Ever since the establishment of the
Yosemite National Park, strife has been going on around its borders and
I suppose this will go on as part of the universal battle between right
and wrong, however much its boundaries may be shorn, or its wild beauty
destroyed.
The first application to the Government by the San Francisco Supervisors
for the commercial use of Lake Eleanor and the Hetch Hetchy Valley was
made in 1903, and on December 22nd of that year it was denied by the
Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Hitchcock, who truthfully said:
Presumably the Yosemite National Park was created such by law because
within its boundaries, inclusive alike of its beautiful small lakes,
like Eleanor, and its majestic wonders, like Hetch Hetchy and Yosemite
Valley. It is the aggregation of such natural scenic features that makes
the Yosemite Park a wonderland which the Congress of the United States
sought by law to reserve for all coming time as nearly as practicable
in the condition fashioned by the hand of the Creator--a worthy object
of national pride and a source of healthful pleasure and rest for the
thousands of people who may annually sojourn there during the heated
months.
In 1907 when Mr. Garfield became Secretary of the Interior the
application was renewed and granted; but under his successor, Mr.
Pages:
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250