NPSHistory.com

Copyright, RD Payne
VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL, District of Columbia


National Park Service History Electronic Library & Archive

The NPS History Electronic Library & Archive is a portal to electronic publications covering the history of the National Park Service (NPS) and the cultural and natural history of the national parks, monuments, and historic sites of the (U.S.) National Park System. Also included are documents for national monuments managed by other federal agencies, along with a collection of U.S. Forest Service publications.

The information contained in this Website is historical in scope and is not meant as an aid for travel planning; please refer to the official NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Website for current/additional information. While we are not affiliated with the National Park Service, we gratefully acknowledge the contributions by park employees and advocates, which has enabled us to create this free digital repository.


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New eLibrary Additions
Featured Publication
book cover
cover only

Treasured Lands
A Photographic Odyssey Through America's National Parks
(QT Luong, 2022)

book cover
cover only

The Parks Belong to the People
The Geography of the National Park System
(Joe Weber and Selma Sultana, 2024)

Mather Plaques — A History (G. Arthur Janssen, August 2016, rev. October 2024)

Employee Memorial (Jeff Ohlfs, rev. October 7, 2024)

Final Report to the United States Congress by the Philadelphia National Shrines Park Commission (Philadelphia National Shrines Park Commission, December 29, 1947)

Special History Study: The Defense of New Orleans 1718-1900 (Jerome A. Greene, February 1982)

Historic Structures Report: West End Bunkers, Fort Pulaski National Monument, Georgia (Liz Sargent HLA and Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc., July 2024)

Local Influence and the National Interest: Ten Years of National Park Service Administration in the Stehekin Valley, Washington — A Case Study Environmental Field Program Publication No. 4 (Susan E. Georgette and Ann H. Harvey, 1980; ©Environmental Field Program, University of California, Santa Cruz)

45th Meeting Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings and Monuments (Olympic National Park, Washington, September 15-19, 1961)

Cultural Landscape Report: White Haven, Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site (Raths, Raths & Johnson, July 2024)

Mining Glacier Basin: History of the Glacier Basin Mining District, Mount Rainier National Park (Greg C. Burtchard, Jacqueline Y. Cheung and Robert McIntyre, Jr., 2017)

A Sampling of Archeological Resources in Big Bend National Park, Texas Intermountain Cultural Resources Management Professional Paper No. 79 (David W. Keller, William A. Cloud, Samuel S. Cason, Robert W. Gray, Richard W. Walter, Thomas C. Alex, Roger D. Boren, Andrea J. Ohl and Robert J. Malhouf, 2022)

Fire Management Plan Environmental Assessment, Valles Caldera National Preserve (September 2024)

Tribal Co-stewardship Playbook Draft (Erin Luby and Grace Olechowski, August 18, 2022)

Ka'ena Point National Heritage Area Feasibility Study Newsletter (September 2024)

Development Concept Plan, Fort Pulaski National Monument (September 2024)

Comprehensive Land and River Trails Plan and Environmental Assessment, Mammoth Cave National Park Draft (October 2024)

2023 Socioeconomic Research of National Park Service Visitors: Report on 2023 Data Collection (Otak, Inc., RRC Associates, University of Montana and GAIA Environmental Consulting, October 2024)

Grand Teton Transportation and Visitor Movement Study: Final Report (The Otak Team, Fehr & Peers and L2 Data Collection, Inc., July 2022)

Historic Context Study and Survey Report of Great River Road (HHM & Associates, September 2024)

Draft Visitor Access and Experience Plan and Environmental Assessment, Arches National Park (October 2024)


Antietam National Battlefield and National Cemetery, Sharpsburg, Maryland: An Administrative History (Charles W. Snell and Sharon A. Brown, 1986)

Administrative History of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park (John C. Paige and Jerome A. Greene, 1983)

Administrative History: Dinosaur National Monument (R.G. Beidleman, 1968?)

Legislative History, 1920-1996: Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve (Tallgrass Historians, L.C., 1998)

Homestead National Monument of America: An Administrative History, 1962-1981 (Robert Tecklenberg, 1982)

Administrative History Report (1923-1976), Fort Stanwix National Monument (William N. Jackson, September 13, 1985)

Administrative History Report (1923-1976), Fort Stanwix National Monument (William N. Jackson, April 21, 1992)

A Green Shrouded Miracle: The Administrative History of Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area (Ron Cockrell, 1992)

Fort Laramie Park History, 1890-1977 (Administrative History) (Merrill J. Mattes, January 1, 1978)

The Making of a Monument: The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial 1955-1972 (Barry Mackintosh, December 12, 1972)

An Administrative History: Wright Brothers National Memorial (Andrew M. Hewes, December 22, 1967)

An Administrative History: Wolf Trap Farm Park Draft (Barry Mackintosh, 1983)

An Administrative History: Ocmulgee National Monument (Alan Marsh, 1986)


Park Paleontology News (Fall 2024, Vol. 16, No. 2)

The Natural History Story of Chiricahua National Monument Southwest Parks and Monuments Association Natural History Series No. 1 (Earl Jackson, 1970)

The Natural History Story of White Sands National Monument Southwest Parks and Monuments Association Natural History Series No. 2 (Natt N. Dodge, 1971)

Correlation Analysis of Groundwater and Hydrologic Data, Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park, Hawai'i U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5084 (Brytne K. Okuhata and Delwyn S. Oki, 2024)

Bird Monitoring at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Kansas — Status Report 2001-2023 NPS Science Report NPS/SR-2024/204 (David G. Peitz, October 2024)

North Coast and Cascades Network Landbird Monitoring: Report for the 2023 field season NPS Science Report NPS/SR-2024/206 (Amanda L. Holmgren, Robert L. Wilkerson, Rodney B. Siegel and Jason I. Ransom, October 2024)

Geologic Map of Bonita and Rhyolite Canyons, Chiricahua National Monument, Arizona Arizona Geological Survey Contributed Report CR-16-F (Kristin S. Pearthree and Ann Youberg, December 2016)

Rocks in the Chiricahua National Monument and the Fort Bowie National Historic Site Arizona Geological Survey Down-To-Earth 11 (John V. Bezy, 2001; ©Arizona Geological Survey)

Structural Geology and Hydrogeology of the Grandview Breccia Pipe, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona Arizona Geological Survey Contributed Report CR-16-B (M. Alter, R. Grant, P. Williams and D. Sherratt, March 2016)

Bedrock Geologic Map of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Vicinity, Southwest Arizona Arizona Geological Survey Contributed Report CR-24-B (Lisa A. Thompson, Gordon B. Haxel, Donald W. Peterson, Daniel J. May, Richard M. Tosdal, Robert J. Miller, Floyd Gray, Richard A. LeVeque and Paul J. Umhoefer, 2024)

A Guide to the Geology of Organ Pipe Cactus Monument and the Pinacate Biosphere Reserve Arizona Geological Survey Down-To-Earth 9 (John V. Bezy, James T. Gutmann and Gordon B. Haxel, 2000; ©Arizona Geological Survey)

Geologic Map of Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona Arizona Geological Survey Contributed Map CM-12-A (J.W. Martz, W.G. Parker, L. Skinner, J.J. Raucci, P. Umhoefer and R.C. Blakey, December 2012)

Guide to Geologic Features at Petrified Forest National Park Arizona Geological Survey Down-To-Earth 10 (John V. Bezy and Arthur S. Trevena, 2000; ©Arizona Geological Survey)

A Guide to the Geology of Saguaro National Park Arizona Geological Survey Down-To-Earth 18 (John V. Bezy, 2005; ©Arizona Geological Survey)

Roadside Geology: Wupatki and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monuments Arizona Geological Survey Down-To-Earth 15 (Sarah L. Hanson, 2003; ©Arizona Geological Survey)

Geologic Resources Inventory Report: George Washington Carver National Monument NPS Science Report NPS/SR-2024/201 (Michael Barthelemes, October 2024)

Geologic Resources Inventory Report: Fort Davis National Historic Site NPS Science Report NPS/SR-2024/200 (Matthew Harrington, October 2024)

Geologic Resources Inventory Report: Richmond National Battlefield Park NPS Science Report NPS/SR-2024/202 (Trista L. Thornberry-Ehrlich, October 2024)

Geologic Resources Inventory Report: Saratoga National Historical Park NPS Science Report NPS/SR-2024/203 (Tim C. Henderson, October 2024)

Natural Resource Condition Assessment, Pu'ukoholā Heiau National Historic Site NPS Science Report NPS/SR-2024/177 (Brian Hudgens, Jené Michaud, Megan Ross, Rebecca Ostertag, Anne Brasher, Alan Briedlander, Megan Donahue, Pamela Scheffler, Barb Seidel, Tonnie Cummings and Amon Armstrong, October 2024)

Discovery of Oligocene-aged mammals in Glacier National Park (Kishenehn Formation), Montana (Jonathan J. Calede, Kurt N. Constenius, Nicholas A. Famoso and Winifred A. Kehl, extract from Geodiversitas, Vol. 6 No. 9, June 24, 2024)

Historical insights, current challenges: tracking marine biodiversity in an urban harbor ecosystem in the face of climate change (Alysha B. Putnam, Sarah C. Endyke, Ally R. Jones, Lucy A.D. Lockwood, Justin Taylor, Marc Albert and Michelle D. Staudinger, extract from Marine Biodiversity, Vol. 54 Article 78, October 7, 2024)

Carbon Sequestration in the U.S. National Parks: A Value Beyond Visitation (Adam Banasiak, Linda J. Bilmes and John Loomis, February 2015)

Mount Rainier National Park Resource Database: Its Structure, Contents, and Methods Used to Construct It University of Idaho Cooperative Park Studies Unit B-89-1 (John Parker, Judith Allen and R. Gerald Wright, January 1989)

User's Manual for the National Park Natural Resource Database Search and Storage System University of Idaho Cooperative Park Studies Unit B-89-3 (Roger A. Hoffman and R. Gerald Wright, March 1989)

Life history diversity emerges in salmonids repopulating tributaries of the undammed Elwha River (Stuart H. Munsch, extract from The Osprey, Issue No. 109, Fall 2024; ©Wild Salmon Rivers)

National Park Service Biological Inventory Database Development: Report on the Working Group Meeting and Recommendations (Peter S. White, Joy Bannerman, Jeffrey Nekola, Sue Glenn and Patricia Mehlhop, February 1994)

A Field Journal System for Natural History Observations (Jeffrey A. Keay, May 1992)

The PRIDE Project — An Assessment of Natural Resource Business Requirements, Information Needs, and Information Technology Applications w/PRIDE Status Report (March 2005) (c2002)

Report to the National Parks Service: Inventory and Monitoring of Mammals in the National Capital Parks (Richard W. Thorington, Jr., September 2000)

Creating a Framework for Report Ecological Conditions: National Capital Region Network of the National Park Service (c2007)

Measuring the Health of Our National Parks: Rock Creek Park (June 2007)

Rocky Mountain Network News and Highlights, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument (Spring 2008)

Rocky Mountain Network News and Highlights, Glacier National Park (Spring 2008)

Rocky Mountain Network News and Highlights, Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site (Spring 2008)

Rocky Mountain Network News and Highlights, Grand Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve (Spring 2008)

Rocky Mountain Network News and Highlights, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (Spring 2008)

Rocky Mountain Network News and Highlights, Rocky Mountain National Park (Spring 2008)


Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17) Material Culture Reports, Part I: A Critical Review of the Archeological Investigations (William J. Hunt, Jr., 1986)

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17), Material Culture Reports, Part II: Food Related Materials (William J. Hunt, Jr., 1986)

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17), Material Culture Reports, Part III: Personal and Recreational Materials (William J. Hunt, Jr., 1986)

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17) Material Culture Reports, Part IV: Firearms, Trapping, and Fishing Equipment (William J. Hunt, Jr., 1986)

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17) Material Culture Reports, Part V: Buttons As Closures, Buttons As Decoration: A Nineteenth Century Example from Fort Union (William J. Hunt, Jr., 1986)

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17) Material Culture Reports, Part VI: Preliminary Analysis of Vertebrate Fauna from the 1968-1972 Excavations (Carole A. Angus and Carl R. Falk, 1986)

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17), Material Culture Reports, Part VII: Building Hardware, Construction Materials, Tools, and Fasteners (Steven De Vore, 1987)

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17) Material Culture Reports, Part VIII: Artifacts Associated with Transportation, Commerce and Industry, and of Unidentified Function (Steven LeRoy De Vore and William J. Hunt, Jr., 1996)

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17) Material Culture Reports, Part IX: Personal, Domestic, and Architectural Artifacts (Steven LeRoy De Vore and William J. Hunt, Jr., 1993)

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17), Material Culture Reports, Part X: Native American Burials and Artifacts (Steven De Vore and William J. Hunt, Jr., 1994)

Worked Bone Artifacts Recovered During Archeological Excavations ast Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, 32WI17, North Dakota (J. Homer Thiel, 1998)


Rules and Regulations: Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado (1922)

Rules and Regulations: Glacier National Park, Montana (1925)

Rules and Regulations: Yosemite National Park, California (1925)

Circular of General Information Regarding Lafayette National Park, Maine (1928)

Circular of General Information Regarding Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas (1928)

Brochures: Acadia (1953, 1962) • Big Bend (1963) • Bryce Canyon (1936, 1953, 1958, 1974) • Denali (1951) • Everglades (1963) • Glacier: (Motorist Guide: 1933, 1970) • Grand Canyon: (1936, North Rim Pocket Map and Services Guide: 2024, South Rim Pocket Map and Services Guide: 2024 • Great Smoky Mountains (1975) • Mesa Verde (April 1941) • Mount Rainier (1952, 1955, 1982) • Petrified Forest (1947, 1969, 1969, 1971) • Rocky Mountain (1966) • Sequoia and Kings Canyon (1974) • Virgin Islands (1962) • White Sands (1966) • Wind Cave (1946, 1960) • Yosemite (1963, 1979) • Zion (1936, 1953, 1973)

(My thanks to QT Luong for sharing the above collection of park brochures, as well as to Greg, Jeff and Steve who've contributed brochures this year.)

Brochure: Pike Petrified Forest (Date Unknown)

Site Bulletin: Springfield 1908 Race Riot — Resurfacing a History of Extreme Racial Violence Faced by Black Communities (2024)


Vista Assessment Report: Carriage Roads Rehabilitation Project, Acadia National Park (Pressley Associates, Inc., January 1995)

Vista Management Plan for the Historic Motor Road System, Acadia National Park (Eliot Foulds and Jeff Killion, 2015)

Vista Management Plan for the Historic Carriage Road System, Acadia National Park — Volume I: Vista Management Overview and Treatment Framework (Jeffrey Killion, Eliot Foulds, Brendan Bowman, Rebekah Everett, Logan McSherry and Jennifer Piper, 2023)

Vista Management Plan for the Historic Carriage Road System, Acadia National Park — Volume II: Vista Site Plans and Recommendations, 1-143 (Jeffrey Killion, Eliot Foulds, Brendan Bowman, Rebekah Everett, Logan McSherry and Jennifer Piper, 2023)

Vista Management Plan for the Historic Carriage Road System, Acadia National Park — Volume III: Vista Site Plans and Recommendations, 144A-271B (Jeffrey Killion, Eliot Foulds, Brendan Bowman, Rebekah Everett, Logan McSherry and Jennifer Piper, 2023)


Mr. Beaver Objects... (Herbert Beaver, extract from The Beaver, Outfit 272, September 1941)

Dr. McLoughlin's House (Alice Greve, extract from The Beaver, Outfit 272, September 1941)

Fort Vancouver: 1854-1944 (extract from The Beaver, Outfit 274 March 1944)

Excavating Fort Vancouver (Louis R. Caywood, extract from The Beaver, Outfit 278, March 1948)

Sawmill on the Columbia (Donald H. Clark, extract from The Beaver, Outfit 281, June 1950)

Royal Navy Ships on the Columbia River in 1839 (George M. Douglas, extract from The Beaver, Outfit 285, September 1954)

Dr. McLoughlin's Tropical Trade Route (Alfred L. Lomax, extract from The Beaver, Outfit 295, Spring 1964)

'Unpretending' But Not 'Indecent' (John A. Hussey, extract from The Beaver, Outfit 305:4, Spring 1975)

Kanaka William (Yvonne Mearns Klan, extract from The Beaver, Outfit 309:4, Spring 1979)

Grand Portage Rises Again (Willoughby M. Babcock, extract from The Beaver, Outfit 272, September 1941)

The White Pass Route (W.D. MacBride, extract from The Beaver, Outfit 285, September 1954)

The Other Gulf War (Albert G. Fowler, extract from The Beaver, Outfit 72:6, December 1992-January 1993)

The Pig War (Stephen R. Bown, extract from The Beaver, Outfit 80:5, October-November 2000)

San Juan Island (E.H. Wilson, extract from The Beaver, Outfit 258, September 1927)


DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
1849-2024

Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History (©Washington State Historical Society)

Massacre on the Oregon Trail in the Year 1860 (Carl Schlicke, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 1 No. 1, Spring 1987; ©Washington State Historical Society)

On Sidesaddle to the Columbia: Pioneer Travel in Feminine Fashion (Laurie Winn Carlson, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 13 No. 1, Spring 1999; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Glorious Fourth: Independence Day Celebrations on the Oregon Trail (Jacqueline Williams, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 9 No. 2, Summer 1995; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Kennedy Train: Meeting the Challenge of Leading a Wagon Company on the Overland Trail (Everell Cummins, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 17 No. 2, Summer 2003; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Overland Trail: Historic Traces in the Contemporary Landscape—A Photo Essay (Greg MacGregor, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 9 No. 2, Summer 1995; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Tourists by Necessity: Overlanders in the Cosmic Landscape of the Snake River Region (Peter G. Boag, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 7 No. 3, Fall 1993; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Through the "Magnificent Gateway": The Columbia River Gorge and Early Emigrant Travel (Welson W. Rau, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 15 No. 4, Winter 2001-02; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Going Full Circle: A Century of Economic and Ecological Trade-offs on the Elwha (Lisa Meoli, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 31 No. 2, Summer 2017; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Lady of the Lake: A Macabre Tale of Murder on the Olympic Peninsula (Harriet U. Fish, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 6 No. 2, Summer 1992; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Elwha Dam: Economic Gain Wins Out Over Saving Salmon Runs (Jeff Crane, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 17 No. 3, Fall 2003; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The O'Neil Expeditions (Robert L. Wood, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 4 No. 2, Summer 1990; ©Washington State Historical Society)

A Mountain Calling: The Tacoma Eastern Railroad—Linking Puget Sound and Mount Rainier National Park (Michael Sullivan, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 13 No. 4, Winter 1999-2000; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Anything But Natural: The Rustic Furniture Movement & Mount Rainier National Park (Sarah Allaback, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 13 No. 3, Fall 1999; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Climbing Rainier with Curtis in 1909 (Asahel Curtis, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 1 No. 2, Summer 1987; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Coming Full Circle: The Development of Mount Rainier's Wonderland Trail, 1907-1939 (Paul Sadin, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 13 No. 4, Winter 1999-2000; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Fay Fuller: First Woman to the Top of Mount Rainier (Betsy Potts, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 10 No. 4, Winter 1996-97; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Footprints of Days Past (Jeff Antonelis-Lapp, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 34 No. 1, Spring 2020; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Mount Rainier National Park—One Family's Journey (Theodore Catton, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 18 No. 2, Summer 2004; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Mount Rainier National Park: Wilderness as a Resource (Sara Almasy Porterfield, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 224 No. 4, Winter 2010-11; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Mount Rainier or Mount Tacoma? (A.D. Martinson, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 3 No. 2, Summer 1989; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Rivers of Ice: The Glaciers of Mount Rainier—Cold, Cruel, Magnificent (Ruth Kirk, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 13 No. 2, Summer 1999; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Sluskin: Yakima Guide to Mount Rainier (Michel F. Turek and Robert H. Keller, Jr., extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 5 No. 1, Spring 1991; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Expedition of 1905: Two hundred climbers tackle Mt. Rainier (Lisa Mighetto, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 4 No. 3, Fall 1990; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Mountaineers: Pioneers of Recreational Skiing in the Pacific Northwest (Stella Degenhardt, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 9 No. 4, Winter 1995/96; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Northwest Memoirs of Floyd Schmoe (Peter Donahue, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 23 No. 2, Summer 2009; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Crown Jewel Wilderness (Lauren Danner, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 32 No. 2, Summer 2018; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Highway History: The 1933 Road Survey through the Northern Cascades (David Keller, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 18 No. 2, Summer 2004; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Longest Road: An Engineer's Story of Highway Building, Adventure, and Camp Life (Bianca Benson, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 25 No. 3, Fall 2011; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Old Skagit Tour (Paul C. Pitzer, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 7 No. 2, Summer 1993; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Empty Harvest at Waiilatpu: The Mission Life of Narcissa Whitman (Julie Roy Jeffrey, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 6 No. 3, Fall 1992; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Tragedy at Waiilatpu: A New Loow at Old History (Robert H. Ruby, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 23 No. 1, Spring 2009; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Whitman Mission Revisited (David Herrera, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 3 No. 1, Spring 1989; ©Washington State Historical Society)

A Pirogue by any other Name...A Backward Glance at the Corps of Discovery's Watercraft (Allen "Doc" Wesselius, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 21 No. 1, Spring 2007; ©Washington State Historical Society)

A Windfall for Educators: The Lewis & Clark Bicentennial (Robert C. Carriker, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 18 No. 1, Spring 2004; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Adventures in Ichthyology: Pacific Northwest Fish of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (Dennis D. Dauble, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 19 No. 3, Fall 2005; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Beginnings & Endings: Lewis and Clark After the Expedition (Landon Y. Jones, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 18 No. 3, Fall 2004; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Captains West: Lewis & Clark in the Vanguard of Army Exploration (James P. Ronda, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 18 No. 1, Spring 2004; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Following in Their Footsteps: Creating the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail (Wallace G. Lewis, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 16 No. 2, Summer 2002; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Grouse of the Lewis & Clark Expedition (Michael A. Schroeder, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 17 No. 4, Winter 2003-04; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Half Starved: Lewis and Clark on the Lolo Trail (David L. Nicandri, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 24 No. 2, Summer 2010; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Heartily Tired of the National Hug: Why Sacagawea Deserves a Day Off (Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 20 No. 4, Winter 2006-07; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Hunting for Empire: Lewis and Clark Claim a Continent for Science (Daniel Herman, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 17 No. 2, Summer 2003; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Illustrating Lewis & Clark: Images of the West in 19th-Century Lewis and Clark Literature (Kerry R. Oman, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 20 No. 3, Fall 2006; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Knowing Your "Place": Lewis & Clark and the Invention of American Regionalism (James P. Ronda, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 16 No. 1, Spring 2002; ©Washington State Historical Society)

John Ordway: Lewis and Clark's Indispensable First Sergeant (Thomas D. Morgan, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 19 No. 4, Winter 2005-06; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Lewis & Clark's Indian Presents: The Evolving and Misleading Documentary Record of the Expedition Inventory (Kenneth Karsmizki, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 16 No. 4, Winter 2002-03; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Lewis & Clark's Water Route to the Northwest: The Exploration That Finally Laid to Rest the Myth of a Northwest Passage (Merle Wells, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 8 No. 4, Winter 1994/95; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Long Iron: The Black Powder Arms of Lewis & Clark (Mark Van Rhyn, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 18 No. 3, Fall 2004; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Meriwether Lewis's Little Red Book: A Pacific Northwest Legacy (John C. Jackson, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 25 No. 3, Fall 2011; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Mountains of Eternal Snow: Lewis and Clark and the Cascade Range Volcanoes (Allen "Doc" Wesselius, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 20 No. 2, Summer 2006; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Nor Any Drop to Drink: The Search for Water on the Journey West (Jacqueline Williams, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 7 No. 2, Summer 1993; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Old Rivet: The Surviving Member of the Corps of Discovery in the Northwest (John C. Jackson, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 18 No. 2, Summer 2004; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Provision Camp: The Lewis & Clark Expedition, March 31 to April 6, 1806 (Roger Daniels, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 16 No. 3, Fall 2002; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Scientific Explorers: A Review of Literature on Lewis and Clark's Ethnography, Botany, and Zoology (Jay H. Buckley and Julie A. Harris, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 20 No. 1, Spring 2006; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Searching for Point Lewis: Piecing Together the Location of a Lost Landmark (Allen "Doc" Wesselius, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 18 No. 4, Winter 2004-05; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Sold Our Canoes for a Few Strands of Beads: The Lewis & Clark Canoes on the Columbia River (Robert and Barbara Danielson, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 19 No. 1, Spring 2005; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Lasting Legacy: The Lewis and Clark Place Names of the Pacific Northwest—Part I (Allen "Doc" Wesselius, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 15 No. 1, Spring 2001; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Lasting Legacy: The Lewis and Clark Place Names of the Pacific Northwest—Part II (Allen "Doc" Wesselius, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 15 No. 2, Summer 2001; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Lasting Legacy: The Lewis and Clark Place Names of the Pacific Northwest—Part III (Allen "Doc" Wesselius, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 15 No. 3, Fall 2001; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Lasting Legacy: The Lewis and Clark Place Names of the Pacific Northwest—Part IV (Allen "Doc" Wesselius, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 15 No. 4, Winter 2001-02; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Legacy of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (Michelle D. Bussard, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 12 No. 1, Spring 1998; ©Washington State Historical Society)

THE VOTE: "Station Camp," Washington (Dayton Duncan, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 15 No. 1, Spring 2001; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Twisted Hair, Tetoharsky, and the Origin of the New Sacagawea Myth (David L. Nicandri, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 19 No. 2, Summer 2005; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Ways of Knowing—Thoughts on Beyond Lewis & Clark: The Armey Explores the West (Allyson Purpura, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 17 No. 4, Winter 2003-04; ©Washington State Historical Society)

What the Lewis and Clark Expedition Means to America (Dayton Duncan, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 11 No. 4, Winter 1997-98; ©Washington State Historical Society)

McLoughlin's Grand Jury: An Inquiry into Treachery, Conspiracy, and Murder at Fort Stikine (Steve A. Anderson, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 22 No. 4, Winter 2008-09; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Officers' Row: Steeped in History, Rescued from Oblivion (James Wagner and Jessica Walden, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 8 No. 3, Fall 1994; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Private Republic: The Hudson's Bay Company in the Pacific Northwest (André M. Peñalver, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 24 No. 1, Spring 2010; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Pig War Letters (Keith A. Murray, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 1 No. 3, Fall 1987; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The San Juan Sheep War (Michael Vouri, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 14 No. 4, Winter 2000-01; ©Washington State Historical Society)

True Casualties of the Pig War (Melissa Baker and Cyrus Forman, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 36 No. 2, Summer 2022; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Clarence Dill's West: Building Dams and Dreams (Kerry E. Irish, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 16 No. 3, Fall 2002; ©Washington State Historical Society)

More Power to You: Columbia River Development in the 1930s (Richard Lowitt, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 12 No. 4, Winter 1998-99; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Rufus Woods: The Communications Battle for Grand Coulee Dam (Rebecca Smith, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 22 No. 2, Spring 2008; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Columbia Basin Project Farmers (Paul C. Pitzer, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 10 No. 1, Spring 1996; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Mystique of Grand Coulee Dam and the reality of the Columbia Basin Project (Paul C. Pitzer, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 4 No. 2, Summer 1990; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Vanessa Helder and Grand Coulee Dam (Larry Schoonover, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 2 No. 1, Spring 1988; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Hanford and History: B Reactor's 60th Anniversary (Richard Rhodes, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 20 No. 3, Fall 2006; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Hanford's Historic Reactors: Constant Change in the Early Years (Michele S. Gerber, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 9 No. 1, Spring 1995; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Hanford's Pac-Men: Five Plutonium Separations Plants Await Decommissioning (Michele S. Gerber, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 10 No. 3, Fall 1996; ©Washington State Historical Society)

New Light On the History of Hanford (Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 13 No. 1, Spring 1999; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Our Nuclear Legacy: The Hanford Engineer Works Comes to the Columbia Basin (Michele S. Gerber, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 7 No. 3, Fall 1993; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Preserving Handford's History (Michele S. Gerber, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 20 No. 3, Fall 2006; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Hanford Engineer Works Village (David W. Harvey and Katheryn Hill Krafft, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 18 No. 1, Spring 2004; ©Washington State Historical Society)

River of Gold: The Impact of the Klondike Gold Rush on the Pacific Northwest (J. Kingston Pierce, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 11 No. 2, Summer 1997; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Ezra Meeker's Quest for Klondike Gold (Howard Clifford, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 12 No. 2, Summer 1995; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Glittering Prospect: The Alask Gold Rush Reconsidered (Robert E. Ficken, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 21 No. 2, Summer 2007; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Kathleen Eloisa Rockwell: Belle of Dawson, Queen of the Yukon, Flower of the North (James Bledsoe, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 12 No. 4, Winter 1998-99; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Klondike Literature: The Mad Rush for Truth in the Frozen North (Terrence M. Cole, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 22 No. 2, Summer 2008; ©Washington State Historical Society)

One Man's Adventure in the Klondike (Terrence Cole, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 11 No. 4, Winter 1997-98; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Risky Business: Banking During the Alaska Gold Rush (Elmer Rasmuson and Terrence Cole, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 12 No. 3, Fall 1998; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Words of Gold: Reporters Bring the World News of the Klondike Stampede (J. Kingston Pierce, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 12 No. 1, Spring 1998; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Self-Destruction on the Natchez Trace: Meriwether Lewis's Act of Ultimate Courage (Reimert Thorolf Ravenholt, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 13 No. 2, Summer 1999; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Beyond Isaac Ebey: Tracing the Remnants of Native American Culture on Whidbey Island (Theresa Trebon, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 14 No. 3, Fall 2000; ©Washington State Historical Society)

A Toe in the Water: J Harlen Bretz's First Field Exploration of Eastern Washington's Channeled Scablands (John Soennichsen, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 25 No. 1, Spring 2011; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Great Columbia Flood (Tom Mullen, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 19 No. 1, Spring 2005; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Stonecutter & the Missoula Flood Erratics (Nathaniel D. Reynolds, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 20 No. 1, Spring 2006; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Ice Peaks National Park: The Spectacular Failure of a New Deal Idea (Lauren Danner, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 23 No. 3, Fall 2009; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Nation's Playgrounds (extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 20 No. 4, Winter 2006-07; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Tourists in Wonderland: Early Railroad Tourism in the Pacific Northwest (Carlos A. Schwantes, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 7 No. 4, Winter 1993/94; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The Kendall Katwalk: "The Hardest Piece of Trail Ever Built" (Michael Egan, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 19 No. 4, Winter 2005-06; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Hal Sylvester: Head Ranger and name of Names in Wenatchee National Forest (Judy Bentley, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 27 No. 1, Spring 2013; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Dark Noon: Eyewitness to the Cataclysmic Eruption of Mount St. Helens (Richard Waitt, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 29 No. 1, Spring 2015; ©Washington State Historical Society)

Inside the Red Zone: Remembering the Eruption of Mount St. Helens (Jeff Renner, extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 34 No. 1, Spring 2020; ©Washington State Historical Society)

The First Ascent of Mt. St. Helens (extract from Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, Vol. 2 No. 1, Spring 1988; ©Washington State Historical Society)


Archaeological Inventory and Predictive Modelling in the Pacific Norhtwest Studies in Cultural Resource Management No. 6 (Richard F. Darsie and James D. Keyser, eds., October 1985)

Management Strategy for Treatment of Lithic Scatter Sites Studies in Cultural Resource Management No. 7 (James D. Keyser, Thomas L. Burge and Dorothy M. Fleming, eds., 1988)




NPS Reflections



Miss Isabelle Story in her office at the old Interior Building (George A. Grant/NPS photo)


Isabelle Story: talented writer-editor

Isabelle Florence Story came from the U.S. Geological Survey to the Park Service in 1916 with Colonel Robert B. Marshall, to continue as his secretary. Marshall had been "loaned" to Stephen Mather when the latter set up an interim organization to function until Congress could create an official national park bureau. Marshall, who had been chief geographer in the USGS, was now made general superintendent of national parks. He was released however, within the year to return to his former bureau. When this occurred and Horace Albright was appointed Acting Director of the National Park Service during Mather's illness, Isabelle Story became his secretary and remained with him until his move to Yellowstone National Park in 1919.


Isabelle Florence Story (NPS photo)

Although she was only 28 years old, her fine business-college education and writing talent combined to make her position far more than that of a secretary in the Interior Department of those days. Because of Albright's mounting work load, she stepped in and helped him with many day-to-day operations. Not only did she work with him to compile the NPS Annual Report of 1917, but she was quickly entrusted with writing a portion of his correspondence. Albright would give her the gist of what he wanted said and then leave the rest to her. They continued their collaboration on the NPS Annual Report of 1918, although this was printed under Mather's signature. The following year, the preliminary data was sent to Horace Albright in Yellowstone for preparation of the 1919 Annual Report. He requested Isabelle Story to come out to Wyoming so that they could work together on it. She did just that, remaining for about 6 weeks.

Along with all these responsibilities, Miss Story began writing press releases and articles promoting the national parks and monuments, and undertaking special assignments. For instance, she was secretary of the Park Superintendents' Conferences in Rocky Mountain National Park in 1919, Yosemite in 1922 and Yellowstone in 1925. She was encouraged and authorized to travel extensively throughout the Park System during the 1920s. Because of the accumulation of firsthand knowledge of people, places and facts relative to the National Park Service, she progressed to editing the bureau's publications. While covering all her normal assignments, she also found the time to draft innumerable speeches relative to the parks for officials in the Office of the Secretary of the Interior.

When Isabelle became Editor-in-Chief for the Park Service, one of her major responsibilities was editing the information publications distributed to national park visitors. These, up until the huge expansion of the Park System at the start of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration, were sizable publications, sometimes running 90 pages or more for major parks such as Yosemite, Yellowstone and Grand Canyon; they contained lengthy descriptions of the areas and always contained complete schedules of authorized concession rates, down to the smallest item offered for sale.


Isabelle Story (NPS photo)

With that enlargement of the System, it became necessary to modify the size and character of the information folders and booklets; this change also resulted in the issuance of considerably more attractive publications. This new load was laid on the Office of Editor-in-Chief, vastly increasing the number of employees; at one time, there were as many as 50, most of them paid from CCC, WPA and other emergency funds. Among other things, Miss Story's crew produced an extensive series of radio scripts, which were widely used.

In the early 1940s, Associate Director Arthur Demaray gave tentative approval to a project for publication of a parks magazine. Isabelle was enthusiastic about the idea and undoubtedly looked forward to playing a leading part in its production. However, after Newton Drury became Director in August 1940, he felt that times were too uncertain for the launching of such a venture. He discontinued its planning to the disappointment of Miss Story. Thereafter, with the coming of the war and the end of the emergency agencies, the staff of the Office of Editor-in-Chief was drastically reduced and the publications program greatly shrunk.

When Director Drury decided, in 1946, to establish a Division of Information (later Branch of Information) under Herb Evison, Miss Story became assistant chief of Information; however, she never relinquished the title of Editor-in-Chief, which had been hers for so many years. She continued in that capacity until her retirement. The great outpouring of friends—in the Service, among newspaper people and among the political leaders, including House Speaker Sam Rayburn at the reception given in her honor, made it a notable event.

Among Miss Story's accomplishments as a writer were the preparation of a revised edition of the famous Yellowstone book written by General Hiram Chittenden and a revision of the National Parks Portfolio. Near the end of her service she also prepared a handsome publication with a wealth of well-selected illustrations, The National Park Story in Pictures.

What was Isabelle Story like as a person? She was attractive, laughing, friendly, competent—a truly top executive. She never married. She lived with her widowed mother to whom she devoted all her spare time, and her mother lived to an advanced age. She never talked about the one real tragedy of her life. During the early 1930s, Isabelle made several trips to the Southwest monuments. She traveled extensively and became very interested in Indian antiquities under the guidance of Superintendent Frank Pinkley who was in charge of those areas. They apparently were deeply in love but before their plans for marriage could be realized, Pinkley suddenly died of a heart attack. It was a severe blow to her, and she never seemed to get over her loss and sorrow.

After Isabelle Story retired in 1954, she traveled extensively and participated in many activities until a severe hip injury (occurring while she was on a tour of the new Washington Star building in 1959) confined, her to a wheelchair. She died in 1970.

This gracious lady of exceptional charm and talent should always be remembered as one of the builders of the National Park Service.—Horace M. Albright.

           Text from Courier, Vol. 4 No. 12, Dec. 1981.


Isabelle F. Story, 1933 (NPS History Collection photo)


Isabelle Florence Story
Washington Office (1916-1962)
  • Born in December 1888 in Ohio.
  • Grew up in Chicago, Illinois and attended Metropolitan Business College. Began as a copyist at the U.S. Patent Office in 1910.
  • Transfered to the U.S. Geological Survey in 1911 as an under clerk. Promoted to junior clerk in 1914.
  • Transfered to the NPS as a clerk in the Office of the Secretary on July 10, 1916. Held various clerk titles from 1917-1925.
  • As Horace Albright's secretary, assisted with preparation of the 1917, 1918, and 1919 director's annual reports and the 1919 budget report for Congress.
  • Promoted to assistant editor in 1926.
  • Promoted to chief of the Division of Publications in 1930, becoming the NPS' first woman division chief, while still holding the title of editor and supervising a staff of 50 people.
  • Promoted to NPS' first editor-in-chief in 1934.
  • Traveled extensively to parks and wrote many NPS publications, including the 1933 National Parks and Emergency Conservation.
  • Reassigned as chief of information with the NPS Bureau of Interpretation when NPS headquarters moved to Chicago during World War II. In 1943 she returned to her editor-in-chief title.
  • Reassigned as assistant chief of information in 1946.
  • Returned to the Washington Office in July 1947.
  • Was an early advocate for a national park magazine.
  • Remained assistant chief of information until she retired on January 31, 1955.
  • Awarded the Department of the Interior's Distinguished Service Award in 1955.
  • Returned to the NPS a week after retiring, working as an occasional consultant until June 30, 1962.
  • Died on April 15, 1970.

           Text from NPS Women Cartes de Visite Collection.


Isabelle F. Story stands with seven male colleagues on the steps of the Department of the Interior building (NPS photo)



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