Creating Grand Teton National Park: A Case Study in Honor of the National Park System’s Centennial

Abstract

In August 1916 President Woodrow Wilson founded the National Park Service (NPS) as a means of preserving the United States’ wildlands, battlefields, and historical monuments. Over the last century this agency has grown exponentially, rising to 409 sites of significance as of 2014. In celebration of this achievement and in time for the National Park Service’s centennial later this year I have chosen to focus on the origin of one site in particular: Grand Teton National Park. This article thus seeks to present a case study of the park’s creation narrative as told through government documents, and to provide a starting place for researchers interested in the National Park System and/or Grand Teton National Park.