Craters of the Moon Administrative History

Chapter 3:
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

FIRST CALL FOR A NATIONAL PARK

Robert Limbert's experience traversing the contorted landscape helped him to "appreciate its scenic value." Where others had seen only a barren waste, he found solace and beauty. Here, he wrote, the "human voice seems a sacrilege in the amphitheater [sic] of nature such as these huge craters seem to be." Visually, he was enamored of the "immense rolls and folds of fantastically formed lava...colored blue, black, and brown...the scores of crater rims and walls that start at your very feet and dot the landscape to the horizon line...." Exploring this strange landscape took Limbert to some of the "grandest sights imaginable," from the heights of the great craters to their "deep somber depths." It was awe-inspiring to descend from the scenic feast of surrounding space and sky to crater bottom, and become enveloped in a "red walled funnel," where "one feels little and insignificant, a fly on the wall of the world." [25]

The impression was lasting and moving, and in his descriptions he captured the essence of the area. As he watched the light of sun and moon dance across the cobalt blue lavas of the Blue Dragon Flow, it changed from a "twisted, wavy sea" to a "glazed surface" with a "silvery sheen." Not simply day and night, but all the "changing conditions of light and air" make this a "place of color and silence," a place, with few exceptions, unequaled in "variety of formation, color, and scenic effects" in the world. [26]

Limbert's expression for the lava country's unique beauty found its way into the April 10, 1921 Idaho Sunday Statesman, where he stated that "no more fitting tribute to the volcanic forces which built the great Snake [R]iver [V]alley could be paid than to make this [region] into a national park." [27] True to the promoter that he was, Limbert asserted that the site would attract thousands of visitors, once adequate roads were constructed so travelers could reach the Craters area as they motored to Yellowstone National Park via the Lincoln Highway. All people, he believed, should have the chance to see "these wonders of nature for themselves." [28]

Impassioned about this issue, Limbert called for the state's public to pressure Idaho senators to "introduce a bill suitably framed to give...[Craters] the recognition it deserves." Not only did the area's scenic values drive Limbert's preservation plea, but also what he saw as the threat to the district's archaeological features (Indian cairns and rock hunting blinds), which could be "torn down and destroyed with their contents carried off for the personal gratification of an unthinking few." [29] It was this perception that led Limbert to spearhead a movement on both a local and national level to create a "new national park or monument in many respects the equal and in some easily the peer of many...now within our boundaries." [30]

Following his 1920 exploration, Limbert conducted free lectures around southern Idaho, meeting with civic groups to drum up support for converting the lava district into a national park unit. Heartened by a positive response, he decided to attract national attention by guiding several more trips with scientists and reporters. In June 1921, the explorer-promoter led his most famous investigation of the Craters area for the Idaho Statesman. The party consisted of ten men, who were "equipped to make an exhaustive study of the lava formations, bird and animal life, and explore the many craters." The end result would be a study placed before Congress emphasizing "the possibilities of this wonderland as a national park." Included in the group were local residents, Samuel Paisley and Era Martin; civic leaders, Clarence A. Bottolfsen and Jo G. Martin; as well as two scientists representing both the Biological Survey and the Smithsonian Institution, Luther Goldman and W.E. Crouch. The trip spanned two weeks, during which Limbert snapped more than 276 still photos, recorded an estimated 1400 feet of motion-picture film, as well as produced maps of the lava country's features: ice caves, "bottomless pits," and craters previously uncharted. [31]

Exploring the wonders of Craters of the Moon during Robert Limbert's 1921 expedition.
(National Geographic)

Upon his return, Limbert announced that the scenery and natural wonders of the "Moon Valley" were "unexcelled by either the Yellowstone National Park or the Garden of the Gods." [32] To ensure this message reached a wide audience, he published photo essays of the area in a number of regional and national newspapers and magazines. His most famous piece appeared the March 1924 National Geographic. His essay, "Among the Craters of the Moon," with its photographs and map detailed the 1921 expedition's route, though it represented a composite of his several trips. Originally submitted in the fall of 1921, the article was delayed going to press by the Society, which questioned Limbert's findings, and held up publication until his observations could be confirmed. [33]

Two months after the National Geographic appeared, the monument was established. Limbert's role, given the course of events, was instrumental to this outcome. His explorations and essays--both written and photographic--exposed a historically and geographically isolated region to the public at large. [34] More importantly, he espoused a positive attitude for the lava fields that before had been largely unknown or actively avoided.

LOCAL, STATE, AND FEDERAL SUPPORT

As the delay by the National Geographic suggests, Robert Limbert needed help to succeed in establishing a national park for the Craters region. Although evidence of the movement to create the monument outside Limbert's efforts is limited, enough information exists to imply that Limbert himself galvanized the public to action. But at the same time, it should be noted that his reception was positive, hinting that a majority of people already shared his feelings on the uniqueness of the region, or saw its removal from the public domain as insignificant. [35]

When the account of Limbert's 1920 expedition appeared in the spring of 1921, for example, the Idaho Statesman voiced that a movement was already afoot "to have the lava country designated a national park." Stating what reflected, most likely, the stir surrounding Limbert's preparation for his 1921 expedition, the paper noted that "Eastern scientists have expressed great interest in the proposition [to create a park] and Idaho commercial clubs and women's organizations are making individual investigations." Moreover, the paper reported what seems to have been a dominant hope for an isolated and young western state--the establishment of national park. For once that occurred and the area became accessible, "this spot in Idaho may become as great a mecca for tourists as Yellowstone Park." [36]