Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon in Arizona is not the largest or deepest canyon in the world, but it is an awesome spectacle with its colorful, rugged rock walls. Native people have lived here for at least 3,000 years.

Fun Facts

• Geologists believe the Grand Canyon was formed 5 to 6 million years ago as the Colorado River washed away millions of years of sediment, leaving a record of the geologic history of North America in the exposed rock.

  

• The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, 18 miles wide (in some places) and over a mile deep. It takes in the Grand Canyon National Park, Kaibab National Forest, Hualapai Reservation, and the Navajo Nation.

  

• The Pueblo people have long considered the Grand Canyon a holy site and lived here at least 1200 B.C. The Cohohinas lived here between 500 and 1200 A.D., and are the ancestors of the Yuman, Havasupai, and Hualapai people.

  

• Captain Garcia Lopez de Cardenas is believed to be the first European to see the Grand Canyon. He arrived in 1540 from Spain and was searching for the Seven Cities of Cibola.

  

• In 1776, two Spanish priests returned. One was looking for a river crossing and found it. The other unsuccessfully tried to convert Havasupai people to his religious faith.

  

• Mormon frontiersman Jacob Hamblin came in the 1850s, also looking for river crossings. He developed good relationships with the local people and found two locations that later became ferry crossings.

  

• In 1869, Major John Wesley Powell led an expedition down the Colorado River. The group experienced the hardships of spoiled food, bad weather, and dangerous rapids. Three men left the group, planning to walk some 75 miles across the desert to a Mormon settlement. They were never heard from again.

  

• In 1919, the area became a national park.

Vocabulary

1. Ferry: boat
2. Convert: encourage someone to embrace your beliefs

Questions and Answers

Question: Can people visit the Grand Canyon today?

Answer: Yes. Thousands of people visit every year. Spring and fall are generally the best times to visit.

Learn More

Visit the Grand Canyon’s official website.