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Show 25 legitimized the idea of Yosemite Valley as a paradise worthy of protection by the state.',6 3 In 1851, Greeley promoted the national park idea and called on Americans "to spare, preserve and cherish some portion of your primitive forcsts.'.64 Although Greeley is not often discussed in relation to the history of environmental journalism, other researchers have also credited him with publicizing the landscapes of the West and promoting their protcction. 65 After Yosemite had received government protection, a number of journalists visited the area, most of them calling for similar land preservation in other areas across the United States. Historian Alfred Runtc also credits the press of the 1860s with introducing readers to the West and promoting preservation. Specifically, Runte cited Samuel Bowles, editor and publisher of the Springfield Republican in Massachusetts, and Albert D. Richardson, a Civil War correspondent for the New York Tribune. Bowles and Richardson both published compilations of their newspaper articles about their travels in the West, and both promoted preservation in general and the national park idea specifically. 66 Despite these researchers' use of popular-press sources in their research, the national parks were their subject, not the newspaper accounts. Most research that relies on these press accounts has used them as secondary sources and has placed them in the 63 Ibid., 62. 1,4 Nash, Wilderness and the American Mind, 102. Nash, "The American Invention of National Parks," 730; Rume, National Parks: The American Experience, 20-22 61 "° Samuel Bowles, Across the Continent: A Summer's Journey to the Rocky Mountains, the Mormons. and the Pacific States, withSpeoker Colfax(Ncw York: Hurd & lloughton, 1865); Albert D. Richardson, Beyond 1he Mississippi: From the Grear River to the Great Ocean - life and Adventure on the Prairies, Mountains, and Pacific Coasl {Ann Arbor: Scholarly Publishing Office, University of Michigan Library, 2006). |
