On the Road with History 498: "The History of the American National Parks"

One of the courses I teach at Eastern Washington University is a history of the American National Parks. I also teach a course called "The History of the American Wilderness." I expect to work up material from both of those courses for my American Realities blog -- as well as developing entirely new wilderness-related subjects. While working on, I have travelled by RV and motorcycle about 15,000 miles during the past two years. One of my on-line, on-the-road presentations for the course provides much of the material that follows in this blog post. The basic topic is a little photo essay on teaching a parks course while on the road.

Photo by Larry Conboy

In preparing and teaching History 498: "The History of the National Parks" I have now traveled about 15,000 miles by RV and motorcycle taking pictures, making films, and interviewing men and women at the parks. My goal is to bring students in the class closer to the parks through "Fireside Talks" growing out of these travels. Whenever possible I will post material for the course in a natural setting. I thought you might like to have a little glance at my two companions on the trip: "Swoop," my Can-Am Spyder motorcycle, and "Spirit," my RV. In the first photo here I am posed in a national park.... No, I'd better tell the truth. I'm in a little park, or garden if you prefer, right beside Showalter Hall. Larry Conboy, Eastern Washington University photographer, took this picture. Larry coaxed me on this jaunty pose where I have one leg crossed over the other. It looks like I rule the world doesn't it?! But I must admit, during times when swoop and I were riding beside 1000-foot cliffs, on curvy roads, with no guard rail, that jaunty look was replaced by something more like a look of sheer terror! Of course, Swoop himself would never admit to being frightened. Just look at his eyes: don't they say, "I'm bad"!?

This picture below shows Swoop enjoying a moment of repose at Point Reyes National Seashore.

Photo by Bill Youngs

I was camped near Yosemite one weekend, and I took several "scoots" on Swoop to film the sites. Here below is one of the most famous of all: Half Dome in Yosemite.

Photo by Bill Youngs

On Sunday Swoop and I visited another Yosemite landmark, this one famed for the environmental battle that John Muir lost -- some say the defeat killed the great visionary of the national parks. Yes, that is Hetch Hetchy Dam.

Photo by Bill Youngs

When I'm not riding Swoop, I'm driving Spirit, our "mother ship." It is not only my home on the road, but also my office on the road. As I write this I am in Spirit at my computer with a good wifi connection. I took the photo below at Olmsted Point as I drove through the park. You don't see my motorcycle Swoop, of course, because he is in the trailer -- or as we prefer to call it, "his stable."

Photo by Bill Youngs

From Olmsted Point in Yosemite National Park I took this picture of the mountains looking down past Lake Tenaya.

Photo by Bill Youngs

Consider those images a "teaser" for blog entries to come. The film below is another teaser, done originally as an introduction to my on-line course on the National Parks during the fall of 2012. In the opening shot at Cape Disappointment State Park in Washington, the challenge was to film myself (using a tripod of course) without stumbling over those logs. It took about a half hour to set up the shot. Most of the film consists of movies and still shots I made in the parks during several months of travel. Lots of "grist" for future posts on the American wilderness....

Film Illustrating Themes in "The History of the American National Parks"

View more entries on the American Realities blog...
(You know you want to!)

               This current post is one of a growing number of historically-themed entries on americanrealities.com. To see a list of other posts, click here.
               If you enjoyed this post on 9/11 and Columbus, you may want to read these posts on environmental history:
                    -- New York's Central Park: A Wilderness?
                    -- Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, Resplendent in Greens and Yellows


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