Large-scale consequences to the environment were hard to imagine in a country of such immense proportions and seemingly infi nite resources. But the impact of industrialization was more immediate for the urban dweller. As the century wore on and the frontier drew nearer, people reexamined their relationship to the landscape. The important contributions to the history of landscape architecture in 19th-century America were the public park and the idea of a wilderness aesthetic. What is particularly American about these land uses is the fact that citizen initiative was integral to their creation.