Yellowstone National Park Established as First National Park (1872)
On March 1, 1872, Congress established Yellowstone National Park as the first National Park not only in the United States, but in the world. Yellowstone is located mainly in Wyoming, but it extends into parts of Montana and Idaho as well.
In 1871, the Yellowstone region was up for public auction. Explorer F.V. Hayden received government sponsorship and took a large expedition to explore the region. He detailed his findings in a document called the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871. Hayden supplemented his findings with photographs by William Henry Jackson and paintings by Thomas Moran.
Hayden’s report helped to convince the U.S. Congress to withdraw the region from public auction, and on March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed The Act of Dedication law that created Yellowstone National Park. The Act reads in part:
AN ACT to set apart a certain tract of land lying near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River as a public park. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the tract of land in the Territories of Montana and Wyoming .... is hereby reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale under the laws of the United States, and dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people; and all persons who shall locate, or settle upon, or occupy the same or any part thereof, except as hereinafter provided, shall be considered trespassers and removed there from...
Approved March 1, 1872.
This Act of Dedication created the first national park in the world. Today, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) oversees the creation and maintenance of national parks. Currently, there are 6,555 national parks worldwide.
Now, Yellowstone National Park is one of the United States’ top tourist destinations. People flock there to see the amazing diverse wildlife and the geothermal features, including the famous Old Faithful geyser – and we recommend that you visit Yellowstone at least once in your life!