黃石公園

張寧

Yellowstone Park is the first national park of the United States. Native Americans had lived and hunted in the region that would become Yellowstone for hundreds of years before the first Anglo1 explorers arrived.

John Colter， was the first Anglo to travel through the area. In 1807， he explored part of the Yellowstone plateau2 and returned with fantastic stories of steaming geysers and bubbling cauldrons3. Some doubters accused him of telling tall tales4 and jokingly dubbed the area “Colters Hell.”

The key to Yellowstones future as a national park， though， was the 1871 exploration under the direction of the government geologist Ferdinand Hayden. Hayden brought along photographer William Jackson and landscape5 artist Thomas Moran to make a visual record of the expedition. Their images provided the first visual proof6 of Yellowstones wonders and caught the attention of the U.S. Congress.

President Grant signed the Yellowstone Act on March 1， 1872. It designated the region as a public “pleasuring-ground，” which would be preserved “from injury or spoliation7， of all timber8， mineral9 deposits10， natural curiosities， or wonders within.”

The Yellowstone Act of 1872 set a precedent11 and popularized the idea of preserving sections of the public domain12 for use as national parks. The idea spread to other nations around the world.

黃石公園是美國的第一個國家公園。早在第一批盎格魯探險家到來之前，美洲原住民就已經(jīng)在這個后來變成黃石公園的地區(qū)生活和狩獵了數(shù)百年。

約翰·科爾特，是第一個穿越該地區(qū)的盎格魯人。1807年，他探索了黃石高原的一部分，回來后向人們講述蒸汽間歇泉和沸騰的凹地的奇妙故事。一些懷疑論者指責他是吹牛，并戲稱該地區(qū)為“科爾特的地獄”。

然而，黃石公園成為未來的國家公園的關鍵是1871年在政府地質(zhì)學家費迪南·海登的指導下進行的勘探。海登帶上了攝影師威廉·杰克遜和風景藝術家托馬斯·莫蘭，對這次探險進行了直觀記錄。他們的圖像提供了黃石奇觀的第一個視覺證據(jù)，并引起了美國國會的注意。

1872年的3月1日，格蘭特總統(tǒng)簽署了《黃石法案》。該法案將該地區(qū)指定為一個公共的“樂土”，保護該地區(qū)的木材、礦藏、自然珍品或奇觀不受任何損害或劫掠。

1872年的《黃石法案》開創(chuàng)了一個先河，并普及了保留部分公共土地作為國家公園的理念。這個理念傳到了世界的其他國家。

1. Anglo [ ] n. 非拉丁裔美國白人 2. plateau [ ] n. 高原

3. cauldron [ ] n. 大汽鍋，大鍋 4. tall tale 吹牛，說大話；夸張的故事，荒誕的故事

5. landscape [ ] n. 風景；地形 6. proof [ ] n. 證明；證據(jù)

7. spoliation [ ] n. 強奪；毀棄

8. timber [ ] n. 木材；木料 9. mineral [ ] adj. 礦物的；礦質(zhì)的

10. deposit [ ] n. 沉積物；礦床 11. precedent [ ] n. 先例；前例

12. domain [ ] n. 領域；地產(chǎn)