Rulers of our National Parks

12" Wooden Ruler made in U.S.A. of American-grown basswood. We took a slightly different approach when putting this ruler together, and the result is an extremely interesting list! Instead of starting with a list of people that we wanted to consider, we chose to start with the National Parks that we wanted to highlight, and then found people who were significantly affiliated with that park. For example, it was Ferdinand Hayden’s geological survey of 1871 that was instrumental in convincing Congress to establish Yellowstone as the first National Park in the following year. James Longmire built a hotel on the slopes of Mount Rainier in Washington. His property became part of the National Park when it was established in 1899. Journalist William Gladstone Steele campaigned for 17 years to have Oregon’s Crater Lake designated a National Park. He succeeded in 1902. Harvard-educated anthropologist Jesse Walter Fewkes’ work for the Smithsonian Institution included the 1907-8 excavation and re