in Colorado, receiving its highest annual visitation ever in 2014, with more than 3.4 million guests.

Preserving this land, which includes 60 mountains taller than 12,000 feet, seems like a brilliant idea. But back in 1915, that legislative victory capped a bitter battle that pitted local citizens against powerful proponents of timber, mining, hunting and grazing. “There would have been no national park without the broad coalition of political and economic interests,” said James Pickering, historian laureate of Estes Park. The six-year fight required six bills presented to Congress, and five revisions of those bills.

The leader of the successful campaign was Enos Mills, a writer and nature guide who’s been dubbed “The Father of Rocky Mountain National Park.” These days, most people in Colorado have never heard of him. But his descendants still live near his old homestead in the Tahosa Valley. His great-granddaughter, 36-year-old Eryn Mills, gives tours of the cabin that he first built in 1885, and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Rocky Mountain National Park kicked off its centennial celebration in September, and will continue — with more than 150 events — until September 2015, when a ceremony will evoke the jubilance that took place a century ago. Back then “a crowd of 3,000 cheered to the telegrams of President Wilson and Interior Secretary Franklin Lane, read aloud by Enos Mills, master of ceremonies, for the dedication of Rocky Mountain National Park.”

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