When Congressman John E. Raker was diligently working on the establishment of Lassen Volcanic National Park, it was not the only item on his agenda. During the time when Raker introduced bills to establish Lassen Park, he had also authored proposals for the creation of a bureau of national parks. In 1914, Stephen T. Mather was recruited to create a separate agency inside the Department of the Interior whose sole purpose would be the administration of the national parks.
Raker and Mather, however, who sought for the same goal, had issues, namely in regards to that of Hetch Hetchy, which Mather opposed. In 1913, Raker sponsored a bill to dam this glacial valley in Yosemite National Park for San Francisco’s water supply. The fight over it had been going on for a decade before Raker took office, though a century later Raker is branded as one of the main culprits, since his name is attached to the bill. There were many players in the field. One that is rarely mentioned is Franklin Lane, Secretary of the Interior. Lane was appointed to that position when President Wilson was elected in 1912. Prior to that Lane was the City Attorney of San Francisco who had a conflict of interest in Hetch Hetchy.
Whatever the case may be, one hundred years ago today, (August 25, 1916), President Woodrow Wilson approved the creation of the National Park Service, and Mather was made its first director.