Which U.S. national park was established by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872?

Yellowstone National Park was established by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872.

Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act on March 1, 1872. The law set aside a large area in the territories of Wyoming and Montana as a public park for the benefit and enjoyment of the people. Small sections of the modern park also extend into Idaho.

Yellowstone is widely regarded as the world’s first national park, although the exact development of the national-park idea involved earlier protected landscapes and evolving definitions. Its creation followed the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871, whose reports, photographs, and paintings helped persuade Congress that the region’s unusual scenery and geothermal features deserved protection.

Yellowstone later became famous for Old Faithful, abundant wildlife, and volcanic landscapes. The National Park Service did not yet exist when the park was created; the U.S. Army managed Yellowstone from 1886 until administration transferred to the National Park Service in 1917.