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Bryce Canyon National Park ranges in altitude from 6,600 to 9,100 feet. Between these elevations are situated three distinctly different plant communities that strongly influence where the park's approximately 50 species of mammals and more than 450 species of plants are most apt to be seen. The 164 recorded bird species of Bryce Canyon are also dependent to a large extent on these plant communities, but they, of course, can fly to other areas where food may be more abundant. Bryce Canyon Early Inhabitants The first people to venture near Bryce were an ancient group of Indians known as the Anasazi. For hundreds of years these Indians inhabited the areas that are now incorporated into many southwestern national parks. There is also evidence that they were in the Bryce area as early as A.D. 1, although no tangible evidence of that early presence exists within the park itself. Evidence, however, of another group of Indians is available. As the Anasazi departed from the Bryce area about 1,000 years ago, the nomadic Paiutes began moving in. Visitors occasionally may find arrowheads that attest to the presence of these nomads, who left no remains of permanent structures. Bryce apparently was used only as a hunting ground during the summer months, when the Paiutes migrated into the park to hunt deer, elk, and small game such as rabbits. They also gathered edible foods such as pinon nuts and the bulb of the sego lily. The Paiutes were a peaceful though superstitious people. The somewhat familiar shapes that they found among the weathered Bryce Canyon rocks gave rise to several legends that were, passed down through the years. For example, Paiutes described the rock forms with a word that when translated means "red rocks standing like men in a bowl-shaped recess." According to their legends, birds, animals, and lizards that once had lived in the canyon had the power to make themselves look like people. For some reason, their conduct did not please Shin-Owav-a Paiute demigod of great power and he turned them into rocks. Imaginative visitors to the park will be able to see these human forms. Look for them, and try to discern individuals standing erect, groups gathering in a row, or hunters stalking game. Bryce Explorers The first recorded travel near Bryce Canyon occurred in 1866, when a Mormon militia pursued marauding Indians south of the park area. Scouts were undoubtedly sent out by the Church of the Latter Day Saints between 1851 and 1860 in search of agricultural lands, but there is no written record of such exploration. It is believed that these explorers entered the Paria Valley, which lies to the east of Bryce Canyon and is the recipient of many of the park's tributaries. In 1872, a one armed explorer, Major John Wesley Powell, climbed the Pink Cliffs. Accompanying Powell on this and on several other explorations was Captain C. E. Dutton. Dutton, a man of eloquence, wrote in Geology of the High Plateaus of Utah that "the upper tier of the vast amphitheater [the Bryce Amphitheater] is one mighty ruined colonnade. Standing obelisks, prostrate columns, shattered capitals ... all bring vividly before the mind suggestions of the work of giant hands, a race of genii now chained up in a spell of enchantment, while their structures are falling in ruins through centuries of decay" Prose such as this was later used to excite the imagination of visitors, but it did little to lure the hard working Mormon ranchers and farmers who were intent on earning a living from the "badland" of Bryce. Around 1875, Ebenezer and Mary Bryce homesteaded on land that penetrated the main canyon of the present day park. They raised sheep and cattle, built a road for hauling timber, and dug an irrigation ditch from Pine Creek. Soon the canyon became known as Bryce's Canyon. But in 1880, Ebenezer and Mary departed the arid lands for Arizona, summarizing their feelings for the canyon in far less laudatory terms than those of Dutton. Said Bryce, "It's a hell of a place to lose a cow." In 1892, the last of the early settlers established a community near the site of the Bryces' former cabin. Because of the mild climate, the town was called Tropic. The town still exists essentially because water was diverted to it from the East Fork of the Sevier River, whose headwaters originate in Bryce. Establishment of the Bryce Canyon National Park The earliest reports of this extraordinary region to reach the general public were penned in the early 1900s. Of these authors, J. W. Humphrey may have been the most instrumental in attracting visitors to the area. In 1915, Humphrey, a forest supervisor in the old Sevier National Forest, was coerced into accompanying a friend to the rim of the Paunsaugunt Plateau, from which Bryce has been carved. Later, Humphrey wrote, "You can imagine my surprise at the indescribable beauty that greeted us, and it was sundown before I could be dragged from the Canyon view." Humphrey then began to promote Bryce through articles that glorified the beauties of the area. He even offered to pay one skeptic ten dollars if he was disappointed with Bryce. Enthusiasm grew, and national recognition followed. Bryce Canyon Monument was created on June 8, 1923. One year later, the monument was redesignated Utah National Park. Eventually, on September 15, 1928, the area was doubled in size and given the name by which it is known today as Bryce Park. Extract from "The Sierra Club Guides To The National Parks Desert Southwest". Published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang. Distributed by Random House. 1984. |
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