President Woodrow Wilson established the Katmai National Monument by proclamation on September 24th, 1918

He did so in order to protect the “Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes” as well as the surrounding area for its scenic value and as scientific value for future generations.

That initial proclamation set aside over one million acres.

The terrain was brought into existence by the massive eruption of Novarupta just six years earlier.

As time progressed, presidents Calvin Coolidge, Hoover, Roosevelt, Johnson, and Carter would add to the monument, eventually enlarging it to four million acres.

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