In January 1954, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas opposed turning the C&O Canal into a parkway and argued that it should be preserved as a national park, calling it a refuge and sanctuary that a two-lane highway would destroy. He invited Washington Post editors and reporters to hike the entire canal with him so they could experience its beauty and better understand his point. Merlo Pusey and editor Robert Estabrook accepted, and the hike began near Cumberland on March 22, 1954. Douglas and his companions, joined by authorities on the natural and cultural history of the Potomac River and the C&O Canal, learned about the canal and enjoyed the scenery. Afterward, Estabrook wrote an editorial supporting setting the canal aside as a national park. The walk and the news stories it generated motivated hundreds to fight to save the canal, which was preserved in 1961 as a National Monument, and the hike inspired broader efforts to create Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park.