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President Roosevelt informs Representative Needham he cannot sign his bill because it is possible that the Tuolumne groves and the sugar pine forest may be destroyed. Roosevelt states, “The only lands that can with my consent be excluded from the Yosemite National Park are those recommended by [the] commission” which has been investigating the matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-04
Dr. Jordan forwards to Congressman Needham a petition from several residents of San Benito County, California, to set aside lands containing the Pinnacles and establish them as a National Park. Jordan encloses a map of the proposed park, the book A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean by George Vancouver, who describes the area, and a book of photographs of the area. Jordan endorses the effort to create this National Park and asks Needham to pass along the request to Secretary of the Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock.
1904-04-23
David Starr Jordan writes to Congressman Needham regarding recent proposals that the Pinnacles be withdrawn from the forest reserve and turned into open land again to the benefit of cattlemen and others. Jordan explains that he and Professor William Russel Dudley were involved in its initial inclusion as part of the forest reserve, and support its continued protection. He admits he is not fully informed about the current matter, but hopes that Needham will take an interest in making sure that this valuable natural attraction will not be commercially exploited.
1908-04-25
David Starr Jordan tells Representative James Carson Needham that he is reluctant to advise Gifford Pinchot because the latter has superior knowledge of what to do with the forest around the Pinnacles. Jordan feels that the Pinnacles would benefit from remaining government property as it would prevent someone from enclosing them and “making a peep-show of them.”
1908-05-11
David Starr Jordan forwards a letter from F. W. Warner to Congressman Needham regarding the protection of the Pinnacles.
1908-05-23