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The author writes to John P. Babcock, chief deputy of the California Fish and Game Commission, enclosing a letter from Schuyler Colfax Hain regarding Pinnacles National Monument. He argues that while it is not worth maintaining the region in question for the sake of its timber, it should be preserved as a breeding ground for animals and birds.
1911-01-07
RepresentativeNeedham responds to David Starr Jordan’s letter regarding the Pinnacles. The National Forest Service intends to abandon the area’s designation as national forest but assures continued protection of the Pinnacles as a national monument. Needham has asked Chief Forester Gifford Pinchot to delay action until Needham has had the opportunity to talk with interested parties. Needham suggests that Jordan write to Pinchot on the topic.
1908-05-04
President Taft issues a proclamation changing the boundaries of the Monterey National Forest and eliminating the Pinnacles Division of the forest. He notes that removing this land from the National Forest does not affect the reservation of the land as a national monument.
1910-12-12
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson recommends to Secretary of the Interior Ballinger the creation of Pinnacles National Monument within the Pinnacles National Forest. The proposed monument totals approximately 2,080 acres.
1908-01-08
Secretary of the Interior Garfield submits for President Roosevelt’s signature the proclamation creating Pinnacles National Monument in California. Garfield explains the location of the proposed monument and offers a brief description.
1908-01-14
President Roosevelt proclaims the natural formations known as the Pinnacles Rocks within the Pinnacles National Forest as the Pinnacles National Monument.
1908-01-16
Hero Eugene Rensch reports that the explorer Captain George Vancouver wrote the most about the Pinnacles in 1794, and that they were relatively undocumented from that time until Harold W. Fairbanks wrote about them in the 1890s. After 1900, local newspapers and tourism booklets mentioned the Pinnacles “as unusual wonders of nature.” It was David Starr Jordan, the President of Stanford University, taking an interest in the Pinnacles which spurred President Theodore Roosevelt to create Pinnacles National Monument.
1936-02-07
Regional Supervisor of Historic Sites Hagen provides a brief history of the area containing Pinnacles National Monument, tracing its history from the time of Spanish occupation of the region and the possible first discovery of the Pinnacle rock formations by Captain George Vancouver. While Hagen notes that there is some evidence of prehistoric occupation of the area, he says that it does not appear to have supported permanent populations, and in fact “received little attention until long after the American occupation of California.” He notes that the area is believed to have been used as a hide-out for outlaws at one point.
1941-04-28
In this article, which appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the location of Pinnacles National Monument is described, along with information on the Pinnacles’ discovery by George Vancouver, and their designation as a national monument through the efforts of Theodore Roosevelt and David Starr Jordan.
1917-04-08
President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues a proclamation adding lands to the Pinnacles National Monument.
1933-07-11
A proclamation by President Franklin D. Roosevelt expanding the lands designated as part of Pinnacles National Monument.
1941-12-05
A proclamation by President Herbert Hoover expanding Pinnacles National Monument.
1931-04-13
President Coolidge issues an executive order withdrawing an area of California in order to determine whether it should be added to Pinnacles National Monument.
1929-02-02
A proclamation by President Coolidge expanding the area of Pinnacles National Monument. Maps highlighting the expanded area are included.
1924-07-02
President Harding proclaims an addition to Pinnacles National Monument, and includes a diagram of the borders of that addition.
1923-05-07
President Roosevelt proclaims the formations known as the Pinnacles Rocks, within Pinnacles National Forest, Pinnacles National Monument; a map diagrams the boundaries of the monument.
1908-01-16
Map showing the location and boundaries of Pinnacles National Monument within Pinnacles National Forest. The map uses the Mt. Diablo Meridian and Baseline for the determination of the plat.
1907
Clyde Leavitt received the copies of District Forester William B. Greeley’s letters to David Starr Jordan and Schuyler Colfax Hain. Leavitt argues that little would materially change if the Pinnacles Division were eliminated from Monterey National Forest, as the Pinnacles would still be protected as a national monument. He suggests that if Jordan and Hain understood that, their opposition to the proposal might be lessened. He acknowledges, however, that provision for fire suppression and protection from vandalism would be lost.
1910-07-20
President Roosevelt, using the authority of an act of Congress entitled “An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes,” reserves lands in California for the creation of the Pinnacles Forest Reserve. This proclamation also includes a plat map of Pinnacles Forest Reserve and a map of the Monterey Forest Reserve, which was established a month earlier.
1906-07-18
A series of presidential proclamations first establish, and then expand the boundaries of, Pinnacles National Park. The establishment of the park was done by an act of President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908, with subsequent expansions coming from President Warren Harding in 1923, President Calvin Coolidge in 1924, President Herbert Hoover in 1931, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in both 1933 and 1941.
1947