Page 109 - Cornelius Hedges Story

For This And Succeeding Generations Gardiner 96

Vice President Albert Gore, Jr.
Yellowstone National Park 125th Anniversary

Albright Visitors Center
Sunday, August 17, 1997

“…Every so often, a group of explorers would come back to see
for themselves. The most important of these was the Washburn-
Langford-Doane expedition. All through the summer of 1870, they
traveled this region. On their last night at Madison Junction, as the
campfire crackled before them and a sea of stars washed over them,
they talked about their plans for the future. To a man, each hoped to
exploit the land for personal profit.
But then a young man by the name of Cornelius Hedges spoke up.
As the story goes -- and there is some debate about this -- he said this
land was put here for the use of all, and should be set aside so that it
cannot be damaged by man’s heavy hand.
Most importantly, he said that everyone who had the chance to
experience the wonders of Yellowstone had the responsibility to
safeguard for others that same fortune. Yellowstone had found its
first protector….”