South Rim. Grand Canyon National Park. Arizona
Park History
Despite the climate and formidable geological features the Grand Canyon area shows evidence of habitation as far back as 2000 B.C. These ancient people pursued a hunter/gatherer existence. At about 500 B.C. a new group of people--the Anasazi ("ancient ones" in Navajo)--appeared on the scene. In 600-700 A.D. the Coconino people also settled the area, but climatic conditions or other factors caused both groups to abandon the area around 1150. One hundred fifty years later the Cerbat people, ancestors of the modern Havasupai Indians, moved into the area, while the Paiutes simultaneously moved to the north rim.
The first whites to see the canyon were members of a battalion of Spanish explorers in 1540. Led by Cardenas and guided by Hopi Indians, these soldiers were searching for fabled golden cities. Cardenas probably reached the canyon somewhere between Moran Point and Desert View. Peering down into the canyon, members of the party were fooled by the immense scale of the geological features. They vastly underestimated the size and scale of the canyon--they thought the river was no more than 6 feet across! Not finding the passage the gold they sought, the party left, and it wasn't for more than 200 years, until 1776, that another Spaniard, missionary and priest Francisco Tomás Garcés, again gazed upon, and this time traveled in, the canyon. Garcés was the first to call the dark silt-heavy river "Colorado" (red).
The first American to visit the area may have been James Ohio Pattie in 1826, although there is some question about whether this visit actually occurred. In 1848 the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo granted sovereignty over Arizona and the canyon to the United States. In 1857 a survey party lead by Lt. Joseph Ives sailed up the Colorado to its furthest navigable point and ascended beyond into the canyon on foot. Missionary Joseph Hamblin made a number of visits to the area between 1858 and 1864.
Through the 1870's and 1880's the canyon saw some mining activities. There was also cattle grazing on the Kaibab Plateau north of the rim during this period which unfortunately had devastating effects on the grasslands there which persist to this day. The arrival of the railroad in Flagstaff brought increased tourist interest and activity. In 1858 F. W. von Egloffstein made the first drawings of the canyon, and the work of renowned wilderness artist Thomas Moran, who accompanied a U.S. Geological Survey expedition led by Charles Dutton in 1880-81,also drew attention to the scenic wonders of the area. Henry Holmes, who also traveled with Dutton, made drawings which were less "romantic" than Moran's paintings but more precise and technically accurate.
In the early 1880's the first tourist facilities--a log cabin in the what is now Grand Canyon Village--were built by John Hance. In 1884 the first hotel was built--at the bottom of the canyon. By 1905 Grand Canyon village had begun to grow and the El Tovar hotel had been designed and built.
Efforts to preserve the canyon began before the turn of the century. Senator Benjamin Harrison introduced the first bill to make the Grand Canyon a national park in 1882. Unsuccessful, he introduced similar bills again in 1883 and 1886. Later, as president of the United States, Harrison made portions of the canyon a forest reserve in 1893.
One of the prime factors in preserving the magnificent canyon was president and conservationist Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt first visited the park area in 1903 and was very impressed. His oft-quoted statements include the following:
"Leave it as it is.You cannot improve upon it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it. What you can do it to keep it for your children, your children's children, and for all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American...should see."
In 1908 Roosevelt declared the Grand Canyon area a national monument under the powers granted to the president by the Antiquities Act. Further unsuccessful bills to make the area a national park were introduced in 1910 and 1911. Finally, in 1917 Representative Carl Hayden and Senator Henry Fountain Ashurst sponsored a bill which would ultimately prove successful.
On February 26, 1919, Woodrow Wilson signed the bill which made the canyon a national park. In 1927 more land including Kaibab forest land on the north rim was added to the park. In 1932 President Herbert Hoover protected additional land in the area as a new Grand Canyon National Monument. Another national monument, Marble Canyon, was created upriver in 1969. In 1975 President Gerald Ford signed a bill which effectively doubled the size of the park, incorporating sections from the Grand Canyon National Monument, Marble Canyon, and the Kaibab National Forest.
The battle to conserve the canyon has never really stopped. In addition to the 1965 Glen Canyon Dam upriver there were plans in the 1960's to dam the river in the canyon itself. The Sierra Club's successful battle against this plan cost it its tax exempt status.
Thursday, September 17, 2009.
South Rim. Grand Canyon National Park. Arizona
Park History
Despite the climate and formidable geological features the Grand Canyon area shows evidence of habitation as far back as 2000 B.C. These ancient people pursued a hunter/gatherer existence. At about 500 B.C. a new group of people--the Anasazi ("ancient ones" in Navajo)--appeared on the scene. In 600-700 A.D. the Coconino people also settled the area, but climatic conditions or other factors caused both groups to abandon the area around 1150. One hundred fifty years later the Cerbat people, ancestors of the modern Havasupai Indians, moved into the area, while the Paiutes simultaneously moved to the north rim.
The first whites to see the canyon were members of a battalion of Spanish explorers in 1540. Led by Cardenas and guided by Hopi Indians, these soldiers were searching for fabled golden cities. Cardenas probably reached the canyon somewhere between Moran Point and Desert View. Peering down into the canyon, members of the party were fooled by the immense scale of the geological features. They vastly underestimated the size and scale of the canyon--they thought the river was no more than 6 feet across! Not finding the passage the gold they sought, the party left, and it wasn't for more than 200 years, until 1776, that another Spaniard, missionary and priest Francisco Tomás Garcés, again gazed upon, and this time traveled in, the canyon. Garcés was the first to call the dark silt-heavy river "Colorado" (red).
The first American to visit the area may have been James Ohio Pattie in 1826, although there is some question about whether this visit actually occurred. In 1848 the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo granted sovereignty over Arizona and the canyon to the United States. In 1857 a survey party lead by Lt. Joseph Ives sailed up the Colorado to its furthest navigable point and ascended beyond into the canyon on foot. Missionary Joseph Hamblin made a number of visits to the area between 1858 and 1864.
Through the 1870's and 1880's the canyon saw some mining activities. There was also cattle grazing on the Kaibab Plateau north of the rim during this period which unfortunately had devastating effects on the grasslands there which persist to this day. The arrival of the railroad in Flagstaff brought increased tourist interest and activity. In 1858 F. W. von Egloffstein made the first drawings of the canyon, and the work of renowned wilderness artist Thomas Moran, who accompanied a U.S. Geological Survey expedition led by Charles Dutton in 1880-81,also drew attention to the scenic wonders of the area. Henry Holmes, who also traveled with Dutton, made drawings which were less "romantic" than Moran's paintings but more precise and technically accurate.
In the early 1880's the first tourist facilities--a log cabin in the what is now Grand Canyon Village--were built by John Hance. In 1884 the first hotel was built--at the bottom of the canyon. By 1905 Grand Canyon village had begun to grow and the El Tovar hotel had been designed and built.
Efforts to preserve the canyon began before the turn of the century. Senator Benjamin Harrison introduced the first bill to make the Grand Canyon a national park in 1882. Unsuccessful, he introduced similar bills again in 1883 and 1886. Later, as president of the United States, Harrison made portions of the canyon a forest reserve in 1893.
One of the prime factors in preserving the magnificent canyon was president and conservationist Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt first visited the park area in 1903 and was very impressed. His oft-quoted statements include the following:
"Leave it as it is.You cannot improve upon it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it. What you can do it to keep it for your children, your children's children, and for all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American...should see."
In 1908 Roosevelt declared the Grand Canyon area a national monument under the powers granted to the president by the Antiquities Act. Further unsuccessful bills to make the area a national park were introduced in 1910 and 1911. Finally, in 1917 Representative Carl Hayden and Senator Henry Fountain Ashurst sponsored a bill which would ultimately prove successful.
On February 26, 1919, Woodrow Wilson signed the bill which made the canyon a national park. In 1927 more land including Kaibab forest land on the north rim was added to the park. In 1932 President Herbert Hoover protected additional land in the area as a new Grand Canyon National Monument. Another national monument, Marble Canyon, was created upriver in 1969. In 1975 President Gerald Ford signed a bill which effectively doubled the size of the park, incorporating sections from the Grand Canyon National Monument, Marble Canyon, and the Kaibab National Forest.
The battle to conserve the canyon has never really stopped. In addition to the 1965 Glen Canyon Dam upriver there were plans in the 1960's to dam the river in the canyon itself. The Sierra Club's successful battle against this plan cost it its tax exempt status.
Thursday, September 17, 2009.