The Right Man

THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB

Father of the National Park Service: Stephen Mather the Right Man for the Job

Jacob Choi

Environmental Studies 361, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Jacob Choi The Right Man 1

Professor Sonnenfeld

Environmental Studies 361

November 26, 2014

Father of the National Park Service: Stephen Mather the Right Man for the Job

Abstract

Stephen Mather was a man on a mission; he was an advertising tycoon in the late 1800s

who made his fortune on the promotion of Borax in Death Valley. His number one goal was to

get Americans interested and passionate about the National Parks as the same level as him. As

the first director for a new organization called the National Park Service, this was a challenge.

Not only were the American public not interested in journeying to these places, but also

Congress was refusing to allocate sufficient funds to maintain the national parks and monuments

in the system. Mather knew the way to solve the problem was to improve the image of the

national parks and to increase visitation. As a result, he used his marketing skills and social

movement theory to promote the parks. He did this in two ways: during the first decade, he allied

himself with the railroads using the See America First campaign, later he used the automobile to

create mountain roads and a “park-to-park” highway that connected the national parks out west.

With these two marketing tools, visitation increased and the national parks became part of the

American landscape and memory. But, most importantly, he made an impact on the preservation

of these special places. He made others question the value of wilderness, and he made sure that

the National Park Service would set a precedent on the American Environmental Movement.

Keywords: national parks, Stephen Mather, railroads, automobiles, tourism, park ranger,

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It was heartbreaking to see Horace Albright’s friend Stephen Mather incapacitated,

Mather had lost the use of his legs, arm, and fingers due to a stroke. Shortly afterwards, Mather

received another stroke that killed him on January 22, 1930 (Albright, 1985 pg. 248). Stephen

Mather was the first director of the National Park Service (NPS), during Mather’s tenure, his

energy, influence, and ideas helped shape the National Park System from an unorganized

collection of parks to a unified government agency that won the heart of America. His method of

activism consisted of resource mobilization and the embracing of the automobile to attract many

Americans to the national parks. He used the parks’ growing popularity to improve the

accessibility and identity of the parks. Mather’s improvements to these national parks also drew

criticism from others causing preservationists to redefine their cause, and question the meaning

of wilderness. Whether or not one agrees with the policies and promotions that Mather

implemented onto the National Park Service, he still created a high standard for an organization

that left its mark on the American Environmental Movement.

In the early 20th Century, the United States was at an era in which nationalism and

prosperity went hand in hand. Advancements were seen everywhere, and it appeared that there

would be no “frontier” left, it seemed that the frontier way of life-the American identity could

disappear (Nash, 2014, pg. 145). The national parks during that time, due to advancements from

the cities looked like they were “seeping” into the parks. In Yosemite, cattle were seen grazing

in the meadows, in Yellowstone, trash from the travelers was littering roadside paths, and in

Sequoia, claims have already been made to log some of the best timber (Burns & Duncan, 2009).

Congressional funds were minimal at best in these national parks, and the army was periodically

patrolling the places, there was no unifying factor that integrated these parks other than the title

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of “national park”. It was starting to look like these places might be exploited, just like Niagara

Falls, NY.

Stephen Mather was born on the Fourth of July, 1867 in San Francisco, California; his

family had deep patrician roots in New England descending from one of the original colonists,

Cotton Mather. He graduated from the University of California Berkeley in 1887, having the

nickname the “eternal freshman” due to his young appearance as a student (Burns and Duncan,

2009, pg. 137). When Mather became the sales manager for the Pacific Borax Company, his

genius for promotion showed by romantically branded the products manufactured in Death

Valley “Twenty Mule Team Borax”. He mailed magazines posing as a housewife stating how

the cleaning tool was useful (Burns and Duncan pg. 138), sales of the household material

increased dramatically making Mather a millionaire. Indeed, Mather’s technique was not

producing the borax, but to create the necessity for borax (Burns and Duncan, 2009).

However, with all his success and all his money, Mather had mental issues. In order to

cope, it seemed that going outdoors was a way to remediate his mental state and relax his nerves,

he frequently hiked the Sierra Nevada range, and witnessed the condition of the national parks.

In 1904, Mather became a member of the Sierra Club, and in 1914, after witnessing the poor

condition of Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks he wrote a letter to his classmate Franklin K.

Lane regarding the parks (Burns and Duncan, 2009). In the letter, Lane wrote: “Dear Steve: If

you don’t like the way the national parks are being run, why don’t you come down and run them

yourself?” (Albright pg. 32) Mather accepted the challenge, but claimed that it would be “only

for a year” (Burns and Duncan, 2009), he asked his friend Horace Albright to join him. Albright

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was also a University of California Berkeley graduate, he was eager to commit his skills to

Mather, in order to prevent another Hetch Hetchy- northwestern part of Yosemite, drained by the

Tuolumne River for the development of water supply for irrigation and municipal interest (Burns

and Duncan pg. 138). Mather then asked Robert Sterling Yard, the editor for the New York

Harold for help, to promote and increase the publicity of the national parks. Yard agreed, and

soon the three men began their work (Burns and Duncan, 2009).

Mather was curious to see what the other national parks were like, so using the railroads

Mather took a tour around every national park. In Mount Rainier, Mather saw the superintendent

as a “political hack” and he fired him (Burns and Duncan, 2009), he then used money his own

money to pay for the Tioga Road in Yosemite and purchased a parcel of land in Glacier National

Park, then for the Grand Canyon, he felt that a “national monument” designation was not enough

to fully protect the magnificent “wonder of nature”. Mather invited fifteen of his influential

friends to a hike in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, to increase funds to these monuments, he felt

that in order to gain support for the park, people needed to see these lands for themselves (Burns

and Duncan, 2009). However, at the end of the year, Congress still had not created an agency to

preserve the parks, so Mather agreed to spend an additional six years if Albright agreed to stay.

Finally, on August 25th, 1916, Woodrow Wilson at last signed the Organic Act, to create the

National Parks Service, its mission: “To conserve the scenery…to provide enjoyment of the same

in such manner…leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” Albright

noticed the paradox saying that “with rational, careful, and loving thought, it could be done”

(Burns and Duncan pg. 140).

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There were challenges with this new agency. Congress refused to send any money

whatsoever to maintain the parks. When the budget for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was

released, a note said: “It shouldn’t take any money to run a volcano” (Burns and Duncan, 2009).

To add to Mather’s frustrations, many prominent Americans wished to travel to Europe for

vacations instead of the American West, many claimed that the national parks were too

“undeveloped” for their taste, and others wanted the luxury found in Europe (Burns and Duncan

pg. 205). To alleviate these problems, Mather further aligned himself with western politicians

and popular railroad lines, using influential networks was particularly valuable in the realm of

activism, adding power to the National Park Service facilitating political and population

involvement in shaping the national parks (Della Porta and Diani, 2006, pg. 126). Mather’s had

the rationale that the future of preservation would lay in the hands of the tourist industry, as he

was “making a business of scenery” (Gottlieb, 2003, pg. 65).

Mather made sure that every national park had a railroad that went into it, along with a

hotel or lodge to accommodate guests, using pitch lines of “See America First” to lure wealthy

visitors, he even made comparisons of Glacier was like Switzerland, the Rocky Mountain’s

Longs Peak was dubbed as “America’s Materhorn,” and Yellowstone was called a “wonderland

of geysers” (Burns and Duncan, 2009). It worked, visitation to the national parks increased also

increased mobilization for protecting the parks. Many wrote to their congressman asking for

more funding and others started their own crusades to save their local places; it seems as if the

seeds of conservation were finally sprouting (Burns and Duncan, 2009).

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In 1917, tragedy struck Mather, at a New Year’s gala in the Cosmos Club in Washington

D.C. he mentally collapsed, “he was rocking back and forth, alternately crying, moaning, and

hoarsely trying to get something said. I couldn’t understand a thing, he was incoherent”

(Albright, 1999, pg. 197). Mather was soon hospitalized, while Albright and Yard were running

the National Park Service during his absence. In the sanatorium, Mather only had two pictures

of Yosemite, used as decoration and the only permitted visitors were his wife and Horace

Albright (Burns and Duncan, 2009). During one of Albright’s visits, he gave Mather the news

that a bill is being passed in Congress preserving Mount McKinley as a national park this lifted

his spirits and on 1918 Mather returned. He was eager as ever to help create more national parks

and to advocate them in newer creative ways.

In the year 1920, the automobile was becoming popular with park travelers, sightseers

exceeded one million visitors, and economic prosperity was in the air, along with the relief of

war’s end. Henry Ford’s automobile was a presence everywhere, in the city, auto traffic was

outnumbering railroad visits eight to one (Burns and Duncan, 2009), and unfortunately this

would pose problems for the parks. Many roads to the parks were undeveloped mountain roads,

the inclines were too steep for engines, and at times the parks themselves became more

congested than in the cities (Burns and Duncan, 2009). Parking was another problem, many

motorists parked their car at random in meadows, roads, and even at the cliff of the Grand

Canyon. Mather noticed this pattern, as he “saw the automobile as the primary mode of

transportation into the parks” (Gottlieb pg. 66). So Mather had an idea that would embrace the

automobile, he teamed up with the American Automobile Association to map out and create a

National Park-to-Park highway that would connect all the western parks at the time (Burns and

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Duncan pg. 207). Mather then extended the National Park-to-Park highway idea for all the

remaining parks. He wanted each park to have a road that would showcase its beauty while

driving; roads like the Old Fall River Road in Rocky Mountain and the Rim Drive in Crater Lake

were created and were examples of “park roads” (Burns and Duncan, 2009). Mather also knew

that many would not want to hike out into the wilderness, so he purposely asked landscape

architects like Frederick Law Olmstead Jr. to make the roads close to nature as possible (D.

Duncan). Drives like the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier took engineering and road projects

to new levels of design and construction.

The automobile was arguably a great “democratizing factor” in the history of the national

parks; soon anyone with a car was able to visit a national park, now the traveler did not have to

be reliant on stagecoach tours, railroad timetables, and hotels, this reduced the cost to visit a

national park (Runte, 2010). The National Parks were now becoming an American tradition, as

Yard points out: “Already the national parks are beneficently effecting the national mind,

nowhere else to people from all the states mingle in the same spirit…Here the social differences

so insisted upon at home, just don’t exist…In the national parks all are just Americans” (Burns

and Duncan, 2009). With that spirit, many Americans drove their cars “collecting”-or visiting as

many parks as possible. Nevertheless, Mather still wanted to increase visitation, he wanted

others to gain an appreciation for the wilderness. With his enthusiasm and energy, he came up

with additional ideas that would help the national parks gain an identity (Burns and Duncan,

2009). Using the great economy of the 1920s, Mather expanded campgrounds like Camp Curry

in Yosemite, and built hotels like the Phantom Ranch in the Grand Canyon. In Yellowstone,

Mather wanted a buffalo stampede to entertain the tourists in a “buffalo plains week” (Burns and

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Duncan pg. 205). Mather made sure the exhibits and visitor information centers had a distinct

rustic architecture-“parkitecture”. He invited Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge to

Yellowstone to tour the national park with Albright (Albright pg. 151), he permitted rangers to

hold bear shows in the parks, and even allowed tourists to feed the bears as a part of the

experience of visiting a national park. Alongside creating ideas that would allow for more

visitations, he wanted an identity for both the national parks and the National Park Service. Due

to the political nature of the national parks, many of the jobs went to individuals who possessed

the necessary connections in the government. As a result, the superintendent’s son in law became

responsible for looting in Mesa Verde and a worker in Glacier was so inept, his patrols became

limited to the railroad tracks (Burns and Duncan, 2009). To remediate the situation, Mather soon

handpicked his officers; Jesse Nessbaum, a respectable archeologist became the new

superintendent in Mesa Verde, and in Yellowstone, Horace Albright received the honor to head

the workforce of the world’s first national park (Burns and Duncan, 2009).

Along with creating the leaders of the national parks, Mather wanted a professional

workforce that could be recognized by any visitor, so he created and designed a special uniform

(Albright, 2010, pg. 7), this occupation attracted college males from all over the country,

Albright explicitly stated the qualities a ranger must have: “If you cannot work hard ten or

twelve hours a day, and always with patience and a smile on your face…please visit Yellowstone

National Park as a tourist” (Albright, 1985, pg. 145). A qualified person should be able to

handle crowds, shoot a rifle, build trails, and ride a horse. Along those guidelines, prospective

rangers were: to pay for their own uniforms, not receive overtime pay, and pay forty-five dollars

for a distinctively flat brimmed hat (Burns and Duncan, 2009). After witnessing a nature

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program by two university professors at Lake Tahoe, Mather paid to have the program

transferred to Yosemite giving birth to guided nature walks and campfire programs led by

“ranger naturalists,” a tradition that is still popular in the parks today (Burns and Duncan pg.

211).

Even with all these advancements in park roads, and extraordinary high visitations

amount, not everyone was impressed with Mather’s ideas. Yard, a longtime friend of Mather,

was questioning how these parks were being managed, he was against the construction that the

National Park Service was doing, arguing that it was against what the agency stood for. To add

on Yard’s frustrations, Mather agreed to have Congress authorize Shenandoah and Mammoth

Cave National Parks, Yard believed they were below “park status level” (Burns and Duncan,

2009). Yard disliked the political atmosphere of the National Park Service, claiming that Mather

was politicizing the parks to help with his image and used taxpayers’ money to travel extensively

around the park system (Burns and Duncan pg. 249). Mather then agreed to construct a tunnel in

the mountains of Zion National Park, this intensified Yard’s anger (Burns and Duncan, 2009),

for Yard, he felt that this action was destruction of nature itself, and was unacceptable, so he

formed the Wilderness Society with famous conservationists; Robert Marshall, Aldo Leopold,

and Benton MacKaye to protect lands from the National Park Service (Burns and Duncan pg.

238). Mather felt betrayed that one of his own colleagues would go against him in a way that

would threaten the agency in which Yard himself, had helped to create. Yet, Mather was able to

shrug the faction off, and was still enthusiastic about the national parks and admired by many.

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He continued his position as a director even inspecting the far away Hawaii National

Park, then upon his return to the main-land in 1927, he had a heart attack (Burns and Duncan,

2009). His health rapidly declined, then in the following year he had a stroke. Incapacitated,

Mather was hardly able to communicate, resulting in Albright becoming his reluctant successor

(Albright, 1985, pg.222). Mather did recover and returned to his family’s land in Connecticut, in

October of 1929, Albright was delighted to see Mather drive his Franklin roadster in the

countryside. However, sadly on January 22, 1930, Mather received another stroke and passed

away (Albright, 1985, pg. 248).

To memorialize the man who dedicated his life for the land many landforms were named

in his honor, a point in the Grand Canyon was named Mather Point, a peak within Mount

McKinley National Park was named Mount Peak, a scenic gorge near the Great Falls of the

Potomac was named Mather Gorge, and a tree planting campaign near Lake George created

Mather Forest (Burns and Duncan, 2009). A private fund was set up to produce bronze plaques

in the national parks with his name and the description: “there will never come an end to the

good that he has done” (personal observation).

Mather’s role in the American Environmental Movement is a highly discussed topic.

Many claim that without Mather, many of the national parks would not have existed, and the

parks themselves would’ve been exploited (J. Jarvis). Others claim that Mather created a dual

edge sword. His act of embracing the automobile brought new challenges for preservation, and

made others question the standards for national parks. Questions like: “How much accessability

is necessary?” and “Will there ever be a standard for a national park?” were asked, debated and

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culminated into the Wilderness Act of 1965. In specialized areas designated as “wilderness,”

nature prevails and “man is only a visitor” (Garey and Hott, 1991). And, some of these

wilderness areas are in national parks, providing an additional protection over a specific area.

The interpretive aspects of the National Park Service have been replicated around the world

(Albright, pg. 330). The national parks are a fundamental part of the American memory as

thousands remember their own trips in the outdoors (personal observation).

Stephen Mather accomplished a great deal during his lifetime, even if his name is not

famous among the great conservators of history, he devoted himself to save precious portion of

the land he adored. He aligned himself politically and mobilized the public about nature in a

way that is impossible to do in today’s world, along those lines, Mather energized the public to

help Americans realize what treasures they have (D. Duncan). The national parks, are replicated

around the world, and many agree that the parks have a great interest among the American

people regardless of race, religion, or political background. “It seems as if the parks are a

unifying factor that makes us wonder where we came from, where were going, and how far we

need to go” (J. Jarvis).

Mather had a vision creating a relationship with the American people to a new

organization, most of his ideas and ideals had to be created “out of a whole cloth” (J. Jarvis).

The concept of automobile touring gave way to an American tradition of seeing the National

Parks (D. Duncan). He made others think about what wilderness really means, and the parallel

aspect of accessibility, thus creating another dimension within the American Environmental

Movement. Without him, “special places” could possibly be exploited, the lands would be

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misused, and there would be no National Park Service or “American’s Best Idea” (Burns and

Duncan, 2009).

References

Albright, H., & Taylor, F. (1946). Oh, Ranger! A Book About National Parks. Dodd, Mead & Company. Retrieved from: Universal Digital Library

Albright, H. (1985). Birth of the National Park Service: The Founding Years, 1913-1933. Stanford Press.

Albright, H. (1999). Creating the National Park Service: The Missing Years. University of Oklahoma Press.

D. Duncan, Personal Interview, October 11, 2013.

Duncan, D., & Burns, K. (2011). The National Parks: America's Best Idea: An illustrated history. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Gottlieb, R. A. (2003). Forcing the Spring: The Transformation of the American Environmental Movement. Washington D.C: Island Press.

Wild By Law [Motion picture on DVD]. (1991). USA: Public Broadcasting Service.

J. Jarvis, Personal Interview, April 20, 2014.

Nash, R. (2014). Wilderness and the American Mind : Fifth Edition. Yale University Press.

National Parks: America's Best Idea [Motion picture on DVD]. (2009). USA: Florentine Films (PBS)

Porta, D., & Diani, M. (2006). Social Movements: An introduction (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.

Runte, A. (1979). National parks: The American Experience. Lincoln, NE.: University of Nebraska Press.