I WOULD LIKE TO THANK the many people who helped me during the course of researching and writing this book. At the University of Texas at Austin, William H. Goetzmann taught me about the American West, while Alfred W. Crosby Jr. enlightened me about things environmental. Robert Abzug, Suzanne Shelton Buckley, and William Scheik all read the manuscript and offered their suggestions. At an early stage, Robert M. Crunden helped me to see the larger implications of the work. Dwight Pitcaithley's comments led me to see a number of issues more clearly. Alfred Runte's precise criticisms and sometimes acerbic insights have played an important role in shaping the focus of this book. Robert Righter, Kenneth Helphand, and Sally K. Fairfax each read all or part of the manuscript and their comments also improved it. Barry Mackintosh, the Bureau Historian of the National Park Service, offered the benefits of his experience. Melody Webb, the Southwest Regional Historian of the Park Service provided me with a frequent sounding board for ideas. Former Chief Historian Robert M. Utley generously gave me a couple of hours on the telephone one afternoon to help me unravel the intricacies of the Park Service during the New Deal. Richard Crawford and Bill Creech of the National Archives taught me to negotiate the perils of Record Group 79, the Records of the National Park Service.

The Eastern National Park and Monument Association gave me the Ronald F. Lee Graduate Research Fellowship during 1984-85. This grant provided immeasurably valuable support as I struggled to complete the manuscript. During my extended stays in the Washington, D.C., area, Rita and Julian Simon and their family, John Medina, and my cousins Sam and Barbara Rothman and their family all extended gracious hospitality to me.

An author's first book is an ordeal, a process that often seems to go forward slowly but backward rapidly. I was fortunate to be surrounded by an extraordinary group of people at the University of Texas at Austin who provided both intellectual stimulation and social support. Martin and Heather Catto Kohout, Rick Bruhn and the late Lisa Eller Bruhn, Tony and Lisa Gaxiola, Rick McCaslin, Peter Fish, Suzanne Seifert, Barry Webb, and Rob Lewis all provided commentary and perspective. The students in my Parks and Monuments in American Culture class at the University of New Mexico also helped broaden my perspective. My friends in Santa Fe—Joe Lenihan and Quincie Hopkins, David Shapiro and Jennifer Dixon, Jon and Virginia Robicheau, Mark Altschuler, and Rory Gauthier—repeatedly reminded me that what I was doing really was important. Robin Winks was a role model and source of inspiration during his stay in New Mexico. Barbara Greene Chamberlain contributed her editorial skills in the final stages of the manuscript, and Carole S. Appel of the University of Illinois Press continually encouraged me. My parents, Neal and Rozann Rothman, believed in me when I had doubts. To all of these people, I am grateful. Any errors, shortcomings, or omissions that remain are strictly my own.