Grand Canyon Area History

Known history of the area goes back to 10,500 years, where the first settlers are thought to be a culturla group of people known as the Anasazi, the ancestors of the modern pueblo peoples. Others cultures believed to inhabit the area are the Cohonina, The Sinagua, The Pai (people), The Hualapai (people of the pine trees), the Havasupai, (the people of the place that is green), the Paiutes (the water people), and the dineh (the people).

Spanish explorers came in 1540, in search of the fabled cities of Cibola. They travelled to the south rim of the Grand Canyon between Desert View and Moran Point. Three soldiers descended down into the canyon about one third of the way when they were force to come back up because of lack of water.

It is believed that the Hopi guides were reluctant to lead the soldiers to the river, since they must have known routes to the canyon floor, so no Eurpoeans visited the canyon for more than 200 years. In 1776, two Spanish priests, along with some Spanish soldiers went on an exploration of Southern Utah, and traveled the north rim of the Grand Canyon in Glen and Marble Canyons, seeking a route from Santa Fe to California.

It was in 1826 when explorer James Ohio Pattie, and a group of American trappers and mountain men were probably the next group of Europeans to reach the canyon, however, there is little documentation to support this theory. Since that time, the area has been explored by many missionaries, the War department, and numerous miners seeking everything from possible upriver navigations to the hopes of building good relations between the Native Ameircans and the White settlers.

Recent  history is the story of the disaster that happened in 1956. On the morning on June 30, two aircraft collided above the canyon while both were flying in unmonitored airspace, one was a TWA Lockhead Super Constellation, the other a United Airlines Douglas DC-7. The two aircraft left Los Angeles International Airport within 3 minutes of each other on eastbound transcontinental flights. The disaster killed all 128 passenger and crew members aboard both planes, and the wreckage of both planes fell into the eastern part of the canyon, near the confluence of the Colorado and the Little Colorado Rivers. This accident lead to the instutuion of high altitude flightways and positive control by enroute ground controllers.

One of the seven wonders of the world, and history that runs as deep as the canyon itself (in some areas over a mile deep), The Grand Canyon is one of the most popular of tourist attractions. Its marvelous scenic beauty still fills us with wonder as one of God's greatest creations, as it did hundreds of years ago.