| OCR Text |
Show 179 they describe 1hc environmental purpose of national parks? If national, regional, and local coverage differed, how so? Americans saw the first national parks-Yellowstone and Yosemite - as a means of establishing national identity and cultural history. Unlike Europe, tbls nation lacked the legacy of arts and architecture visible in museums and cathedrals. National parks celebrated the unique monumental landscapes of the West, building what Runte called "a semblance of antiquity through landscape" - a sense of national identity for a nation still defining itself against an established Europc.546 In news coverage of Utah's first parks, the national park idea expressed in The New York Times clearly reflected Runtc's assertion. The designation of Zion National Park, according to The New York Times, was "expected to be a large factor in proving that for every European attraction America can go one better ... Uncle Sam can produce fresh ammunition from an inexhaustible supply of new marvels."547 However, while the country employed the national park idea to bolster its idcn1ity against European arts and architecture, Utah journalists presented Zion and, to a lesser degree, Bryce, in a quest for state acceptance and legitimacy. Utah's newspapers compared these parks to European attractions, but stressed more the comparison to other national parks. The state looked at the parks as validation for its membership in the Union - granted in 1896 - and as evidence of its worth. Just as the national park idea was envisioned as an American contribution to humanity, Utahns saw their parks as a S<l6 1bid.. S<1 7 41. Powell, "New National Park," New York Times, December 21, 1919. |
