My Close Encounter With Devils Tower
Tuesday, June 02 2026
I’ve loved Devils Tower since I first close encountered it four decades ago. President Theodore Roosevelt established Devils Tower as the nation's first National Monument in September 1906. Roosevelt would establish 18 National Monuments during his two terms. Today we have 138.
- Published in Features
Wind Cave National Park
Tuesday, June 02 2026
Our roving humanities scholar Clay S. Jenkinson is typically dedicated to the truth and nothing but the truth, but his visit to Wind Cave National Park seems to have addled his brain. No other visitor on his recent tour reported meeting Dante and Virgil at the Seventh Circle of the cave.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
On the Road! Westward With Teddy Roosevelt
Tuesday, May 26 2026
Memorial Day weekend 2026, Clay and the LTA Airstream hit the trail, following Teddy Roosevelt’s legacy in the American West.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Edward Abbey — Now More Than Ever, Even With All His Faults
Tuesday, April 21 2026
A recent visit to Arizona had me thinking about the legacy and prescience of Edward Abbey. With warts and all, he’s a kind of modern-day Henry David Thoreau.
- Published in Features
The Peaks of Otter — Thomas Jefferson Speculated America’s Tallest Mountains — Video Dispatch
Tuesday, May 27 2025
Clay checks out The Peaks of Otter in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which Thomas Jefferson speculated were the country’s tallest mountains.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
The Great but Forgotten Conservationist John F. Lacey
Monday, November 25 2024
While John Steinbeck was not much interested in National Parks, he traveled through a nation whose conservation footprint was indelibly shaped by visionary Iowa Congressman John Lacey.
- Published in Features
The Majestic Confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers
Thursday, November 14 2024
John Wesley Powell, Edward Abbey and hiking Canyonlands National Park.
- Published in Features
To the Desert With Edward Abbey
Tuesday, September 24 2024
Clay visits with Edward Abbey, the colorful, eloquent, and passionate advocate of the American West.
- Published in Features
Theodore Roosevelt’s Unmatched Conservation Footprint and Eight Reasons He Got Away With It
Sunday, September 15 2024
Imagine America if Theodore Roosevelt had never been president. During his tenure, the “Cowboy President” set aside an astounding 230 million acres of U.S. public land as National Parks, National Monuments, National Forests, National Wildlife Refuges, and National Game Preserves.
- Published in Features
Clay Visits Pompeys Pillar National Monument — Video Dispatch
Tuesday, July 23 2024
Clay visits Pompeys Pillar National Monument along the Yellowstone River east of Billings, Montana.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road