ell and
an editorial from _Forest and Stream_ may reveal to visitors who now
enjoy without let or hindrance the wonders of that region, how narrowly
this "Temple of the living God," as it has been termed, has escaped
desecration at the hands of avaricious money-getters, and becoming a
"Den of Thieves."

New York, July 25, 1905.
_Mr. N.P. Langford_.

Dear Sir: I am very glad that your diary is to be published.
It is something that I have long hoped that we
might see.

It is true, as you say, that I have for a good many years
done what I could toward protecting the game in the Yellowstone
Park; but what seems to me more important than
that is that _Forest and Stream_ for a dozen years carried on,
almost single handed, a fight for the integrity of the National
Park. If you remember, all through from 1881 or thereabouts
to 1890 continued efforts were being made to gain
control of the park by one syndicate and another, or to run
a railroad through it, or to put an elevator down the side
of the canon--in short, to use this public pleasure ground
as a means for private gain. There were half a dozen of us
who, being very enthusiastic about the park, and, being in a
position to watch legislation at Washington, and also to
know what was going on in the Interior Department, kept
ourselves very much alive to the situation and succeeded in
choking off half a dozen of these projects before they grew
large enough to be made public.

One of these men was William Hallett Phillips, a dear
friend of mine, a resident of Washington, a Supreme Court
lawyer with a large acquaintance there, and a delightful
fellow. He was the best co-worker that any one could have
had who wanted to keep things straight and as they ought
to be.

At rare intervals I get out old volumes of the _Forest and
Stream_ and look over the editorials written in those days
with a mingling of amusement and sadness as I recall how
excited we used to get, and think of the true fellows who
used to help, but who have since crossed over to the other
side.

Yours sincerely,

GEO. BIRD GRINNELL.

[Illustration: NATIONAL PARK MOUNTAIN. AT JUNCTION OF FIREHOLE AND
GIBBON RIVERS.]

[Illustration: Geo. Bird Grinnell]

From _Forest and Stream_, August 20, 1904.

SENATOR VEST AND THE NATIONAL PARK.

In no one of all the editorials and obituaries