Muir Woods National Monument is part of California’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area, north of San Francisco.
Whose land does it reside upon?
Native Americans have called the San Francisco Bay region home for over 10,000 years. Park areas south of the Golden Gate, from the San Francisco Peninsula, to the East Bay and south to Monterey, are the aboriginal lands of the Ohlones (also called Costanoans).
When was it established?
January 9, 1908
About this park:
Muir Woods lies in the middle of the redwood’s latitudinal range that spans from the California/Oregon border to Big Sur, just south of Monterey. The weather is mild throughout the year, but summer is the busiest time to visit Muir Woods.
The incredible diversity of flora and fauna at Muir Woods can be daunting some times, elusive at other times. The redwoods themselves dominate the scene, but the humble Steller’s jay, ladybugs, ancient horsetail ferns, and the banana slug hold their own beneath the canopy. Plants adapt to low light levels on the forest floor, while whole plant and animal communities bustle in the canopy above our heads.
Muir Woods is known for its towering old-growth redwood trees. Trails wind among the trees to Cathedral Grove and Bohemian Grove, and along Redwood Creek. The Ben Johnson and Dipsea trails climb a hillside for views of the treetops, the Pacific Ocean and Mount Tamalpais in adjacent Mount Tamalpais State Park.
The Aztec Ruins National Monument is located in northwestern New Mexico, on the western bank of the Animas River in Aztec, New Mexico, about 12 miles northeast of Farmington.
Whose land does it reside upon?
Navajos and Jicarilla Apaches live on reservations in northwestern New Mexico, and 19 other Native American groups reside elsewhere in this state.
When was it established?
January 24, 1923
About this park:
The Aztec Ruins National Monument in northwestern New Mexico, USA, consists of preserved structures constructed by the Pueblo Indians.
This is kind of annoying and colonizerish, but early settlers mistakenly thought that people from the Aztec Empire in Mexico created these striking buildings. They named the site “Aztec,” a misnomer that persisted even after it became clear that the builders were the ancestors of many Southwestern tribes. The people who built at Aztec and other places throughout the Southwest were called “Anasazi” for many years. Archeologists had adopted that word from the Navajo language, which they understood to mean “ancient ones,” and then popularized its use. Most Pueblo people today prefer that we use the term “Ancestral Puebloans” to refer to their ancestors.
Aztec Ruins, built and used over a 200-year period, is the largest Ancestral Pueblo community in the Animas River valley. Concentrated on and below a terrace overlooking the Animas River, the people at Aztec built several multi-story buildings called “great houses” and many smaller structures. Associated with each great house was a “great kiva”—a large circular chamber used for ceremonies. Nearby are three unusual “tri-wall” structures—above ground kivas encircled by three concentric walls. In addition, they modified the landscape with dozens of linear swales called “roads,” earthen berms, and platforms.
The construction at Aztec shows a strong influence from Chaco Canyon, the site of a major Ancestral Pueblo community to the south. Aztec may have been an outlying community of Chaco, a sort of ancillary place connected to the center to distribute food and goods to the surrounding population. It may have also been a center in its own right as Chaco’s influence waned after 1100.
Big Cypress National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in South Florida, about 45 miles west of Miami on the Atlantic coastal plain.
Whose land does it reside upon?
The Calusa, Miccosukee, and Seminole all occupied the area now known as Big Cypress National preserve at some point in the past.
When was it established?
October 11, 1974
About this park:
The freshwaters of the Big Cypress Swamp, essential to the health of the neighboring Everglades, support the rich marine estuaries along Florida’s southwest coast. Conserving over 729,000 acres of this vast swamp, Big Cypress National Preserve contains a mixture of tropical and temperate plant communities that are home to diverse wildlife, including the Endangered Florida panther.
In the 1960s, plans for the world’s largest Jetport, to be constructed in the heart of the Greater Everglades of south Florida, were unveiled. This project, and the anticipated development that would follow, spurred the incentive to protect the wilds of the vast Big Cypress Swamp. To prevent development of the Jetport, local conservationists, sportsmen, environmentalists, Seminoles, Miccosukees, and many others set political and personal differences aside. The efforts of countless individuals and government officials prevailed when, on October 11, 1974, Big Cypress National Preserve was established as the nation’s first national preserve.
The concept of a national preserve was born from an exercise in compromise. Everyone saw the importance of protecting the swamp, but many did not want this region merely added to nearby Everglades National Park that was created in the 1940s. Many felt that national parks were managed in a restrictive manner and access to the swamp would be lost. The resulting compromise created a new land management concept – a national preserve. An area that would be protected, but would also allow for specific activities that were described by Congress within the legislation that created the preserve.
Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park is a United States national historical park located in Richmond, California, near San Francisco.
Whose land does it reside upon?
Ohlones and Coast Miwoks. Native Americans have called the San Francisco Bay region home for over 10,000 years. Park areas south of the Golden Gate, from the San Francisco Peninsula, to the East Bay and south to Monterey, are the aboriginal lands of the Ohlones (also called Costanoans).
When was it established?
January 31, 2001
About this park:
On the morning of December 7, 1941, military forces of the Empire of Japan attacked the United States Naval Fleet and ground bases at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. On December 8, 1941, one day after the “Day of Infamy,” the United States declared war against the Empire of Japan and on December 11, 1941, Japan’s ally, Germany, declared war on the United States. Ten million Americans, mostly young working age men, would serve in the military during WWII, out of an overall United States population of 113 million. While an unprecedented number of young men would serve in World War II, the country would drastically increase its war production on the Home Front, serving not only the needs of the armed forces of the United States but her allies as well – what President Franklin Roosevelt called “The Arsenal of Democracy.” The combination of so many serving in the military, during a period of necessary and drastic increases in production, led to unprecedented social changes on the American Home Front.
During World War II six million women entered the workforce. “Rosie the Riveter” and her “We Can Do It” motto came to symbolize all women Home Front workers. A shortage of white male workers led to active recruitment, by the United States Government, to war industry jobs. Initially white middle class women were recruited, followed by minority men, and finally minority women. Integration of women and minorities into the workforce was initially met with resistance, however, the new opportunities for women and minorities “cracked open” the door to equal rights and would have profound impacts on the Civil Rights Movement and Women’s Movement during the following decades.
The World War II period resulted in the largest number of people migrating within the United States, in the history of the country. Individuals and families relocated to industrial centers for good paying war jobs, and out of a sense of patriotic duty. Many industrial centers became “boom towns”, growing at phenomenal rates. One example, the City of Richmond, California, grew from a population of under 24,000 to over 100,000 during the war. Workers from around the nation had to intermingle with each other, overcome differences, and form a cohesive identity in order to meet war demands. Following World War II, many migrants decided to stay in their new homes, forever changing the cultural landscape of the United States.
Home Front workers faced many challenges and many of which would lead to change. Working conditions on the Home Front were difficult and dangerous. Between the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1941 and the D-Day Invasion of Europe in June of 1944, there were more Home Front industrial casualties than military casualties. This high number of industrial casualties would lead to improved workplace safety and regulations, as well as better access to affordable health care. Another challenge faced by working women on the Home Front was childcare, as mothers comprised a significant portion of the work force. This led to the establishment of child development centers and the professional field of early childhood development.
In addition to Home Front workers, everyone was expected to be an active participant in the war effort. Rationing was a way of life as twenty commodities were rationed and people were asked to, “Use it up –Wear it out –Make it do –or Do without.” Materials vital to the war effort were collected, often by youth groups, and recycled. Many Americans supported the war effort by purchasing war bonds. Women replaced men in sports leagues, orchestras, and community institutions. Americans grew 60% of the produce they consumed in “Victory Gardens”. The war effort on the United States Home Front was a total effort.
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument is located on the headwaters of the Gila River in southwest New Mexico.
Whose land does it reside upon / About this park:
For thousands of years, nomadic groups of Indigenous people used the caves above Cliff Dweller Creek as temporary shelter. In the late 1200s, people of the agricultural Mogollon (Southern Ancestral Pueblo) culture made it a home. They built rooms, crafted pottery and raised children in the cliff dwellings for one or two generations. By approximately 1300, the Mogollon had moved on, leaving the walls behind.
Until white colonialism disrupted life all over what is now North America, people from the Apache tribes occasionally entered Cliff Dweller Canyon, but apparently—and for reasons not adequately developed in the anthropological literature—they did not seem inclined to disturb prehistoric pueblo site. That all changed when white folks started to move West, and within a very short period of time, the abandoned dwellings were thoroughly pilfered. Honestly, the only reason the site is as preserved as it is is because of its remoteness.
The Ice Age Trail is a National Scenic Trail stretching 1,200 miles in the state of Wisconsin.
Whose land does it reside upon?
The Menominee, Ojibwe (Chippewa), Potawatomi, and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) peoples are among the original inhabitants of Wisconsin.
When was it established?
1980
About this park:
15,000 years ago during the Ice Age, much of North America lay under a huge glacier. Mammoths, saber tooth cats and cave lions roamed the earth. Some of the best evidence of this glacier is found in Wisconsin such as the state’s many lakes, river valleys, gently rolling hills, and ridges. The nearly 1,200 mile Ice Age National Scenic Trail, established in 1980, traces the glacier’s edge.
The Ice Age National Scenic Trail is not your ‘typical’ park. The trail is primarily built and maintained by volunteers. When completed, the trail will be more than 1,200 miles long and cross the state of Wisconsin north to south and east to west.
Why did we choose these colors?
We used the stunning photo of an opening in oak trees in the Kettle Moraine State Forest overlooking a kettle lake for our colorway inspiration.
San Juan Island National Historical Park, also known as American and English Camps, San Juan Island, is a U.S. National Historical Park owned and operated by the National Park Service on San Juan Island in the state of Washington.
Whose land does it reside upon?
For thousands of years, the Northern Straits region has been home to Coast Salish peoples. The temperate climate, rich soil, abundant timber, and the bounty of the sea fostered an advanced civilization that continues to thrive in our region. These resources and the way the Tribes transformed our landscape to be even more abundant is what also attracted Europeans to the islands
When was it established?
1966
About this park:
San Juan Island is well known for its splendid vistas, saltwater shores, quiet woodlands, orca whales and one of the last remaining native prairies in the Puget Sound/Northern Straits region. But it was also here in 1859 that the United States and Great Britain nearly went to war over possession of the island, the crisis ignited by the death of a pig. It was real dumb, especially since both countries were equally colonial, but cooler heads eventually prevailed. We chose this park because the islands are stunning and gorgeous, not necessarily because of the armed forces/colonial aspect of the historic site itself.
The park website encourages folks to get “beyond the bacon” and delve into other histories of the land, as well as the abundant natural resources and beauty it contains.
Why did we choose these colors?
We used an image of the Lime Kiln Lighthouse at sunset for our colorway inspiration.
Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, commemorates the contributions of African-American airmen in World War II.
Whose land does it reside upon?
The Tuskegee Indians were a civilized people that had their own customs and ways of life. They lived not to far from were the Tuskegee Army Airfield was constructed. The Creek nations along with the Tuskegee Indians were forced from their homeland during the white man’s expansion in the 1830’s and 1840’s
When was it established?
1998
About this park:
The Tuskegee Airmen gained notice and respect as the result of a test conducted by the U.S. Army Air Corps (Army Air Forces) to determine if African Americans had the mental and physical abilities to lead, fly military aircraft, and courage to fight in war.
The Airmen were not just pilots. They were technicians, radio operators, medical personnel, quartermasters, parachute riggers, mechanics, bombardiers, navigators, meteorologists, control tower operators, dispatchers, cooks, and others. Also included were Caucasian officers, Native Americans, Caribbean islanders, Latinos, and people of mixed racial heritage.
The women of the “Tuskegee Experience” worked alongside male counterparts as mechanics, gate guards, control tower operators, aircraft fuselage technicians, secretaries, and clerks. There were three permanent female parachute riggers who were responsible for training hundreds of cadets in the correct procedures for packing and maintaining parachutes. Gertrude Anderson served as assistant to G.L. Washington at Kennedy Field where Tuskegee’s Civilian Pilot Training Program was based. She assumed responsibility for continued operation of the airfield when Washington was transferred to Tuskegee Army Air Field.
Why did we choose these colors?
The Tuskegee Airmen’s planes had red tails, and our colorway is inspired by photos and videos of these planes.
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in the Flint Hills region of Kansas, north of Strong City.
Whose land does it reside upon?
Human activity in the Kansas Flint Hills can be traced back about 12,000 years.
By A.D.1500 – 1825, efficient horticultural activity was combined with increased bison hunting, almost certainly due to acquisition of the horse by Native Americans. This transition on the Great Plains has clear association with specific Native American peoples. In the preserve area, these included the Wichita, Kansa, Osage, and Pawnee.
When was it established?
November 12, 1996
About this park:
Tallgrass prairie once covered 170 million acres of North America, but within a generation most of it had been transformed into farms, cities, and towns. Today less than 4% remains intact, mostly in the Kansas Flint Hills. Established on November 12, 1996, the preserve protects a nationally significant remnant of the once vast tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Here the tallgrass makes its last stand.
Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve is a protected area in the northern Siskiyou Mountains of southwestern Oregon.
Whose land does it reside upon?
The Takelma (also Dagelma) are a Native American people who originally lived in the Rogue Valley of interior southwestern Oregon.
Most of their villages were sited along the Rogue River. The name Takelma means “(Those) Along the River”.
When was it established?
July 12, 1909
About this park:
Deep within the Siskiyou Mountains are dark, twisting passages that await your discovery. Eons of acidic water seeping into marble rock created and decorated the wondrous “Marble Halls of Oregon.”
