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What
to Do in...
Grand
Canyon National Park, Williams,
Flagstaff,
Sedona,
Hopi,
Navajo
Nation, Page
& Lake Powell, Additional
Communities
Where
to Stay in...
Grand
Canyon National Park, Williams,
Flagstaff,
Sedona,
Hopi,
Navajo
Nation, Page
& Lake Powell, Additional
Communities
Where
to Eat in...
Grand
Canyon National Park, Williams,
Flagstaff,
Sedona,
Hopi,
Navajo
Nation, Page
& Lake Powell, Additional
Communities
Shopping
in...
Grand
Canyon National Park, Williams,
Flagstaff,
Sedona,
Hopi,
Navajo
Nation, Page
& Lake Powell, Additional
Communities
About the Grand Canyon
After thousands of years of Native
American presence in the American Southwest, the first
Europeans arrived at the Grand Canyon's South Rim in
1540.
Following another 300 years of
missionaries, trappers, explorers, government surveyors
and soldiers, Major John Wesley Powell and his party of
nine made the first successful boat trip down the
Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in 1869. By the
late 1800s, the spectacular beauty of the Canyon began
to draw both visitors and businessmen alike. In 1901 the
first Santa Fe passenger train arrived at the South Rim.
Grand Canyon became a national monument in 1908 and on
February 26, 1919, it was designated as the seventeenth
national park.
Until 1968, the principal concessioner and
provider of Grand Canyon visitor services was the Fred
Harvey Company. Using modern technology - the telegraph
- and employing bright, young and congenial employees,
Harvey provided significantly better dining facilities
and services then were previously available to western
travelers. Although Fred Harvey died in 1901, he
envisioned Grand Canyon as a major tourist attraction
and convinced the Santa Fe Railroad to run a line from
Williams, Arizona to this natural wonder.
It was the Fred Harvey Company that hired
the gifted female architect Mary E. J. Colter. A
perfectionist in a male-dominated profession, Colter's
talent and perseverance were realized in a succession of
unique Grand Canyon designs that reflected her vision of
natural constructions, often modeled after Native
American themes. Among her South Rim Grand Canyon works
are the Hopi House in 1905; Lookout Studio and Hermits
Rest in 1914; Phantom Ranch in 1922; the Desert View
Watchtower in 1932; and in 1935, Bright Angel Lodge.
Today all of these buildings, along with the El Tovar
she designed in 1905, are still in use and are
nationally recognized historic landmarks.
In 1968, Amfac purchased the Fred Harvey
Company. Amfac Parks & Resorts is currently
recognized for its leadership, creativity and innovation
as the largest parks management company in the country.
Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Amfac has national
park concession operations at the North and South Rims
of Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore,
Everglades, Bryce, Zion, Death Valley and Petrified
Forest.
Today, five-million people a year visit
the Grand Canyon.
Text courtesy of Grand Canyon National Park Lodges.
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Grand Canyon
North Rim by artist Fred Lucas
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THE NORTH RIM
"The sun lowers its gleam and glorious
light bathes this vast panorama in warm rays. We
are captivated and held by a fathomless charm for
the very real and wonderful. Nature's palace
shouts to us, from eons past in its own language
of distance, shadowy depths, gigantic shapes,
colors and changing moods. Whether in whispering
winds or thunderous cloudbusrts, we are overcome
by its colossal grandeur. It is a mystery no one
can measure. It lifts our spirits through
communication by sensation with every glistening
descent of mulithued strata, recording the pages
of our planet's history. It brings to heart an
understanding of time and life and we find
inspiring renewal when standing in its presence."
by Fred
Lucas | |
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