![]() ![]() One of those would have initiated "a system of state parks, with especial reference to Bryce Canyon." This obviously didn't materialize, as Utah's state park system wasn't established until 1957.Ī few months later, Harding designated Bryce Canyon a national monument in what would ultimately become the last proclamation he ever issued before his death less than two months later, according to documents kept by the University of California, Santa Barbara's "The American Presidency Project." Charles Mabey outlined several laws he wanted passed during that year's legislative session. The Times Independent, a Utah newspaper at the time, reported in January of 1923 that Utah Gov. It seems that Bryce Canyon was destined for some type of protection by 1923, one way or another. He first introduced a bill seeking to establish what was called "Utah National Park" in November 1919, about 10 days before Zion National Park became the state's first national park. Reed Smoot also started trying to get Bryce Canyon designated as a national park around the same time tourists started flocking to the area. Humphrey to push for the area's preservation beginning in 1915. This area of the park helped inspire J.W. Tourists hike along the Comanche Trail under Sunset Point at Bryce Canyon National Park sometime between 19. The Syretts, meanwhile, moved to a spot outside of the park and opened Ruby's Inn, which is still in operation today. They also operated the Utah Parks Company, which bused visitors in from a railroad stop in Cedar City, per. Union Pacific acquired Tourist's Rest in 1923 and helped build a lodge near Sunset Point, according to historians. They constructed a 30-by-71-foot lodge called "Tourist's Rest" a year later, along with a handful of cabins and an outside dance floor. Park historians point out that a local couple, Ruby and Minnie Syrett, started to set up tents and supply meals for tourists in 1919. ![]() Within a few years, it was a popular attraction within the state. ![]() He was awarded a $50 appropriation in 1916 - about $1,500 in today's dollars - to improve a road in the area so the canyon rim could be more accessible by automobile. Forest Service's main headquarters in Washington. He started by taking photos and short motion pictures that he sent to the U.S. "It was sundown before I could be dragged from the canyon view," he wrote, adding that he came back the next morning to view it again and to "plan in my mind how this attraction could be made accessible to the public." He was transferred to a station in nearby Panguitch in 1915 and wrote that visiting what is now known as Sunset Point set off his desire to protect the area. Humphrey as the person "most responsible" for making the canyon a national park. Park historians wrote that Bryce helped build a seven-mile irrigation ditch and built a road in the area, leading to people calling it "Bryce's Canyon" - a name that would eventually stick.īut the story of how it ended up as a national park essentially began in the early 20th century. Multiple explorers either passed through the area or likely did in the 1700s and early 1800s, before Ebenezer Bryce and his family settled in 1875, joining a few families that moved to the area the year before. While Native Americans were known to live in the surrounding areas, about 12,000 years ago, the National Park Service points out that the earliest known human interaction with what is now known as Bryce Canyon dates back to the Fremont culture at about 200 A.D., with the Paiute Tribe occupying it for the first time around 1200 A.D. Its "distinctive" red rock hoodoos, spires and towers were formed first through the vast water that used to exist in the region, before these rocks were reshaped through the shifting of the earth, weathering and erosion over a long period of time into the splendor seen today, the U.S. The canyon contains "unusual scenic beauty, scientific interest and importance and it appears that the public interests will be promoted by reserving these areas with as much land as may be necessary for the proper protection thereof as a national monument," Harding wrote in his proclamation.īut the steps to get to that point began many years before Harding's proclamation and there were a few steps left before turning the canyon into the park that millions of people visit every year.īryce Canyon's unusual scenic beauty took millions of years to craft. Harding designated Bryce Canyon a national monument, putting it on track to become Utah's second national park almost five years later. history for KSL.com's Historic section.īRYCE CANYON - Thursday marks 100 years since U.S. Editor's note: This article is a part of a series reviewing Utah and U.S. ![]()
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