Subdued and preserved

America's National Park System is a product of civilization | Janie B. Cheaney

Yellowstone National Park/PBS

America's National Parks, according to the latest documentary by Ken Burns, were our "Best Idea." Caught up in the tumbled landscapes, flashing waters, and glassy skies that continuously pan through Burns' camera, one can appreciate the sentiment even while acknowledging the overstatement.

The first episode of the series coincided with my own visit to Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah), named for Mormon settler Ebenezer Bryce, whose cabin backed up to an incomparable landscape of sunset-colored spires, arches, and slot canyons. When asked about the view, Bryce is reported to have said, "Hell of a place to lose a cow."

That sums it up: To immigrants and homesteaders, America was first of all a place, big and wild—and a literal hell for some who lost their cows, fortunes, or lives. Appreciation for America's wildness was mainly a sentiment of those who no longer had to contend with it, such as the landscape painters who celebrated its sprawling views from a safe distance. Meanwhile, settlers went about the business of taming the wilderness. It wasn't pretty, but in a little over a hundred years, the land was tamed.