Page 100 - Cornelius Hedges Story

87 The Cornelius Hedges Story

Held as a treasure among the archives of the Grand Lodge A. F.
& A.M. of Montana is a letter from N. P. Langford in which he states
in no uncertain terms that Cornelius Hedges was the one who first
spoke of setting the area aside as a National Park. N. P. Langford
served as the first Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park the
following is his letter to Hedges:

S’ Paul June 7, 1894.

My dear Hedges:-
Your letter of June 3rd is received, and I have found
the memorial in the Montana (sic) statutes.
The Northern Pacific R. R. intends to get out a Park
Book this summer, and to give a history of the origin
of the Park. Mr. Olin D. Wheeler, who wrote “6000
miles through Wonderland”, and also “Indian land
and Wonderland”, (both of which I mail you today) will
have the matter in charge. I am aiding him all I can in
getting at the facts.
Dr. Hayden, in his report for 1878, which was
not printed before 1883 makes use of the following
language:- “So far as is now known, the idea of setting
apart a large tract about the sources of the Yellowstone
river, as a National Park, originated with the writer”.
Hayden does not positively declare that he originated
the scheme, but leaves it to be inferred that he did. His
statement to this effect is dated Feb 1, 1883, or eleven
years after the Park bill passed, and this is the first time
he made the claim. If he was ever acquainted with the
facts, he must have forgotten them.
I have hunted up my old lecture, and on the margin I
find noted the following:-
Advocated Nat’l Park Washington Jan 19, 1871
“ “ New York “ 21, 1871
“ “ Minneapolis (no date)
Although I worked hard for the passage of the Act of
dedication, I had no part in originating the scheme, but
I suggested it to the public long before Hayden visited
the region.
I have, in my scrap book a number of your letters
written in the autumn of 1870, soon after our return.
Among them is your letter published in the Helena
Herald of Nov 9, 1870 from which I copy the following:-