The National Park Line

This is Chapter 10 of the virtual exhibition “Promotion and Transformation of Landscapes along the CB&Q Railroad” by environmental historian Eric D. Olmanson. The chapter focuses on how railroads played a crucial role in establishing and popularizing US national parks such as Yellowstone.

Promotion and Transformation of Landscapes along the CB&Q Railroad

This virtual exhibition shows some of the many ways railroads reshaped landscapes of the American West between 1847 and 1965.

This version 2, published in 2020, includes minor updates to the original 2011 virtual exhibition (view PDF here) and applies the Environment & Society Portal’s responsive layout.

Eric Olmanson

About the author

Olmanson, Eric

University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

Eric Olmanson studied geography and environmental history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After completing his PhD in 2000 he served as an institutional historian until 2008. Since then he has been a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has worked on various research and writing projects. His first book, The Future City on the Inland Sea: A History of Imaginative Geographies of Lake Superior, was published by Ohio University Press in 2007. It won the Great Lakes American Studies Association and Ohio University Press book award and was awarded the J. B. Jackson Prize by the Association of American Geographers. He is currently writing a book about the American Medical Center for Burma, 1945–1965.

Browse the exhibition

"From Yellowstone to Australia and New Zealand: National Parks 2.0"

Following the establishment of the world’s first national park at Yellowstone (USA) in 1872, the concept was rapidly transferred to Australia, New Zealand and Canada. This article examines this second wave of adoption—and adaption—focussing on five case studies from Australia and New Zealand.

Read more about "From Yellowstone to Australia and New Zealand: National Parks 2.0"

Civilizing Nature: National Parks in Global Historical Perspective

National parks are one of the most important and successful institutions in global environmentalism. Shifting the focus from the usual emphasis on national parks in the United States, Civilizing Nature adopts an historical and transnational perspective on the global geography of protected areas and its changes over time.

Read more about Civilizing Nature: National Parks in Global Historical Perspective

Wild Earth 7, no. 2

In Wild Earth 7, no. 2 Doug Peacock presents his field report on the Yellowstone bison slaughter, Reed Noss writes about endangered major ecosystems of the United States, and Virginia Abernethy analyzes if and how population growth discourages environmentally sound behavior.

Read more about Wild Earth 7, no. 2

Wolf Mountains: A History of Wolves Along the Great Divide

Situating the wolf in the history of Canadian national parks, this controversial study examines the tumultuous relationship between humans and wolves in four Rocky Mountain parks.