McCroskey State Park

The ridge was the view from his boyhood. The McCroskeys homesteaded at the foot of Steptoe Butte in Washington, and Virgil could look east across the fields to this forested ridge. He and his brother George began lobbying in 1927 to preserve the butte, and after years of buying out reluctant owners he gave it to Washington, which dedicated it on July 4, 1946. Idaho's legislators hesitated over upkeep and the land coming off the tax rolls. Life magazine later called him the man who gave away mountains, and he left $45,000 in trust for this park's upkeep.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

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