At the beginning of the second decade of the 20th century, a few
individuals here and there in the state were beginning to grasp the
potentialities of southern Utah as a scenic mecca. Throughout the United
States, agitation for better roads gained ground as the automobile
assumed a larger place in our national consciousness. The first
transcontinental auto trip was made about 1900 and much difficulty was
experienced in finding passable routes. The old pioneer wagon roads,
disused since the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869,
had fallen into disrepair and were obliterated or washed by erosion in
many of the desert and mountainous areas so that they were often
forgotten and nearly impassable.
After the first trip, however, other autoists quickly followed and there
was a loud demand for logs and guide materials during the next decade—a
demand which leading Utah newspapers attempted to supply. The first
quarter of the century may be characterized as transitional from wagon
and train to automobile. Roads had to be redesigned on the basis of
alignment instead of grade control and reconstructed into highways,
destined to become not only supplemental feeders of railroads but also
competitors.
This movement led to the establishment in 1909 of the Utah State Road
Commission, empowered to develop state roads and with the avowed
intention to build a two million dollar highway through the entire state
from Logan to St. George. It took several years for this program to
reach southern Utah and by that time road building was beginning to be
affected by modern methods of highway construction.
Occasional trips into the scenic southland continued, some primarily for
enjoyment, others for publicity or promotional purposes, all of which
served to focus public attention more and more on the area. Public
pressure was brought to bear not only on the road commission, but also
on the governor and eventually on the Federal government.
Governor William Spry of Utah (1908-1916) made at least three trips into
the region (1912, 1913, 1916). During September, 1912, he visited the
Dixie Fruit Festival at St. George, then went to Kanab and northward
through the State prospecting the route now followed by highway 89.
[Illustration: A view of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River.
_Courtesy Union Pacific Railroad._]
[Illustration: How earlier generations explored the Kaibab:
horseback, buggies, and automobiles.]
[Illustration: Self-service on the Kaibab.]
[Illustration: Visitors at “Uncle Jim” Owen’s cabin.]
[Illustration: Camping party on the march. _Courtesy D. D. Rust._]
[Illustration: Theodore Roosevelt (center, holding rope), Jim Owen
(next right), and party on Kaibab (1913) that captured ...]
[Illustration: ... a live cougar ...]
[Illustration: ... that was taken across the Colorado River in “the
cage”. _Courtesy D. D. Rust._]
[Illustration: Waterfall after rain in Temple of Sinewava.]
[Illustration: A guided party along the Narrows Trail (author at
right).]
[Illustration: Naturalists in Zion Canyon (1928), left to right,
Harold Russell, J. W. Thornton and A. M. Woodbury.]
During the following winter, a group of convicts from the Utah State
Penitentiary was put to work building roads in Washington County between
Cedar City and Toquerville. They improved the bad roads of the time, but
the route was poorly chosen and was replaced several years later by a
well-planned highway. The convicts continued to be employed in
Washington County for several winters.
During the summer of 1913, E. D. Woolley and others urged the State Road
Commission to take over the task of building an auto road southward from
Salina to the state line on the route to North Rim. That fall, the U. S.
Forest Service started construction of a permanent boulevard (?) from
Jacob’s Lake to North Rim with a total allotment of $2750! The result
was a road which when compared with highways of today, illustrates the
revolutionary changes in standards of road making.
In July and August, 1913, ex-President Theodore Roosevelt took a party
into the Kaibab from South Rim and spent three weeks hunting lions. They
captured three and took one alive across the canyon. Roosevelt reported
the trip in an article in the _Outlook_.[93]
During that same summer, J. Cecil Alter, director of the U. S. Weather
Bureau at Salt Lake City and editor of this Quarterly, made a leisurely
trip southward with his wife and two companions in a white top spring
wagon, via Marysvale, Panguitch, Kanab and Jacob’s Lake to the Kaibab,
North Rim and over the Cable Crossing to El Tovar. Returning, he
traveled via Ryan, Pipe Springs and Rockville to Zion, then out via
Toquerville, Parowan, Circleville and Marysvale. He reported the
interesting aspects of his trip in _The Salt Lake Tribune_ on August 31,
1913, and January 4, 1914. The enthusiasm of the _Tribune_ was aroused
and the paper sponsored a “pathfinder” tour under the leadership of W.
D. Rishel to log the road to Grand Canyon. It left Salt Lake City on
September 6, visited the canyon and paused a day at Kanab on the return
trip.
On the occasion of Governor Spry’s first visit to Zion in October, 1913,
the people along the Virgin River declared a holiday and accompanied his
party almost en masse into Zion, where a picnic was enjoyed at the foot
of the cable. To thrill the governor, a man was lifted to the top of the
cliffs on the cable and brought back a few minutes later. The party rode
horseback into the Narrows and was much impressed by the experience.
Governor Spry was thoroughly convinced of the importance of national
recognition and thereafter earnestly pressed for its realization.
From Rockville, the party took spring buggies for Kanab with extra teams
to negotiate the hills. The idea behind the trip seems to have been to
investigate the possibilities of tourist travel from some point on the
Salt Lake Route Railroad to Zion and Grand Canyon. Douglas White,
writing in _The Arrowhead_ for July 1917, said that as a result of this
visit, Governor Spry “decided that the highway division of his
administration should accomplish the construction of a highway to the
border of the National Monument.”
By 1914, the local people of Dixie no less than the governor, were
awakening to the scenic potentialities of their homeland. It had taken
five years to sell the idea of Zion Canyon as a national mecca to the
people living near it. The Grand Canyon Highway Association was
organized with David Hirschi as president, and a five-county
(Washington, Kane, Iron, and Beaver in Utah and Coconino in Arizona)
road convention was called for July in Hurricane. Up to this time no
auto had yet been driven from Toquerville to Zion Canyon.
The first problem was to make the roads passable by removing high
centers, reducing grades and filling washes. A campaign was launched
locally to secure subscriptions for road improvement. Hurricane pledged
$2,000, La Verkin $500, Toquerville $1,500 and Cedar City $1,200. During
the winter the road from Toquerville to Hurricane and the dugway up the
Hurricane Fault to the east toward Kanab were improved.
In 1916, political pressure had reached Washington. Senator Reed Smoot
responded and planned to ask for federal assistance in road making. This
dovetailed with a national movement which culminated that year in the
first federal aid road act. Smoot called upon the Department of the
Interior for information concerning the Mukuntuweap National Monument.
Horace M. Albright, a youthful assistant to Secretary Franklin K. Lane,
furnished the data. Senator Smoot inserted in a deficiency appropriation
an item reading as follows:
For a proportionate share of the amount required to construct an
inter-state wagon road or highway through the Mukuntuweap National
Monument, Utah, approximately fifteen miles for the fiscal year 1917,
$15,000. [Approved September 8, 1916. 39 Stat. 801-818].
The U. S. National Park Service was authorized by Congressional Act of
August 25, 1916, but it was not actually established until May, 1917.
Ever since the passage of the National Monument Act of June 8, 1906,
national monuments had been accumulating without adequate supervision.
The need for an agency to handle national parks and national monuments
was becoming urgent. The bill, as passed, created the National Park
Service “To promote and regulate the use of the Federal Areas known as
National Parks, Monuments and Reservations by such means and measures as
conform to the fundamental purposes of said parks, monuments and
reservations, which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural
and historic objects and the wild life therein, and to provide for the
enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave
them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”
Albright had joined Secretary Lane’s staff in 1913 and had been assigned
to deal with the parks and monuments. When the National Park Service was
established, Stephen T. Mather of California was appointed director,
April 19, 1917 and Albright was named his assistant. Because of illness,
Mather did not assume his duties until March, 1918. and Albright served
as acting director.
In the meantime, _The Salt Lake Tribune_ had sent another auto
pathfinding tour led by W. D. Rishel to the Grand Canyon, starting
August 6, 1916. It reached Kanab in two days and spent three more going
to North Rim and back to Kanab. From here, it headed for Hurricane and
Zion. At Pipe Springs, the cavalcade met a railroad party in a large
White bus going to North Rim (August 13). This party included
representatives of the Union Pacific and the Oregon Short Line
railroads, together with those of other travel agencies. The expedition
shortly preceded the consolidation of the two railway systems
represented, and the agents were scouting the possibilities for railroad
traffic in the region. They had left the railroad at Lund by bus and
traveled via Hurricane to Pipe Springs where they met Rishel’s jaded
eight-car cavalcade.
The next day they drove through the Kaibab to Bright Angel Point on the
North Rim; spent the following day sight-seeing and then drove back to
Kanab, Hurricane and Rockville (August 16), where they held a meeting in
the evening. The youngsters of Rockville saw their first auto bus and
many of them had a ride. As on Governor Spry’s first visit to Rockville
(October 12, 1913), the local people took a holiday and many accompanied
the party next day into Zion Canyon. After visiting in the canyon until
noon, the party drove to St. George where they enjoyed a feast of Dixie
fruit. The next day they held a meeting in Cedar City and then returned
to the railroad at Lund.
D. S. Spencer, Union Pacific Railroad Passenger Agent, informed the
writer that the trip had been sponsored by the railroads and that
Governor Spry and Road Commissioner Lunt had been induced to go along
for consultation on road development. Governor Spry promised all
possible support if the railroads would undertake tourist traffic
development. Spencer further explained that the Union Pacific had
profited from the experience of Edward H. Harriman, the noted railroad
capitalist, who had built a spur to West Yellowstone, thereby greatly
increasing his long-haul traffic to San Francisco. Carl R. Gray,
Harriman’s successor as president of the Union Pacific, recognized
similar possibilities in tourist traffic to Zion and Grand Canyon.
Sometime that fall, Douglas White designated the route from Los Angeles
to Salt Lake via Las Vegas, St. George and Cedar City, now generally
traversed by Highway 91, as the Arrowhead Route. The next year, Charles
H. Bigelow of Los Angeles, was instrumental in organizing the Arrowhead
Trail Association with J. H. Manderfield of Salt Lake City as president,
and Joseph S. Snow of St. George, vice-president. It functioned for many
years to promote road development.
Frederick Vining Fisher, a Methodist minister of Ogden, Utah, came to
Salt Lake City in 1915 to lecture and show slides of California to
advertise the Panama Pacific International Exposition. He had ministered
in Ogden for some years prior to 1912, but his attention had never been
called to Zion Canyon. One day at lunch at the University of Utah, a
student said to him, “Mr. Fisher, your pictures last night were fine,
but you have not seen the best.” Surprised, Fisher then wormed the story
of Zion Canyon out of the lad. He was at once eager to visit the canyon,
and in September, 1916, while traveling to St. George with Apostle
Anthony W. Ivins, of the Latter-day Saints Church, to attend a local
conference, visited the scenic area, took pictures and made slides which
he thereafter used in lectures throughout the country.
Afterwards, Fisher induced Warren Cox, hotel proprietor of St. George,
to take him to the Grand Canyon at the lower end of Toroweap Valley, Mt.
Trumbull, where he took interesting pictures. Then, as Fisher recalls,
Cox dared him “to cross the untrod wilderness one hundred miles” to
Kaibab and North Rim. After they had explored the Kaibab with its
endless herds, they camped with Jim Owens, U. S. Government hunter, for
three days, vacationing and taking pictures. From North Rim, they went
to Cedar City where they met Ivins, who in the meantime had obtained a
team from his Enterprise ranch and who took Fisher up Cedar Canyon to
Cedar Breaks where more pictures were taken. Upon returning to Cedar
City, Cox accompanied Fisher to Rockville where he left him.
Bishop David Hirschi’s son, Claud, took Fisher and a friend, Bingham, up
Zion Canyon where Fisher got the greatest thrill of his life. They
decided to name the scenic points as they went along. Three peaks that
Hirschi thought looked like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they called the
_Three Patriarchs_. The boys of the party stopped at the big loop in the
river and looked at the pillars of rock on the inside point. When Fisher
asked why they were delaying the boys replied they were waiting for an
organist to play the _Great Organ_. They coined several other names not
now in use, but after reaching the Narrows and starting back, Hirschi
espied a great white precipice gleaming in the afternoon sun, framed by
the pass between Angels Landing and the Great Organ. He said. “Oh,
Doctor, look quick, what is that?” Overwhelmed, Fisher replied, “Never
have I seen such a sight before. It is by all odds America’s
masterpiece. Boys, I have looked for this mountain all my life but I
never expected to find it in this world. This mountain is the Great
White Throne.”[94]
The money appropriated September 8, 1916, for a wagon road in Zion had
to be spent before July 1, 1917. An engineer, W. O. Tufts, was
dispatched from Washington, D.C. to look into the matter. After
preliminary exploration, a survey was made, plans outlined, material
procured and workmen engaged. By November 1, construction on the road
was begun, starting at the boundary and working up the canyon. About the
same time, convicts were building a road from La Verkin to Springdale.
By the summer of 1917, a passable road led into Zion Canyon.
Douglas White, zealous promoter of Utah’s scenic riches, urged Albright
to come west and visit Zion Canyon with him in the summer of 1917. In
September, he met him in Los Angeles and they went to Lund, Utah, by
train and over to Cedar City by auto, where they met Road Commissioner
Henry W. Lunt and Mr. R. A. Thorley, a Cedar City stockman. The next
morning Albright, White and Thorley, in a touring car driven by Chauncey
Parry, started south over the “perfectly terrible roads” and reached the
Wylie Camp in Zion in the afternoon. At Rockville, they met David
Hirschi, bishop of the village. The next day, in the words of Albright:
We went as far up Mukuntuweap Canyon as possible. We watched the cable
operate from the rim of Zion to the floor. We hiked through to the
Narrows and back again. That night we saw a full moon light up the
canyon and the next morning I was up early enough to see the sunlight
creep down from the top of the domes and spires to the valley floor. I
was overwhelmed by the loveliness of the valley and the beauty of the
canyon walls and was sure that the area was of national park caliber.
Albright faced two troublesome local problems: elimination of grazing in
the canyon and keeping narrow-tired wagons off the new road. He
conferred with Bishop Hirschi, who suggested a conference with the local
people concerned. At the conference, Albright recorded:
... cooperation of the local people was cheerfully extended, and the
orders were issued soon after and were generally obeyed, with the
result that the grazing was stopped and the shrubs and wild flowers in
the canyon began to come back. I shall always remember with keenest
delight my early association with those good Mormon people, who,
without knowing what a national park was, cooperated so fully in
executing orders that brought them real hardship.[95]
After the contractors finished the Zion road, equipment and other
government property was left in care of Walter Ruesch of Springdale,
whose home had been used as headquarters by Tufts. Albright interviewed
Ruesch and retained him in charge. This led to Ruesch’s appointment as
first custodian of the Monument and later as first acting superintendent
of the Park. Albright enjoyed recounting his first introduction to
Ruesch by Bishop Hirschi, who told him “what a fine character Mr. Ruesch
was and how hard he worked, but cautioned me that he had one terrible
habit. Over and over again he emphasized the habit. Finally, almost
terror-stricken, I asked him what the bad habit was, and he said, ‘He
swears.’”
When Horace Albright and Douglas White left Zion, they called upon the
new Governor (Simon Bamberger), whom they asked to continue the convict
labor on the road from Cedar City to Zion. The story goes that the
Governor had driven over this road and found it pretty rough. Besides,
the dugway up the Hurricane Fault had cost much more than he had
expected. The proposals of White and Albright aroused his wrath. Jumping
to his feet, the Governor pounded his desk and shouted, “I build no more
roads to rocks!” As a matter of fact, road improvement was interrupted
for the time being; World War I was on and interest lagged, not to be
revived until 1920, when it was nearly time for a new governor to take
over the state administration.
From Salt Lake City Albright wired Director Mather, who was still in
California and had not yet assumed office, urging him to visit southern
Utah, and giving him a glowing account of what he had seen. Mather did
not reply at once but later wrote that he thought Albright must have
fallen into the hands of some chamber of commerce directors or had been
given some very potent drink, for he had never heard of such a country
and found it difficult to believe it existed.
During the next winter in Washington, D.C., Albright toyed with the idea
of changing the name of the monument from Mukuntuweap to Zion and was
urged to do so by Douglas White. Secretary Lane approved and the Utah
congressional delegation concurred. Albright prepared a proclamation
changing the name and enlarging the monument to one hundred and twenty
square miles, which President Wilson signed March 18, 1918.
Other Utah scenic areas, including Cedar Breaks, Bryce Canyon and Wayne
Wonderland, all profited by the publicity accorded Zion and the Grand
Canyon. S. A. Halterman of Parowan, Utah, took the first automobile to
Cedar Breaks via the wagon road in Parowan Canyon. In 1920, he piloted
Senator Smoot and others over the same route to see the Breaks. By 1921,
he was planning regular weekly trips for tourists during the summer.
Iron County spent about $12,000 that year to improve the road.
On August 25, 1918, Oliver J. Grimes of Salt Lake City, published an
article in _The Salt Lake Tribune_, describing “Utah’s New Wonderland,
Bryce’s Canyon,” which stimulated additional interest in southern Utah’s
scenic wonderland. During that summer, LeRoy Jeffers, an eastern writer,
visited Bryce Canyon and published an article entitled, “The Temple of
the Gods in Utah” in the _Scientific American_ of October 5, 1918. He
approached Bryce from North Rim of Grand Canyon, from which he says, “we
made a rapid run through the yellow pine and aspen forest of the Kaibab
Plateau—crossed the burning sands of the Kanab which nestles verdantly
among the vermillion cliffs of southern Utah. We had come eighty to
eighty-five miles before sundown and were ready for a similar trip to
Panguitch on the following day.” He gave directions for reaching Bryce
via Marysvale and Panguitch; described the wonders of the scenery and
published four pictures.
When Albright read the article, he recalled that he had heard of Bryce
Canyon when he was at Zion and made inquiries about the feasibility of
establishing it as a national monument. He was temporarily blocked
because it was a part of a national forest. However, it was placed on
the agenda for later consideration. Albright later made up his mind that
Bryce Canyon belonged in the National Park System, but Director Mather
did not at first agree and toyed with the idea of a system of state
parks to supplement the national system. Bryce, he considered, would
make a keystone around which other state parks could be clustered.
However, when the Utah governor and state legislature rejected his view
and insisted that Bryce Canyon, Cedar Breaks and Wayne Wonderland were
of national park caliber, he yielded and when later he saw these
marvels, was delighted that he had done so.
Cedar City was preparing to cope with the growing traffic. It was
apparent that the town was the strategic point for those wishing to
visit southern Utah via the railroad and auxiliary bus lines. Randall L.
Jones returned to his native Cedar City in 1912 as an architect, and
drew plans for a modern hotel, later called El Escalante. The local
chamber of commerce backed him and work was started in 1918. It was,
however, a major undertaking for a small community and was not completed
for several years. His wide travel experience and his realization of the
necessity of good highways as well as good hotels in the development of
scenic attractions, made him the logical choice at a later date as
liaison officer for the Union Pacific Railroad.
Mather and Albright were both in the West during the summer of 1919, but
neither had opportunity to visit southern Utah. However, Albright had
conferred with Senator Smoot several times on the question of creating
Zion Canyon a national park. Mather finally yielded to their persuasion
even though he had not yet seen it. Albright went ahead with plans,
drafted legislation, prepared reports and presented arguments to the
congressional committees. Boundary lines of the park were based upon
information furnished by Richard A. Thorley of Cedar City and Leo A.
Snow of St. George.
Smoot had previously introduced a bill in the Senate (S. B. 8282) to
change the name of Mukuntuweap National Monument to Little Zion National
Park, but no action was taken. On May 20, 1919, he introduced another
bill (S. B. 425, Vol. 58:9640) to establish the Zion National Park in
the State of Utah. It passed the Senate a month later and was sent to
the House Committee on Public Lands the next day. It was reported in the
House, August 26, after which amendments delayed its passage until
October 6. The bill was finally signed in the House, November 15, and in
the Senate, November 19, 1919, and sent to the President, who signed it
that same day.
Mather was in Denver at the time of its passage, attending a conference
of national park superintendents, at which Walter Ruesch was also
present as custodian of Zion National Monument. When word reached him,
Mather immediately decided to make his long delayed visit to Zion. His
enthusiasm was immediate and thereafter he gave personal attention to
its affairs.
The dedication took place, September 15, 1920, in the presence of a
large assembly. St. George and Cedar City bands furnished music.
Speakers included Director Mather, Senator Reed Smoot, ex-Governor
William Spry, C. Clarence Neslen, mayor of Salt Lake City, and Heber J.
Grant, president of the Mormon Church, representing Governor Simon
Bamberger. Mather reviewed the history of the Park, Mayor Neslen
foretold its future, and other speakers promised support for its
development.
Travel into Zion was slowly increasing. The number of people entering in
1920 nearly doubled that of the previous year (from 1914 to 3692). By
1930 it had increased to more than 55,000 and for a decade thereafter
registered proportionate gains. Governor Bamberger in 1920 sent Randall
Jones to Denver as Utah’s delegate to the Park-to-Park Highway
conference, where plans were laid to coordinate the local movements for
good roads into a park-to park system.
Among the interesting parties that came in 1921 was a tour sponsored by
the _Brooklyn Eagle_, which took in the scenic loop to Bryce Canyon as a
side trip. Mather came again, bringing with him Emerson Hough, eminent
novelist, and Edmund Heller, naturalist. During that year a road
passable for autos was built from Cedar City up Cedar Canyon to the
Breaks, but it was excessively steep and dangerous.
In response to pressure from Utah to undertake development of the scenic
south, in 1921 Carl R. Gray, president of the Union Pacific Railroad
Company, determined to investigate personally the agricultural
possibilities of contributing areas. His party left Lund and examined
the farming areas around Cedar, Parowan and Fillmore and interviewed
farmers and livestock men. Mr. Gray was favorably impressed with the
stability of the communities and the quality of the people. As a result,
a railroad spur was built to Fillmore a year later.
The following summer Gray and his party made the rounds of the scenic
areas. The Union Pacific was preparing to take over the Salt Lake Route
and was further investigating the resources of the area. According to
Randall Jones, Gray offered to buy the El Escalante Hotel in Cedar City
and the next year a spur of the railroad was run from Lund to Cedar
City, justified on the basis of anticipated traffic from livestock,
agriculture, iron ore and tourist travel.
With a rail-head at Cedar City, June 27, 1923, the Union Pacific
organized a subsidiary Utah Parks Company, took over the El Escalante
Hotel, set up a large bus station at Cedar City, purchased the Wylie
tourist camp interests in Zion Canyon and the Parry transportation route
from Cedar City to Zion. In 1917 under National Park permit to the
National Park Transportation and Camping Company, W. W. Wylie, who
formerly operated in Yellowstone Park, had set up a tent camp in Zion
Canyon and North Rim in cooperation with two of the Parry Brothers,
Gronway and Chauncey, who had undertaken to provide transportation for
visitors. The Parry Brothers closed in 1918 at the time of World War I,
resumed business in 1920 and worked out a ten-day round trip for
visitors from Cedar City via Zion, Kaibab, North Rim, Bryce and
Panguitch back to Cedar City. This round trip with variations was
maintained until 1923, when the Utah Parks Company acquired part, and in
1927, all of the Parry and Wylie interests.
Southern Utah scenic attractions were spotlighted with the visit of
President Warren G. Harding to Zion Canyon, June 27, 1923, en route
across country toward Alaska, a journey from which the President was not
to return alive. The report of his trip was spread throughout the
nation. Everything had been planned in advance. A group of seventy-five
local Paiute Indians in gaudy attire was conspicuously at hand. The
party was transferred from the station to twenty-four automobiles and
started south over the newly smoothed earth and gravel roads leading to
Zion Canyon. The caravan, including the cars of many local leaders,
stretched out at least five miles and the dust much farther.
A stop was made at Anderson’s Ranch where the best of the Dixie peaches
and other fruits were sampled. At Toquerville hundreds had congregated
to honor the first President of the United States to visit their section
of the country. Harding spoke from a flag-draped platform and then the
procession went on, passed through Rockville, where the streets were
lined with onlookers, to Springdale where it was welcomed by a fife and
drum corps led by John Dennett and O. D. Gifford playing many of the
tunes they had once used to welcome Brigham Young on his journeys.
At the entrance to the Park, they were welcomed by mounted rangers and
by an orchestra and chorus from Dixie College at St. George. At the
Wylie Camp, they were cheered by five hundred local people and tourists
and serenaded by the college musicians during lunch. After the meal, the
caravan proceeded to the end of the road at the Grotto campground, and
twenty-four men, including the President, went horseback two miles
farther to the foot of the cable. The caravan then retraced its route to
Cedar City, where in the evening, both President and Mrs. Harding gave
short talks to the assembled multitude before bidding farewell and
boarding their train. The trip had been unmarred by trouble of any kind
and seemed to have been immensely enjoyed.
Before leaving Washington, President Harding had signed a proclamation
making Bryce Canyon a national monument, but had left it under the
direction of the U. S. Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture.
The transfer to the Department of Interior was to come later. The Forest
Service went ahead with plans for its development.
By 1923, passable auto roads reached Zion, Kaibab, North Rim, Bryce
Canyon, and Cedar Breaks, but some of the routes were circuitous and it
required a great deal of extra travel to make the loop. Thus the road
from La Verkin to Zion had to be retraced in order to go from Hurricane
to Pipe Springs, while to reach Cedar Breaks a special side trip was
necessary from either Parowan or Cedar City, and to get back to Cedar
City from Bryce required a routing through Panguitch and Paragonah.
Popular demand was growing for shorter and more direct routes as well as
for better roads.
During Governor Bamberger’s administration, (1917-1921), a bond issue of
$6,000,000 was earmarked to build a concrete highway south to St.
George, but funds were exhausted before Provo was reached. Under
Governor Charles R. Mabey (1921-1925), gravel roads were stressed in
place of the more expensive concrete, and a gasoline tax to replace
state and county road taxes was enacted into law, but the road to St.
George had never been completed. A solution was proposed in 1924 at a
meeting attended by G. G. Armstrong, Lafayette Hanchett, A. W. Ivins.
George A. Smith, W. J. Halloran and Randall Jones, altruistic Utah
citizens. The scheme proposed that each of the southern counties be
given a quota of $5,000 and Salt Lake City, $10,000, to be raised
through the chambers of commerce. This money was used by the State Road
Commission to match federal funds for building the road over the black
ridge between Ash Creek and Pintura in Washington County.
Federal aid for roads had been available since 1916, but complications
between state and federal rights and prerogatives delayed cooperation.
By 1923, the Federal Bureau of Public Roads and the State Road
Commission were both studying the problem of linking the scenic points
of southern Utah and northern Arizona. B. J. Finch of the Bureau of
Public Roads and Howard C. Means, Utah State Road Engineer, investigated
the possibilities of a short-cut from Zion eastward toward Mt. Carmel or
Kanab. In early June, 1923, they arrived at Orderville and rode
horseback with two local guides along the east rim of Zion seeking a
possible outlet. From study of topographic sheets, they had already
conceived a possible route up Parunuweap Canyon. Failing here, they
drove around to Zion Canyon via Kanab, Pipe Springs and Hurricane.
Walter Ruesch, acting Superintendent of Zion, suggested that they confer
with John Winder, the man best acquainted with the “lay of the land” who
already had ideas on the subject.
In 1880, when only ten years old, Winder had climbed the old Indian
trail out of Zion where he later (1896) built the first East Rim Trail.
He remembered that “old man Newman” of Rockville had always contended
that timber could be brought down from Cedar Mountain if a road could be
bored through the cliffs of Zion. Winder had explored every outlet and
was convinced that there was only one possibility: a road up Pine Creek
to the cliff and a tunnel opening in the Great Arch and coming out into
the canyon above the cliff.
Means and Finch found Winder running logs down the cable. He immediately
suggested the Pine Creek route and tunnel. The next day, the three men
studied Pine Creek and the possible route up to the Arch. Winder then
took them horseback to his ranch on the East Rim, via East Rim Trail.
They walked down Pine Creek afoot to the top of the cliff. Encountering
difficulties of grade and outlet at the top, they studied alternative
possibilities and finally evolved the route now followed by the present
road and tunnel.
_The Salt Lake Tribune_ (June 25 and 26, 1923) published a sensational
report of their investigations, but there was much skepticism in and out
of official circles. In the end, however, the Pine Creek route was
finally selected because it traversed the National Park, where federal
funds would be available without being matched by the state.
Congressman Louis C. Crampton of Michigan, chairman of the House
Committee for the National Park Service, took a personal interest in the
route and tunnel and sponsored the appropriations that made it possible.
During the planning and construction of this superb highway, which was
to become an attraction second only to the canyon itself, Crampton made
several trips to the park to watch its progress.
Since it was realized that the Pine Creek route would be years in
building, several short-cuts were provided. A road connecting Cedar
Breaks with Highway 89 on the summit between Hatch and Glendale was
opened in 1923 so that parties making the loop could return to Cedar
City via Cedar Breaks instead of Panguitch and Paragonah. In 1924,
another cutoff was made from Rockville to the plains leading to Pipe
Springs, thus eliminating the long trip down river to Hurricane and
back. This road was firmly financed by a contribution of $5,000 from
Stephen T. Mather.
In the Park itself, a road was surveyed from the cable up-canyon and was
finished to the Temple of Sinawava in the spring of 1925. From that
point on to the Narrows where the walls close in to leave room only for
the river, a foot path, one mile in length, was constructed.
Simultaneously three other trails were constructed: one to the West Rim,
one to the top of Lady Mountain (Mount Zion) and one along the east
bench under the cliffs from Wylie Grove in both directions. The next
year, a trail to the top of Angel Landing was constructed and two
suspension bridges across the river were installed and the trails opened
to Emerald Pool.
[Illustration: A camp fire circle at Bryce Canyon.
_Courtesy Union Pacific Railroad._]
[Illustration: A view of Hurricane (1929).
_Courtesy U. S. National Park Service._]
[Illustration: Members of International Geological Congress on tour
of Parks at Bryce Canyon, August 21, 1933. A. M. Woodbury, guide
(seated, 5th from left): K. E. Weight, Naturalist at Bryce
(Standing, 3rd from left): Dee Chamberlin and Chauncey Parry,
drivers (standing right).]
When the Utah Parks Company took over the Wylie camp in Zion, it was
planned to construct a large hotel, but Director Mather firmly refused
permission. He finally agreed to the lodge and cabin system, now serving
the Park tourists. El Escalante Hotel in Cedar City was ready by the
season of 1924. New accommodations were under construction in Bryce
Canyon and Cedar Breaks. Reports from elated visitors, improvement of
roads and accommodations and consistent advertising all resulted in
vastly increased travel. The tourist traffic jumped from 8400 in 1924 to
16,817 in 1925. About half that number visited North Rim and presumably
Bryce and Cedar Breaks. The tide was in full flow. For the season of
1925 new tourist busses with demountable tops for viewing the
spectacular canyon walls were purchased. Busses, however, served only a
small part of the traveling public, for America was on wheels and the
roads were now such that auto traffic could roll in easily. The Grotto
Campground was enlarged, equipped, and supplied with water. The survey
of the Pine Creek road and tunnel was completed and Wayne Wonderland was
dedicated.
Richard Evans was borrowed from the U.S. Geological Survey and served as
acting superintendent during the tourist season for two years, while
Walter Ruesch remained in charge during the balance of the year. Two
permanent park rangers assisted Ruesch, Donald J. Jolley, appointed
August 1, 1920, and Harold Russell, who had worked summers from 1920 to
1923 and who received permanent appointment in October of the latter
year. All three were closely associated with developments and
improvements in the canyon. In 1927, E. T. Scoyen was appointed
permanent superintendent.
The Nature Guide Service in Yosemite and Yellowstone had proved so
successful that it was decided to extend such services to other parks.
It was initiated in Zion by the writer, June 19, 1925, and continued to
mid-September. There was no precedent to follow, but the work gradually
grew through succeeding summers into the Naturalist Service. During the
next five summers, museum collections of natural history specimens,
pioneer relics, and library books gradually accumulated and a museum was
established in 1928. Information concerning the history, flora, fauna
and geology of the canyon was collated. Lectures at the camp ground, at
the Lodge, and the guided trips along the Narrows trail were developed
and pictures and lantern slides were shown. In 1929, a mimeographed
publication, the _Zion-Bryce Nature Notes_, was undertaken and a Natural
History Association was organized to handle publications.
In 1926, daily bus service was established from Cedar City around the
loop to Zion, North Rim and Bryce. The East and West Rim trails were
reconstructed with better grades and locations. The West Rim Trail was
dedicated at a ceremony held at the time of the visit of Crown Prince
Gustavus and Princess Louise of Sweden, on July 11. A new road was
constructed between Rockville and the Park boundary and the proposed
Parunuweap road was surveyed.
In 1927, the Utah Parks Company took over the Wylie Camps at North Rim
and the bus service from the Parry Brothers, and a lodge and cabins were
constructed on the brink of North Rim at Bright Angel Point, so arranged
that the Great View into Grand Canyon could be seen from the windows.
This was completed in 1928.
In the meantime, Bryce Canyon was being developed by the Utah Parks
Company under the direction of the Forest Service, in the expectation
that eventually it would be transferred to the Park Service. The lodge
and cabins were built some distance from the rim so that the beauties of
the canyon could be preserved to best advantage. When Mather yielded to
pressure to allow Bryce Canyon to become a national park if all private
holdings were eliminated, Congress passed a bill, June 7, 1924,
providing for the establishment of a Utah National Park upon the
fulfillment of Mather’s conditions. The principal difficulty was that
the State of Utah owned a section of land at a strategic point on the
rim of the canyon. It took four years to fulfill the conditions, and
before they were arranged Congress passed a revised bill. February 25,
1928, nearly doubling the size of the area and changing its name to
Bryce Canyon.
When it became certain that the conditions would be fulfilled, the Union
Pacific arranged for a large excursion (September 14-17, 1928). The
party included: Carl R. Gray, president of the railroad; Stephen T.
Mather, Director of the U. S. National Park Service, and Horace M.
Albright, his assistant; Henry H. Blood, Chairman of the Utah State Road
Commission (later Governor of Utah, 1933-1941); Congressmen Don B.
Colton from Utah, and Philip D. Swing of California; Mayor John F.
Bowman of Salt Lake City; Charles F. Burke, U. S. Commissioner of Indian
Affairs; Thomas H. McDonald, Chief of the U. S. Bureau of Public Roads;
Heber J. Grant, President of the Mormon Church, and his counselor,
Anthony W. Ivins; representatives of the press, chambers of commerce and
other organizations, and a host of lesser officials and advisers,
including the writer.
After spending the first night in Zion, the party journeyed via Pipe
Springs to the Kaibab and North Rim, where on September 15, 1928, the
new Kaibab Trail and the Grand Canyon Lodge were dedicated. The next day
the visitors reached Bryce Canyon where similar services were held in
the evening. Congressman Don B. Colton formally presented deeds of the
private land to Director Mather, who declared that the conditions having
been fulfilled, Bryce Canyon had become a National Park.
[Illustration: VIEW FROM ONE OF THE GALLERIES OF THE FAMOUS ZION-MT.
CARMEL TUNNEL.
From _UTAH—A guide To The State_. Utah WPA Writers Project.]
Thus the great scenic areas of southern Utah had finally been
established as national parks and monuments, adequate roads and travel
accommodations had been provided, and efforts had been made to give the
casual tourist a deeper appreciation of the natural treasures at his
disposal. Within the next few years many of the immediate projects for
facilitating travel through the Park area were completed. The bridge
across the Marble Gorge of Grand Canyon, a few miles below Lee’s Ferry,
was dedicated June 15, 1929.
The next year saw the official opening of the Zion-Mt. Carmel highway,
one of the most spectacular engineering feats in the history of
road-building. From the canyon floor the road turns to the east up Pine
Creek Canyon and spirals upward on a four-mile roadway to a tunnel
paralleling the face of the vertical cliffs for 5,613 feet. Five
galleries cut from the tunnel to the canyon wall offer the motorist
vantage points for viewing the awe-inspiring scenery. Construction
within the National Park cost $2,000,000; from the Park to Mt. Carmel a
state and federal project, also cut in great part from solid rock, cost
in excess of $500,000. Still later the road up the floor of Zion from
the checking station on the main highway was reconstructed and made a
modern oil-surfaced highway. Thereafter, until America’s entry into
World War II, each summer brought greater throngs of visitors into the
wonderland.
At long last the nation had awakened to the greatness of the gift nature
had bestowed upon it, and in future years unnumbered generations will
come to marvel at the wonders of the country which is southern Utah and
at the austere majesty of the Great White Throne—generations free from
the dread and superstition that made primitive races fear its unimagined
heights no less than its long shadows and dazzling brilliance in the
sun.
Symbol of Nature’s handiwork, this central and most magnificent of
Zion’s features still echoes the distant footfall of Spanish padre and
American Frontiersmen passing unwittingly by its dooryard; it is mindful
of the day when the first Mormon pioneer lifted uncomprehending eyes to
the solitude of its summit, and of that other day when religious fervor
called it Zion, the dwelling place of peace. Men have come, cutting
their trails, building their roads, roofing their shelters, dreaming
their dreams. The human tide around its base has ebbed and flowed,
according to human wont, but it remains serene, aloof, alone. It will be
so a thousand years from now.