Turkey Run: Cradle of State Parks

Turkey Run: Cradle of State Parks. The park system we enjoy today resulted from vision and hard work.. , 1. As the State's 1916 centennial celebration approached, Lieber put forth the idea of creating a state park system., Colonel Richard Lieber , "The time has come when Indiana must halt the destruction of the forests, the neglect of historical placees and the beauty spots that mean health and happiness to its people.", In the early part of the 1900s, the idea of conserving and protecting natural resources began to take hold. Popularized by President Theodore Roosevelt, Americans saw that their landscapes were finite and rapidly disappearing. , Colonel Richard Lieber, a German immigrant, became a champion for Indiana's remaining natural areas., 2. A commission that included Lieber was charged with acquiring the first park., Smith: Juliet has been weeping on my shoulder. She says Turkey Run is going to be cut up. You have to save those trees. , Lieber: Where's Turkey Run? , Smith: Darned if I know, but Juliet knows all about it., Conversation with Indianapolis News editor Richard Smith, as recorded by Lieber, Juliet Strauss , "(I have) never followed anybody's lead. I lived my own life. If I wished to ride a horse, or play a game of cards, or go wading in the creek with the children, I always did it. I never ruined my eyesight or racked my nerves to arrive at small perfections. I have avoided rivalries and emulations. In short, I lived.", Another Commission member was Juliet Strauss. Strauss was a writer for the Indianapolis News and the Ladies Home Journal. She lived in Rockville and had hiked the hills and canyons of Turkey Run throughout her childhood., 3. Upon hearing that a timber company was planning to purchase Turkey Run, Strauss wasted no time advocating for it to become Indiana's first state park., 4. On the day of the auction, held at the Lusk Home, a timber company outbid the Commission and defeated the plan to have Turkey Run as Indiana's centennial celebration monument., "Sick about Turkey Run. Too hard to bear." , Lieber journal entry, "I am sick of soul. Who would have dreamed that a few men's dollars could step in and destroy all this, the most beautiful spot in all Indiana...?" , Juliet Strauss, 5. Still determined, the Commission purchased McCormick's Creek in time for the 1916 Centennial., 6. The public outcry over the loss of Turkey Run was enormous. Lieber worked tirelessly to raise additional funds and lobby the State legislature, eventually purchasing the land back from the timber company in October of 1916. Due to his efforts, both Turkey Run and McCormick's Creek became centennial monuments to the citizens of Indiana., 7. Today, the Indiana State Park system continues to grow and is enjoyed by millions each year. We pause to thank the handful of dedicated people who transformed Indiana State Parks from a dream to a reality., Colonel Lieber would go on to become the first director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. He continued to further the state park system and became a national figure in resource conservation.