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Show 86 and Cedar Breaks - about 35 miles west of Bryce and 20 miles north of Zion. 247 Smoot made this proposal after legislation to create Zion National Park had passed both houses of Congress and was awaiting President Woodrow Wilson's signature. Smoot's Utah National Park bill created confusion in the local press. When National Park Service Director Stephen Mather traveled to Southern Utah, the Deseret Evening News reported: "It is understood that Mr. Mather's object is to size up [Bryce Canyon], now a 'monument,' in connection with the proposition to raise it to the status of a national park, according to a bill introduced at Washington by Senator Reed Smoot Nov. 3 [1919].',2 48 That same day, The Salt Lake Tribune ran the headline "Bryce's [sic] Canyon Park Approved," although the text of the article made it clear it was only a proposal. 249 In reality, Bryce would not become a national monument for more than three years, and national park status was nine years away. But with the excitement of the pending Zion park bill and the new legislation related to Bryce, journalists erroneously named Bryce Canyon a national park. In anticipation of the president's signature on the Zion National Park legislation, The Salt Lake Tribune reported that "President Woodrow Wilson is expected to affix his signature to the act which makes Zion's [sic] and Bryce canyons a national park, the first to be created in Utah by tbc federal govcrnment.',2so The Deseret Evening News also reported that the bill before the president would include both 247 Smoot's Utah National Park bill, S3379, was introduced November 3, 1919. 248 Deseret Evening News, '"Canyon May Be Converted,"November 19, 1919. ?H Salt Lake Tribune, '"Bryce's Canyon Park Approved," November l9, 1919,Al4. 210 Salt Luke Tribune, ''Fight for Wonderland," November 23, 1919. |
