The story of two National Parks founded by women

Who founded the national parks? The average American would probably say Theodore Roosevelt. Someone with a little deeper knowledge might point to John Muir. While these men were both national figures in the conversation movement, the majority of national parks were championed by local movements. In almost every case, one individual rose above the rest and can be considered the “founder” of the national park — and several of them were women.  

Across the park system, passionate women have formed an essential part of the coalition to protect American landscapes as national parks. Here are two particularly significant examples. 

The women who founded Mesa Verde

In the late 1800s, the American Southwest had a plundering problem. Tucked away in slickrock canyons, the ruins of ancient civilizations were being discovered. They were full of interesting artifacts and remains. Locals began looting them to make extra cash on the side. 

Several steps were taken over the course of four decades to address this issue, including the passage of the Antiquities Act. One major campaign to preserve Ancestral Puebloan archeological sites centered around Mesa Verde — which was pitched to the public as “a woman’s park.” 

The campaign was led by Virginia McClurg. Prior to being married in 1889,  she built a career as a travel writer and had visited the cliffhouses of Mesa Verde as part of her reporting. In 1900, McClurg co-founded the Colorado Cliff Dwellings Association to promote the preservation of the archeological resources. The CCDA was primarily a women’s club, so McClurg believed that the best outcome would be for women to have a direct role in managing a new park. 

McClurg had a bold vision for protecting the cliff dwellings. She attempted to work with the Weminuche Ute who owned the land to find a way to co-manage a reserve. Though she was able to negotiate a lease agreement with the Ute, the Department of the Interior declared it invalid; private citizens couldn’t make treaties with tribes. McClurg had attempted to make a deal with the Ute in exchange for Mesa Verde, but the tribe was ultimately dispossessed of their land in order for the park to be created. 

Despite this setback, McClurg continued to campaign for the protection of Mesa Verde. Several women involved with the CCDA were powerful allies who helped make the movement a national campaign. One woman, Lucy Peabody, had connections in Washington D.C., through whom she was able to advance legislation. 

The story of Virginia McClurg, Lucy Peabody, and the Colorado Cliff Dwellers Association is dramatic and complex. Factions with different views for how to establish and manage the park split the CCDA. Despite this infighting, the national campaign that was sparked by McClurg ultimately resulted in the creation of Mesa Verde National Park in 1906. 

Anne Davis, the woman who founded Great Smoky Mountains

“Why not a national park in the east?” 

In 1923, Anne Davis posed this question to her husband. They were returning from a tour of western national parks to their home in Knoxville, Tennessee. At the time, Acadia National Park in Maine was the only park east of the Mississippi River. In the mind of Anne Davis, the scenery of her home state of Tennessee was just as spectacular as what she’d seen out west — and just as deserving of becoming a national park. 

Together, Davis and her husband formed the Great Smoky Mountains Conservation Association. Mr. Davis was an influential industrialist in Knoxville. He was able to use his business connections to grow support for the idea of a national park in the southern Appalachians. 

Greater than Anne Davis, there was a growing movement within the National Park Service to establish parks closer to major population centers. The Great Smoky Mountains were selected as one of three locations with scenery deserving of protection. Legislation was secured to create the park, but it had one major stipulation — the states of Tennessee and North Carolina would have to purchase the land themselves and donate it to the federal government. 

With this in mind, Anne Davis ran for an open seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1925. Immediately after winning election, she began to work on behalf of the park project. The majority of the land needed to be purchased from private logging companies, which posed the greatest threat to the Great Smoky Mountains landscape. 

Through political dealing, Anne Davis was able to secure the sale of 78,000 acres owned by the Little River Lumber Company. It was purchased by the city of Knoxville and donated to the federal government for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 

Conclusion

Though these women engaged in different campaigns, there is one major similarity between them. They saw a great American landscapes – from the ruins of Mesa Verde to the foggy peaks of the Southern Appalachians — and believed that they needed to be preserved. They embodied the purest elements of the national park idea: a love of country, neighbor, and nature that prompted them to fight for new national parks. Today, the millions of Americans that enjoy these landscapes every year owe a debt of gratitude to them. 

For more information on Anne Davis and the establishment of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, check out Will De Man’s book, A Short History of the National Parks: the Southeast.