News at Eleven: Fifteen years after he had first proposed it,

[William Cullen] Bryant's dream of a park for the people was coming to fruition. In mid-April 1859, he visited the area with Frances, Julia, and his brother-in-law Egbert Fairchild, who was part of the engineering team constructing the Croton Reservoir within the park's boundaries. In a letter to Christiana Gibson, Bryant described a scene "in which thousands of men are at work blasting rocks, making roads, excavating, rearing embankments, planting trees--a sight that reminded me of Virgil's description of Dido and her people building Carthage."

from The Wall Street Journal: 'William Cullen Bryant: Author of America'

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