美国国家公园的创建可以追溯到著名的美国艺术家乔治·卡特林（George Catlin）首先提出的一个想法，他最著名的作品是美洲印第安人的绘画。

19世纪初，卡特林广泛游历北美，为印第安人画素描和油画，并记录下他的观察结果。1841年，他出版了一本经典著作《关于北美印第安人的礼仪、习俗和状况的信件和注释》。

19世纪30年代，卡特林在大平原旅行时，敏锐地意识到自然的平衡正在被破坏，因为用美洲野牛（通常称为水牛）的毛皮制成的长袍在东部城市已经非常流行。

卡特林敏锐地注意到，对水牛长袍的狂热会使这些动物灭绝。印第安人并没有杀死这些动物，并将它们的几乎每一部分都用作食物，或制作衣服甚至工具，而仅仅为了它们的毛皮，他们就被付钱杀死了水牛。

卡特林对得知印第安人被威士忌剥削感到厌恶。而水牛的尸体，一旦剥皮，就会留在草原上腐烂。

卡特林在他的书中表达了一种奇特的想法，基本上认为水牛以及依赖它们生存的印第安人应该被放在“国家公园”中加以保护

下面是卡特林提出惊人建议的段落：

"This strip of country, which extends from the province of Mexico to Lake Winnipeg on the North, is almost one entire plain of grass, which is, and ever must be, useless to cultivating man. It is here, and here chiefly, that the buffaloes dwell; and with, and hovering about them, live and flourish the tribes of Indians, whom God made for the enjoyment of that fair land and its luxuries.

"It is a melancholy contemplation for one who has traveled as I have through these realms, and seen this noble animal in all its pride and glory, to contemplate it so rapidly wasting from the world, drawing the irresistible conclusion too, which one must do, that its species is soon to be extinguished, and with it the peace and happiness (if not the actual existence) of the tribes of Indians who are joint tenants with them, in the occupancy of these vast and idle plains.

"And what a splendid contemplation too, when one (who has traveled these realms, and can duly appreciate them) imagines them as they might in future be seen (by some great protecting policy of government)preserved in their pristine beauty and wildness, in a magnificent park, where the world could see for ages to come, the native Indian in his classic attire, galloping his wild horse, with sinewy bow, and shield and lance, amid the fleeting herds of elks and buffaloes. What a beautiful and thrilling specimen for America to preserve and hold up to the view of her refined citizens and the world, in future ages! A Nations Park, containing man and beast, in all the wild and freshness of their nature's beauty!

"I would ask no other monument to my memory, nor any other enrollment of my name amongst the famous dead, than the reputation of having been the founder of such an institution."

卡特林的提议当时没有得到认真的考虑。人们当然不会急于建造一个巨大的公园，所以后代会冷冷地观察印第安人和水牛。然而，他的书很有影响力，并且已经出版了很多版本，他首先提出了国家公园的概念，其目的是保护美国的荒野。

第一个国家公园黄石公园创建于1872年，此前海登探险队报道了黄石公园壮丽的景色，该公园的官方摄影师威廉·亨利·杰克逊（William Henry Jackson）生动地捕捉到了这一景色。

19世纪末，作家兼冒险家约翰·缪尔（John Muir）主张保护加利福尼亚州的约塞米蒂河谷和其他自然景观。缪尔将被称为“国家公园之父”，但其最初的想法实际上可以追溯到一位画家的作品。