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The typical visitors to the Grand Canyon approach the rim and are overwhelmed by the dimensions of the panorama that opens before them. It’s too much for the brain to hold and comprehend. To my mind, the only way to even begin to comprehend what this “ditch” is all about is to get down into it, to touch the rocks which are a timeline of geologic history, feel the thermoclines and the heat rise as one descends, step across the dry streams and imagine boulders scouring the land, swept along by the floods that occasionally rush down the canyons.
The debate among geologists about how the Canyon was formed has, in recent years, settled around the theory that four million years ago, a dome on the earth’s crust called the Kaibab Upwarp lifted higher than the surrounding terrain. As the theory goes, the Colorado River cut down through the rising landscape, exposing layers of rock ranging from around 1.7 billion years old at the river near Phantom Ranch to “only” 270 million years old in the Kaibab Formation near the South Rim Visitor Center. But again, it’s only a theory.
Early European-American explorers who descended into the canyon either on ancient trails or on boats, found evidence of mineral wealth or scientific mystery too promising to ignore. Their quest for riches or understanding led men and women to take extraordinary risks in an unforgiving land. And the rich geology of the Canyon placed it smack in the center of the Cold War while bringing inspiration and technical training to those who would walk on the moon.
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Topographer Francois Matthes at Cape Royal - 1904
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Credit: Photographer: Unknown; Grand Canyon National Park Museum Collection, GRCA 04453
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Credit: NPS/Ted Barone 2024
In 1902, the year of Major Powell’s death, the US Geological Survey initiated its most important topographic survey to date, a comprehensive survey of the Grand Canyon region. Francois Matthes led the expedition, supported by Richard Evans. Matthes described his job as “commissioned with the survey of a hole in the ground.”
The survey was conducted entirely by land navigation, taking 38 months over a period of 21 years. Their results were published in 1927 by the USGS and the National Park Service as the Topographic Map of the Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. It served as the basis for all subsequent USGS and NPS mapping efforts until the 1960s when aerial-based survey methods superseded the Matthes-Evans field data.
Naturalist Eddie McKee at the Yavapai Museum - 1932
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Credit: Grand Canyon National Park Museum GRCA 09370
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Credit: Photograph: NPS/Ted Barone - 2023
Park Naturalist Edwin Mckee was a seminal figure in Grand Canyon history. He became Park Naturalist in early 1929 when the previous naturalist, Glen Sturdevant, drowned crossing the Colorado River. In 1940, he was transferred to Yosemite National Park, but instead he resigned and became assistant director at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. He also served on the faculty at the University of Arizona, eventually becoming head of the Department of Geology. Both as a park naturalist and university professor, he was responsible for many ground-breaking geologic studies, most notably his Ancient Landscapes of the Grand Canyon Region (1931) which experienced 30 revised printings until 1985.
Vertical Head Shaft - Orphan Uranium Mine - c. 1958
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Credit: Photograph: R.S. Leding Grand Canyon National Park Museum GRCA 03440
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Credit: Photograph: NPS/Ted Barone - 2023
In 1951, amidst a growing Cold War, prospectors discovered radioactive anomalies near copper ores on the Orphan Mine claim. Shortly after, Atomic Energy Commission geologists examined the site and discovered high-grade uranium.The Golden Crown Mining Company bought the ownership and mineral rights of the Orphan Mine in 1953. They built an aerial tramway to move ore from the mine to the rim and trucked it 200 miles to Tuba City on the Navajo Reservation. Eventually, ore was loaded onto railroad cars, freighted on the Grand Canyon tourist rail line to Williams, and shipped to a mill near Grants, New Mexico. Radioactive uranium ore samples were available for sale to tourists at the Inn next to the mine operation. Waste rock was sold to the NPS for road ballast.
Proposed hotel at the Orphan Mine - 1961
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Credit: Grand Canyon National Park GRCA 06929A
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Credit: Photograph: NPS/Ted Barone - 2023
Western Gold Mining Company, which had merged with Golden Crown in 1956, determined that the uranium ore body extended beyond the private property boundary into the national park. But federal mining laws disallowed mining within the boundaries of the park. Western Mining sought to receive exemptions to the laws and gained support from both of Arizona’s U.S. Senators and local tribal leaders. But the approval process moved very slowly.
As a publicity stunt to stir outrage among the public, Western Gold proposed to build an 18 story, 600 room hotel flowing over the edge of the rim. It worked. Letters poured in against the hotel, but not against the mine and in 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed the Orphan Mine Bill allowing mining under public land for a specified time.
In 1987, the NPS removed most physical remnants of the mine but contamination from low-level radiation remained.
Neil Armstrong on the South Kaibab Trail - 1964
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Credit: Collection of Kevin Schindler, Lowell Observatory
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Credit: Photograph: NPS/Ted Barone - 2023
In 1964, to inspire a group of jet pilots, NASA brought three groups of Apollo astronauts to the Grand Canyon to learn about geological principles and techniques, and how to read the rocks and use that knowledge on flights to the moon. Eleven of the twelve Apollo astronauts who set foot on the moon, including the first human on the moon, Neil Armstrong, participated in the training. Geologist and naturalist Eddie McKee briefed the astronauts at the Yavapai Geology Museum.
Apollo Astronauts Ride the Bright Angel Trail - 1964
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Credit: Collection of Kevin Schindler, Lowell Observatory
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Credit: Photograph: NPS/Ted Barone - 2023
The astronauts got practice reading geological maps and identifying topographic features from aerial photos. The astronauts received special permission to use geology pickhammers to chip away rocks.The group hiked down the South Kaibab Trail, spent the night at Phantom Ranch and hiked up the Bright Angel Trail the next day. Some rode mules from Havasupai (“Indian”) Garden but some more competitive personalities like Alan Shepard decided to walk out.
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