The national monuments that exist today within our national parks are often perceived as icons of a romantic or even a mythic past Seldom, however, do very personal crusades that were waged to preserve these natural and culture resources intrude upon the public consciousness?

Even less frequently are the preservation efforts of the past valued for what they tell us about American culture and how the values of that culture have changed over time. But the archaeological, historic, and natural history sites that comprise our national monuments have layered meanings. Quite apart from their intrinsic value as heritage sites, our effort to preserve perceptions of the past. It is somewhat surprising, therefore, that scholarship on the national monuments proper remained an historiographical backwater. This situation has been rectified, however, with the publication of Hal Rothman's Preserving Different Pasts: The American National Monuments. These national treasurers have at last found an able historian to tell their story.