On This Day: Roosevelt declares Grand Canyon a National Monument

The Grand Canyon is truly a natural work of art and great majesty. President Theodore Roosevelt felt the same awe On This Day in 1908 saying, “The ages had been at work on it,” and declaring it to be a National Monument.

Grand Canyon (National Park Service)

Archaeological remains have been found placing humans in the area of the Grand Canyon 12,000 years ago. This dates back to the Paleo-Indian period.

The Grand Canyon had already been home to the Native Americans for centuries when Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas became the first European to view the Canyon in 1540. Many explorers continued to marvel at the Grand Canyon but it was not until 1869, more than 300 years later, that someone (other than the Native Americans) actually went down into the Canyon and explored it properly. That man was geologist John Wesley Powell.

The area quickly became a tourist destination. Roosevelt, who believed strongly in conservation, designated a portion of the canyon as a national monument in 1908. In 1932 Congress finally made the Canyon a national park.

Source

Grand Canyon National Monument is Created. This Day in History. History.com. 11 January 1908.

On This Day is a prompt to further explore historical events.

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