The Antiquities Act: Protecting America's Natural Treasures

Summary

Rising 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River, Devils Tower casts shadows over the rolling hills, pine forests, and prairie grasses that comprise Devils Tower National Monument in northeastern Wyoming. Proclaimed a National Monument on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt, Devils Tower is our oldest National Monument and represents the first time the Antiquities Act of 1906 was used to preserve some of the remarkable resources found throughout the United States.

Since the passage of the Antiquities Act of 1906, more than one hundred National

Monuments have been designated. Many of these Monuments, including Grand Canyon, Mount Olympus (Olympic National Park), and Mukuntuweap (Zion National Park), were later expanded and re-designated National Parks by acts of Congress. Collectively, our National Monuments, past and present, inspire, amaze, educate, and entrance approximately 50 million visitors annually. To suggest that National Monuments are anything but a critical facet of the

American experience is a gross misunderstanding of United States history.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Antiquities Act -- Its History and Use   •
• Antiquities Act -- Historical Records and Studies   •
• Antiquities Act -- Recent

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): David Alberswerth; Leslie Jones; Sabrina Williams

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