Yellowstone National Park's First 130 Years

Supported by railroad companies, and with assistance from members of the Washburn expedition and others, Ferdinand V. Hayden promoted legislation in Congress in 1871 and 1872 to protect approximately two million acres of the land "lying near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River". On March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the law declaring that this area would forever be preserved: "dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people." The world's first national park had been born!

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