Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is a colorful, steep-sided gorge, carved by the Colorado River, in northern Arizona. The canyon is one of the seven natural wonders of the world and is largely contained in the Grand Canyon National Park — one of the first national parks in the United States. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of the Grand Canyon area, visiting on numerous occasions to hunt mountain lions and enjoy the scenery.

Human history

:Main article: History of the Grand Canyon area

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Native American cultures

The Origin of the Desert

Little is known about the people who lived in western North America between 9,000 and 3,000 years ago. The earliest signs of human life in the Grand Canyon, radiocarbon dated to older than 3,000 years, belong to them - tiny willow twig representations of animals, a few of which were pierced with tiny twig spears. The desert culture were hunters and gatherers and made baskets and sandals, and hunted with stone-tipped spears. The first Europeans to find evidence of their activities were the 1934 Frazier, Eddy and Hatch expedition.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Ancestral Puebloans (The Ancient Ones, or Anasazi)

• The Basketmakers
• The Pueblo Anasazi
• Ancient Puebloan Occupation of the Grand Canyon
• Nankoweap Canyon
• The Unkar Delta
• The Bright Angel Site
• Ancient Pueblo peoples leave the Canyon
• Beamer's Cabin
• The Beamers back window

The Modern Hopi (see also Pueblo people)

Other Cultures

• The Cohonina
• The Singagua
• The Pai (The People)
• The Hualapai (The People of the Pine Trees)
• The Havasupai (The People of the Place that is Green)
• The Paiutes (The Water People)
• The Dineh (The People)

European discovery and settlement

The Spanish Explorers

In September 1540, under orders from the conquistador Francisco Vasquez de Coronado to search for the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola, Captain Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, along with Hopi guides and a small group of Spanish soldiers, traveled to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon between Desert View and Moran Point. Pablo de Melgrossa, Juan Galeras and a third soldier descended some one third of the way into the Canyon until they were forced to return because of lack of water. It is speculated that their Hopi guides must have been reluctant to lead them to the river, since they must have known routes to the canyon floor. No Europeans visited the canyon for over 200 years.

Related Topics:
Conquistador - Francisco Vasquez de Coronado - Seven Cities of Cibola - Garcia Lopez de Cardenas - Hopi - Pablo de Melgrossa - Juan Galeras

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Fathers Francisco Atanasio Dominguez and Silvestre Velez de Escalante were two Spanish Priests who, with a group of Spanish soldiers, explored soutern Utah and traveled along the North Rim of the Canyon in Glen and Marble Canyons in search of a route from Santa Fe to California in 1776.

American Exploration

James Ohio Pattie, with a group of American trappers and mountain men were probably the next Europeans to reach the Canyon in 1826, although there is little in terms of documentation to support this.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jacob Hamblin (a Mormon missionary) was sent by Brigham Young in the 1850's to locate easy river crossing sites in the Canyon. Building good relations with local Native Americans and white settlers, he discovered Lee's Ferry in 1858 and Pierce Ferry (later operated by, and named for, Harrison Pierce) - the only two sites suitable for ferry operation.

Related Topics:
Jacob Hamblin - Mormon - Brigham Young - Native Americans - Lee's Ferry - Pierce Ferry - Harrison Pierce

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

George Johnson led an expedition by stern wheeler steam boat that reached Black Canyon in 1857.

Related Topics:
George Johnson - Black Canyon

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Also in 1857, the U.S. War Department asked Lieutenant Joseph Ives to lead an expedition to assess the feasibility of an up-river navigation from the Gulf of California. Also in a stern wheeler steamboat "Explorer", after two months and 350 miles of difficult navigation, his party reached Black Canyon some two months after George Johnson. The "Explorer" struck a rock and was abandoned. Ives led his party east into the Canyon - they were the first Europeans to travel the Diamond Creek drainage and traveled eastwards along the South Rim.

Related Topics:
War Department - Lieutenant Joseph Ives

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James White (this links to a disambiguation page that does not contain a link to this James White yet!)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• The John Wesley Powell River Expeditions
• The Brown-Stanton River Expedition
• Other expeditions

Settlement on the rim

• Miners
• "Captain" John Hance
• William W. Bass
• Louis Boucher "The Hermit"
• Seth Tanner
• Charles Spencer
• D. W. "James" Mooney
• Lees Ferry
• John Doyle Lee
• Emma Lee (17th of John Lee's 19 wives)
• J. S. Emmett
• Charles Spencer
• Phantom Ranch
• David Rust
• Mary Colter
• Grand Canyon Village
• Ralph Cameron
• Federal protection

Many challenges face the administrators who manage park resources. These include issues related to: the recent reintroduction into the wild of the highly endangered California Condor, air tour overflight noise levels, water rights disputes with various tribal reservations that border the park, and forest fire management. The Grand Canyon National Park superintendent is Joe Alston who was previously the superintendent of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (Lake Powell. Glen Canyon lies to the North and East of Grand Canyon on the Arizona/Utah Border.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~