Today in #history: @joshuatreenps in Riverside County and San Bernardino County, #California was declared a U.S. National Monument #OTD August 10, 1936 by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It was redesignated a National Park on October 31, 1994. After boundary expansions in 1950 and 1994, today the park covers 1,238 square miles, slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island and is named for the Joshua trees which are native to the #park. The park encompasses parts of two deserts: the higher Mojave Desert and lower Colorado #Desert. If you are wondering how the Joshua tree was named, according to legend, Mormon pioneers in the mid-nineteenth century considered the limbs of the Joshua trees to resemble the upstretched arms of Joshua leading them to the promised land. Since then, the name has stuck. #ca #cahistory #SpreadTheHistory #historygirl #FindYourPark #travelblog #travelblogger #blog #blogger #explorepa #history #nationalparkservice #goparks #nps #nps103 #nationalparkgeek #explore #nationalpark #optoutside #joshuatree #joshuatreenationalpark #nature #wnpa1938 (at Joshua Tree National Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDunlBkjQ88/?igshid=15bt64fezdnk5











