
National Parks History Project
63 parks. The honest history.
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What's New in National Parks History Project
1.6
August 22, 2026
Four parks rewritten with substantially deeper history. Dry Tortugas: the enslaved men who built Fort Jefferson, named from the engineers' own payroll ledgers, the 1847 escape, the military prison, and the 1867 yellow fever epidemic. Zion: the 1852 Utah slavery statutes, the interpreter who was present at Mountain Meadows and then opened Zion Canyon, and what the park's own history pages leave out. Mammoth Cave: the saltpeter works, the enslaved guides, the tuberculosis huts inside the cave, and segregation at the park. Grand Teton: the 1895 killing that ended Native treaty hunting rights for 123 years, the secret purchase of Jackson Hole, and the 1943 standoff. Every claim is sourced independently and checked against primary records.
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