Vintage photos of the early days of our national parks

As the National Parks Service celebrates its centennial on August 25, 2016, we take a look at vintage photos of the early days of our national parks. 

In this photo, President Theodore Roosevelt and naturalist John Muir are seen on Glacier Point in Yosemite Valley, California, 1906. Yosemite National Park had been created in 1872. Muir gave Roosevelt a three-day guided tour of the wilderness and forcefully advocated for setting aside more of America’s wilderness for park purposes. Roosevelt, known as the “conversation president,” added acreage to the park and was instrumental in creating 230 million acres of public lands during his presidency. 

Yellowstone National Park

Early tourists at Yellowstone National Park, c1900-1920

Birdalveil Fall

“Camping Party at Bridalveil Fall,” in what is now Yosemite National Park, c1880

Yelllowstone National Park

Tourist’s car in Yelllowstone National Park, 1924.

Carlsbad Caverns

The women shown in this 1932 photograph were classified as guides at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, although one (second from left) is wearing a ranger brassard. Carlsbad Caverns National Park Superintendent Thomas Boles is shown standing in the center of the group. 

Glacier National Park

First vehicles traveling on Logan Pass Highway in Montana’s Glacier National Park, 1933.

Mount Rainier National Park

Climbers on Nisqually Glacier, Mount Rainier National Park, 1930s.

Yellowstone National Park

Herma Alberston (Bagley), Yellowstone National Park, 1929

Od Faithful Geyser

National Park Service Director Stephen T. Mather (seated) and Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Horace M. Albright in the area around Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone National Park, 1920s.

Yellowstone National Park

Mary Crehore Bedell and her traveling companions with their automobile at Yellowstone National Park, 1922. The car has various park entrance fee decals on the automobile’s windshield and the AAA emblem on its grill. 

Yellowstone National Park

Color-applied lantern slide shows an auto tour of visitors traveling past Sylvan Lake in Yellowstone National Park, 1916. 

Yosemite National Park

Members of the United States Sixth Cavalry, Troop F, standing next to their horses and lined up atop and beside the Fallen Monarch tree in the Mariposa Big Tree Grove, Yosemite National Park, 1988.

Yosemite National Park

Sailors from the United States Naval Convalescent Hospital (Ahwahnee Hotel) in Yosemite National Park pause with their bicycles at the Tunnel View Overlook, 1944. 

Yosemite National Park

Two people on a cliff overlooking nature’s grandest scenery from Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park, 1915.