DAM: TUPUNGATO/SHUTTERSTOCK; CONDOR: DAVID CALHOUN/SHUTTERSTOCK
1928186919911956197119851922PresidentCalvinCoolidge
approvesconstructionof
BoulderDam(nowHoover
Dam).Completedin1936,itwas
theworld’slargesthydroelectric
damandconcretestructure.One-armed Civil War veteran
John Wesley Powell leads nine
men into the canyon via the
Colorado River in the earliest
recorded visit by nonnatives.
Onlysixcompletethejourney.Captive-bred California condors
are released to the wild after the
species is rescued from near
extinction. The first egg from a
reintroduced condor is laid in
Grand Canyon National Park. •Twoplanesmaneuvertoavoid
stormcloudsandcollidemidair
overtheGrandCanyon,claiming
128 lives.Theaccidenthelpsspur
publicoutcryfortighterflightrules,
leadingtotheFederalAviationAct.The Brady Bunch opens its third
season with a trip to the Grand
Canyon. The three-part episode
has several cliffhangers—amid
the actual cliffs—that include
the family getting locked in a jail
cell, and losing Bobby and Cindy
on a canyon trail.State Route 67, the sole access
to the canyon’s North Rim, is
designated an Arizona State
Scenic Road and National Forest
Scenic Byway. Open for only five
months from spring to autumn,
the highway is buried under
more than 9 feet of snow
during winter.Phantom Ranch is built under the
direction of architect Mary Elizabeth
Jane Colter (above). The historic
oasis is the only lodging below the
canyon rim and is built from wood and
native stone. Nestled beside Bright
Angel Creek, it can be reached only
via mule, on foot or by water.19371908THE COLORADO RIVER carved
the Grand Canyon more than
6 million years ago. Today some
20 , 000 people ride its rushing
waters past the canyon’s walls.Haldene “Buzz” Holmstrom
makes the first solo trip down
the Green and Colorado rivers
and through the Grand Canyon
in a handmade rowboat, traveling
1,100 miles in 52 days.NINETYPERCENT
ofvisitorsseethe
canyonfromtheSouth
Rim,whichisopenallyear.
TheNorthRimisaccessible
onlypartoftheyear
butpromisesaquieter
experience.President Theodore Roosevelt
makes the Grand Canyon a national
monument. “Let this great wonder
of nature remain as it now is,” he
declares. “You cannot improve on
it. But what you can do is keep it
for your children, your children’s
children, and all who come after
you, as the one great sight which
every American should see.”