For a teacher on summer break, the Independence Day weekend is always bittersweet. It’s a fun weekend of festivities, but it also marks the highpoint of the summer and the descent back towards the classroom.
I love being a history teacher. But I also enjoy these weeks when I get to focus my time on writing, creating, reading, and exploring America’s public lands. Here are some of the highlights of where the first half of the summer has taken me.
If you have purchased a copy of my new book, Creating the National Parks: Yellowstone, Glacier, and Grand Teton, please leave a review where you purchased it! It really helps get it in the hands of more people!
Summer kicked off strong with a trip to New Mexico. “The Land of Enchantment” is a fitting moniker, as I have never felt myself more drawn to a place outside my own beloved home state of Michigan. My wife and I had the chance to hike lava tubes in El Malpais, studied the signatures on El Morro, and witness the summer solstice at Casa Rinconada in Chaco Canyon. From there, we explored the caveats of Bandelier National Monument, drove down into Valles Caldera, and enjoyed air-conditioning at Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Los Alamos. One of our final stops was a Bureau of Land Management national monument called Kashe-Katuwe Tent Rocks, which had to be one of the most unique landscapes I’ve ever hiked in.
Our trip concluded with an afternoon in Petroglyph National Monument on the outskirts of Albuquerque. When I planned our visit, I positioned the smaller park as chaser, easing us out of the grand experiences we had at El Malpais and Chaco before we returned back to “normal life.” I didn’t expect the experience to have a richness that helped to finally clarify and make sense of my feelings around America 250.
This trip was made possible because of a grant I received as part of the Trusted Creator Fellowship. The fellowship is facilitated by News Creator Corp, a new organization that is training creators like me on the best practices for sharing accurate information and fighting falsehoods online. Here’s part of what I wrote in my application to join News Creator Corp:
“The most credible form of information is the eye-witness account. There is no replacement for actually visiting a threatened landscape. Collecting photos, videos, and experiences in endangered landscapes will enhance my ability to advocate for them.”
Participating in the fellowship was a transformative experience for me, and the accompanying stipend has represented a large chunk of the financial backing that allows me to do this work in 2026.
If you want to help sustain my effort to use the history of our public lands to meet the current crises, you can partner with me through a $6 monthly / $60 annual paid subscription to this Substack.
Just before we left for New Mexico, I had the chance to sit down with Liz Crandall on her podcast, Rangers of the Lost Park. We talked about my background and motivations, my take on historical erasure in national parks, and a very scary experience I had in Shenandoah National Park.
You can check out the episode anywhere that podcasts are found or at this link!
There will be more connections between the history of our public land the current crises coming down the pipe soon. Thanks to all who have supported me through a paid subscription or a book purchase.
Thanks most of all for caring about our public lands.
Will
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