Southwestern National Monuments: Frank Pinkley and the Rise of the National Park System [Paperback]

Uncovering forgotten stories of the national monuments of the American Southwest

This volume uncovers the little-known legacy of Frank Pinkley, the first superintendent of the Southwestern National Monuments (SWNM)—a unique National Park Service unit established in 1923. Pinkley’s leadership and innovative approach helped protect and develop thirty diverse monuments, ranging from Montezuma Castle to White Sands, linked by miles of rough roads and united by their historical, archaeological, and natural significance.
 
Drawing on archived SWNM Monthly Reports, Will Moore reconstructs the stories behind these monuments and their contributions to the nascent national park system. From the pioneering all-Navajo Mobile Unit of the Civilian Conservation Corps to visionary work in visitor education, Pinkley and his team helped to set a course for the protection of American landscapes.Southwestern National Monumentsis essential reading for anyone passionate about America's natural heritage and national parks.
 “The eloquent Will Moore has provided us with a much-needed history of America’s outstanding southwestern national monuments. Moore takes us back to the wild and woolly early days of Canyon de Chelly, Bandelier, Walnut Canyon, and two dozen other sites when they were managed by a lone part-time employee with little pay or resources. It’s an excellent history, both of the Indigenous people who knew the sites as home, and the rangers charged with keeping vandals and pot hunters at bay.”—Steve Kemp, author ofAn Exaltation of Parks: John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s Crusade to Save America’s Wonderlands

“An engaging discussion of the little-known, often quirky, but highly dedicated individuals who watched over some of our most important national monuments through a period of benign neglect by the federal government. A fine addition to the literl+