![]() ![]() President Woodrow Wilson signed the Organic Act, creating the National Park Service. Mather campaigned to change that, and in 1916, his campaign succeeded. Although Congress had voted for national parks and presidents had established national monuments, there was no unifying system of management. Tall and handsome, with piercing blue eyes and a rugged outdoorsman's physique, Mather had a commanding presence. Lane, a fellow Californian, wrote back to him: "Dear Steve, If you don't like the way the national parks are being run, why don't you come to Washington and run them yourself?" And that's what Mather did. Lane to complain about the poor condition of the national parks. Outraged, Mather wrote Interior Secretary Franklin K. Car campers parked everywhere and anywhere, leaving their trash strewn about. When he visited Yosemite National Park in the early 1900s, however, he was appalled by what he saw.Ĭattle tromped along rivers and streams. But Mather was restless and continually sought outdoor experiences. His marketing scheme worked, and he became a millionaire at a youthful age. To encourage customers, he wrote letters to newspapers all across the country, posing as a happy housewife extolling the virtues of Borax. As I set up my tent, I thought about the 100th birthday of Dinosaur National Monument, which we celebrate this year, and remembered the life of Stephen Mather, the first director of the National Park Service.Ī successful businessman, Mather started 20 Mule Team Borax in Death Valley, California, to sell soap. ![]() On the second afternoon, we pulled into Mathers Hole Camp under an overhung cliff wall that towered 500 feet above us. We launched our rafts on Colorado's Yampa River at Deerlodge Park, and ran Little Joe and Big Joe Rapids. ![]()
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