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Yamanonchi Shiegeo, a botany instructor at the University of Chicago, asks Theodore Roosevelt for information on preserving natural monuments. His friend and fellow botany instructor, Miyochi, is interested in protecting Japan’s natural monuments.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-08-28
President Roosevelt proclaims the natural formations known as the Pinnacles Rocks within the Pinnacles National Forest as the Pinnacles National Monument.
1908-01-16
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
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
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
Botanist William Russel Dudley writes to District Forester Olmsted regarding the elimination of the Pinnacles National Monument as a national forest. Dudley opines that while he does not know about the area surrounding the national monument, it seems like there must have been good reason for its designation at one point, and that the people of San Benito County, California, should be consulted about getting rid of it. He agrees on the whole, however, with the reasoning for removing the major part of Pinnacles National Monument from the national forest.
1910-07
Forest Supervisor Tyler responds to a letter from Schuyler Colfax Hain that he received upon returning from a trip into the field. Tyler informs Hain of the reasons why the Monterey National Forest service pressed for the elimination of the Pinnacles Division from the National Forest. The recommendation included the preservation of the area through the establishment of Pinnacles National Monument, with the surrounding land neither being current nor future forest land, having scarce grazing, and experiencing little watershed impact. Tyler has not heard back on the final disposition of the Pinnacles, and will forward Hain’s letter to the District Forester regarding the perpetuation of the State Game Preserve if the Pinnacles Division is removed.
1910-02-28
Representative Needham 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
This appendix provides a list of the various proclamations and acts regarding Pinnacles National Monument. Beneath each title, the document describes what effect it had on the Monument. The total acreage of the Monument, 16,257.57, appears at the bottom of the page.
1985
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
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
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
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
President Harding proclaims an addition to Pinnacles National Monument, and includes a diagram of the borders of that addition.
1923-05-07
A proclamation by President Coolidge expanding the area of Pinnacles National Monument. Maps highlighting the expanded area are included.
1924-07-02
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 Herbert Hoover expanding Pinnacles National Monument.
1931-04-13
A proclamation by President Franklin D. Roosevelt expanding the lands designated as part of Pinnacles National Monument.
1941-12-05
President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues a proclamation adding lands to the Pinnacles National Monument.
1933-07-11
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