“Little Mexico” and Creating Community

Men standing in front of the Grand Canyon Railway.

NPS

Different communities worked on the infrastructure at Grand Canyon throughout its history, including many facilities and railways. Indigenous communities built many buildings designed by Mary Colter. Hopi people did most of this work and their traditional structures served as inspiration for Colter’s work. As the canyon became more of a tourist destination, the Fred Harvey Company and the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF) needed to build a railroad and other buildings, such as hotels. Black Americans cut a lot of the lumber used for these projects from the Northern Arizona forests, and immigrant communities originally from Mexico built much of the park’s infrastructure. These individuals did not just build the structures of Grand Canyon National Park, but they also built communities of their own.

A Navajo man works on the railroad, ca. 1944.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS / JACK DELANO

The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway finished the railroad from Williams, Arizona to the Grand Canyon in 1901. The AT&SF was one of many companies that built tracks across the West, connecting states through their railways. Hispanic individuals represented much of the workforce to build these tracks. Laborers immigrating from Mexico made up a large workforce across the country. Indigenous people, in particular individuals from the Navajo Nation, also worked on tracks. This mostly occurred throughout New Mexico, Northern Arizona, and parts of California. While AT&SF provided reliable employment, wages were low and living conditions inhumane.

Between 1919 and 1929, AT&SF needed to build more infrastructure inside the park. This was a response to the increased number of tourists the trains were bringing to the canyon. The company contracted Robert E. McKee, General Contractor, Inc. to oversee the project. AT&SF and McKee relied on the labor of immigrants from Mexico, but they did not provide sufficient benefits for these individuals.

AT&SF and McKee provided no housing or food, which was normally customary for rural projects of this nature. Immigrant laborers who worked on the South Rim were on their own to create a sustainable life for themselves. The National Park Service provided temporary shelter permits. The community created their own basic shelters organized in camps. Abandoned boxcars and tents often housed many Mexican laborers and their families. This community formed just south of Grand Canyon Village and was dubbed by some as, “Little Mexico.”

Bright Angel Hotel lunch counter, ca. 1915.

NPS

AT&SF and McKee not only did not provide housing, but they also did not offer to feed their employees. Bright Angel Hotel had a lunch counter, but most Mexican laborers did not eat there. A park ranger at the time assumed that the “lower class laborers” felt it was “too expensive” or “felt out of place.” The superintendent at the time wrote, “Indeed, it would not be very pleasant for the tourists stopping at Bright Angel to go into the counter and be forced to ‘fall in’ with a lot of Mexican laborers just off the job.”¹ This perspective on the social standing of Mexican immigrant laborers only exacerbated the inequality in access to housing and food.

Park staff noticed the poor treatment and living conditions of the community and tried to rectify the situation. In 1926 the park’s Acting Superintendent, George Bolton, wrote a letter to the AT&SF’s Chief Engineer W.K. Etter.

Bolton said, “It seems to me personally that a contractor when he is figuring on a job in an isolated place, should take into consideration the taking care of his labor gang. . . They should take care of or provide a place where everyone that works for them can be assured food or shelter.”²

Utilities map showing the new waterline to Mexican immigrant housing at Grand Canyon, 1928

NPS

Because there are no photographs or maps of the original "Little Mexico," location, it is difficult to know exactly where this community lived. Writings from the superintendent at the time state that the community existed "on the southern edge of the railroad wye," putting the community near the present location of the Backcountry Information Center.³ In 1927 and 1928, AT&SF began building residence structures for their employees, including a dormitory building. They also ran a waterline to boxcar housing, and this map shows the approximate location of the "carbodies" houses.

Immigrants from Latin and South America continued to be forced into poor labor communities throughout the country. Many fought for labor rights throughout the early 1900s and even today. Hispanic Americans played an essential role in the labor movements in the following decades.

Despite the many challenges that Mexican laborers faced while living in Grand Canyon, many were able to form strong community bonds. The people of “Little Mexico” were able to physically create their own space at the canyon. Once they finished building infrastructure at the South Rim, it is likely that the Mexican American laborers dispersed and moved on to other employment opportunities. Mexican Americans at the Grand Canyon completed much of the infrastructure that we value today.

Citations and Sources:

¹ Reid, Jack. Historically Under-Represented Persons or Groups in the Grand Canyon Region. Report of Findings and Research Design, 1-7.
² Ibid.
³ Anderson, Michael F. Polishing the Jewel: An Administrative History of Grand Canyon National Park. Grand Canyon, AZ: Grand Canyon Association, 2000, 94. https://npshistory.com/publications/grca/adhi.pdf.

Garcilazo, Jeffrey Marcos. Traqueros : Mexican railroad workers in the United States, 1870 to 1930. Denton, TX: UNT Press, 2012.

Vargas, Zaragosa. American Latino Theme Study: Labor. National Park Service, 2013. https://www.nps.gov/articles/latinothemelabor.htm