the grand canyon enormous iconic
breathtaking 2019 marks Grand Canyon
National Parks from 100th anniversary
but how did it get to be such a beloved
destination archaeological artifacts
suggest that people lived in and around
the canyon some 12,000 years ago today
it’s still considered a sacred place to
11 Native American tribes
despite being moved onto reservations in
the 1800s the United States didn’t
really explore the area until the Treaty
of Guadalupe Hidalgo seated over five
hundred thousand square miles of land to
the US including the Grand Canyon
so in 1857 the US government sent an
expedition led by lieutenant Joseph Ives
to explore the Colorado River while Ives
admired the scenery in his report he
wrote the region is of course altogether
valueless ours has been the first and
will doubtless be the last party of
whites to visit this profitless locality
[Music]
history proved Ives wrong but throughout
the late 1800s company struggled to make
the area profitable and fewer
considering this harsh landscape as a
tourist destination even so president
Benjamin Harrison saw the need to
protect this inspiring place and created
the Grand Canyon National Forest Reserve
in 1893
the Grand Canyon’s popularity grew
tremendously after that in 1901 a new
rail line ran directly to the Grand
Canyon Village where most tourists to
this day start their visit a comfortable
train ride and the brand-new El Tovar
hotel enticed the elite class to visit
the Grand Canyon including President
Theodore Roosevelt during his 1903 visit
he emphasized the importance of
preserving the Grand Canyon in a speech
leave it as it is you cannot improve on
it not a bit the ages have been at work
on it and man can only Mar it and in
1908 Roosevelt declared the Grand Canyon
national monument during this time more
visitors made use of the traditional
Native American walking trails like the
Bright Angel Trail from mule rides and
hiking and more people meant more
lodging architect Mary Elizabeth Jane
Colter was hired to design many of the
parks most iconic buildings her
groundbreaking work earned her the
nickname Grand Canyon’s architect and
finally three years after the National
Park Service was created On February 26
1919 President Woodrow Wilson signed the
Grand Canyon National Park into law
making it the nation’s 17th National
Park over 37,000 people visited the
newly enshrined Park in its first year
today the park has hosted more than 211
million guests but all this momentum led
to some growing pains commercial flights
which were gaining popularity in the
1950s which repass endures to a view of
the Grand Canyon while enroute to their
destination this led to disaster in June
of 1956 when two commercial planes
crashed over the Grand Canyon
killing all 128 people on board it was
the deadliest aviation disaster of the
time and motivated Congress to regulate
the then largely uncontrolled skies the
21st century has brought its own set of
challenges helicopter tours have
increased so much that a part of the
canyon has been nicknamed helicopter
Ally and development companies are
proposing new retail and lodging which
might interrupt the natural beauty of
the canyon but conservationists and
Native Americans are fighting to
preserve the natural integrity of the
park just like they have in the past for
future generations to enjoy
through it all the Grand Canyon has
solidified itself in the hearts and
minds of Americans and to this day it’s
one of the most visited national parks in the country
breathtaking 2019 marks Grand Canyon
National Parks from 100th anniversary
but how did it get to be such a beloved
destination archaeological artifacts
suggest that people lived in and around
the canyon some 12,000 years ago today
it’s still considered a sacred place to
11 Native American tribes
despite being moved onto reservations in
the 1800s the United States didn’t
really explore the area until the Treaty
of Guadalupe Hidalgo seated over five
hundred thousand square miles of land to
the US including the Grand Canyon
so in 1857 the US government sent an
expedition led by lieutenant Joseph Ives
to explore the Colorado River while Ives
admired the scenery in his report he
wrote the region is of course altogether
valueless ours has been the first and
will doubtless be the last party of
whites to visit this profitless locality
[Music]
history proved Ives wrong but throughout
the late 1800s company struggled to make
the area profitable and fewer
considering this harsh landscape as a
tourist destination even so president
Benjamin Harrison saw the need to
protect this inspiring place and created
the Grand Canyon National Forest Reserve
in 1893
the Grand Canyon’s popularity grew
tremendously after that in 1901 a new
rail line ran directly to the Grand
Canyon Village where most tourists to
this day start their visit a comfortable
train ride and the brand-new El Tovar
hotel enticed the elite class to visit
the Grand Canyon including President
Theodore Roosevelt during his 1903 visit
he emphasized the importance of
preserving the Grand Canyon in a speech
leave it as it is you cannot improve on
it not a bit the ages have been at work
on it and man can only Mar it and in
1908 Roosevelt declared the Grand Canyon
national monument during this time more
visitors made use of the traditional
Native American walking trails like the
Bright Angel Trail from mule rides and
hiking and more people meant more
lodging architect Mary Elizabeth Jane
Colter was hired to design many of the
parks most iconic buildings her
groundbreaking work earned her the
nickname Grand Canyon’s architect and
finally three years after the National
Park Service was created On February 26
1919 President Woodrow Wilson signed the
Grand Canyon National Park into law
making it the nation’s 17th National
Park over 37,000 people visited the
newly enshrined Park in its first year
today the park has hosted more than 211
million guests but all this momentum led
to some growing pains commercial flights
which were gaining popularity in the
1950s which repass endures to a view of
the Grand Canyon while enroute to their
destination this led to disaster in June
of 1956 when two commercial planes
crashed over the Grand Canyon
killing all 128 people on board it was
the deadliest aviation disaster of the
time and motivated Congress to regulate
the then largely uncontrolled skies the
21st century has brought its own set of
challenges helicopter tours have
increased so much that a part of the
canyon has been nicknamed helicopter
Ally and development companies are
proposing new retail and lodging which
might interrupt the natural beauty of
the canyon but conservationists and
Native Americans are fighting to
preserve the natural integrity of the
park just like they have in the past for
future generations to enjoy
through it all the Grand Canyon has
solidified itself in the hearts and
minds of Americans and to this day it’s
one of the most visited national parks in the country
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