Stephen Mather and Horace Albright, Yellowstone National Park, 1923

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As first director of the new National Park Service, Mather (left) was a master of gaining publicity for the parks, a skill he passed on to his successor, Albright. Here they open Yellowstone for the 1923 season at a gate made of elk horns. Official park regulations discouraged tourists from feeding bears, but even Albright (Yellowstone's superintendent before becoming director of the National Park Service) realized what a popular attraction they were. Eventually, at the prodding of biologists who thought parks should preserve wildlife in their natural state, the bears were weaned from tourist handouts and nightly feedings at garbage dumps.

Source:
Marian Albright Schenk

Episode:
Episode Four: 1920-1933

Associated Park:
Yellowstone National Park

Era:
1920-1940

Associated People:
Horace Albright, Stephen Mather