Before the park was chartered in 1926, the region was populated with farmers, merchants, and mining and timber operators. Towns replete with schools, churches, and shops dotted the landscape.

Most of these villages were razed, with only a few historic structures remaining to be maintained as a living museum of the way life used to be prior to the establishment of the park.

These monuments serve as a direct connection to the past. It is impossible to reconcile the natural beauty of the surroundings and the shadows of those that lived, worked, and died here without some semblance of a spiritual awakening.