Many of you know that I’m a H-U-G-E fan of our National Parks, and that I used to work as a seasonal park ranger. But did you know today is the official 100th birthday of the National Park Service?
On August 25, 1916 President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill into law to create the National Park Service to oversee the already-established national parks. The national parks actually date back to 1864 when Lincoln signed ownership of the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Tree Grove over to California, requiring the state protect these properties for “all time.” In 1872, Ulysses S. Grant established Yellowstone as the first official National Park. The parks were protected by the U.S. Army up until the 1916 creation of the National Park Service.
So today we celebrate not just the parks, but the people commissioned to protect them.
Here I am, back in 1993 or ’94, doing my part for Mount Rainier. (Please don’t laugh at the ’90s-era permed hair). You like the stuffed mountain lion? He was a prop for a program I offered about predators. We loved to perch it above the bookstore shelves. Visitors would catch a glimpse of him and jump back in fright. …In case you ever wondered how rangers entertain themselves during long hours at the information desk.
I left Rainier when I got married in 1994, and I went on to work for Oregon State Parks for a couple of years before moving on to other things.
Fast forward about twenty years and we come to today. Now I’m a novelist, writing historical romances for the Christian fiction market. As I was finishing up my last series, I got the idea of writing a novel about a woman in the 1920s who dreamed of being a park ranger. That idea has grown into three books, the first of which will release in 2017.
Last year, I took a research trip back to my old stomping grounds at Rainier–this time focused on the park’s history. What was it like to be a ranger in the 1920s? My first stop would be the park archives at Tahoma Woods, just outside the Nisqually entrance. When I made hotel reservations in nearby Ashford, I started chatting with the owners about my novel. The woman paused, “Are you related to the Barnetts who were rangers here?” I was shocked to learn that the original chief ranger at Rainier was Herman Burke Barnett. He built the famous log arch that marks the park entrance. His son, Hollis Barnett, also followed him into the park service.
In another odd coincidence, I’d already written much of the book, and my fictional hero was a chief ranger–appointed to the position after his father (the former chief) was lost in a climbing accident. Thankfully, that’s not what happened with the original Barnetts. Both of them lived long lives, as best as I can tell. Apparently their descendants still live in the area.
Isn’t that fun? I had no idea of the Barnett connection until I talked to that person in Ashford. I confirmed it when I visited the Rainier archives and found photos and writings of H. B Barnett. I don’t believe there is any actual link between our families, but it makes for a fun anecdote.
And now I feel more connected to this story than ever!
Pretty soon, I should have information on titles and covers for these upcoming books. I can’t wait to share them with you! Book one is complete and is going through rounds of edits. I’m currently writing book 2, set in Yosemite National Park. As soon as that’s done, I hope to head out on a research trip to Yellowstone.
Ahhh, the life of a writer!
So, do me a favor… If you ARE visiting a National Park this week, find a ranger and wish them a happy 100th birthday!
