The oldest national park in the world is the Yellowstone National Park. It was declared as such in March 1872 by the US Congress after President Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill. It covers an area of over 2 million acres spanning the states of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. The park has lots of natural phenomena like canyons, waterfalls, hotsprings, and geysers. It is home to a variety of flora and fauna. Some its fauna are grizzly bears, wolves, bison, coyotes, elks, and antelopes. Its flora comprise some 1,700 species such as pines, fir trees, and spruce.
The Native American Indians who have long been inhabitants of this area named the place Yellowstone which comes from the yellow sandstones along the banks of the Yellowstone River in Montana. The first non-native American to arrive in the area was a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition with the name John Colter. John was wounded in a battle with the Native American dwellers and became delirious. Thus he called the place “fire and brimstone”. It was the geologist F.V. Hayden who is credited with setting up the park because of his explorations and comprehensive reports accompanied by photographs of Henry Jackson and illustrations of Thomas Moran. When the then President Grant saw these he signed the bill declaring the area as a national park.
Horses and horse driven transportation started to have conflicts around 1915, because of the 1,000 automobiles entering the park each year. Following years horse travel all together was prohibited. The Civilian Conservation Corps constructed the majority of the early campgrounds, visitor centers and the current park road system, from 1933 to 1941. Staffing and visitation both decreased, once the United States entered World War II and this caused many of facilities to fall into disrepair. Yellowstone and other national parks all experience a tremendouse increase in visitations during the 1950′s. Causing the park officials to implement Mission 66. This was a large effort to modernize and expand the park service facilities. To coinside with the 50th avviversary of the founding of the National Park Service, the plan was to be completed by 1966. The construction diverged form the traditional log cabin style with design features of a more modern style. However, during the the late 1980′s, most construction styles in Yellowstone Park reverted back to the more traditional designs. After the enormous forest fires of 1988 damaged much of Grant Village, structures there were rebuilt in the traditional style. The visitor center at Canyon Village, which opened in 2006, incorporates a more traditional design as well.













