History Camp: Broadcasting Sea to Shining Sea

Off to Alaska

New Jersey, Missouri, and Alaska

This week, our History Camp hooked us up with Ranger Dawn from the Denali National Park and Preserve.  She was able to guide students in an explanation of park history and the diversity of its wildlife.  One central question became, Why was Denali established as a national park?  Is it because of the mountain, the tallest point in North America?  Is it the Northern Lights?  The glaciers?  Actually, it's none of the above:  apparently, the park was originally established to protect the Dall Sheep that call the place home.

Incidentally, would you care to guess as to what the largest national park in the United States might be (without asking any artificial intelligence or web searches)? Is it Alaska's 4,740,912-acre Denali National Park and Preserve?

Actually, Denali takes third place, with the largest two being Wrangell-St. Elias with almost 8 1/2 million acres and Gates of the Arctic with around 7 1/2 million acres, both also in Alaska. In fact, seven of the top ten national parks in area are located in the Final Frontier, our 49th state, Alaska.

---

Next:  Grant Kohrs Ranch, Montana

Return to Oklahoma City

One of our History Camp campers took to the road since our first session a couple of weeks ago.  She was so interested in learning more about the Oklahoma City National Monument and Memorial that she brought her entire family on a long trip to see it in person.  We received this message from her mother:

“My daughter…is taking the National Parks History Camp. After the 1st session she had so many questions, so we drove 10 hours from South Dakota to Oklahoma City this weekend and took her to the Memorial. Absolutely unforgettable experience for us all. Thank you for influencing and nurturing her love of American History!”

Photo Submitted by Camper's Mother