The Not-So-Great Result of America’s Greatest Idea: How Indigenous Americans were affected by the Creation of Yellowstone, Glacier, and Yosemite National Parks

Since the mid-19th century, America’s government has been working to locate the nation’s places of stunning natural beauty and preserve them for the public. This has led to the preservation of 63 National Parks across the country—said to be “America’s Best Idea.” However, these lands for centuries were inhabited by Indigenous Americans. This paper studies the early stages of three National Parks—Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Glacier—and examines the original values they were founded on. It then identifies the tactics the US government used to negotiate or steal this land from indigenous tribes. Finally, it analyzes the further exploitation of Indigenous Americans after the parks were established. The study demonstrates how, through the process of creating National Parks, the government removed and excluded the original inhabitants even as it was trying to extend national access to these parklands. Part of the panel: Picturesque and ProblematicModerator: Professor Jennifer Tappan