Almost half of your national parks were created by the Antiquities Act

Of America’s sixty-three national parks, thirty-one were first protected as a national monument. The list includes Grand Canyon, Acadia, Olympic, Grand Teton, and Carlsbad Caverns. 

In many cases, becoming a national monument is the first stepping-stone to becoming a national park. This is because becoming a national park requires an act of Congress, whereas a national monument can be declared by the President alone—under the power of the 1906 Antiquities Act.

Giving the president this power—the ability to create national monuments without Congress—wasn’t an accident. It was the result of the historical context that produced the Antiquities Act.  

Late 19th century troubles in the Southwest

In the years after the American Civil War, settlers and cowboys began discovering incredible cliff dwellings and massive pueblo structures throughout New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. Reports of their existence quickly began to find their way back to the scientific communities of the east. They were accompanied by artifacts proving their existence. 

At this time, the professional disciplines of archeology, ethnology, and anthropology were just starting to develop. Though originally focused on the antiquities of Greece, Rome, and Egypt, American scholars quickly turned their attention to the Southwest.  

In 1880, the American Archeological Association commissioned Adolph F. Bandelier, a Swiss scholar, to perform an official archeological survey of the Southwest. When he arrived in New Mexico, his discoveries aroused a mixture of both awe and horror. 

Bandelier began his study at Pecos, a well-known site to the southeast of Santa Fe. He was struck by the size of the ruin, believing it to perhaps be the largest yet discovered. Though amazed, he was also heartbroken, finding the site thoroughly looted, vandalized, and repurposed into the homes of settlers. 

Bandelier’s discovery at Pecos–that it was both extremely significant and incredibly endangered–was the same discovery that would be made across the Southwest. At this point in time, most “archeologists” had little to no professional standard and acted in their own self interest. Many artifacts were destroyed through carelessness. Those that weren’t were often sold to museums and private collectors.  

For the scientific community and their supporters, it became clear that regulation of the study of American antiquities was necessary. As the flurry of “pot-hunting” increased in the 1890s, it became urgent.  

A law for the protection of American Antiquities

Though the situation was dire in the 1890s, there was little success in convincing Congress to protect the Southwestern ruins until the early 1900s. 

After several failed attempts, a legislator-archeologist tag team would finally emerge with the skills and connections necessary to protect the remnants of America’s ancient history. Iowa Representative John F. Lacey already had a track record in Congress as both a staunch preservationist and as someone who could ease the concerns of regulation-shy westerners. 

He joined forces with an assistant of Adolph Bandelier, Edgar Lee Hewett. As a result of his work with Bandelier, Hewett knew how to best protect every significant site in the Southwest. 

Through the work of these two men, what would become the Antiquities Act was drafted and passed by Congress in 1906. 

To meet the urgent need for protection, the president was given the power to reserve lands already controlled by the federal government as national monuments. Very intentionally, Congress gave the president the ability to do this without their approval. This would allow a landscape to be protected quickly if the threat to it was imminent–such as local ranchers hoping to make a quick buck through pot-hunting. 

Though Congress granted the president incredible sweeping power through the Antiquities Act, limits were placed on it. 

In order to be protected as a national monument, a landscape needed to possess significant scenic, scientific, or cultural value. In addition, the size of the monument must be limited to the smallest possible area necessary to properly protect the resource. 

Wielding the Antiquities Act

Despite these limitations, the Antiquities Act gave the president a broad tool for the preservation of American landscapes in the public domain. 

The law was signed by President Theodore Roosevelt, who would happily use its power to protect scenic and historic landscapes alike. On September 24, 1906, he declared Devil’s Tower as the first national monument for its scientific significance. 

It was quickly followed by a suite of monuments protecting the southwestern ruins that had inspired the law. Montezuma Castle, Gila Cliff Dwellings, and Chaco Canyon, and many other Ancestral Puebloan ruins were protected by the Antiquities Act. 

Outside of its historical context, the Antiquities Act has been an important tool for preserving American lands and fleshing out the national park system. Presently, the National Park Service manages eighty-eight national monuments–and thirty one national parks that were first protected under the Antiquities Act.